Legend’s eyes held mine. “Welcome to the family. You earned your place.”
My throat got tight again, and I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice not to sound weak.
Icon pulled me into a proud hug next. Big A clapped my back. Saint grabbed me and hugged me hard enough to make me laughthrough the emotion. Reek shook my hand like I’d crossed into something that couldn’t be undone.
Then Rhythm stepped in. She wrapped her arms around me carefully, like she knew I was barely holding myself together. “I told you. You didn’t sell anybody a dream. You made their dreams come true.”
I held her close for a second and let myself feel it. Because I was proud too.
I didn’t get here by accident. I didn’t get here by luck. I got here by work, pressure, and making people respect me in rooms where respect wasn’t handed out.
And now I had the chain on my neck, my woman at my side, and a future in front of me too bright to look at head on.
AVA REYNOLDS
Wise, Vega, and Prodigy stood off to the side of the Cartier foyer with a few of the soldiers, looking like they fit perfectly in the room, even though they were new to it. They were big as hell, brown and dark-skinned, clean lineups, full beard, and wearing expense. Their father’s Italian showed in their faces and hair texture, but their mama’s genes gave them rich, melanin skin.
Prodigy was the one who did the most without even trying. He smiled like he knew every woman in the room was watching. Vega didn’t smile at all. Wise barely moved, but his eyes stayed active, like he was reading everything.
I had heard through gossip amongst me and the girls that the Street Kings had been proving their worth and moving the hell out of the Cartiers’ product.
I stared longer than I meant to. Not because I was thirsty. Because I had eyes. I was on my second drink and feeling good enough to stop pretending that all three of them weren’t walking perfection. I hadn’t been around this kind of crowd for long, but I was learning one thing fast; the Cartiers stayed surrounded by fine niggas with dangerous lives and a lot of money.
Reek walked up behind me close enough that I felt him before I saw him. He leaned toward my ear. “Don’t get beat the fuck up in here, Ava.”
I blinked and faced him. “Excuse you?”
He looked past me toward the Street Kings, then back at me. His expression was serious. Not playful. Not flirty.Serious. “Why you staring at them niggas so long, like you don’t know who you belong to?”
I almost laughed, but the look in his eyes made it stick in my throat.
Me and Reek had been flirting for months. He always found a way to get in my space. He always talked like he could have me if he wanted me. I never took it seriously, though, because Reek was Reek. He stayed juggling Sienna and a few other women with no apology. He didn’t want to settle down, and at least he was honest about it. So, his jealousy right now didn’t make sense.
“And you doing it right in front of me,” he fussed.
I took another sip of my drink as I replied, “I’m single. Those niggas fine, and they might be available. So, I can do what I want.”
Reek’s jaw shifted. His eyes held mine like he wanted to do something crazy. “They not available to you.”
I scoffed with a laugh. “Why not?”
“Because you’re mine,” he replied as if it were true.
I shook my head. “Didn’t you walk in here with Sienna? You can’t be serious.”
He leaned in just a little. “I am serious.”
My stomach flipped, and it made me mad. Because who was he to claim me? He didn’t claim anybody. He didn’t commit. He didn’t settle. He didn’t choose one woman and stand on it. He flirted with everybody and moved on when he felt like it. So why was he standing here looking at me like I was his?
I set my cup down on the nearest table harder than I needed to. “If I’m yours, then prove it.”
Reek’s eyes narrowed. “Ava...”
“Don’t say my name like that,” I said, stepping closer too. “You can’t have me, right? That’s what you always act like. You always got an excuse. You always got a reason why you shouldn’t.”
His lips pressed together and he breathed long and slow through his nose like a raging bull.
I kept going, though, because the liquor made me bold and the frustration had been living in me for too long. “You want to stand here and tell me what I can and can’t do. Then finally back up your talk or shut up.”
