Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A week later, I was still recovering, but I was overstaying at home. Rio watched me like a hawk, and if I even walked funny, he freaked out. Rhea was a big help. She came over to keep me company while Marcus was at school. Eddie came over a couple of times to hang out. Rio gave him the week off too to recover. I was getting restless. I knew there was still an issue with the FBI finding Lucy's body. I knew Rio needed my help. But he wouldn't let me work this week.

I was on the balcony, painting a picture on my easel. I had some Sex Pistols playing on my phone. The track echoed in the city air, and my glass of wine sat to my right. I put my brush down and took a sip. I heard the door open behind me, and Rio wrapped his arms around me. I smiled as I put my glass down and turned around to face him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he kissed me deeply. It had been a whole week since we fucked, and I was hungry.

"Hey, beautiful." He says, lightly pulling from me.

"Hey. How was your day?" I asked.

"Usual." He said, sitting down in the patio chair across from me. He rested his elbows on his knees. I wanted to ask about the body situation, but I knew better than to ask out here. "I picked up your favorite from Sushi Luv." He added.

"Thanks, babe. I am fucking starving." I said as I went inside and took the sushi out of the fancy paper bag. I got my chopsticks out and went to town. "So, how is that Lucy situation?" I asked. Rio sighed in frustration.

"I said I got it, baby. So stop askin'." He said in a stern tone. I scoffed.

"Fine." I said, throwing my chopsticks down and heading to our bathroom to brush my teeth. I pushed some toothpaste onto my bamboo-handled toothbrush, and Rio roughly pushed the door open.

"What makes you think you can constantly be up in my shit?" He said, cracking his knuckles. It was funny how he thought he could still intimidate me at this point. I spit out the toothpaste so I could answer.

"Because I am just as much in on your shit as anyone else in the crew. What makes you think that I am incapable of handling the truth?" I asked, folding my arms. Rio chuckled.

"Have you forgotten your previous job? How you lied to me? How you almost got my ass locked up?" He asked.

"Wow. Throw that in my face, huh? I didn't go through with it, Rio. I couldn't, and you know that. So you can drop that anytime." I hissed. He nodded and looked down. Within seconds, he had me up on the bathroom counter. He roughly pulled me to him and crashed his lips to mine. He bit my bottom lip and pulled away.

"I said stop worryin'. And when I say stop doin' somethin', I mean it." Rio said, rubbing circles on my thigh. I reached down to grab his length, and he groaned.

"Should I stop doing this?" I asked.

"Nah. Definitely don't stop doin' that..." He said as I worked for my hand. Seconds later, he had my panties off and back on the counter. The sex was unreal as usual, And as always, I completely forgot what we were fighting about.

I had gotten back into the routine of work. Now that Chicago was technically ours, I had to drive out there once every week, which Rio made me take several crew members every time. The new leader of Chicago was a woman named Tia. She was adorable, and I vaguely knew her from my time in Chicago. She did good work, and I convinced Rio that she would be perfect for it and wouldn't turn on us. This coming weekend was my 29th birthday, and Rio had said he would take me to my favorite restaurant in the city, Prism. I honestly wasn't even expecting to do much. Things were so busy right now with the Chicago takeover. But I wasn't complaining. We were now making more due to Connor not being around to gank most of the profits.

It was now Friday night, and I was in the bathroom getting ready. I left my long hair down and waved the ends. I didn't put much makeup on. Rio always said I looked better without it. I had to cover up my black eye and a little on my busted lip from the previous week's mess. I was in the bathroom, trying to balance myself on top of the sink as I shaved my legs. Of course, Rio had been ready for like half an hour.

"Baby! Hurry up, or we're gonna miss our reservation." Rio yelled from downstairs.

"Yeah yeah, I'm comin'!" I said as I started rinsing my legs. I ran to the closet in our room and grabbed an off-the-shoulder tight black dress that donned long, tight sleeves. It had a bandage wrap style that made it a little hard to breathe, but it was worth it. I had just bought it, and I was excited to break it in. I put on my Gucci strappy heels and smirked at my Gucci obsession. I couldn't help it. I was suddenly glad I just got a pedicure. I smoothed out my dress and headed downstairs. Rio was facing the balcony on the phone. He was talking in a low tone but slightly turned when he heard me coming down the stairs. He did a double-take and hung up the phone. He walked towards me, his eyes raking wildly up and down my body. I could help but notice his long-sleeve button-up shirt with suspender and a dress jacket that showed off his amazing body. Damn.

"Goddamn woman." He breathed out as he circled me.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Mmm. How much was that dress?" He asked.

"I don't know two hundred? Why?" I asked.

"Because imma have to rip it off you tonight and buy you a new one." He said as he pulled me close and kissed me. Just then, we heard a knock at the door. I looked at him, confused.

"So, I might have invited some people. I thought you might be happy..." Rio said as he opened the door to show Eddie and Annie standing there, dressed up like Rio and me. My eyes lit up. "If these two came along." Rio finished. I smiled and pulled Annie in for a hug.

"You invited these two troublemakers?" I joked.

"Takes one to know one." Annie said, joking back. The truth was that I really liked Annie. It was a little weird because I was with her sister's ex, and he had, on more than one occasion, put a gun to her head. But she and I clicked really well. I got her sense of humor, and she got my sarcasm. I liked the fact that she and Eddie were vibing. He needed someone like Annie.

Rio had a stretch Hummer-limo out front, and my eyes widened.

"Nothin' but the best." Rio whispered in my ear as Annie made a penis joke. Dinner was amazing. I ate like a queen, and Annie stuffed her face along with me, which made me feel better. Annie told us the story of how Eddie scared some punk kids at Ben's school for picking on Ben. Rio told us about how Marcus had gotten a friend of the year award. I had teased Eddie for being such a mama's boy, and Annie gave him praise for it. Rio had picked up the tab for everyone like a gentleman. We ended up at a nightclub, and Rio had us in the VIP section. About five minutes after we sat down and Rio ordered some fancy-ass champagne, Mick, his girl Wendy, and several other crew members and their friends and girlfriends showed up. There were about thirty of us in the VIP area, and I was getting really tipsy. Me and the other girls danced on the packed dance floor adjacent to our roped-off section. Rio and the guys sat back and talked, occasionally looking up to see what we were doing. A guy came up to me and put his hands on my waist, and I stepped back. I politely yelled over the music that I was taken, but he shrugged and roughly put his hands back on me. I look over and see Mick nudge Rio and point in my direction. I looked at Rio and gave him a look of "I've got this," but that didn't stop him. He stood up and calmly walked over to us and took my hand, and spun me away from the guy and into his arms. My back was to him, and I could see the guy look at us and scoff. I felt Rio's hand snake around me, and I swayed against him. He moved my hair to the side and started to kiss up and down my neck. I wrapped my arm behind me and around his neck. I ground against him, matching the club beat. I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed his hand and led him behind me. He stayed behind me, and I turned to look at him, he was staring at my ass, and I knew he knew what I was doing. I led us to the VIP washrooms and led us inside. I locked the door, and he roughly backed me up until my ass hit the marble countertop. I kissed him with hunger, and his hands grabbed at my panties. He quickly spun me around and bent me over slightly. He grabbed onto my hips and plunged into me. I yelled out in the best way. I didn't even care if anyone heard me. I spilled over the edge, and he groaned into my back as he finished. I cleaned myself up and pulled my panties back up as he buckled his pants. He kissed my forehead and hugged me.

"Happy Birthday, baby." He said, still breathing heavily along with me.

*Whew! I'd say that was a good birthday! Please vote, follow and comment! Much love!