13

The constant ringing had woken me up. I groaned grabbing the annoying device, hitting the answer button without giving myself time to process who was calling me before the sun had even begun to rise. 

"What?" I snap. 

"Damn, rude! Is that anyway to talk to your brother?" 

"Peri?" I ask.

"Do you have another brother?" 

"Hold on, let me check." I tease. I maneuver out of the bed and head to the bathroom to not wake Rio. I closed the door before speaking again, "What's going on?" 

"I'm in town, thought we could get together." he explained. 

"So you call me at 4:30 in the morning to hang out?" 

"I just landed, I'm heading to my hotel now, thought we could get breakfast."

"How long are you in town for? You can just stay with me." I suggest. 

"You sure? I don't want to impose." 

"You're my brother, Peri. You're not imposing." 

"Do you still live in the same place?" 

"Yep, I'll meet you over there." I told him. 

"You're not home? Is my sister doing the walk of shame?" he jokes. 

"Hush, and no I'm not. I'll explain later." 

I hang up the phone and leave the bathroom. I don't want to wake Rio, so I tiptoe around the space gathering my belongings before leaving as quietly as I could. I could only lock the doorknob's lock, but I'm sure Rio, of all people, would be fine. 

I catch a cab to take me back to the bar so I can grab my car before returning to my apartment. Peri was already at my door waiting for me. 

"Shoes in hand? Are you sure this wasn't a walk of shame?" he pulls me into a hug, which I return. 

"It wasn't, I was just in a rush." I huff, unlocking the door. 

I let him take my room because I don't mind sleeping on my couch and we head back out to a diner for breakfast. I don't tell him anything about Rio until after we get back to my apartment. 

"So, you're dating a dangerous gangster?" he asks, after I told him everything.

"Basically, yes." I sighed. 

"But, you like him, right? Like you aren't just staying with him because he scares you?" 

"I do like him. He can be scary, but he doesn't act that way towards me." I confirm. 

"But, he's done his gang stuff in front of you. If you got questioned by the police, would you lie?" 

I shrug my shoulders, "I've never really thought too much about it..." 

"Does anyone else know you're dating this guy?" 

"Other than those three woman who work for him, no. Well, Sarah and Nat know he exists, but they don't know what he does." I explain. 

"Damn, we leave you here for two years by yourself and you go and get yourself a gangster man." he laughs. 

"Why are you in town anyways?" I change the subject. 

"Oh, I just missed you. Sapphire and Ruby said they haven't heard from you and neither have I so I decided to come check on you." 

"You know a phone works both ways..." 

"I'm a lawyer, I'm busy. And who knows what the other two are doing." he defends. 

My phone begins and I pick it up to see it's Rio. 

"Speaker!" Peri squeals. I roll my eyes, but comply. 

"Hello?" I answer. 

"Where'd you go, mama?" Rio immediately asks. Peri pretends to faint.

"Oh, I'm having a great morning, how about you?" I retort. 

"Was expecting my girl to be beside me this morning just to wake up to an empty apartment." he says. 

"That must suck." I snicker. 

"Why'd you leave?" he asks again. 

"My brother came into town this morning, he called me so I left." I explained. 

"Could've woke me, Darlin', would've taken you." 

"It was so early." 

"Your car wasn't here. How'd you get back?"

"A taxi." 

I hear him huff before saying "Next time wake me, I'll take care of it." 

"Okay." I whisper, knowing he's annoyed and I don't particularly want to set him off. 

"He sounds hot." Peri whispers. I quickly shush him. 

"That him?" Rio asks. 

"Hi, I'm Peri!" he takes the phone out of my hand and gets up off the couch, "I've heard so much about you. We should all get together while I'm in town." 

"Peri, give me the phone." I demand. 

"Hush you. The adults are talking." he says. "How about we all grab lunch today?" 

"Sounds good. I'll pick you up." Rio agrees. 

"I hate all of this right now." I groan. 

Peri agreed and hung up the phone, handing it back to me with a huge smile on his face, "Did you not expect me to want to meet him after all you just told me? Hell no, I need to meet this guy so I can give a full report to our sisters." 

"Oh my god..." 

The knock on the door came too soon. Peri and I spent most of the time catching up, and watching some show he likes. And he all but ran to the door to open it. The pair shook his hands and Rio walks towards me sending me a smirk. 

"Hey, mama." he wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek.

"Hi." I deadpan. 

"Don't be like that, Darlin'." he smirks. 

"She's just grumpy because she's embarrassed." Peri teases. 

"My grumpy girl." Rio places his hand under my chin and smiles at me. 

I send them both a glare. 

The two of them actually got along. Peri kept telling stories from when we were younger and Rio was just eating it up. He would laugh and/or send me a smirk. He placed his hand on my thigh at one point and hasn't moved it since. 

"Whatchu do for work?" Rio asks. 

"I'm a lawyer for the District Attorney's office in New York City." he explains. 

"Must be real busy over there." he comments. 

"Usually, yes. But, I took a few days off so I could come check on the baby of the family." Peri smirks at me. 

"I hate you." I grumble out. 

"Their baby and my baby, huh?" Rio teases. 

I kiss my teeth before returning to my food. 

"So where are Ruby and Sapphire?" I ask, praying we can change the subject. 

"They're in Seattle, last I heard. But, they'll probably be leaving soon." Peri explains, sipping his drink. 

"They technically work 'from home', but all they need is an internet connection. So, they travel all around." I explain to Rio. 

"What about you, Rio. What do you do for work?" Peri asks, obviously knowing damn well what he does. 

"I'm in business." he answers. 

"What kind of business? Like you own your own store or company?" Peri pushes. 

"Organization." Rio nods. 

"I'm going to use the bathroom." I say, leaving the two alone. Which might not be smart, but maybe it'll get Peri to stop asking him questions about his 'organization'. 

My phone begins ringing as I walk away from the table. The number wasn't saved, but I went ahead and answered it anyway, "Hello?" 

"Citrine? Hi, it's Beth." 

"What do you want?" I sigh. 

"Are you available to meet up this week? We have some...matters to discuss."

"No." I hang up the phone and place it on silent. 

I use the bathroom before returning to the table. Peri and Rio were laughing about something. 

"There she is!" Peri said, as I sat back down. 

"What story are you telling to embarrass me now?" 

"I was just about to tell him how 'There goes, Citrine.' came to be." he laughs. 

"Be careful, Peri. I know where you work. I'm sure your associates would love to hear the story on how your college mascot went missing." I threaten. 

"You wouldn't dare." he glares. 

"Oh, I would. What's your boss's name again, Michael Saunders?" I smirk. 

"Fine." he sighs, "But, that story isn't even that embarrassing. I mean if anything it's more funny." 

"Gotta hear it now." Rio smirks. 

"Fine, but I'm telling it." I turn to face Rio, "I was a toddler and our dad took me and Peri to a grocery store. On our way out, Peri was walking beside our dad and I was in the cart. Well, the parking lot wasn't even... and our dad was putting the groceries in the car when Peri said-"

"There goes, Citrine." Peri butts in, laughing. 

"Our dad turned and the cart was rolling down the parking and I was, apparently, laughing the whole time. He caught up to the cart, obviously I was fine. And our dad always got a kick out of Peri just casually saying-"

"There goes, Citrine. But, hey, at least I said something! I saved you, really." 

"Sure, you did." I roll my eyes. 

After lunch, Rio dropped us back off at my place before leaving to go do 'business'. He shook hands with Peri and kissed me before disappearing. 

"I like him." Peri said, after I closed the door. 

"He seemed to like you." I nod. 

"He really likes you." 

"I'm likable." I smirk, heading to the kitchen to grab us some drinks. 

"For real though, he does. We talked about it while you were gone. He even told me what he actually does." 

I stopped, "What?" 

"I was surprised too, but he did. I like him for you."