22

"You've said 'I love you' before, right?" Ruby asks, pouring herself a cup of coffee. 

"Yeah, but we don't say it too often. We've said more lately, but still."

"What did he say?" 

"I don't think he said anything. I think he left after that. Maybe he didn't want to hurt my feelings or maybe he thought I only said it because I was drunk. Oh god, what if he thought that?" I place my face in my hands.

"Calm down, you said he's guy is bringing us breakfast, which is super sweet, he has his guys looking out for you. But, maybe ask him if he knows anything." 

"I can't! Mick is loyal, but too Rio. If I ask him then he'll turn around and tell Rio everything." 

"What if you get him to play messenger?" she suggests. 

"We're not twelve! I don't like playing games with Rio."

"Alright, then you only have two options." 

"Run away forever?" I ask.

"Okay, you've got three options. You can either A.) run away forever, B.) never bring it up again or C.) talk to him. Now, I favor C, but I support you no matter what you decide to do."

The knocking on the door interrupts my thinking, I jump and answer it. Mick is standing there holding two big brown paper bags.

"He said to drop these off to you." He says, handing me the bags. 

"Thanks, Mick. Um, what kind of mood would you say he's in?" 

"Normal mood. Why? Did you two fight again?" 

"No, no. I just said something to him last night." I hand the bags to Ruby before turning back to face Mick. 

"Anything bad?"

"Um, no, not exactly." 

"She's trying to determine if he thinks she was too drunk." Ruby calls out. 

"Talk to him." Mick says, before walking away from the door. 

I shut the door and make my way to the kitchen where Ruby was going through the bags, "Dude, he set us up!" 

"Maybe I should call Rhea?" 

"Who?" she asks, biting into a piece of toast. 

"His ex." 

"Eh, it's good you two can get along, but like you don't want to drag her into it." 

"That's true. But, it would be nice to talk to someone who knows him." 

"Oh, I know! Him!" she pushes. 

"What if he thinks I was just drunk?"

"Were you? I mean, I haven't asked yet, but like are you in love with him?"

"Yeah, I am." I nod, smiling.

"Then, talk to him. You can't hide your feelings." 

"I just got onto him about not telling me how he feels..." 

"Exactly! You can't hide your feelings and then expect him to open up to you." she states. 

"You're right, I'll talk to him. After breakfast though, I'm starving." 

"Me too, go wake Sapphire." 

"No way! You go wake her." 

"You woke me up, so it's on you." 

I left Ruby and Sapphire at home and call a Lyft to make my way to the bar where my car still sits. I walk inside the empty bar to see Rio and Mick leaning against the counter, talking. Fuck...

"There's my girl." he says, gesturing me over. 

I slowly walk towards them and try to rebuild my confidence as it crumbles the closer I get. 

"How you feelin', mama?" he asks, wrapping an arm around me. 

"I-I'm okay." I mutter. 

"Breakfast good?" 

"Yes, it was. Thank you." 

Rio nods his head to Mick, who takes off without a second of hesitation. 

"I need to tell you something." 

"About joining council?" he asks. 

"Ew, no."

He chuckles, nodding at me to continue. 

"About last night-"

He cuts me off, "Already told you, no big deal." 

"No, not that. But, thank you for the drinks and helping us. I wasn't lying earlier when I said I didn't remember much, but after we got off the phone, I remember something and I don't want you to think that I was only saying it because I was drunk." I start.

He nods again. 

"I'm in love with you." I state, moving my gaze from him to the floor back up to him.

Just like last night, he doesn't speak for a moment. He just looks me over before a big smile spreads across his face, "I'm in love with you, Citrine." he tilts my face to him and kisses me passionately. 

"You didn't really think I would run for council, right?" I ask, smiling. 

"Fuck, nah." he chuckles. 

"Good, it would never happen." I pull him back in to kiss me again. 

We were there for hours, just kissing and enjoying each other's company. "Got a problem now though, Darlin'." 

"Hm?" 

"Can't marry you if my cousin wants you too." 

"Huh?" I ask. 

"My cousin, the one who wants you on council."

"Christopher." I warn.

He lets out a laugh, "You think I wouldn't want to marry you now?" 

"I-I don't know." 

"Oh, I'm gonna marry you, Darlin'. Gonna let you pick your ring, though."

"You better." I tease. 

"Grandma is having another dinner soon, she wants you there. We'll tell everyone then, yeah?" 

"Yeah, I'd like that." 

"Gotta go shopping quick then." he says.

"Ruby and Sapphire will want to come." 

"Let 'em." he shrugs. 

"I think we should tell Rhea before your family. Have you talked to Marcus about it? I don't want him to be surprised."

"She knows I've been thinking about it, and we'll tell Papi together.

"We gotta tell Peri too."

"Already knows." he smirks.

"How?" 

"Got his number before he went back to New York." 

"And you talk to him?" I raise a brow. This is news to me... 

"Often, yeah. He warned me about your sisters." 

"I'm very much in love with you, you know that?" 

"I'm very much love with you, Darlin'."

"There's no one else. Now, we don't have to fill the seat right away, so why don't you just take a minute and, you know, realize why I'm right. Take longer than a minute." Nick chuckles over the phone.

"Again, I'm not into politics, Nick. I wouldn't be the best person for this." Citrine states. 

"I'm not going to give in easy."

"You're not going to convince me easily, either." she rolls her eyes.

"Think about it. Talk to you later. Bye." 

"Bye." she mutters, hanging up the phone. 

Nick sits down across from Rio in the empty bar. It's been hours since Citrine had left to go back to her sisters, who had been anxiously waiting for her. 

Rio takes a long swig from his beer bottle, "Maybe she's just not that into you, bro." 

Nick sips his own beer, "Mmm. She'll come around." 

"Why you want her in that chair?" Rio asks, taking a bite of his burger. 

"It's a good move. She owns her own business and she's friendly. People will see that." he dodges the real answer Rio is looking for. Rio clearly knows his cousin wants Citrine. 

"How would you do it?" Nick asks. 

"I would give her what she needs." he smirks. 

"What does she need?" 

"Someone to yank her by that ponytail." the smirk growing slightly. 

"That's not my style, brother." 

"You want her in that seat, right?"

"I know what you need." Nick asks. 

"Hm? What's that?"

"You need to stop eating this burger." he slides the tray closer to him. 

Rio smacks his hand, "Yo." 

"Gotta make weight."  

"Always want what I already have, huh?" 

"Always get it too." Nick releases a mocking moan as he takes a bite of burger. 

Making Rio instantly think of Citrine and how she is the one thing he is determined to make sure Nick doesn't take from him. 

Ruby and Sapphire decide they want to explore the city to write about. I let them take my car so I can spend the day with Rio. He found out that the women have bought a strip club. We walk in and it's completely empty. He climbs up onto the stage and begins messing with the music stand.

"You're like Marcus in a store, you gotta touch everything."

He chuckles before turning it on, music begins bumping through the speakers. I pull myself to sit on the stage's edge as the women come out of a back room and stare at Rio, who was still messing with the music equipment.

He finally turns the music down before walking around the set up, "So, a dealership, not really my thing. Spas... What are those even for? But this... This is how we make dreams come true." he takes a seat on the random chair in the center of the stage.

"Not 'we'." Beth says.

"Public record."

"This is ours."

"A little Lysol, lot of love." he nods.

I couldn't help, but chuckle a bit at the Lysol bit. The place could use a deep cleaning.

"This is just where we print--" Beth stresses.

"Clean this place right up."

"--Not a place to wash."

Rio leans his head back for a moment, clearly growing annoyed, "It is now."

I thought he was into making Canadian money now?

The trio have different facial expressions, Annie looks annoyed, Beth looks terrified and Ruby looked gave out.

"We know nothing about running a strip club." Beth states.

"Didn't know much about cars or hot tubs, either."

"How much?" Ruby speaks up. Causing Beth to look at her.

"How much what?"

"Our cut." Annie deadpans.

"Why would I do that?"

"You know how this goes." Beth whispers to Annie and Ruby.

"How clean do you want your money?" Ruby asks.

"Oh, I want it to sparkle."

"You get what you pay for." Annie sasses as she places a hand on her hip. She's my favorite of these three.

"What are you doing?" Beth asks them.

I look behind me to Rio, who gives them a tight line smile, "Maybe we could work something out."

"So, you two gonna help us clean this place up a bit?" Annie asks. 

"Nah." Rio shakes his head and helps me down from the stage before guiding me outside. 

"Nick keeps calling and texting me about council. I keep telling him 'no', but he keeps insisting that I keep thinking about it. Why does he want me on council so badly?" 

"Always wants what I already have." 

The bell rings to the shop and I see Nick coming in and locking the front door behind him. 

"Um, I'm actually still open."

"We need to talk." he says, coming closer to the counter where I was sitting. 

"About what exactly?" 

"Council."

"Nick, I'm not doing it." 

"He told you not to?" he asks. 

"He didn't actually. But, I don't want to do it." 

"You would be great at it." 

"Or I could be horrible and crash and burn." 

"What's holding you back? Is it him?" he presses. 

"What is up with you two? You guys have this weird frenemies thing going on. Every time you see each other you're passive aggressive." 

"It's family." 

"Yeah, well don't drag me into it. I'm not the knot in your game of tug-o-war." I roll my eyes. 

"I just thought it would be a good move for you." he sighs. 

"Well, it's not. I appreciate the high hopes you have for me, but that is too high."

"Alright, I won't bring it up again." 

"Thank you." 

"Are your sisters still in town? I would love to take you all out to dinner." 

"Um, no actually. They got called away for work, but they do want to meet you." I lie. My sisters are still in town, they're at my apartment. 

"Great! Hopefully, they will be back soon then. And your brother can come too." 

"Alright, I'll- how-how do you about my brother?" 

"I'll see you later, Citrine." he shoots me a smirk before heading back towards the door. 

"Wait, Nick!" I call out, but he's already out the door. 

How the actual fuck does he know about Peri? Have I mentioned Peri to him?