Chapter 11 Asante
ASANTE
Igrinned the second I gained consciousness.
I was someone that took my sleep seriously, sure, but it was different when I knew that sleep had evaded me because Bishop was tracing me, one of his hands scratching at my scalp.
I hummed in contentment. When I got home from the club around three in the morning, he hadn’t been home.
I’d reached out and he’d told me that he was still getting work done at damn near four.
A part of me had expected him to just go to the house he shared with Rook since they’d been together all night and I figured Rook would probably be cross faded off his ass.
Knowing he’d come back even though work had gone over for him was nice. I’d never get tired of being woken up by him. I nestled further against his chest and he leaned in and kissed my forehead.
I opened one eye and peeked at him.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” He grinned.
“What time did you get home?”
“Around five-thirty.”
“What time is it now?” I yawned.
“Seven.”
“Then, what are you doing up, Bishop?” I chuckled.
“I came home, put something in my stomach and showered. I just, I don’t know. I wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep.”
A goofy ass smile took over my face.
I didn’t know how Bishop always happened to just miraculously say the most romantic shit while making it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, but I loved that about him.
I never felt like I needed to ask for reassurance because even though he kept a lot of shit to his chest, his feelings for me were never one of them.
“Alright.” I grabbed his hand from my hair, lowered it and kissed his wrist. Then, I slid over, getting off of his body and on my side of the bed. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Why do you think I want to talk to you about something in specific?”
“I know you.”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “You do know me.” He exhaled and collapsed on bed beside me. We faced each other and Bishop swallowed. “My family knows that we’re together,” he said carefully and I felt my eyebrows jump before I could mask it.
“How’d that go?”
“Good actually.”
“Yeah?” A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth and Bishop grinned so wide I knew he wasn’t sugar coding shit to make it seem less hectic than it was. That realization made me smile even wider myself. “Fuck. They know?”
“They know and they want to get to know you.”
“I’m open to that.”
“Good because King wants you to attend Rook and Winnie’s wedding brunch tomorrow too.”
Another wave of shock slipped over me. From what Rook had told me, I’d expected him to get some sort of push back about our relationship but apparently he hadn’t and they wanted to get to know me.
That was better than either of us could have imagined shit would go, especially knowing that time was quickly dwindling on Bishop’s life as a bachelor.
“Do you want me there?”
“I want you everywhere I am.”
“Alright.” I shifted to put my arm beneath my head. “I’ll be there.”
“Thanks.”
“Anything for you.” I yawned. “That it?”
“Yeah. That’s it.” Bishop slipped closer to me and laid on my arm. I wrapped it around him and yanked him in.
If his family knew about us and they were willing to open their door to me that meant they weren’t tripping about Bishop and his sexuality.
That meant that there was a good chance they’d, at least, ignore the two of us still messing around after the smoke cleared with all his arranged marriage shit.
It was more than either of us had hoped for.
I let my eyes drift up and down the side of Bishop’s frame.
“How do you feel now that they know?”
“Fucking aamzing,” he admitted.
“Good.” I kissed the crown of his head and let my eyes shut. “Good,” I muttered again.
I just barely felt Bishop kiss my throat before I slipped back to sleep with the goofiest fucking grin on my face.
I adjusted the hold I had on my liquor bottle as I poured a drink with my eyes on Bishop who was holding a beer and had a cigarette tucked behind one of his ears.
His brothers were in the building but he wasn’t playing it cool which I was fine with. Apparently it was another night of Rook’s wedding celebration, something I hadn’t even realized was a thing.
I handed the drink over and walked over to him. He grinned as soon as I was close enough.
“What’s up?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. I just wanted a breather from all the motha’fuckas in that section,” he admitted. “I figured that made it a good time to see you.”
“You can hide out in my office if you want to catch your breath,” I offered.
He shook his head.
“Nah. I’m good.” He took a drink from his beer bottle then handed it to me empty. “I’m keeping an eye out for Rook and his new wife honestly.”
“They a flight risk?”
“I don’t know,” he confessed. “It’s complicated right now. It uh, wasn’t mapped out the way our marriages usually are.”
“Damn. Is everything okay?”
“It will be.” He turned and scanned the building briefly.
“Y’all sure I need to be at this wedding brunch thing tomorrow?”
“Positive,” Bishop didn’t hesitate as he looked back at me. “It’s a family tradition and the first thing King has officially invited you too.”
“So it’s a big deal?”
“In theory but it’s nothing to be stressed out. They’re going to love you.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
I still hadn’t told Bishop about my family’s offer to bail me out of financial instability partially because I didn’t want to tell him about my finances to begin with.
I was also hoping I could keep my spot afloat for another year, just long enough for him to get married first so that this didn’t feel like I was tucking tail or cutting my losses when that wasn’t what this was.
Bishop whistled and I followed his gaze as two women and a man sauntered into the club, all three of them looking around and taking everything in as they slowly walked further inside.
“That’s her,” he said.
“Who?”
“My new sister-in-law.”
We stared unashamedly while Rook’s new wife and her plus two closed in on us.
“Where’s your husband?” Rook asked.
“I wouldn’t know.” The wife leaned across the bar and ordered a drink from Kate.
Bishop snickered and shook his head. “Well, this is Asante. He owns the club. Asante, this is my brother’s new wife, Winnie. This is her sister, Flora and…” He paused.
“That’s Sean, Flora’s husband.”
“What’s up?” Bishop half nodded in Sean’s direction.
“Nice to meet you.” I offered Winnie my hand and she shook it.
“Nice to meet you too.”
I turned around and waved Kate back over. “Don’t charge her or her group. It’s her party,” I announced.
Kate nodded and Winnie grinned.
“You’re going to let me and my family drink free?”
“For the rest of your life.” I winked at her and she smirked.
“Jesus, Asante. I’m married.” she joked.
Bishop and I both laughed.
“You’re right. Charge her double actually.” I called after Kate who rolled her eyes and giggled. I looked between Bishop and Winnie. “Alright. I’m going to get back to work. Let me know when y’all head out,” I said and Bishop nodded.
“Will do.”
“I’ll see you around, Winnie.” I tapped the bar in front of me, gave a long glance at Bishop, then headed toward a crowd that was gathering at the far end of the bar.
I helped out behind the bar until we got the line down. Then, I excused myself for a smoke break. I took it in front of the club instead of out back and was only halfway done when shouting sounded throughout the club so loud I heard it from where I was.
“Fuck.” I flicked my cigarette, stepped on it and headdd toward the entrance.
“It’s the Barrons,” one of the security guards said.
My head immediately snapped to where their section was. He was right. There was chaos happening in their section but that wasn’t unusual. I sent Bishop a text anyway.
Me: Shit good up there?
BB: Yea. Rook.
I locked my phone and shoved it in my pocket. Rook. That was enough of an explanation right there.
I exhaled and made my way back to the bar to check in with the bartenders before heading back to my office.
I’d determined a few ways to cut down on cost and I wanted to implement them as soon as possible so I locked in and started getting it done, making sure I updated my spreadsheets as I went.
I didn’t take a break until Bishop’s name popped up on my phone’s screen and it started blaring.
“What’s up?” I answered immediately.
“Rook is blitzed. I’m going to get him home.”
“Alright. Just leave your car in the lot. I’ll get it taken care of.”
“Alright.” Bishop cleared his throat. “I’ll wait up for you.”
“Where?”
“My home base.”
“Your home base?” I repeated.
“It makes sense for you to spend the night here when we have that brunch in the morning.”
“Yeah. Alright. You’re right. I’ll get some stuff and be on my way.”
“Alright. See you then.”
“Be careful.”
“Be careful,” Bishop echoed.
“Love you.”
“I love you.”
I sat on the phone for another moment before hanging up and getting back to work.
It took me longer than I would have hoped but Layla stayed behind to help me with some last minute stock and I stood in the back doorway of the club and watched her walk to her car, my gun in hand.
“Be careful!” I called after her.
“Yes sir.” Layla saluted as she walked backwards a few steps before spinning around.
I watched her make her way to her car before going back inside and locking the door behind me.
The club closed at two the way it always did.
Layla had stayed behind to help me out when it came to cleaning and making sure stock was properly taken care of so it was about three now. The parking lot had cleared out quickly once the Barrons had headed out a little bit after one.
I sat in my office for about an hour before I gave up, yanked open my desk drawer and grabbed a cigarette. I lit up and took a long draft. I let my eyes flutter shut.
Now that I was alone the weight of everything that was going on settled on me so heavy it threatened to make it hard to breathe.