2. Chapter 2 #2
I raised my voice, making sure it boomed down the entire corridor. "I said SHE TOO BUSY SUCKIN’ MY BIG DICK, NIGGA! Now get the fuck on!"
The big dude didn't say a word. He turned right on his heel and took off running down the hallway.
“Ain’t nobody scared of your milkdud head-ass!”
My guys busted out laughing behind me. I kept a wide smile on my face, watching him sprint away until the elevator doors slid shut.
I turned back around and walked into the room. I grabbed his girl up and shoved her out into the empty hallway.
“Get yo’ ass on.” I slammed the door shut, locking her out for good.
I walked right back into the center of the loud party, looking over the crowd of women sitting on the lounge chairs.
"Aye, I need somebody to pick up where she left off," I announced to the room.
The moment the words left my mouth, the girls scrambled to stand up at the same time. They shoved each other back down and raced to be the first one to reach me. I just stood there, watching the messy scramble. My eyes scanned the lineup until they locked onto exactly what I wanted.
I pointed my finger right at the thickest girl in the bunch and snapped my fingers.
"Come here," I muttered, my eyes dragging down the heavy curve of her hips. "Damn. You thicker than a snicker, girl."
"Thank you, King," she purred.
She stepped over the other girls sprawled on the floor. A smug grin spread across her face as the room watched her get picked.
"Hell yeah. Come show me a good time, thickums."
She walked up, hooked her fingers into the loops of my loose jeans, and yanked me right back toward the bathroom. I let out a dark bark of a laugh and brought my palm down against her ass as she led the way.
I was back in the bathroom, kissing on the big girl's titties as she gripped the back of my head.
I lifted her right up on the sink. She was holding onto me tight, completely locked into the vibe.
Then the booming bass outside vanished. The rap music cut out to dead silence, and all the moaning and laughing from the living room stopped.
I ignored it at first, keeping my hands locked on her thighs, trying to get what I came for.
But then someone started aggressively hammering on the bathroom door.
My blood boiled.
All I wanted was to catch a fucking nut, and every single person in this hotel was working on my last nerve.
I yanked my gun from my waistband, ready to put a bullet through whoever was ruining my vibe.
I ripped the door open, raising the barrel to their face, but my entire body went ice-cold the second my eyes locked with the man standing on the other side.
I quickly lowered the weapon, shoving it back into my waist, and hitched my pants up.
"Dad?" I seethed, the anger turning into a tight knot in my throat.
My father stood in the doorway, and his eyes locked on mine. He had the same cold, exhausting look he’d been giving me for thirty four years—like I was a stain he couldn’t scrub off his shoe. He didn't waste a glance on the naked girl shivering behind me.
He turned his back to me and walked out.
I left the girl on the sink, grabbed my wrinkled button-down shirt off the floor, and shoved my arms through the sleeves.
When I stepped back out into the main suite, the change in the room hit like a punch.
The music was dead. The silence was thick, suffocating, and absolute.
The girls who had been dancing on the tables were gone, swept out like trash, and the chaotic energy of the night had been completely choked out.
My crew stood paralyzed against the far wall with their heads hung, appearing humiliated whereas six of my father's personal security detail barricaded the space directly in front of them.
They loomed motionless in their tailored suits, their hands folded neatly over their waistbands while their eyes tracked my approach with a heavy stare as I walked past. They harbored no respect for my name; they answered solely to the man who signed their checks, and right now, they were ensuring I recognized exactly where the real power sat.
I kept my jaw locked, ignoring the burn of their stares as I crossed the empty room, the silence hanging so thick that the friction of my denim against the quiet felt deafening.
I marched down the short hallway toward the elevator where the heavy brass doors remained held open.
Inside stood my old man, perfectly still, his hands resting on the silver head of his cane as he patiently waited for me to step into his world.
I stepped into the mirrored box, avoiding his stare by focusing instead on the flashing floor numbers illuminating the wall.
The heavy metal doors slid shut, sealing us together in a vacuum where his presence made the air turn brittle.
He stood motionless in the corner, enveloped in a crisp, tailored suit that didn't harbor a single wrinkle. The King’s authority consumed the narrow space.
He could fix you with a stare from those piercing eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses.
"It is time," my father announced.
I kept my chin up, refusing to let him see the anxiety thumping in my chest. "Time for what?" I asked, pushing the words out.
"Time for you to take the territory. And take your wife."
"What?" The word slipped out before I could stop it. "Dad, you said I had ten years. We talked about this."
He turned toward me, his eyes dead and unblinking as he pinned me in place. "Do not question me, boy. The treaty has been signed and finalized."
"I can't do this," I argued, stepping closer. "I have my own operations to run down here, in teh states. I am not tying myself to some random woman."
"It is not just any woman."
I squinted, the pieces trying to click in my head. "So who the hell is she?"
He returned a knowing look, and the truth hit me so hard I snapped. "No. Absolutely not."
"This arrangement is happening," he said, his voice entirely flat.
"At the expense of my life? You want me to marry her? Out of everyone in the tribe, her?!"
He adjusted his grip on the cane, unbothered by my volume. "And who better than the woman who will own the land where our royalties reside?"
"No! Hell no!" The roar tore out of my chest, vibrating the small space as I stepped right into his face.
"You two were close growing up," he countered smoothly, his tone never rising an octave.
I scoffed, as the bitterness burned in my chest. "She tried to kill me!"
"Did you die?"
I froze, the coldness of the question stopping the breath right in my throat. "What?"
“Did you die?”
"King, you’re missing the point! I’m not doing it. No!"
King Eze leaned in, invading my space.
"Relax," he commanded, his voice dropped. "Shit, you tighter than your mama's pussy…No one is telling you to love the woman or even like her, but you will marry her and do what is right for our people."
My jaw clenched so hard I thought my back teeth would shatter.
"It is time for you to step up, and do what the fuck you have to do," he growled, the venom in his eyes pinning me against the glass.
I opened my mouth to fire back, but he shoved a finger in my face. "You do NOT have a choice in this matter, son, unless you want to hand back every single piece of property, every dollar, and everything we gave you. You know your life was never your own. I have told you that shit for years."
"But Sir—"
"Stop being a bitch," he barked, cutting me down.
"You’re running around here like a childish hoe, smearing my name while I keep finding you in rooms that smell like ass and cheap weed.
You think you're safe taking flights all through the states just to fuck around? It’s a goddamn shame I could find exactly where you were just from you boasting on social media. "
He stepped even closer, and his breath hot hit my face.
"As if we don't have real enemies out here. Enemies who will drop you in a ditch, kill you, and sell your body parts off to the highest bidder the second they get the chance. Is this the example you want to set for your brothers and sisters? We have a fucking empire to run, and you’re treating it like a playground.
You will do this duty with a ring on your finger, whether you want to or not. "
I stood there as my chest heaved against the fabric of my shirt. The fury burned hot in my throat, but the reality of his leverage cemented my feet to the floor. I stared down at the polished metal of the elevator floor as I nodded, defeated.
He leaned in close enough for me to smell his breath. "You keep this playful shit up, and I’ll marry her my damn self. Do you want to explain to your mother about me taking a third wife?"
I avoided his stare, trying to keep my head together.
“Does she know about this?”
He nodded, giving me space as he pressed the button to open the doors. “Her family is notifying her as we speak. Find your own flight home, I’m taking our plan back with me.”
I stared at the floor, as he stepped out. I’d rather bleed a slow, horrible death in the gutter than look into the eyes of a woman who had already tried to carve my dick off my body. I might as well be a corpse already.