Vegarro “Vega” Moretti
Wise, Prodigy, Lux, and Lowe were supposed to scoop me so we could meet with the Cartiers.
I planned to meet them outside. I didn’t want them to know I had spent the night because there was no real need for me to.
I had my own crib, but I wanted to be as close to Sonnet as possible, for her protection, but more so because I just wanted to be near her.
But the second I opened the front door, Lux stood on the other side.
“I gotta piss.” Before I could stop him, he pushed past me.
The scent of weed followed him through the foyer as he hurried toward the half bath. He made it three steps before noticing Sonnet sitting at the kitchen island. One leg was tucked beneath her while she stared at the laptop in front of her and ate from a plate.
Lux stopped. “Oh, it’s food in this bitch?”
Sonnet turned around. I watched his expression change when he finally got a good look at her. His eyes widened slightly before a grin spread across his face.
“You must be Sonnet.” He walked toward her and extended his hand. “I’m Lux.”
“Didn’t you have to piss?” I asked behind him.
“I can hold it.”
Sonnet smiled as she shook his hand.
“What you eatin’?” Lux asked.
“A jerk-shrimp Alfredo omelet.”
His eyebrows rose. “A what?”
“I made an Alfredo sauce with jerk-seasoned shrimp, spinach, peppers, and cheese, then folded it inside the eggs.”
I really didn’t know what to expect when Sonnet said she could cook.
But I was impressed as soon as I had taken the first bite.
Sonnet could cook, and she cooked with love, like she understood how food was supposed to taste when somebody took their time with it.
That omelet belonged on the brunch menu of one of those restaurants that served cocktails before noon and automatically added twenty percent gratuity.
She was beautiful, brilliant, funny, and able to cook like that. She was becoming more iconic by the minute and entirely too wifeable.
Lux looked at her plate like she had described heaven.
“You want one?” she offered.
His eyes ballooned. “Hell yeah.”
“You forgot we had business?” I reminded him.
He shrugged a shoulder. “We got time to eat.”
Ignoring me, Lux pulled out his phone and made a call. The moment someone answered, he announced, “Vega got jerk-shrimp Alfredo omelets in the house.”
Then he hung up. I groaned because I knew what was coming. Seconds later, the front door opened and Wise, Prodigy, and Lowe walked inside.
Sonnet slid from the stool.
“You feel like cooking for all these greedy niggas?” I asked her.
She laughed. “It’s fine. You bought enough shrimp and eggs to feed a small village.”
Prodigy approached her first. “I’m Prodigy.”
Then Wise introduced himself. “I’m Wise, Vega’s big brother.”
Her eyes whipped toward mine. “You have a big brother? I guess there wasn’t much time to tell me about yourself while you were snatching me from home and holding me captive.”
Prodigy and Wise laughed like she had just said something that would put Mojo Brooks out of business.
Lowe pointed toward Lux. “Unfortunately, that’s my twin. I’m Lowe.”
Sonnet looked between them. “I noticed the resemblance immediately, but you seem less annoying.”
Prodigy laughed. “She figured Lux out fast.”
Then he looked her over with an easy smile that stayed on her a little too long. “You always this pretty before breakfast?”
Sonnet blushed to the point that her banana-colored cheeks started to turn pink.
Prodigy leaned one elbow against the island, looking at her. “Pretty, smart, funny, and you cook? Vega’s been hiding you from us on purpose.”
Her laugh came softer that time. “I didn’t realize he had so much family.”
Prodigy looked back at me with this taunting smirk before he put his eyes back on her. “Yeah, you have options.”
Sonnet’s eyebrows lifted behind her glasses. “Options?”
“Better company. Better conversation.” His grin widened. “Men who don’t kidnap women as a first impression.”
I would have fucked any other nigga up for doing this in my face, but I knew my bro was just fucking with me, so I let it slide.
But she laughed again, and that big, green monster started growing inside me.
“I like her,” Lowe said, staring her up and down obviously before looking at me, fucking with me.
“You like anybody willing to feed you,” I mumbled.
Everybody heard it.
Prodigy remained leaned against the island, smiling at Sonnet. “Ignore him. He’s been acting strange ever since you got here.”
“Strange how?” she asked, glancing at me.
“Meaner than usual,” Prodigy replied. “Possessive too.”
“I’m standing right here.”
“I know.”
Sonnet pressed her lips together like she was trying not to laugh, but she lost the fight.
My expression showed my irritation before I could hide it.
Lowe noticed immediately. His eyes moved from me to Sonnet, and the teasing grin on his face shifted into something more observant.
That nigga understood.
This wasn’t as casual as I had made it sound.
Sonnet moved around the kitchen, trading jokes with them without appearing intimidated.
She was nerdy, but she wasn’t sheltered or soft in the ways people assumed.
Life had forced her to survive without anyone protecting her.
She had enough street sense to recognize bullshit and enough backbone to respond to it.
That turned me on more than her phat ass.
I pushed all four of them out of the kitchen before their playful bullshit made Sonnet uncomfortable.
At least, that was the excuse I gave myself. Truthfully, I needed them away from her before one of them made her laugh again and I forgot they were family.
“Go sit in the den,” I ordered. “Let her cook in peace.”
Lux looked over his shoulder toward the kitchen. “I wasn’t bothering her.”
“You’ve been in the house three minutes and already invited everybody to eat her food.”
“She gotta learn how to feed the family if—”
I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him through the doorway, stopping his sentence and making him bust out laughing.
Once we reached the den, Lowe dropped onto the couch while Prodigy and Wise claimed the chairs. Lux remained near the entrance, probably trying to be the first to see when an omelet was finished.
Wise looked at me with a raised brow. “Sonnet is nineties fine.”
Lux nodded immediately. “Hell yeah. Thick, pretty, glasses, natural face. She looks like she belongs in an old R&B video.”
“She’s beautiful,” Prodigy agreed. “I understand why you’re losing your mind now.”
“I’m not losing my mind.”
Lowe laughed. “You looked like you wanted to kill something when she laughed at what Prodigy said.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“All of us saw it,” Wise replied.
Lux stared at me. “She been locked in this house for over a week, and you still haven’t fucked her?”
I bit my bottom lip with regret. “There’s an… issue.”
Wise folded his arms. “What?”
“She’s …a virgin.”
Wise frowned. “You’re lying.”
“That’s what she told me.”
Lux’s eyebrows lifted. “And you believe her?”
“She hasn’t given me a reason not to.”
“Even if she is, what difference does it make?” Wise asked.
“She can’t give me a real yes while she thinks sex might convince me to release her or keep her alive. I don’t want that type of pussy.”
The room went quiet.
Lux looked genuinely surprised. “That has never stopped you from fucking anybody before.”
“I’ve never kidnapped anybody I wanted to fuck before.”
“That sentence alone should concern all of us,” Lowe laughed.
Wise kept his eyes on me. “But?”
I glanced toward the kitchen before lowering my voice more. “But knowing no other man has had her makes me want her more.”
“Damn,” Lux muttered. “That pussy probably tight as hell.”
My stare snapped toward him. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
His eyebrows rose. “You just told us she’s a virgin.”
“That doesn’t give you permission to discuss her pussy.”
Lowe looked between us. “This is worse than I thought.”
Prodigy grinned. “Much worse.”
I ignored both of them. “I’m not taking that from her while she can’t leave. When it happens, she’ll know it’s because she chose me.”
Wise’s amusement faded. “When?” he repeated.
I realized what I had said.
Prodigy caught it too. “Not if.”
“Do what you gotta do for her,” Lowe said, seriously.
“I ain’t never seen you look at nobody the way you look at Sonnet.
That girl got something out of you I didn’t even know was in there.
So, chase that feeling. Happy don’t come around much.
When it does, you better be smart enough to hold on to it. ”
I watched him, nodding slowly.
From the kitchen, Sonnet called, “The first one is ready.”
Lux shot toward the door while Lowe stared at me with an expression that confirmed what I already knew: This had moved far beyond lust.
And everybody could see it except the woman cooking breakfast in my kitchen.
Icon, Legend, Saint, Big A, and Reek waited near the center of the floor of their main warehouse when Wise, Prodigy, Lux, Lowe, and I walked in.
After handshakes and quick greetings, Icon looked between us, saying, “All five of y’all showing up usually means something happened.”
“Something happened,” I confirmed.
Legend motioned toward the chairs arranged beside one of the long worktables. “Then talk to us.”
My crew settled around the table, but I remained standing. “I know the terms of us getting our product from y’all is that we stay out of unnecessary shit and don’t bring problems to your door.”
Legend folded his arms with a nod. “That’s the agreement.”
“Unfortunately, I got into something that requires us to make some noise before I can end it.”
Icon asked, “What happened?”
“Roman hired me to collect a witness to Donovan’s murder. He said she saw something connected to Donovan’s murder, and he wanted the information before police used it to tear through his organization.”
Reek shrugged. “Reasonable enough for Roman.”
“It was a lie. She watched Roman kill Donovan himself. I heard him admit it.”
Every eye of the Cartier crew bucked. Saint’s was accompanied by a smile that thought this shit was hilarious.
“I’ve had her almost two weeks,” I continued. “Roman doesn’t know. He was so desperate to find her that he had his own men watching her too. I convinced him they probably scared her into running.”
“And now?” Big A asked.
“I’m not letting him kill her. She’s innocent.”
Wise cut in. “And Vega wants to wife her.”
Everybody laughed, except for me.
Saint noticed first that I wasn’t laughing and started grinning. “Oh, shit. He’s serious.” Then he shrugged. “I don’t see the problem.”
Legend pointed at him. “Of course you understand. You stole your woman from another nigga and started a war.”
“I rescued her,” Saint corrected.
“You kidnapped her,” Icon said.
“There won’t be a war,” I cut in. “Roman’s already fighting the Bellamys. It would be redundant for us to attack his operation. We need Roman dead. Once he’s gone, Sonnet is safe.”
Legend nodded slowly. “I trust you not to make this sloppy.”
Saint added, “And when it comes to our women, we’ve all been willing to burn the city down. So, I’m not judging shit.”
“If you need anything, ask,” Icon told me.
“The Street Kings stepped up when we needed help with the Crown, so we got y’all.
” Then his expression hardened. “Just make sure she’s worth whatever comes from moving against Roman.
Nothing wrong with risking it for the right woman, but you better know she’s the right one before you fumble everything. ”
I held his stare, admitting, “I don’t know her well enough to swear she is. It hasn’t even been a month. I just know she feels like mine. I feel that shit in my bones, and I haven’t even touched her. I’ve never felt anything close to this with another woman.”
The room got quiet, as I looked around, I realized that the Cartier men were feeling what I was saying and my niggas were surprised that I had even said it. But I knew they didn’t feel me because they had never felt these feelings before. The Cartiers had. That’s why they were married men.
“I’m saying that in front of my brothers knowing they’re going to clown me,” I admitted. “That alone should tell you how serious it is.”
Legend smiled first. Then Icon did too.
“Then she’s worth it,” Legend confirmed.
“I’m meeting with him this week. He’s tired of waiting. I’m going to try to take him out then.”
Icon nodded. “Then do what you have to do to protect her.”