Tubs knits his brows. “Party?”
“It’s not every day I claim an old lady. It’s going to be a fucking party. You got me?”
He’s silent for long seconds. “Are you sure you want to do this, Ride? She’d make good club candy. You could use her and—”
“Tubs, man, we’ve been through wars together, and I respect the hell out of you, but unless you want to breathe through a damn straw, you need to shut the fuck up.”
He clears his throat. “I’m just saying,” he mutters, but he’s smart enough to keep his fucking mouth shut after that. Probably because he knows where I stand on this shit.
I still decide to make it crystal-clear.
“I’m claiming her as my old lady, and when I’m done, all of you will know to stay the fuck away from her. Langley isn’t fucking club candy. She’s my old lady. You got me?”
Tubs nervously nods a little. “If you’re sure, man. But if you’re doing this out of a warped sense of loyalty because she wasted that fucker Einstein, you’re going a little far here.”
I clench my jaw, my patience wearing thin. “Did things fucking change while I was chained in that basement, motherfucker?”
“What? What do you mean?” he asks, and I know the tone of my voice makes him even more nervous. That’s good. The motherfucker should be scared shitless.
“Did things change so that you think you can question me about any-fucking-thing?”
“No, of course not.” He shakes his head furiously.
“I didn’t think so. If I wanted to thank Langley for killing that waste of space Einstein, I’d give her money and set her up far away from here. I’m not doing that shit, now am I?”
“No,” he says, and I think I see understanding dawning on his face.
It’s about fucking time.
“I’m claiming her as my old lady, because she’s got fucking courage; she’s got a fire in her that I’ve been watching for days.”
“I got it, man. I didn’t mean to piss you off,” he says, backpedaling, but I ignore him. I finish what I have to say, and he better tell them all, because I don’t want to repeat myself again.
“And I’m claiming her, because she wants me, even if she isn’t sure what to do about that just yet.”
“Christ, she’s a virgin?”
I don’t confirm or deny what he says. Fucking truth is, I don’t know for sure myself yet, but I’d lay good money down on the fact that she is, and I never take a bad bet.
“But mostly, motherfucker, I’m claiming her, because I want buried balls-deep inside her any fucking time I want. I don’t want any other man but me to have that sweet honey. Are we clear?”
“You don’t have to claim her as an old lady to get that, Ride,” he says, but he’s more relaxed now. He sees what I’m not saying and that’s good.
“Yeah, I can, but Langley is a good woman. She deserves my cut, and since I know she’s in my bedroom waiting on me, I’m going to tell you one last piece of information, when normally I’d just shoot off your dick for questioning me and walk off leaving your sorry ass to bleed on the floor.”
“Got it,” he says, and he swallows nervously. Tubs knows me well enough to understand I’m not making an idle threat. I don’t like that the asshole has questioned me at all. I respect him and we have been through a lot of shit together, but that doesn’t mean he can get away with this shit ever again.
“Langley will make her own way here, but you better make it known to everyone that if they try to pull shit with her that makes me unhappy, I will make them pay.”
“The men and old ladies will fall in line with that, Ride; you know that shit. But you can’t expect the candy to just stand around and let Langley have a clear shot at you. They’re going to test her.”
“Langley will handle them,” I tell Tubs confidently.
“She’s awfully young and new to our kind of life, man.”
“You’ll see,” I tell him, walking off.
The truth is, I hope I’m not fooling myself. Langley wants me; I know that, and I’m slowly going to feed that fire over the next four days. I just hope, when it’s all said and done, she’s going to step up and claim me as much as I plan on claiming her. Tubs is right. She’s not of my world and she might not know our ways, but she’s a woman, and I’ve seen the flash of jealousy she couldn’t hide back at her place when Dessie got near me.
Hopefully, Langley’s instinct and desire will take over. If not? I’ll be forced to step in, but I’d rather not. Ultimately, even with my help, if my crew view Langley as weak, they’ll separate from her. They won’t hurt her, but they will ignore her, shun her. Eventually, cracks will show, and our life together will eat her alive.