Prince : Love Always Wins (The Richards Book 3)

by Bre Shadae

“You know this is for us. It’s only to secure our future,” he said and I chortled. “Yes, sticking your dick in another woman is exactly what is going to secure our future. That makes so much fucking sense. Get the hell off me, Devin.”

Unfortunately, that came with the territory since she started as my rehab therapist. I should have known better. I needed more after my brother’s wedding. There are so many things a small vacation raises to the surface. I wanted control. I couldn’t spiral. Not again.

I stayed up all night while everyone was asleep and didn’t rest until it worked again. I was so proud of myself.

“His ass ain’t gone never learn then.” Remy laughed and pulled up his pants even higher than they were. “Damn, Remy, you sure yo old ass need to be out here? You pull up your pants any higher yo ass ain’t gone be able to see.” Cairo laughed at his own joke.

“Speaking of women, what’s going on with you and Lesha? You know she's out back?” “What the hell you talking about?” The mention of her name did something to me. I couldn’t quite say what, but he had my attention. Control.

There wasn’t a need to answer because once the crowd shifted slightly, Devin was on one knee with a ring box in his hand. I was never so happy with the twenty-twenty vision I possessed in my life. Le looked around the crowd until her eyes landed on me. Our connection lingered there momentarily. I held my gaze tight to her face until she looked down again. A few seconds later, she nodded her head, and another round of screams swirled through the air, making my blood boil. “I guess you right, cuz. It really ain’t like that,” Chaz spoke. I made it two steps before Priest grabbed my arm to stop my motion. “Bruh, chill.” “Aww shit! This is about to be good! Welcome back cuz!” Chaz said.

“Right, first it’s a baby, then what? You gone let your damn father call the shots for you your whole damn life. What if he wants you to do something else? You gone jump through hoops until your ass is on fire?” I spat. “You act like it’s my fucking fault you can’t have kids!” I stepped forward and slapped the shit out of him.

“I know the woman I’m claiming will be wearing the rock I proudly gave her. Especially just hours after I dropped on one knee.” “You got a comeback for everything. But guess what? I do, too.” “I ain’t worried about that, either, because I’m just getting started.” He stepped forward, and the temperature around me changed dramatically. He was just inches from me, and he wasn’t close enough.

He started to walk away. The same way he did when we were in the reception hall at the wedding and I panicked. I didn’t want our conversation to be over even though I was so desperately deflecting. “We broke up,” I blurted out and he stopped and turned back. Another smile. “Clearly, Le.”

“I’m sorry you even pegged me for that type. This right here is commitment dick, baby. I’m too old to play games. You make me feel like fucking up some shit behind you, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. I won’t pretend that’s something I can do with you. Now what happens between us is our business, but damn right, everybody gone know you’re the only person I would be sharing my affections with.”

I was determined to get some time alone with her. Whatever this pull was, I had to find out what it was before it drove me crazy.

He nodded while he responded to a text on his phone. My eyes swung in the direction of Satisa’s room. “Le in there?” I asked Priest a question I already knew the answer to, “Who? Twin?” “She got a name nigga.” “Damn bruh. I ain’t know it was like that. When did that happen?” “Shit, it’s about to happen. She just don’t know it yet.”

“Yo Chaz. I need a favor.” “Hood Parliamentarian. Nigga what ya need?” Chaz spoke cockily and he could because I was more than confident he could handle my request. “I need a highway shut down. Just for about an hour.” “What? Where ya at cuz?” I heard his voice drop. “Nah, not like that. We good. Just this hardheaded ass girl that can’t resist a challenge.”

“Race me.” Her eyes lit up. “What? You serious.” This time, the smile stayed. I knew she couldn’t resist. “What’s the bet? I would hate to take your money, but I will. You seem so cocky, and crushing your ego would be my pleasure.” She batted her eyelashes, and it made me laugh.

Even from our small encounters, I saw her as a thrill seeker. That firecracker personality drew me in and left me wanting more. Once we made it to the highway, I saw Chaz on it, as I knew he would be. Nothing but a strip of land, and I felt bad for how quickly she lost the race. Once we started, I had to slow down to keep her in my rearview. Once we hit seventy-five South I she fell in line behind me. After about ten minutes I received a call and her number flashed across my screen. “So you do have my number.” “Where are we going, Prince?” She was full of attitude. “About ten more minutes. I want to show you something.”

“Taming you is the last thing on my mind. I like your wild ass the way you are. I want way more than what’s on the surface. There is so much more to you than you are showing me. That’s a prize I’m willing to work for. Earning you would be my absolute pleasure.”

A loud crashing sound broke our hold and she pushed away from me on cue. I looked at her face and she was completely spooked. A complete change in a matter of seconds. “What the hell was that?” Her words were rushed and her movements were even quicker. She drew out a pink pistol and held it to her side. “What you doing?” I asked, and I took the gun from her hands. It was a minor fight but I won it without causing her any harm. “It sounded like a car backfiring. You good?” I pinned her with my eyes and hers plummeted to the floor. What the hell was that about? “Let me go check it out. Stay here.”

“Le, look I don’t have no games or no smoke and mirrors for you. I’m loving everything I see and I feel when I’m around you. I’m interested in you and everything that comes with that. Ultimately it’s your choice. But you can trust me when I say I see you for everything you are and that doesn’t scare me.”

“See this? This feels nice,” she said. “Nah, you trying to play. But I’m not looking for temporary shelter. I’m looking for a place to call home. So when I’m in that pussy touching your lungs, I need to know that your heart is calling my name. I need my woman to trust me. To see me. I’ve been through a lot of shit but my woman has to know exactly who I am and all the ways I will come through for her. I’ve tried other ways before. This time I’m intentional.”

“Y’all I think I’m a hoe.” “You is, but why you say that?”

I looked around my house, and I couldn’t walk two feet without bumping into an illustrious bouquet of roses.

“I woke up this morning to someone at my door. Prince sent me flowers. A whole fucking house full.”

“You didn’t answer your phone, so I guess you want to see my face.” Prince turned and took one step into the open door.

“I came over because I wanted to be in your presence, so instead of going back and forth with you on the phone, I came over here to speed up our interaction. It doesn’t hurt I get to look in your pretty ass face while I do so.”

“Whatever you need, I’m patient enough to give you. I’m trying to save you, baby because once I’m inside of you, it’s us whether you agree to that or not. Please know I’m not fucking around when it comes to you. After what I have been through, I’m not settling for anything less.”

“Why do you want to give me the most precious part of you without anything attached to it? Do you know how beautiful your trust is? How lovely your heart is? In the hands of the right man—"

“As far as other men seeing you, they could never see what I see when I look at you.”

He laid a kiss on my forehead and left me on the couch with a mess between my legs. All I could do was lay there and think about how I was about to call my sister and best friend from the airport in a few hours.

“Look, Kiara, we will have a meeting tomorrow with the crew, but if you read your email communication, all of that is outlined. I was the only one reporting to the site today.” “And I bet you thought that he would be all alone, too. You ain’t slick, hoe,” Le shot, and I hated that seeing her need to be possessive turned me on.

“For you to think she holds a candle to you is crazy. She can’t move me the way you do. Look at you fucking killing it without trying. This is a different level of living baby. They’ll always be other men looking at you. They're supposed to, but as long as they don’t get too close, I don’t give a fuck. As a matter of fact, I like that. You getting territorial and shit.” “Don’t ruin the moment, Prince.” She rolled her eyes through a smile.

“I think we unlocked a praise kink, Le.” “Wow.” She said like a lightbulb went off in her head.

“The way he treats me. I have never felt that before. The way he talks to me. I don’t even want to get used to it.” “No, look at me. You deserve good things, Lesha. You are worthy of happiness.

Trust me, no matter what you did, especially in self-defense, its not a deal breaker.” She connected eyes to me, and automatically, I solved a mystery that was floating around about the death of her cousin. I wouldn’t press because it wasn’t her story to tell. I nodded, but I didn’t want to move. Her embrace felt too good. Being hugged genuinely by a friend, a sister, was what I needed.

“What are you doing?” he asked, but I could tell he appreciated seeing me as he slowly perused my body as if it were his first time seeing it. ​“Shit!” I squealed as the glass shattered behind me. Bullets were flying and I couldn’t tell which way they were coming from. This was the number one reason I hated being outside in Flint. Shit could pop off anywhere. I didn’t have time to react before I was scooped up and tossed into his car. Prince reversed at lightning speed and backed out to the street. I looked out the back window and I could see a car behind us. My heart stopped. I felt like I was in a movie.

Then my eyes connected to the driver of the car chasing us. It couldn’t have been.

“And I know yours. Tell me what’s going on then.” “I just keep shutting him out. He’s a good dude. I can tell that, but I can’t trust a damn soul. I feel like I’m fucking broken.” That admission had tears pouring from my face. “You are not broken; we have been through a lot of shit.”

“You know why we love our best friend, Satisa? Why we mesh with her so well?” My sister finally chimed in. “What? Why?” “Because she gives us hope. She is a real woman that has been through shit just like us even if we haven’t shared it all with her. It happened for her. It will happen for us. You can trust yourself, Lesha. Trust yourself to walk away from anything that doesn’t serve you or anything that hurts you. Just don’t walk past the good shit because I saw the way you looked at him. You don’t want the next bitch to come by and scoop him up.”

“Anywhere that you are comfortable.” “I am comfortable next to you.” I got closer to him, and this time, he didn’t shy away. Instead, he pressed a kiss to my lips. He pulled me into him and I melted into his arms. “I’m not running from this, Le. I will fix this for you. No matter what you do or don’t decide to say to me. You don’t have to live like this anymore.”

“I just want to feel you, baby. Please,” She whined, knowing exactly what her begging would do to me. It was my mission to please her. “This my shit? I’m the only one that can have this pussy baby?” I asked and kissed away her response, feeling the electricity between us. I wanted her so fucking bad, and it had nothing to do with her body.

She took a large gulp and closed her eyes. “I killed somebody.” My mind turned in a few different directions, but my body didn’t react. I was waiting for her to say something else, but she didn’t. She kept her eyes closed, like she didn’t want to see me. “That’s vague, baby.” “Maceo. My ex-boyfriend. He was abusive. He was attacking me one day, and he was trying to rape Nesha while I was passed out. I was in and out, but I made it to the gun, and I killed him. I thought I did.” She paced back and forth. “What you mean you thought?” I asked, stopping her. “Everything was moving so fast. When they were shooting, I could’ve sworn I saw him, but he was dead. I know he was. I shot him myself, and we took his money and ran. I couldn’t have.” Her eyes began to leak profusely again.

“No, Prince this is not your fight. I see what you are doing and I don’t want you to compromise yourself.” “I’m already compromised because of how I feel for you, but that’s my choice, and I can handle whatever comes our way. I need you to trust that. I need you to trust me. I’ll solve this for us but I can’t have you fighting against me. Just give this shit to me. You don’t have to carry it no more.”

“I don’t know how to be what you are asking for. I want to, Prince. I want to more than anything.” I wanted to stay back but my hands moved to the side of her face and brought her eyes to me. “You don’t have to know. Just say yes. Please just let me have this shit so I can show you the type of man I can be for you. What I can be for us.” She rubbed her lips together as her eyes fluttered closed. When she opened them I felt a rumbling in my chest. “Okay. I’ll let you handle this. Just tell me what you want me to do.” “Kiss me,” I commanded. “What?” “Right now. I need you to kiss me.”

“You know what yellow roses signify?” I had to interrupt because she was so caught up in the scene I thought I would never get her back. “Friendship, but I know you got them because they are my favorite color.” “Not just friendship. They signify strength. I don’t know if anybody told you how incredibly strong you have been. To go through the things you went through, something that never should have happened, and for you to still be brave enough to be here. To be open to what we are building even though the walls you built were high, it is worth every effort to climb them muthafuckas.”

I got closer to her as she stood on the other end of the island. I had a few more things to say, but I knew I had to keep her out of reach if I wanted to finish. “They also signify a way to say welcome. I want you to understand nothing but good things are to come not just for us together but for you as well. You are standing in your own light. You’ve picked up and started a movement with your business in weeks, and I am incredibly proud of what is to come for you. Last, they do mean friendship.”

She lifted her head and cleared her eyes as best she could. “It feels so good to let go, " she whispered. For somebody else, that may not have been the response they were looking for, but it hit me in the center of my chest. It was time for all the words to be done. It was time for straight action. I pulled her into me, and our lips touched, but this time, it was different. I felt her surrendering, and then I felt the moment she pulled back.

“I can get lost on this peak easily. It was my favorite place. Now it has moved down to second since nothing can compare to the home I made between those thighs, but it’s still beautiful.” I blushed at his words.

“I want you right here tonight. I want that pussy cumming on this dick while the sun sets behind us.”

“You are so fucking beautiful. You think I’m not gone put every fucking kid I can in that womb, you crazy. I’m gone love on yo’ ass ‘til the day I die. I mean that, Le. I promise I do. I know everything, Le, and I still want you. I love you and you are more than enough for me.”

“We have an audience, and it isn’t quite time for the show yet. How about you show them the numbers, and I’ll be your subject while you show them the benefits of this balcony in real time?”

“I’ll kill these muthafuckas,” I growled into her ear. “Why when no one can touch me like you do? No one else can see me for who I am.” She threw my words back on me and the way she was speaking vibrated directly to my dick. She smiled when she felt it shift. “The numbers first. We have plenty of time for that in a bit. Let's show them the cost to hide the treasure. Wait we always discussed my safe word. What’s yours?”