Gunz And Laci: Black Rose Mafia (11 page)

Hours started to blend together as the days got shorter and the week seemed as if there was no longer seven days. My life was spiraling out of control and I had no clue how to stop it. After signing the agreement, everyone felt it was best that we get married within a month. March 15
th
was the date and that was only two weeks away. I was sitting in my office trying to focus on this case I was working on for Brett. That was another thing; I was no longer working on my own cases, but instead, I was helping Brett with his. I was starting to feel as though I was less of a woman. No, scratch that. I was starting to feel as if I was less of a human.

“Lacianne, you have a call on line one,” my secretary said, paging in on the intercom.

“This is Lacianne Bentley; how may I help you?” I said, answering the phone.

“Laci, why are you not answering your cellphone? I called you about a hundred times and I texted you.”

“I no longer have a cellphone,” I sighed.

“What do you mean you don’t have a cellphone? What the hell happened to it?”

“Mom and dad thought it would be best if I went without a phone until the wedding.”

“Why don’t they want you to have a phone? I swear, they are up to no good. Laci, please tell me you’re not going through with marrying Brett.”

“Nazi, yes, I’m marrying Brett and I don’t feel as though I owe you an explanation on why.”

“Like hell you don’t. Laci, I am your sister. Matter of fact, I’m the only family you have because Shirley and Dennis damn sure are not your family. If you owe anyone an explanation, it would be me. How could you do that to Gunz?”

Hearing Gunz’s name brought back so many memories of our lover’s weekend. Not a minute went by where I wasn’t thinking about Gunz. His face was embedded into my brain. I tried to shake him but he still remained. My flower longed for him and his curved Mandingo. I wanted him, I needed him, and my body craved him.

“I’m not doing anything to Gunz. What I’m doing is bigger than what Gunz and I may have had. Yes, I feel as though Gunz was the man for me, but sometimes you don’t end up with your soulmate. Sometimes you end up with some that you have to learn how to love.” That’s exactly what I was going to do with Brett; learn to love him. We weren’t living together yet and we didn’t have much communication either. I didn’t mind about the not living together thing, but us not having communication bothered me because I had numerous questions I needed to ask him. For starters, I needed to find out what else he was into because it had to be more than just law.

“I can’t believe this shit. Laci, you are really going to marry him because of that stupid deal you made with mom. It wasn’t even that serious. I need to come up there and slap some sense into you. You have always been the one to please them but this is going a little too far. I refuse to sit back and allow you to throw your life away for her. You can’t do this Laci; at some point, you have to put yourself first and do what’s best for you. Marrying Brett isn’t what’s best for you.”

“Nazi, you do not know what’s best for me. You always try to act like you’re the older sister when you’re not. I don’t need you trying to protect me because I can protect myself. I know what I’m doing, all I need you to do is trust,” I pleaded.

“Give me one reason why I should trust you, Laci? Nothing you can say will make me believe that this is the right thing for you to do.”

I let out a sigh because I was about to tell Nazi the reasons I agreed to the marriage. I already knew that, once I told her, it was going to start something else.

“I’m doing this for our biological mother.”

“Laci, repeat that to me,” she whispered.

“I’m doing it for our biological mother,” I repeated.

“What the fuck does that bitch have to do with you getting married?” she spazzed.

“Nazi, calm down or I’m hanging up the phone. I already have a headache and you yelling isn’t doing anything but making it worse.”

“Laci, you talked to our biological mother?”

“No, I haven’t talked to her but mom said if I married Brett, then she would set up a meeting between the two of us. I don’t know exactly how mom knows our biological mother but I believe that she was telling the truth.”

“How would she know our real mother Laci? That shit doesn’t even sound legit. I can’t believe you are falling for all of these lies they are feeding you. What happened to my strong willed sister that pushed me through school and that pushed her damn self twice as hard? What happened to my sister that I looked up to?”

“Nazi, you are being dramatic. I am still the same girl you used to look up to nothing changed.”

“Yes, something changed. Before, you used to do everything our parents wanted but it was never on the level to what it is now. You have absolutely no control over your life and you’re okay with it. And the only reason you are okay with it is because Shirley said she can get you a meeting with the woman who gave not only you up but me up for adoption too. Why would you want to meet with someone who just gave you away anyway? That bitch doesn’t deserve a second of your time, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you and you don’t have to call her a bitch. Nazi, you don’t understand because you were too young. Even though I don’t remember anything, I know that she had to have taken care of me up until the time you were born.”

“How can you say I don’t understand because I was too young but you don’t even remember shit? Laci, you know what? Do what you want to do because I’m tired of having this conversation with you. If you want to be dumb and get married to Brett, all because of a void that you have, then be my guest. I just hope that the void you are trying to fill is worth your freedom, your happiness, and your life.”

“Nazi, it’s not-” I couldn’t even get my sentence out because I was interrupted by the dial tone.

“UGH!” I shouted, slamming my office phone down.

Tears began to fall and I didn’t even care because everything was just getting so out of hand. I could’ve explained to Nazi exactly how I was feeling but she wouldn’t understand. It was as if no one understood my reasoning for this besides me. I wiped my tears away and told myself to suck it up. I made my bed and now I had to lie in it. I couldn’t be mad at Nazi because she had my best interest at heart.

Without thinking, I picked up my phone and dialed the one person that I needed the most right now. The phone rang once and my heart skipped a beat. It rang twice and my hands got sweaty. By the time it got to the third ring, my heart was damn near beating out of my chest.

“Gunz,” his deep voice echoed through the phone.

“It’s me,” I whispered.

“The fuck you want?” The anger in his voice was apparent and it intimidated me. I didn’t expect him to be happy go lucky, but I didn’t expect this aggressiveness either.

“Lacianne, can I speak to you?” Brett asked, waltzing into my office.

“You better not be giving that muthafucker my pussy. You hear me, Laci?” Gunz asked. I was stuck; Brett was standing in the middle of my office looking at me, while Gunz was yelling at me through the phone.

“Lacianne, put the phone down and listen to what I have to say to you,” Brett said, now pulling out the chair across from my desk.

“Laci, tell me that nigga isn’t getting my pussy. Say that shit right now or I promise I’ll be at your fucking office within the next sixty seconds.”

“He’s not getting your pussy,” I whispered.

“What was that?” Brett asked.

“I can’t fucking hear you, Laci; say that shit louder!” Gunz demanded.

“He’s not getting your pussy,” I said, loud enough for both Brett and Gunz to hear me.

“Good shit. Laci, keep that shit tight for your nigga.” He laughed and hung up the phone.

“Lacianne, who was that you were talking to on the phone?” Brett asked, looking suspicious.

“It was nobody,” I told him, placing the phone back on the base.

“Was it the thug from your parents’ house?”

“Brett, I told you it was no one. What would you like to talk to me about?”

“I would like to talk to you about who your pussy belongs to. You are going to be my wife in the next two weeks and I think I deserve the pussy fax.”

“The what?” I questioned

“You heard me, Lacianne. I deserve the pussy fax.” It took everything in me not to laugh at him. He was trying to come off as a boss when he said it, but instead, he came off as weak.

“Brett, I am not telling who I had sex with because it’s none of your business. Everyone I had sex with was before you; the only thing you should be concerned with is who I’m having sex with while I’m with you, which is no one, so you don’t have to worry about that. Now, again, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Lacianne, you will not talk to me as if I’m anything less than a boss.”

“Brett, what are you the boss of exactly?” This was the most we have talked since the whole marriage agreement. I was going to use this time to get some of my questions answered.

“What I’m the boss of doesn’t concern you, just as who you have been sleeping doesn’t concern me. What does concern you is the image you have to maintain. As I previously stated, I will not be talking to as if I’m anything less than a boss. When dating a boss, there are rules and regulations that need to be followed. You are a reflection of me and, even though I am good looking, I don’t want to allure people with my sex appeal, which means I don’t want you alluring people with your sex appeal. With that being said, I would like it if you would only wear skirts that go two inches below the knee. No low cute shirts and no heels that are above two inches.”

“Wait, what? Brett, you cannot tell me how to dress. I think I dress very professional compared to a lot of the other woman that work in this firm. My skirts are only an inch above my knees and my shirts are never low cut. I’m sorry if my sex appeal, as you put it, allures people but that just means I’m attractive. If you can’t handle having an attractive wife, then maybe I’m not the woman you should be marrying.” Brett had a lot of nerve coming in here trying to tell me how I should dress. Nothing about the way I dressed was in the marriage agreement, so this was something I was going to hold on to.

“Your sex appeal should only be reserved for your husband and nobody else.”

“I don’t have a husband yet and from the way things are going, I may not have one in two weeks either. I gave up a lot to marry you and the way I dress isn’t one of those things. Now, you can either deal with having an attractive fiancée or you can take my advice and marry someone else.”

“I have never seen this feisty side of you and I can’t say that I like it. Trust me when I say we are getting married because you are more powerful than what you know and together, we can be something unstoppable. All I ask is that you take what I said into consideration. I assure you that, if you agree to my terms, I will make it worth your wild.”

“I’m sure that you would but this is something I’m not budging on.”

“Have it your way then sweetheart. Believe me when I tell you that the attention your sex appeal brings isn’t always good attention.” With that, he got up and walked out of my office.

Once he was gone, I let out a frustrated scream. It seemed as with each passing day, I started to second guess my decision. But then I would think about the conversation I would soon have with my mother and this all seemed worth it.

I hung up the phone with a smirk on my face. Laci knew what time it was, which was why she said what I told her to. She wasn’t fooling nobody, with me was where she wanted to be. As long as she wasn’t giving my pussy away, then we was cool. I still wasn’t fucking with her ass though. I’m driving up to the airport to pick up Jinx. He was supposed to get in last night but changed his flight at the last moment. I already knew Nazi was the cause but I wasn’t hating. I was happy Jinx found someone else besides his computer to spend his time with. Now, if only Jiselle would find her a nigga, so her ass wouldn’t be as crazy anymore.

“Nigga, bout time yo ass got here. You never on time,” Jinx complained, getting in the car.

“You lucky I even came to pick your ass up. Pussy must’ve been good to keep you a whole extra day.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You didn’t hit? Then what the fuck was you doing out there for the past three days.”

“I was just chilling. Sex isn’t the most important thing to me. Just getting her on my team was good enough for me.”

“At least you got your chick. Mines is out here acting a fool and shit, like she don’t have no act right.” I was trying my hardest to just say fuck Laci, but she was always invading my thoughts. No matter what I did, her ass would pop the fuck up. I was so fucking close to having Jiselle kidnap her ass and keep her tied up in a basement.

“Laci will come around; Nazi supposed to be talking to her about that shit.”

“Laci is a grown ass woman; no one should be trying to change the decision she made. If I’m living with her dumb ass decision, then so should everyone else. Laci has to realize on her own she’s making a mistake. Until then, she’s not going to do nothing but pull away from everyone who tries to tell her otherwise.”

“If that’s how you want to look at it. I need to talk to you about something serious though.”

“Then get to talking.”

“I’m thinking about moving down to Atlanta with Nazi.”

“The fuck you just say?”

“You heard me, nigga. I’m thinking about moving to the A with Nazi. I’ll move back up to New York once she graduates in June.”

“Nah, I’m not even letting that shit rock,” I told him. Jiselle, Jinx, and I have never been apart and we damn sure wasn’t about to start now. Those two were my only family, besides my parents, but even my parents were like sperm donors.

“Gunz, I’m not your child bruh. I’m your little brother. At the end of the day, I’m my own man and I do what the fuck I want. Me moving to Atlanta isn’t going to stop nothing. I don’t kill niggas; I set up niggas downfall using my intellect and technology. I can do that shit from anywhere.”

“I hear all of that, but with you gone, who the fuck am I supposed to chill with? Jiselle too crazy for me to be around her all the time.”

“Nigga, you sounding like a bitch.” He laughed. “I’m only going to be gone for four months. Before I leave, I’ll make sure you and Laci are on good terms, so you have someone to put up with your bullshit.”

“Fuck her.” I laughed.

“You say that now until she ends up at your house.”

“Nah, let her end up at my house and I’m fucking her,” I joked. “On a serious note, I miss her little ass. I’m starting to think I’m in love with her,” I told him truthfully.

“Love is the only way to explain the way you been acting. I never thought your ass would be in love after that shit with Milani went down.”

“I didn’t either. It’s just something about her green ass.”

“You know you’re gonna have to teach her the ropes and shit. I like Laci but her ass is soft as hell. If she going to be fucking with the fam, then she need to square up or some shit. For her and Nazi to be sisters, they are like night and fucking day.”

“Don’t worry, I got Laci. Her ass was made for this shit; she just doesn’t know it yet. When you telling the parents ‘bout you moving?”

“Sunday at family dinner.”

“You know that shit is going to go left, right? Hold your news until we find out what our next assignment is.”

“Ight, you can call up the Colombians and let them know that problem was handled. Let them know they have four days to handle their business and get the fuck out.”

“You handled that shit when you were in the A?”

“Yeah nigga, I told you I can do that shit from anywhere,” he smirked.

One of the Colombian cartel’s needed to come into America without being detected, since he was on the watch list for a string of murders. It was Jinx’s job to get him here and back home without a problem. I thought it was going to take Jinx at least a week to hack into the Bureau of Consular Affairs main frame, but the nigga did it in a matter of days. I used to tease him about being a nerd, but shit, he was the greatest nerd I ever seen.

* * * *

Sunday rolled around faster than what I would’ve liked. These family meetings were something that I dreaded because the shit was always about business. Pulling up to my parents’ house, Jiselle, Jinx, and I all stepped out of the car. We walked the short distance to the house and knocked on the door. We all had our own keys but knew better than to just walk into our parents’ house uninvited.

“I’m glad to see all of you are on time and punctual. That’s a good thing because what I need to say can’t wait,” my father said as he closed the door behind us.

“Go into the living room, because before we eat, business has to be discussed.”

We all nodded our heads and walked into the living room. We each took turns giving our mother a hug and kiss before taking our seats and waiting for our father to start talking.

“As I told y’all two Sundays ago, I had a job for the three of you. However, the way y’all behaved at the dinner table was unacceptable. The way I reacted may have put our family in jeopardy.”

“Put our family in jeopardy how?” Jiselle asked.

“Let your father continue before asking questions.” My mother held her hand up then looked to my father to continue.

“There is a marriage that is happening within the next two weeks. Now this marriage isn’t a regular marriage. Let me back track to explain a little. As you know, Black Mafia is one of the most powerful and well known families in the state of New York, but there are two other families that are just as powerful, if not more. The Ferragamo family are all involved in the law aspect of things. They range from dirty judges to corrupted cops and everything in between. Then you have the Lewis family, now the Lewis family was into money laundering and drugs.

Back in the day, the Lewis family was the most powerful family in New York. They were the people to see when you needed a hit squad or you just needed a hit. With the Black Mafia being just underneath the Lewis family in ranking of power, we thought it would be a good idea to team up together in a sense.  A.J Lewis had a daughter who he wanted to carry out his legacy and I had a son who wanted to carry out mine. We thought it would be best if the two of them wed, joining our families together. Ultimately, it would make us the most powerful family.

The Ferragamo family caught wind of the idea and, even though it was never proven, I strongly believe they somehow took out A.J and his wife, Camelia, right after their second daughter turned one.

Eventually, the Ferragamo family moved up in ranks but not high enough. They always came second to The Black Mafia. Then, when Black Rose Mafia was created, we became the most powerful family in the world off the strength of all the connections we had. Now, the Ferragamo family is supposed to be marrying off their son, Brett. No one outside of the Ferragamo family knows exactly who the young lady is that Brett is marrying, but her name supposedly holds clout in the world of illegal activities.

Jinx, I need you to find out who he is marrying, where they are getting married, and anything else that you can find out. Gunz and Jiselle, I need the two of you to handle the situation. I want every single last one of those muthafuckers dead. They have been trying for years to steal the power we possess and I refuse it to let it happen. Y’all have two weeks to get this shit under control and handle business.” My father made eye contact with each one of us.

“Hold up, you mean to tell me you were going to set up an arranged marriage between me and some broad all for power.”

“Son, it was much more than that,” my mother tried to explain but my father cut her off.

“Yes Bryce, you would’ve had an arranged marriage for power. It was what I felt was best for my family.”

“Man, fuck all that shit. I hope this nigga Brett marries whoever it is he needs to marry for his family to have this power you care so fucking much about. You know, growing up, I used to idolize you but the more I got to know you, the more I began to despise you. Money, power, and respect seems to be the only thing that makes your world go round. I would love to see what kind of human you would be if you weren’t the one on top of the world.”

I couldn’t believe this shit. Here I was thinking Laci’s parents were crazy as fuck for setting her up with an arranged marriage when my parents were willing to do the same thing.

“Bryce, this is all bigger than you. You have no reason to be mad because it never happened. You are bitching over something that was supposed to happen. It’s in the past so fucking leave it there,” my father demanded.

“Both of y’all chill out,” Jinx said “What ever happened to the two girls?”

“I don’t know. I tried looking for them but it was as if they vanished,” my pops told Jinx but never took his eyes off of me.

“I think it would be a good idea if you look up those girls too,” my mother said. “I don’t remember the youngest daughter’s name but their oldest daughter was named Lacianne or something to that nature.”

“What did you just say?” I questioned, looking in my mother’s direction.

“I said her name was Lacianne, if I’m not mistaken,” my mother repeated.

“This can’t be fucking happening right now!” I yelled, running my hands through my head. I picked up the vase that was in the middle of the coffee table and threw it against the wall.

“Bryce!” my mother yelled.

“Does someone want to explain to me what the hell is going on?” my father questioned.

“I knew there was something about that chick I didn’t care for too much,” Jiselle said.

“I can’t deal with this shit right now!” I barked, getting up, ready to leave.

“Gunz, sit yo ass down now!” my father said.

“I may be your son but I am my own man who does what the fuck he wants.”

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain to me what is going on!”

“Laci or Lacianne, as y’all know her, is my bitch. I guess you got what you wanted after all.” I smirked then left out the house. I got in the car and sat there for a second, trying to piece everything together. If this wasn’t irony, then I didn’t know what the fuck was. The bitch I was supposed to have been set up with was the bitch that had my head all fucked up.

“Yo, you ight?” Jinx asked, hopping in the car.

“Nah, I’m not the fuck alright. I have a feeling Laci is the one that Brett’s marrying. As bad as I don’t want to help pops with this shit, I’m not going to sit there and let Laci marry this nigga.”

“Fuck pops because this don’t even really have anything to do with him. If you want me to look into that shit, then just say the word and I will.”

“Nigga, look into that shit and let me know what you find out. Also, hit up Nazi and find out where her sister’s head at. I’m about to go to the crib and chill the fuck out before I body something. Two nights from tonight, gather everyone at the warehouse; we need to have a meeting about this shit. With the shit I have in mind, a war is going to break out and we need to be ready.”

“Say less my nigga; you know I got you.”

I nodded my head and drove off. This was some crazy fucking shit but I was done playing games. If it was power my father wanted, then it was power he was going to get; the only difference would be Black Rose Mafia was about to become a family of their own.