Page 103 of Dope Boys: Most Wanted
Reign finished packing the rest of the food and frowned. “What do you mean, as bad as me?”
“You ain’t spoiled, Speechless?” Markus posed, knowing something she didn’t.
“I mean, I might be a little bit.”
He smirked. “How about a lot of bit. You want me to show you how much?”
“Uh uh, I’m already walking funny,” she quipped. “You’ve made me mess up two outfits already. And I’m going to have your aunts giving me the look.”
“You act like I’m above messing up a third. Why can’t we just have everyone come over here?” Markus posed.
“First off, you’ll want to sneak off, say fuck them, and have me pinned up against something. Second, Aunt Lucille cannotwalk down all of those steps,” Reign said. “Trust me, I’ve thought about it. She hates being stuck in the house. I’ve made it a point to go over every week and help her do whatever, sit and talk to her, do her hair. You’re blessed, you know.”
“I know. She took in two badass kids and then got Svyn as a participation trophy. Her, Slim, and Aunt G are the reason Nia and I are like this,” Markus stated, and Reign made a silly face. “What?”
“Crazy? All three of you, crazy,” Reign joked.
“Hi pot, I’m ya nigga kettle. I might shoot guns and do a whole lotta shit, but my lil’ baby is quick with a knife.”
Reign rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I was put into a position and I had to do what I had to do.”
“And that’s some honorable shit. Protecting yourself like that and not feeling bad about it. You cold, Speechless.”
Reign hummed. “I’d rather not be cold. I want to be warm and soft. I don’t want to be cold, but I also don’t want to be tried, so I guess it’s a good quality to develop.”
“Only use that shit when you need to. Outside of that, stay warm, stay soft.”
“I hear you. You ready? I want to get this over there while it’s still hot.”
“Yeah,” Markus said. “Get your shoes and grab those keys for me.”
Reign moved toward the foyer, picking up a pair of keys and looking at them oddly. “These aren’t the right keys.”
“They are. They’re yours.”
“Emilliano,” Reign gasped. “No.”
“Yes,” he said with a grin. “I told you I was.”
“When do you have time to do – how?” Reign couldn’t even get the full thought out of her mouth as she jogged to the door, stopping to slip her feet into a pair of slides. “Milli!”
Markus was on her trail to walk out of the house in front of her. He never knew what was waiting on the other side of the door, and if someone was out there wanting to take his heart from him, they would have to hit him first. The briskness of the air bit his bare arms, but the happiness oozing from Reign was warmer than any sweater.
She fumbled with the keys to unlock the door and climb in. “I love it! I love it! I love it!”
Markus got in on the passenger side. “You’re going to be driving me around now.”
“I’m not even going to complain,” she said, taking in the plush leather, new car smell, and spaciousness of her space gray Mercedes-Benz GLS. “Thank you. I love you.”
She leaned over to kiss him. A laugh rumbled against her lips. “I love you too.”
“That back seat has some space,” Reign hummed. “Maybe after we leave, we can figure out how much space there is.”
Markus didn’t respond, just looked at her with stars dancing in his eyes.
“What?” she mused.
“I want to keep you, just like this. Happy, thriving, weightless.”
