Page 28 of Save Room for Us

“Sif got these hos in check!” somebody yelled, and I couldn’t pinpoint who it was in order to tell his ass to shut the fuck up.

Lisa shot Milan a glare as she adjusted her top that had slightly exposed her breasts, before walking off. I did the same, feeling Milan right on my heels. That fucking quick, I wasn’t in the mood to be bothered with her ass and knew it would take more than her stripping down in the middle of my penthouse to get my dick hard tonight.

Sitting back down where I was with Low, Grady, and Free, I ignored Milan sitting at the table with us instead of mingling with her cousin and homegirls.

“When can I get a glimpse of our new staff?” Free quizzed, taking a toke on his blunt.

“She pretty too.” Grady nodded, and Free’s eyes widened. “Sif won’t let nobody get close to her ass though.”

I felt Milan’s eyes zero in on me as her ears seemingly perked up at that information. Again, I ignored her. And them niggas knew not to speak cavalierly about why Anastazia was working for me.

“What’s her name?” Free inquired.

“Anastazia or Stazi,” Low answered, knowing her a little better than them niggas from attending family get-togethers and shit.

“Damn, so give me the rundown on how she look? I wanna know if I should bring her some gifts when I get to the warehouse.” Free blew out smoke.

“Nah, you shouldn’t, and it don’t fucking matter what she look like, nigga. She not there for that, and even if she was, it’s not on the table for you,” I finally spoke up.

“Wow.” Milan sucked her teeth, commenting lowly.

“Oh shit!” Free put his fist to his mouth as Grady shot him a look saying ‘told you.’

“Aye, Sif, let me talk to you real brief.” Grady tapped me, finishing off whatever was in his red cup and standing.

Against my better judgement, I stood, trailing Grady inside the house, waiting until he shut the sliding door.

“What’s good?” I quizzed.

“I wanted to have a real talk with you about some shit. This ain’t something we usually discuss, so I ain’t know how to go about it.” When I just stared at his ass, he continued. “I’m interested in Stazi. And I don’t mean in my usual type of way. I actually wanna see where it goes. I feel like she would be the one to make me change my ways.”

I kept my hands in my pockets, something that had become a habit of mine when I didn’t wanna haul off and clock a nigga, like right now.

Trying to keep my composure so I wouldn’t look like a thirsty, jealous muthafucka, I said, “That ain’t no good idea.”

“Why? You said you wasn’t interested in her like that, and I swear I won’t do shit while she’s working. Only reason I’m even bringing it up to you is because we cool, and I respect you.”

I didn’t like the way he just put that shit as if he was planning to fuck with Anastazia no matter what the fuck I said.

“She not in a place to be dating right now. She dealing with shit, and all she wanna do is make her money and get through this bullshit with her ex. She trusted me to provide her with a safe place of employment, and that means barring you muthafuckas from pushing up on her, even outside of the workplace.”

“Yeah, man, but?—”

“And are you truly ready for that type of shit? You the same nigga who falls asleep in the strip club and you in yo’ mid-thirties. Are you really about to put all that shit behind you to take care of Anastazia and her baby?”

“I am. For her.”

“Nah, you not.” I shook my head, staring down at him. “I suggest you leave that shit alone, Grady, ’cause if you fuck with and fuck over Anastazia, I’m gon’ murk you.”

“So I’m guessing you not gon’ try yo’ hand with her either?”

“Don’t worry about what the fuck I’m gon’ do. Just know you can’t. Not you nor any of these other niggas.”

Grady eyed me for a moment, and I knew he was calling my bluff. He’d been around me long enough to know I didn’t go around gatekeeping pussy, so if I was, it was because I wanted the shit myself. Only reason I wasn’t putting the shit out there plainly to him was because I wasn’t sure what Anastazia was trying to do. Additionally, I felt like if I put claim on her in that manner, muthafuckas would take her working there as a joke. I didn’t want her being seen as a piece of pussy I put on to a job just because I liked her. She’d earned that shit and needed to be respected as such.

“End of the day, boss, we all grown, and she can do what she want.”

I nodded, glancing off for a second and said, “Yeah, she can, but if you go against me, we gon’ have an issue. Can’t enjoy Anastazia if you dead, cuz. Keep that in mind.”

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