September 7, 2008
Juice wiped his palms on his jeans as he sat across the table from Aleksandr, he had been working on his laptop when the large Russian sat down across from him and closed his laptop. It was time, it was time for the talk and he was nervous as hell for it. He had no idea what would come of it but he hoped it wouldn't be something bad. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about you being back in the picture." Aleksandr crossed his arms and glared at the smaller man. "Do I need to warn you about what will happen if you make her cry? I think you finding me in your house was warning enough but I'll be happy to threaten to put a bullet between your eyes…" He smirked at Juice.
"I don't need another warning and I told you before I have no intention to hurt Bri… At all. I love her, I'm in love with her and all I want is to be with her and have a family with her." He rubbed his forehead and looked at the man. "I'm giving you my word, man to man, that I have no plans on hurting her."
The man nodded and sighed. "It's not about hurting her, it's about you being able to handle the responsibilities that now come with being with Brianna… She's not who she was a decade ago Juan, she's the head of the Family, if you were to marry her, it'd be you taking over the responsibilities that she has. When you see her sitting out and chatting up a group of Russian men, she's handling business. I need you to think long and hard about this, if you were to marry her would you be able to run the family business… Both the legal and illegal parts."
Juice nodded, he hadn't even thought about the aspect of being head of anything, up until this point in life, he'd always been told what to do and how to do it. "I think I can handle it… All of it, I may need some guidance at first but I could really do it all." He smiled at Aleksandr and nodded his head eagerly. "I am ready for all the responsibilities that come along with Bri and this family."
Aleksandr rubbed his temples. "I'm going to give you a task…" He pulled an envelope from his suit pocket and passed it to Juice. "If you can complete that task, then I'll be good with letting you take over for Bri, in the event that you fail but you still want to marry my daughter… You'll be taking her last name, she won't be taking yours. You get that?" He stood up looking at the man once more before leaving the kitchen.
He watched Aleksandr stomp out of the french doors before he tore open the envelope, his eyes moving over the paper before he read. "Here's your mark, you'll find what you need in the garage, get it done." He tucked the paper into his kutte before standing up from the table.
"Babe." Bri wrapped her arms around his waist. "What's up my love?"
"I'm about to go handle some things." Juice turned around and rested his hands on the woman's hips and squeezed tightly. "What're you about to do?"
"I was gonna invite you to come to lunch with me and the girls." The brunette kissed her boyfriend's neck and smiled. "I don't want you to put your plans on hold to come out with us though babe."
"I can put them off for two hours." He smirked at her before backing her against the counter. "So, where are we going to lunch at? You three manage to find some Russian restaurant yet babe?" He brushed her hair out of her face and started to dot her face with feather light kisses.
Bri shrugged. "We're going to some pizza spot that Svetlana found, you get to build your own pizza at the table, using some tablet or whatever… It's two of your favorite things pizza and technology… I bet they'll even let you put all that healthy junk on your pizza." She moved her hands under his shirt and rubbed her thumbs over his abs and smiled.
"Oh yeah?" He smirked at her. "Kale on a pizza?"
"Whatever floats your boat Juan." She smiled at him. "Let's go babe… I am starving and the girls are already on the way to the pizza place."
He shook his head, pinning her to the counter by her hips. "I think they can wait… We can be fashionably late babe." He snaked his hands under the skirt of the dress she was wearing and smirked at her. "Late or on time babe?"
"Late…" She mumbled. "We can be late."
SOA
"Sorry." Bri slid into the booth across from her best friend Svetlana and her sister Nik. "Sorry, we're late." She flashed the two women a smile as Juice took a seat next to her.
"It's fine." Nik smirked at her older sister, knowing exactly why the couple was late to lunch. "Everyone needs a little pre-lunch fun."
"Shush… Did you guys order already?" The brunette looked at the tablet before sliding it to Juice. "Babe, make me a pizza, I want it to be as unhealthy as possible… I need to carb load or something… I feel weird."
"You need to drink some water… Haven't you been following doctor's orders?" Svetlana passed her friend her ice water. "Nothing is better than ice water."
"What orders? What's wrong?" Juice paused from starting his order to look at his girlfriend. "When did you go to the doctor?"
Bri shrugged. "I've been feeling a lot lightheaded and nauseous so I went to the doctor and he took my blood and recommended I stay hydrated. It's not a big deal, that's why I didn't bug you with the details." She kissed his cheek and smiled. "I'm just dehydrated and stressed, that's all there is too it."
He frowned at her. "Sounds serious… I want you to tell me these things, regardless if you think it's no big deal, I want to know." He squeezed her knee before turning his attention back to the tablet to order.
"Bri, Esai and I are over already." Nik frowned at her sister, dragging her fingers through her blonde hair. "He still seems to be hung up on an ex or some shit.. Like even during sex, he seemed preoccupied."
Bri blinked at her. "Yeah, I should have told you… He's Jacey's ex boyfriend and he sort of still is in love with her… A lot of still in love with her. I just didn't want to ruin either of you guy's having fun."
The blonde flicked her sister's nose. "Bitch… I wouldn't have even went after him if I had known he was her ex… Brianna!"
"He's a cool ass dude, I thought you'd be able to get his mind off of her to be honest." She shrugged her shoulders. "I need you to be nice right now, we're in public."
Nik rolled her eyes. "I'm always nice… I just need to find a new toy to play with now that Esai is off the table… You and Kozik over for real? I saw the way he looked at you."
Bri scoffed. "Yeah, we're not even friends… He's an asshole and I don't think you should even bother with him." She ran her fingers through her hair before resting her head on Juice's shoulder and sighing. "I think you should look into the Mayans camp for a toy or hell get involved with Svet…"
Svet looked up from the tablet. "Are you really trying to set me and Nik up right now? Stop that right now… We don't need help with dating Bri…"
"I'd date you." Nik looked at Svet and smirked. "I'd date you so hard."
"I don't even know why I agreed." Juice shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'll be right back, I'm going to check in with Jax, see if he needs me for anything."
"Alright babe." Bri smiled at her boyfriend before looking at the two women. "If you two start dating, omg, I wouldn't even know how to contain myself! We could double date, like we're doing right now!"
Svetlana nodded. "I can't believe that we're having this conversation in public, when it should really be in private." She smirked at the girls. "I want to talk more seriously about this though, you two know I'm picky when it comes to dating."
"I get it." Nik smiled at her. "We should totally have a sleepover soon, all three of us and maybe Moni and Jacey."
"That'd be fun, you can see how Moni and Jacey argue over who Happy likes more." Bri chuckled as the pizzas were set in front of her. "Ew, Juice put his healthy half on my damn pizza!" She pointed to the half of the pizza that was covered with green stuff and veggies. "I can't believe this shit."
Juice slid back into the booth, draping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "I see the pizza is here… It looks good." He grabbed a slice of his half and took a bite out of it. "It's so good."
"I don't see how you want to eat that healthy… What happened to the kid who used to eat a whole medium pizza alone?" She grabbed a slice of her pizza and took a bite before she looked at him and smirked. "Don't you want some real pizza? Sauce and meat… Look how good this pepperoni looks!"
He eyed the pizza in the brunette's hand before taking a big bite of it. "It's so good, I feel like I just took five years of my life away with that bite…"
"So dramatic." Svetlana looked at the young man. "My great grandfather lived to ninety-nine… He ate junk all the time, he died while giving it to a bitch one third his age."
"Great Grandpa Igor was a player! The Hugh Hefner of Russia." Bri laughed. "He always had different women on his arms and they all wanted to be his wife and inherit the family fortune… He played them all… Svet ended up with the millions."
"Oh yes, all the millions are mine." Svet chuckled as she pulled pepperoni off her pizza and stacked them up. "I plan to invest them turn them to billions."
"I could help you with investing, I have myself a nice investment system." Juice smiled at the brunette. "It's not too hard to get it started."
"Awesome… I'm down to learn how to invest." She nodded. "I can give you a million to play around with, see how much you can make off of it."
"A million?" Juice set his pizza back down and looked at the young woman. "I think that's a bit much, don't you think?"
Svetlana shook her head. "No, I think it's perfect. I'll set you up with the account information when we get back to the house. I look forward to seeing what you can do, if you play your cards right, I just may hire you to maintain my stock or whatever."
"I'm down to be your broker." He nodded his head. "It'll be fun."
September 9, 2008
Bri patted her face dry as she walked to the front door, the doorbell had been ringing incessantly since she rushed to rinse herself off in the shower. Of course it was the day that everyone had decided to leave the house, meaning she was home alone until Juice arrived in a few hours. "I'm coming!" She unlocked the door not even bothering to look at the security camera or through the peephole as she pulled it open.
"I still have a standing invitation right?" The guest smiled at Bri.
"Yeah, yeah, come in." The brunette stepped inside and locked the door behind her. "What's wrong? You look like you've been crying Dani…"
Dani nodded, wrapping her arms around the brunette, despite her big belly. "I haven't been right since we talked at the wedding…"
Bri frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that Daniela… You want some water or juice?" She pointed towards the kitchen. "I know you know this place like the back of your hand."
"Yeah." The curly haired brunette moved forward towards the kitchen. "You've remodeled it? I love it." She ran her hands over the the dark granite countertops and smile.
"Yeah, it just came to me one night and I made it happen." The pulled open the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a bottle of orange juice. "How's married life treating you so far?"
Dani groaned as she twisted off the cap of the orange juice. "It's alright so far… I'm not going to complain about it… I talked to my dad finally, so that's something positive but I told him I'd try to stay in the marriage at least until the baby is born… So, I have help and everything."
"That's understandable." Bri nodded as she lifted herself onto the counter and grabbed the container of candy she kept on the counter for Monica. "Feels good to have finally told him everything though, huh?" She eyed the security monitor nestled in the corner of the counter, taking notice of Aleksandr pacing the driveway while talking on his phone.
"It felt so fucking good, I swear it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders." The brunette smiled as she set her bottle of juice down. "So, how are things with you and Juan? Is it working out for you?"
"It's going pretty damn well so far, it's not perfect and I don't expect it to be… It's just fun and cute right now." Bri smiled at the thought of Juan. "I can't complain about it or anything." She shrugged her shoulders as she heard the front door open and close before tiny tapping footsteps grew closer.
"Mommy!" Monica ran to Bri and lifted her arms. "I had a bad day! The teacher was so mean and I cried so grandpa had to get me and he yelled at the teacher!"
Bri lifted the tiny brunette up on the counter next to her. "Is that so? What'd this teacher say to you my dear?"
"He said I was dancing like a blind dog!" She wiped at her eyes as she looked at Dani who was rubbing her belly. "Why's she here?"
"She's here to talk to me." She ran her hand over Monica's hair before pulling of the young girl's tap shoes. "You wanna go upstairs and change into sweats and a shirt? Then come back down and we'll figure out what we want for dinner… I love you monkey."
"I love you too." Monica hopped down from the counter, her green eyes looking at Dani before leaving the kitchen.
"She's adorable… You finally owning up to the fact that she's your kid?" Dani smirked at Bri. "I'm proud of you babe…"
"Thanks." Bri nodded before sliding off the counter as she heard the door open again. "Damn, now everyone wants to start coming home… Fuck me."
"Bri!" Juice walked into the kitchen, pausing as he noticed the pregnant brunette.
"Hey baby." Bri moved to Juice, wrapping her arms around his neck before kissing him. "I thought you weren't going to be back until later."
"I finished my business early." He kissed her back before eyeing the curly haired woman.
"Juan, this is Daniela, Daniela this is Juan." She smiled at both of them. "She stopped by to talk… She's also staying for dinner."
Dani's eyes went wide. "No, I don't think I should stay for dinner. I don't want to impose or anything Brianna."
"Nonsense, you're staying… We have more than enough room." Bri smiled.
"Alright." She smiled back at Bri before casting Juice a wary glance. "Let me just step outside and call 'Toni, let him know I won't be home for dinner."
"Sounds good." Bri watched as Dani moved outside to the back patio before looking back at her boyfriend. "She's in a bad place, I couldn't send her home just yet…"
Juice nodded. "It's alright." He shrugged as he looked at the brunette on the patio, knowing that it would be an awkward dinner. Sitting with Bri's ex and most of all watching them interact. "I'm going to take a shower… I'll be down for dinner." He kissed her temple before leaving the room, trying his best to keep his composure.
To Be Continued...
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