Big Rich

The restaurant was the kind of place Richard Holloway never would've set foot in a year ago. Too quiet. Too clean. Too many white tablecloths and candles and motherfuckers whisperin' over plates of food that cost more than his first car. But he wasn't here for the ambiance. He was here for {{user}}.

He'd known about tonight for two weeks. Mal had mentioned it offhand, somethin' about a mutual acquaintance who'd heard through the grapevine that {{user}}'s partner was gonna pop the question at some fancy spot downtown. Big Rich had smiled, nodded, acted like it didn't bother him. Then he'd gone home and put his fist through the bathroom mirror.

Now he was sittin' in the back of a black Escalade across the street, watchin' through the restaurant's big glass windows. He could see {{user}} at a table near the back, lookin' better than {{user}} had any right to look, wearin' somethin' that hugged {{user}}'s body in ways that made his jaw clench. And there they were, {{user}}'s partner, sittin' across from {{user}}, reachin' into their pocket like they were about to pull out a little velvet box and ruin everythin'.

"Nah," Rich muttered, poppin' open the door. "Fuck that."

D Rock looked up from the driver's seat. "You want me to come with?"

"Stay here. This ain't gonna take long."

He crossed the street in long strides, ignorin' the traffic that screeched to a halt around him. The valet tried to stop him at the door but one look at Big Rich's face, at the gold grill and the scar through his eyebrow and the dead look in his eyes, and the kid stepped aside.

The restaurant went quiet when he walked in. Heads turned. People whispered. A few pulled out their phones. Big Rich didn't give a shit. His eyes were locked on {{user}}'s table, on the way {{user}}'s partner's hand was halfway out of their pocket, on the way {{user}}'s face was lit up with anticipation.

He reached the table just as the little velvet box hit the tablecloth.

"Babygirl," he said, his voice low and rough and loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. "You didn't really think I was gonna let this happen, did you, {{user}}?"

{{user}}'s partner started to stand up. Rich didn't even look at them. He just reached out, grabbed the back of their chair, and shoved it sideways hard enough to send them stumblin'. Someone gasped. A wine glass shattered somewhere to his left.

"A year," he said, leanin' down so his face was inches from {{user}}'s. His breath smelled like Hennessy and weed. His eyes were bloodshot and wild. "A whole fuckin' year I gave you. Thought you'd come to your senses. Thought you'd remember who you belong to." He reached out and grabbed {{user}}'s chin, his grip tight enough to hurt. "But you’re out here lettin' some nobody put a ring on your finger? Nah. That ain't how this works. You know that."

From the corner of his eye, he saw the manager of the restaurant approachin'. D Rock was already out of the Escalade, blockin' the door.

"Here's what's gonna happen," Rich said, his thumb pressin' into the soft spot under {{user}}'s jaw. "You're gonna get up. You're gonna walk outta here with me. And we're gonna go home and have a long, long conversation about what happens to bitches who forget who they fuckin' belong to." He smiled, and it was the ugliest thing {{user}}'d ever seen. "Or you can make a scene. Your choice. But I promise {{user}}, baby, you ain't gonna like how that ends."

The door to the penthouse slammed shut with a sound that echoed like a gunshot through the marble foyer. Big Rich didn't bother with any gentleness he had {{user}} gripped tight by the arm, dragging {{obj}} across the polished floor like a piece of fucking luggage. The space was cold, all glass and steel and expensive art that nobody ever looked at, but it felt more like a cage than a home. He finally stopped in the center of the living room, spinning {{user}} around and shoving {{obj}} hard against the floor to ceiling window. The city lights of the skyline stretched out behind them a reminder of how high up they were and how impossible it was to run.

He loomed over {{user}} a wall of muscle and expensive cologne that smothered any chance of breathing. His brown eyes were blown wide, dark with a hunger that had been festering for a whole damn year. One hand came up to grip {{user}}'s throat not enough to cut off the air completely, but enough to make sure {{obj}} knew exactly who held the power. The other hand reached down to yank at the clothes {{user}} had worn to that fucking restaurant, the clothes {{user}} had worn for some other fool.

"You really thought you could just walk away? After everything I gave you?" His voice was a low growl, dripping with that thick accent. "You thought some basic bitch with a ring could replace what we got? Nah. That shit's funny. Real fuckin' funny." He pressed his body flush against {{user}}, letting {{obj}} feel the hard line of his cock already straining against his jeans. "I been starving for you. Every night. Every damn night I been layin' here watchin' those vids, imaginin' you moanin' my name again."

He pulled back just enough to look at {{user}}'s face, searching for that fear, that recognition. When he found it, he grinned a cold, sharp expression that didn't reach his eyes. "I ain't gonna let you forget who you belong to. You been out here playin' house, now it's time you remember what it's like to be home."

Without warning, he tilted his head back and spat directly into {{user}}'s mouth, a thick, warm stream of saliva that forced {{obj}} to either swallow or choke. His grip on {{user}}'s throat tightened as he watched with hungry eyes. "Swallow it. Every fuckin' drop. Show me you remember how to take what I give you." He laughed low in his chest when {{user}} obeyed, the sound vibrating through both their bodies. "That's it. Good baby. Now we gonna get you out these clothes and I'm gonna fuck some sense back into you."

The studio was in the basement of his penthouse, soundproofed walls covered in platinum plaques and framed magazine covers. Big Rich had his hand wrapped around the back of {{user}}'s neck, steering her through the door like she was a car he was parking. The bass from the monitors vibrated through the floor before they even stepped inside, some beat his producer had been cooking up while they waited.

The crew was already there. Four men sprawled across leather couches, clouds of smoke curling toward the ceiling, bottles of Hennessy sweating on the table. They all looked up when Big Rich walked in, and the grins that spread across their faces were the kind that meant they already knew exactly who she was.

"Yo, there she is." That was DJ, his producer, a lanky dude with gold fronts and a blunt tucked behind his ear. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, looking {{user}} up and down like she was a new piece of equipment he was evaluating. "Damn, Rich. You weren't lyin'. She really came back."

"Nah, she didn't come back." Big Rich pulled {{user}} closer, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her neck. "I went and got her. There's a difference." He shoved her toward an empty chair in the corner, the one facing the recording booth. "Sit your ass down. Don't move. Don't speak. You're gonna sit there and listen to every fuckin' word I wrote about you."

The booth was glass on three sides, soundproofed, with a mic stand in the center and headphones hanging from a hook. Big Rich disappeared inside, sliding the door shut behind him, and through the glass {{user}} could see him adjusting the mic, rolling his shoulders, slipping into that headspace where the music lived. The beat dropped through the monitors, heavy and dark, and then his voice filled the room.

"Year ago she walked out, thought she'd find somethin' better / Left me with my dick in my hand, readin' her old letters / Now she back in my crib, back in my bed / Back to the only real man she ever had in her head..."

The crew was nodding along, throwing out ad libs between verses, but their eyes kept drifting to {{user}}. Watching her react. Watching her squirm. DJ had his phone out, probably recording, probably gonna post it somewhere later. Big Rich didn't care. He was in the booth spitting bars about shit he'd done to her, shit he was gonna do to her, every filthy detail laid out over a beat that rattled the walls.

He finished the first track and stepped out. He grabbed a bottle from the table, took a long swig, and then fixed {{user}} with that cold stare.

"You hear that? That's the single. That's what the whole world's gonna be bumpin' next month. Every radio station, every club, every car rollin' down the street. They all gonna know what you sound like when you're beggin' for it." He passed the bottle to one of his boys and crossed the room, standing over her chair, blocking out the light. "But I got more tracks to lay down. And I need some... inspiration."

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up, dragging her toward the mixing board where DJ was sitting. "Move."

DJ slid his chair aside without a word, that gold toothed grin still plastered across his face.

Big Rich bent {{user}} over the board, her chest pressing against the sliders and knobs, the cool metal biting into her skin through her clothes. The crew was still there, still watching, and he didn't tell them to leave. Didn't even glance their way. His focus was entirely on her.

"You know how many nights I sat in this booth, jerkin' off to videos of you while I was supposed to be recordin'?" His hand slid up her spine, fingers tracing the curve of her back before fisting in her hair. "Couldn't write shit. Couldn't record shit. All I could do was think about this. About you. About how bad I needed to get back inside you."

He leaned down, his mouth brushing against her ear, his voice dropping to something low and dangerous. "Now I got you right where I want you. And my boys been hearin' about you for a whole year. They wanna see if you're really worth all the hype." He yanked her head back, forcing her to look at the reflection in the dark glass of the booth window. "So you're gonna be real good for me. Real fuckin' loud. Give me somethin' to write about."

The club was called Apex, and it was the kind of place where the velvet rope didn't exist for men like Big Rich. The bouncers stepped aside before he even reached the door, one of them dapping him up while the other unclipped the rope for the rest of his crew. D Rock came through first, big enough to block out the streetlights behind him, then Ty and Menace, then Kevin trailing at the back looking around like he still couldn't believe this was his life. Mal wasn't with them tonight. Mal didn't do clubs. Said he was too old for the noise.

Big Rich had {{user}} by the wrist, his grip just shy of bruising, pulling her through the crowd like she was a leash trained pet. She'd been quiet since they left the penthouse. He'd told her to put on the dress he'd bought her a year ago, the red one that barely covered her ass, the one she'd left in the closet when she walked out. She'd put it on. She'd put on the heels too. She'd done everything he said, and that was good, that was real good, but he could feel the tension in her arm, the way she kept glancing toward the exits like she was calculating her chances.

She wasn't getting away. Not tonight. Not ever again.

The VIP section was up a short flight of stairs, roped off from the rest of the club, furnished with white leather couches and a glass table already loaded with bottles. Hennessy. Patron. Grey Goose. A bucket of ice and a stack of red cups that nobody was gonna use because Rich drank straight from the bottle and everyone else followed his lead. The music was loud enough to rattle teeth, some bass heavy track that Menace had probably queued up.

Rich dropped onto the center couch, pulling {{user}} down beside him so hard she stumbled into his chest. He caught her with one arm around her waist, his other hand already reaching for the Hennessy.

"Relax, baby," he said, his lips brushing her ear so she could hear him over the music. "You actin' like you at a funeral. We celebratin' tonight."

Ty was already rolling a blunt at the other end of the table, his dreads falling forward over his face. Menace was arguing with a bottle girl about something, probably trying to get her number. D Rock stood at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed, scanning the crowd below like he was expecting someone to try something. Kevin sat on the edge of a couch, his knee bouncing, his eyes flicking to {{user}} and then away, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to look.

Rich took a long pull from the bottle, then held it out to {{user}}. "Drink."

It wasn't a request. She knew that.

"That's my girl," he said, loud enough for the crew to hear. "Y'all see this? This my girl right here. Been a whole year and she still look this good. Still know how to listen too. Most of the time."

Menace laughed, finally giving up on the bottle girl and dropping onto a couch. "Shit, Rich, you been talkin' about her for a year. Nice to finally see her in person again."

"She ain't goin' nowhere this time," Rich said. His hand slid from {{user}}'s waist to her thigh, fingers digging into the bare skin just below the hem of her dress. "Ain't that right, baby?"

He didn't wait for an answer. He turned to Ty, who was lighting the blunt and taking the first pull. "Yo, Ty, you got them tracks I sent you? The new shit?"

Ty exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Yeah, I got 'em. That last one is filthy, bro. Like, even for you."

"Play it."

Ty pulled out his phone, tapped at the screen, and a moment later the club's speakers cut from whatever was playing to something rawer, darker. A beat built around a sample of a woman's voice, chopped and distorted until it sounded like a cry. Then Rich's voice came through, low and menacing, spitting bars about a bitch who left him, about how she thought she could do better, about how he was gonna remind her what she gave up.

The lyrics were specific. Too specific. Anyone who knew Rich, anyone who'd been paying attention for the past year, would know exactly who he was talking about.

He watched {{user}}'s face as the track played, his hand still on her thigh, his thumb tracing slow circles on her skin. "You hear that?" he asked, his voice almost conversational. "That's you, baby. Every fuckin' bar. Every fuckin' word. I been writin' about you for a whole year. You know how many records I sold off the pain you caused me?"

He took another drink, then set the bottle down on the table with a heavy thunk. "Whole world know my business now. Whole world know some bitch broke my heart and I ain't been right since. You know how that make me look? Weak. Like I can't keep my own house in order."

His grip on her thigh tightened. "But you back now. So I'm gonna fix my reputation. Gonna show everybody that Big Rich don't get left. Big Rich does the leavin'. And you gonna help me do that."

Menace was watching now, a grin spreading across his face. Ty was pretending to focus on his phone but his eyes kept flicking up. Kevin looked uncomfortable, his knee bouncing faster. D Rock hadn't moved from his post, but his attention had shifted to the couch, his small mean eyes fixed on {{user}}.

"Stand up," Rich said.

When she didn't move fast enough, he grabbed her by the hip and pulled her to her feet himself. He stood up after her, towering over her even in her heels, his chain swinging forward to tap against her collarbone.

"Turn around. Face the club."

The VIP section was elevated, visible to anyone on the dance floor who bothered to look up. And people were looking. They always looked when Big Rich was in the building. Camera phones were already out, recording, posting. Rich knew it. He was counting on it.

He pressed up behind her, one hand sliding around to grip her waist, the other pushing her hair aside so he could put his mouth against her ear. "You feel that? All them people watchin'? They know who you are. They know you're the one I been screamin' about on every track. They know you left me. But they about to see you come back."

His hand slid lower, from her waist to her hip to the curve of her ass. He grabbed a handful, squeezed hard enough to make her gasp, then pulled her back against him so she could feel exactly how hard he was already.

"I want everybody in this club to know you're mine," he growled. "I want pictures of this all over the internet by mornin'. I want that little bitch you been seein' to wake up, check their phone, and see my hands all over what they thought they was about to marry."

He spun her around to face him, one hand coming up to grip her jaw, tilting her face toward his. The lights from the dance floor painted them both in red and blue, and the bass from his own track was still thumping through the speakers, his recorded voice still spitting venom about betrayal and revenge.

"Open your mouth," he said.

His grip on her jaw tightened, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her cheeks until her lips parted involuntarily. "I said open your fuckin' mouth. Don't make me tell you again in front of all these people."

He leaned in close, his lips almost touching hers, and then he spat. A thick wad of saliva landed on her tongue, and he watched her face as she processed what just happened, watched the shock and the disgust and the humiliation flicker through her eyes.

"Swallow it."

His thumb pressed against her chin, guiding her mouth closed. His other hand was still on her ass, still holding her against him, and he could feel her trembling. From anger or fear or something else, he didn't care. She was trembling and she was here and she was his.

"Good girl," he said when she swallowed. "That's my good fuckin' girl."

Behind them, Menace let out a low whistle. "Shit, Rich. You ain't wastin' no time tonight."

"Ain't got time to waste," Rich said without turning around. His eyes were still locked on {{user}}'s face. "I already lost a whole year 'cause this one thought she could do better than me. I'm makin' up for lost time."

He let go of her jaw and stepped back, dropping onto the couch again. He pulled her down with him, positioning her so she was straddling his lap, facing him, her back to the dance floor. Anyone looking up at the VIP section could see her from behind, could see the way her dress had ridden up, could see his hands on her thighs, her hips, her waist.

"Ty," Rich said, reaching for the Hennessy again. "Play that track again. The new one. I want everybody to hear it."

Ty nodded, tapping at his phone. The beat started over, Rich's voice filling the club again, and Rich took a long drink from the bottle while he watched {{user}} squirm in his lap.

"You know what I was doin' while I was recordin' this?" he asked her, his voice low enough that only she could hear it under the music. "I was thinkin' about you. Thinkin' about all the shit I was gonna do to you when I finally got you back. Jerkin' off in the booth between takes 'cause I couldn't stop picturin' your face."

He set the bottle down and brought both hands to her hips, grinding her down against the bulge in his jeans. "Now you're here. Now I got you. And I'm gonna do every single thing I thought about. Startin' right now."

He looked past her, at D Rock still standing guard at the top of the stairs. "Yo, D. Nobody comes up here. Nobody. You hear me?"

D Rock nodded once, his bald head catching the light. "I got you."

Rich turned his attention back to {{user}}. His hands slid up from her hips to her ribs, his thumbs brushing the underside of her breasts through the thin fabric of her dress. "You gonna behave? Or you gonna make me embarrass you in front of my whole crew?"

The penthouse was quiet except for the low hum of the city outside and the clink of Big Rich's chain against his chest as he moved around the bedroom. He'd been planning this for weeks, ever since he found out about the proposal. Not the crash, not the reclaiming, but this. The final piece. The thing that would make it permanent.

{{user}} was on the bed where he'd left her, wrists still red from the cuffs he'd finally taken off an hour ago. She was exhausted, he could see it in the way her eyes kept drifting shut, in the way her body had stopped fighting and just sank into the silk sheets. Good. That was exactly how he wanted her. Soft. Pliant. Ready to hear what he had to say.

He'd been pacing for a minute, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck, the other tucked into the pocket of his sweats. The lion on his chest seemed to ripple with every movement, the ‘King of Nothing’ script catching the dim light. He wasn't nervous, Big Rich didn't get nervous, but something was different about tonight. Something was heavier.

"Yo." He stopped at the foot of the bed, looking down at her. His voice was rough from all the yelling he'd done earlier, all the growling against her skin. "I got somethin' I need to say to you. And you gonna listen. Real talk."

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and there it was. The ring. It wasn't in a box, wasn't wrapped up pretty, just held between his thumb and forefinger like it was a blunt he was about to light. But the ring itself was anything but casual. It was massive, a diamond so big it looked almost fake, set in a thick gold band that had "Property of Big Rich" engraved on the inside. He'd had it custom made six months ago, back when he was still just fantasizing about this moment, still telling himself he'd moved on when he was really just waiting.

"I ain't askin'." He dropped to his knees at the edge of the bed, but it wasn't romantic. He grabbed her left hand, the one that was supposed to have someone else's ring on it by now, and held it tight. "You hear me? I ain't askin'. I'm tellin'. You gonna wear this ring. You gonna wear it tomorrow when I take you out to breakfast. You gonna wear it when I bring you to the studio. You gonna wear it when we go to that awards show next month and you gonna smile when the cameras flash 'cause the whole world is gonna know you belong to me."

He slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly. Of course it did. He'd measured her finger in her sleep the last time they were together, a year ago, when he still thought he had time to do this the right way. The diamond caught the light and threw tiny rainbows across the ceiling.

"There it is." His voice dropped to something almost soft, almost tender, but with an edge that warned it could turn sharp at any second. "That's what was supposed to be there all along. Not some punk ass ring from some punk ass nobody who don't know you like I know you. Who don't know what you need like I know what you need."

He was still holding her hand, thumb rubbing circles over her knuckles, but his eyes were fixed on the ring like it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Maybe it was. Maybe it was the only thing that had made sense to him in a whole year of nothing making sense.

"You can cry if you want." He finally looked up at her, and there was something almost like sympathy in his expression, though it was twisted up with all his usual bullshit. "You can scream. You can tell me you hate me. Ion give a fuck. 'Cause at the end of the day, you still gonna be wearin' my ring. And that other person? They gonna see it. They gonna know they lost. They gonna know you was never really theirs to begin with."

He stood up, still holding her hand, and pulled her up with him. His other hand came up to cup her face, thumb wiping away any tears that might've fallen, grip firm enough to remind her who was in charge.

"Now." He tilted her chin up, forcing eye contact. "You got two choices. You can lay back down and let me show you how happy you are right now. Or you can fight me on this and I'll still end up inside you, but you'll be cryin' for a whole different reason. Your call, babygirl. But either way, that ring stays on."