Monday Afternoon
Prince's voice sang softly throughout the cab of Riya's truck, her eyes flickering from the road to Julio sitting in the passenger seat. The man was leaning back in the seat with a leg propped up as he held his phone out. He was having a conversation with someone regarding a new deal that he was trying to broker and his left hand was waving around in the air. Riya tightened her grip on the steering wheel and wondered why had she agreed to go and see the house without her brother.
"I'll call you back in ten minutes," Julio spoke ending the call before he turned to Riya. "You look good mama."
Riya was wearing a sheer, light pink button-down shirt that was buttoned up to the third button going down. The shirt was tucked into a pair of high-waisted black shorts with a G.O. belt around her waist and a pair of light brown gladiator sandals. Peaking from underneath the pink shirt, was a black, lacy, pushup bra and she rolled her eyes, knowing that her chest was where Julio was mainly staring.
"So, what made you decide to buy me a house?" Riya asked before she added a teasing tone to her voice. "Did your mommy put you up to this?"
"Naw, mama. It was a gift from me, from the heart," Julio scoffed before turning his head towards the window and letting a soft swear slip from his lips.
Riya had hit it right in the money that Julio's mother had told him to buy the girl the house. It had taken the older woman a long time to weasel out of the younger woman what her dream house was. Once she had gained the information, she told her son and pushed him to find and buy it for her. Julio's mother wanted her son to stay with the chocolate-skinned woman and for Riya to become her one and only daughter-in-law.
"So, why did you pick a place that was far from the city?" Riya asked as she jumped off the freeway and onto the feeder.
"I remember you saying that you wanted a place with lots of land when we first got together," Julio said, pointing off to the side of the sea of endless trees.
Where he pointed was a long dirt road and Riya turned onto it, Julio reaching out and turning down the music when the song 'Love the Way You Lie' came on. Looking at him with an eyebrow raised, Riya decided to ignore it for now and slowed down, not wanting rocks to fly into her truck from her speed. Eventually, they neared a large metal and hardwood gate in between large stone pillars with steel bars stretching out further than Riya could see. Reaching into his right pocket, Julio pulled out a small remote and clicked the red button on top. With a low 'buzz', the gates started to open inwards and Riya slowly moved her truck through the opening gates as Julio tossed the remote into the cup holders. After driving half a mile from the gate, the large farmhouse came into view. Just like when she saw the house on Google Maps, Riya felt shock run through her veins as she parked the truck and killed the engine. Julio jumped out of the cab and held his arms out as he stood in front of the house with a large smirk on his lips.
"Welcome home mama," Julio said as Riya climbed out of the cab and bounced her purse on her shoulder.
The outside of the ranch house was made from limestone and it had a galvalume roof. Three structures provided comfort and privacy between the main house, the bunkhouse, and what looked like an apartment over the garage. Behind the main house, was a small pool house and sixty feet from the pool house was the horse stables.
"The whole area is twenty-seven acres, but only ten acres of trees were knocked down. I fenced in the area where it's clear to separate the forest from the living space. So, the main house has a living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom and bath, three bedrooms, four and a half baths, and two office spaces. The bunk house has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a living area," Julio listed off as the pair stood in front of the truck. "A breezeway connects the main house to the bunkhouse."
Reaching out, Julio grabbed Riya's hand and pulled the stunned woman toward the house before he pointed toward the garage. "It's a three-car garage and above it, I'm pretty sure you may have guessed, is an efficiency apartment. I have no idea what an 'efficiency apartment' is, but it's there."
"It's like a studio apartment, but it has a kitchen," Riya stammered out as Julio unlocked the main doors.
After Julio unlocked the doors, he put the keys into Riya's purse before showing the woman the house. The interior of the main house was a mix of barn siding timbers and white slate. Two fans hung over the living room and there was a large fireplace to the right of the room. Red and white furniture sat in the room before Julio led Riya to the kitchen. When they entered the kitchen, more white slate greeted them but instead of being on the walls, it was covering the island in the middle of the kitchen. Black granite lined the countertops and the backsplash was black, grey, and blue marble. The cabinets were a bright white and there were two sets of double ovens and a countertop oven. There was a stove over one of the double oven sets and hanging over the stainless steel sink was a large hooded light. Walking toward the island, Riya sat on one of the swivel bar stools before she looked at Julio.
"You're joking, right? Like, this isn't for me," Riya chuckled, waving her hand around as she looked at him.
"It is. Like I said before, I wanted to give you and Ainsley something. So, you aren't in the city by yourselves," Julio said as Riya looked away from him.
"So, you're solution is to move us way out here while you're in the city...doin' you? My family is in the city, not out in the country," Riya pointed out.
"I still can't be around as much as I would like to, because I have to go and get this money," Julio answered. "This is for you."
"See? You keep saying that it's for me, but something is telling me...that you have a whole different reason behind this," Riya said, her brown eyes digging daggers into him. "My Spidey senses are tingling off the charts right now."
Walking toward Riya, Julio wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. Looking down at her, he racked his brain for a way to get her to drop the topic when he got an idea, leaning down toward her face. Lifting her face slightly, Riya let her eye flutter shut in anticipation of the kiss when Julio's phone echoed out around them. Scoffing, Riya pulled away from the male and got off the stool, before walking out of the kitchen in annoyance.
"Damn it," Julio cussed when his eyes saw the name that flashed across the screen before he answered it. "What is it, Melissa?"
"We need to talk. Where are you," Melissa asked, her voice full of anxiety but also anger.
"I'm busy right now with Riya, what is so important that you need to call?" Julio asked, trying to keep his voice calm as he looked in the direction Riya had walked off.
Riya was in the living room and she was slowly walking around the couches and the recliner. Her fingers gently dragged against the leather as she looked around the room with a faint smile on her lips, knowing that Julio's mother decorated the house to her standards. Julio was so focused on Riya that he didn't hear the woman in his ear.
"JULIO! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!" She screamed in his ear, causing him to pull the phone away.
"Would it surprise you if I said no?" Julio scoffed as the woman let out a rage-filled scream.
"I said that I think I'm pregnant and I want you to come with me to the doctor's appointment to confirm it," She sighed as Julio's eyes widened.
If there was one thing that Julio was certain about was that he never messed up when it came to his side chicks. He always used condoms and if he didn't have one, he never did anything further than receiving a blow job. So, how Melissa got pregnant was puzzling the man.
"Fine, when is your appointment?" Julio sighed, rubbing his face.
"In an hour. Are you at the house? Oh, not yours, but the one that you bought for that bitch. Sometimes, I just can't get my mind straight," Melissa chuckled, which caught Julio's attention.
"What the fuck are you planning?" Julio spat, looking at Riya.
"Nothing too much. I just wonder how your little Riya will react to you having yet another woman except this one, you got pregnant?" She teased.
"You wouldn't dare," Julio hissed before his text message tone rang out.
Pulling his phone away from his ear, he clicked the message that Melissa sent him and his blood ran cold. What stared back at him was of the outside of the house and Riya's truck was sitting in the middle of the picture he received. Before he could snap at her, more pictures flooded his phone, the majority of them had Julio lying in the bed with the blonde-haired woman. One of the pictures was of Julio and Melissa in Dubai, but what made his skin pale was that he realized that the time they went was when Riya had a celebratory dinner for joining her first law firm. Flipping through the other pictures, his heart rate skyrocketed as he realized that Melissa had him against a wall.
"Don't think I won't walk into the house and cause a scene. I want to go to the doctor's with you now!" Melissa yelled before hanging up the phone.
"Shit," Julio hissed, rubbing his face in annoyance as Riya walked towards him.
"We need to address something Julio," Riya said, opening her purse and pulling out a large white envelope.
"What is this?" He asked, opening the top of the envelope and pulling out a stack of papers.
"They're transfer documents for the title of the house and the land. It entails that everything belongs to me and me alone, as well as that I can do with the land that I want. There should also be papers detailing my ten percent stake in your restaurant business that you were supposed to have drawn up three months ago," Riya explained as Julio chuckled, reading over the papers. "I would like you to read over it, have your lawyers read over it, then sign them, and send them back."
"Is this for real right now?" Julio asked.
"Yes. This is to protect me and our daughter in the eventuality that you try to hold the house and land over my head," Riya replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
Tossing the papers onto the counter, Julio's lips curled into a sneer as he looked at Riya. "Who drew these up?"
Riya turned her head away from Julio, pushing her hair away from her face as Julio took a step towards her. "Who drew these up?"
"My lawyer," Was Riya's response.
"Are you fuckin' crazy?" Julio hissed.
"I also had them sent to your parents, so they don't 'magically' disappear when we leave today," Riya continued, ignoring the man's rising blood pressure and anger.
"I'm not giving up ten percent, maybe five," Julio offered.
"It's a lot less than what I should be asking for, don't you agree? Since I'm the one who started that restaurant chain," Riya reminded him.
"You've never come at me like this," Julio sighed.
"This is what I want and need to do for me. So, you have forty-eight hours to send the papers back," Riya answered, trying to keep her voice steady.
Looking at his phone, Julio swore under his breath and then picked up the papers and envelope. Shoving the papers back into the envelope, he glared at Riya before walking toward the kitchen door.
"This is not over. We're gonna talk about this later."
With those words, Julio flew out of the house and clambered into Melissa's car. While in the kitchen, Riya let out a shuddery breath and dropped to her knees before she looked at her hands. They were violently shaking as she leaned against the island, trying to calm down her racing heartbeat. Her body felt sticky from the sweat that was beading and sticking to her skin and her breath started coming out rapidly.
"F-f-five o-objects..." Riya gasped before looking around the kitchen.
Her eyes landed on the pantry door, before moving towards the empty spice rack though she couldn't find her third object because vomit rushed up from her stomach. Stumbling to her feet, Riya rushed to the sink and threw up. Once she had finished, she spat into the sink and planted her hands firmly on the edge of the sink, standing up fully as she panted heavily.
"Damn it. I thought I was doing better."
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That night
Riya was lying on the couch with her daughter, gently running her fingers through the little girl's curly hair. The pair were wearing matching red and white pajamas with the words 'Big Boss' and 'Lil' Boss' across their chests. Ainsley had wanted to do a mommy and baby night, consisting of painting their nails, doing face masks, making cookies, and having a Trolls marathon. However, the little girl fell asleep after painting her mother's nails a bright pink a few minutes after the movie started. Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head before returning her attention to Trolls, giggling at the children's movie. As she watched Branch throw Poppy's ukulele into the fire, a ding came from her phone. Her eyes moved toward her phone and very slowly, she grabbed her phone and her brow furrowed at the unknown number that was on her screen.
"What the hell?" Riya whispered before she swiped on the message.
The numbers for her password popped up and she quickly typed in the numbers before her messages automatically opened to the unknown message. Her eyes widened in shock as she sat up quickly, jostling Ainsley slightly before she dropped the phone and grabbed her before she slid off the couch. Repositioning her daughter, Riya picked up her phone and walked to the kitchen, her eyes scrolling through the pictures that were sent to her. There were pictures of a three-week ultrasound and the last picture was of a stick pregnancy test with a 'plus' sign in the small box.
"That son of a bitch," Riya stuttered, feeling tears well into her eyes.
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VampireBrat: Here's chapter 2! Chapter 3 is in the works and Melissa will make a bigger appearance, I will also show more of Julio's mental and emotional abuse that he extends to Riya. Aladdin will also make his debut in the next chapter. Vote, Like, and Comment and remember I own nothing but the plot. Also even though I described the house, that's what it looks like if I didn't do justice in describing it.