10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace (Caselli Family Book 1)

“I’ll deny this shit if you tell yo’ man… but she not speaking to me.” I paced from my windows to my bathroom and back again.

Skyler laughed. “Well, isn’t it the Menace Caselli that needs my expertise in Stevie language.”

“Skyler, stop fucking around with me. You already raising a damn serial killer, and got the nerve to laugh… she still squeezing that toothpaste?”

“Yep, and want to know something?”

“What?”

“Stevie taught her.” She busted out laughing like this shit was funny. As if my chest didn’t become tight and I didn’t sit on the ottoman near my bed to catch my breath.

“Stop fucking lying.”

“Oh… you haven’t shared a room with her yet. Wow, you’re in for a treat, Menace.”

I ran my hand down my face. “She won’t talk to me and because you her cousin, I figured you could help me.”

“I don’t know if I truly agree with this whole arrangement. Why do you care about her not talking to you if this is business?”

“’Cause it’s not fucking business… I care about her weird ass.”

“Well, ain’t that the pot calling the kettle black.”

“You racist, Skyler?”

“What?” she blurted.

I groaned feeling like this wasn’t getting us anywhere. “What do I have to do?”

“What did you do?”

“Told her to shut the fuck up.”

Skyler gasped. “Nooo.”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“She talk too damn much, Skyler. Be answering herself and it was quiet hour.”

“Quiet hour?”

“You gonna fucking help me fix it?”

She sighed. “I guess since you want to fix it, that means you’re sorry. You have to apologize to her because that is harsh. Menace, she’s going to be your wife, not some random chick… not the one from Monaco.”

“Kelsie.”

“Her name was Kim, Menace.”

It had been a minute since I even thought about Kim’s ass so getting her name correct wasn’t the top of my list in the moment. Stevie wasn’t talking to me because I fucked up, and I missed hearing her talk. I never thought I would ever miss hearing someone talk.

I missed hearing her though.

“Any fucking way, how I fix it, Skyler… you saying a bunch of nothing.”

“Apologize to her. If you both are going to go through with this, then you need to learn how to humble yourself and go to her. Make it right and show her that you’re sorry and care. Stevie is so forgiving, too forgiving at times.”

“Think she would like an island or something?”

“Island?”

“Yeah, I own a few.”

“Menace, be so for real right now… your money doesn’t impress her because she’s never been like that. While she likes nice things, that doesn’t make it right. Do something that you know she would enjoy… Tap in, twin, has she told you anything?”

I thought about the conversation that we had when visiting my parents. “Ight.”

“Ight? No thank you Skyler you are the best… let me buy my God daughter a pony and a mansion.”

“She want one?”

“Menace, no. I am kidding. Look, I am doing my best not to try and control Stevie’s life because I have been since moving in with her. She’s been lost since my aunt passed away, and I understand her pain because I lost my mom, too. I had no choice but to keep on pushing because I have Estella. Stevie has kind of been in the wind, going wherever it blows her. She hasn’t had someone, aside from me, who cares about her and wants to give her the love she deserves. If you marry her, can you promise me that you can give that to her… she fucking deserves it, man.”

Listening to how passionate Skyler was about her cousin’s happiness did something to me. She cared about her cousin and realized she was different, so she required someone different. “I got you.”

“Cool… my fee is six million.”

“Skyler, you broke over there?”

“No. Your best friend makes sure of it.”

“Then stop being stubborn and let us get at homie… then go get married on that damn beach he always chatting about with him and Jeffie.”

“See, now you in my business… later, Menace.” She ended the call.

The look of sorrow she gave me while telling me that I was groomed irritated me. I knew what me and Angelica had. I may have been in love and wanted a life with her, while all she wanted was what we had on the low.

It was the reason that Jeffie and her mother’s relationship was so strained. I told her that we had something going on, and she felt the same way as Wonder did. Kora felt the same exact way and refused to acknowledge it.

The only reason Kora knew was because she caught Angelica giving me head when she was supposed to be asleep. After Kora found out, that was when she wanted to cool it. Breaking my heart because I was in love with her old ass.

I ain’t never been someone who gave a fuck about forever. To me, forever ended when my parents were lowered into the ground. Angelica had restored that for me, and I thought we could be together.

I would have taken care of her, made sure she never needed anything because I would handle it. Zoya and Landon were heartbroken when Angelica moved out, and I told them that she deserved to have her own life.

Shit, I told the story so much that I started to believe it myself. It was then that I realized that love wasn’t real. Every person that I loved ended up leaving me, and that wasn’t real.

“Maverick, I am coming up… okay?” I heard Wonder’s voice and waited for her to appear at the top of the steps.

My bedroom was an open two-story concept, with my bed on the main floor, and then floating steps that took you to my work area, a pool table, and a bar. I spent a lot of time in my room, and at times I didn’t want to leave, so I made sure I had everything I needed in here.

I could smell her before she fully finished climbing the steps. She looked at me and took in the room. “What up, Wonder?”

“You don’t get to do that, Maverick.”

“What?” She continued to look around the room, taking in the huge wall of windows going from the floor, all the way up to the roof. Since it was dark, I had the shades pulled up because I liked to see the view of Staten Island when I sat at my desk.

“Walk away from me in the middle of a conversation.”

I continued to lay on my back with my hands behind my head because I was about to rub those bitches raw if I continued. She came and stood in my view, her hands on her hips as she looked at me.

“I was done with the conversation.”

“That’s not how you end a conversation, Maverick. I’m sorry that you feel some way about what I said, but that’s the truth. We can choose not to talk about it again but know those are my feelings and thoughts on the situation.”

“You have to give me a baby, Wonder.” I wanted to desperately switch the subject from what we were talking about.

“Come again… say what?”

“The other part of the deal is an heir… you gotta give me a seed.”

“Like now?”

I leaned up and laughed. “Nah, not now… eventually.”

She continued to stand there, and I moved her closer to me, resting my forehead on her stomach. Her hand rested on my head, as I hugged her legs, wanting her to be in my skin because her presence brought this calmness I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“My favorite song is ‘Fire and Desire’.”

“By Drake?”

“No… Rick James. It’s one of my favorite songs in the entire world.”

I continued to rest my head against her as she held my head. “Good to know.”

“Maverick, can I add another requirement?”

“Yeah.”

“Please don’t break my heart. I’ve been hurt in the past, and I don’t want to go through that again. If this is a business agreement, let it be that. Getting our emotions involved, and you have no plans on letting me in, I can’t go through that.”

“Wonder?”

“Yeah?”

“You think too much.” I pulled her down onto the bed and leaned over the top of her as she stared up at me.

She reached her hand up and touched the side of my face. “I’ve never had anyone that could silence it… make me turn my brain off.”

I kissed her lips and stared down at her. “Remember the first requirement?”

“Remind me.”

“Stop referring to this as a business deal. It may have started like one, but I don’t think it will end like one… Stevie, you’re going to become my wife, and I take that serious.”

“You take your business serious.”

“Yeah, but this is different. I have to move differently when it comes to you because I actually care. I don’t give a fuck about business because I pay people to care. I can’t pay someone to handle your heart with care. That’s my job.”

She smiled at me. “Do you solemnly pinky promise to the moon and back?”

I laughed and kissed her lips. “Yeah, all that.”

Her eyes roamed all around the room. “Your room is really dark… there are other colors besides black.”

“Told you I like the dark… come on, I want to show you something.” I pulled her off the bed, and we walked upstairs where my desk was.

I sat down at the desk and put her on my lap. Clicking around, I pulled up the video from the furniture store. Soon as the video started and Tony and his brother appeared, her body became tense.

Rubbing her arms, I allowed her silence to listen to them apologize, hopefully giving her some closure to something that had been bothering her all of these years. A tear fell down onto my hand, so I knew she was crying.

“You alright?”

She nodded her head and continued to watch, as I came into view and apologized to her. “You really missed talking to me, Mavie?”

I couldn’t see her, but I could hear the sobs in her voice. “I did.”

She turned slightly so I could see her face. “Thank you for that. It’s been years, I never got an apology or anything that showed them acknowledging what they did. Tony actually threatened that he would tell everyone that I let them run a train on me if I said anything.”

“What the fuck? I’m gonna go⁠—”

“No, this was enough for me.” She held my hand. “Thank you so much… seriously. Do I wanna know how you found them?”

“On a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know right now. What I do need you to know is that nobody gonna ever fucking play with you and think they safe.”

“Thanks, Mitchell.”

“Don’t mention it, Wanda.” She giggled and wiped away her eyes.

She yawned. “I kind of feel bad for the damage that I did on your card today.” Standing up, she stretched and then looked at me. “Not that bad, but a little bad… night, Mavie.”

Turning around in my chair, I watched her. “Stay the night with me, Wonder.”

“As in the same bed?”

“Yes.”

I watched as she paused in the middle of the stairs. “Really?”

“That’s what I just said, Wanda.”

She smiled as she sucked her teeth. “My name isn’t Wanda, Mitchell… my bed won’t like that I’m not sleeping in it.”

“Alexa, play ‘Stingy’.”

“‘Stingy’ by Ginuwine played lowly through my bedroom as she looked around.

“I’m stingy, Wonder… can I have you in my bed tonight?”

Her eyes widened as she leaned on the railing. “In that way?”

I laughed. “Not that way… let me have you other ways.”

She looked away, biting down on her bottom lip. “We’re gonna have to share a bed sometimes, right?”

I abandoned my chair and met her in the middle of the steps. “All the time… honestly. You gonna let me touch you, Wonder?”

The goosebumps rose on her arms as she stared up at me, wanting exactly what I wanted to do to her. “Maverick, remember what I told you.”

“Your heart is safe with me… I pinky quadruple promise.”

Soon as she smiled, giving me the green light, I picked her up while she squealed, begging me to put her down. I tossed her onto my bed, a place that no other woman had laid before. Kim always got fucked in the guest room down on the lower level.

She thought that was my bedroom and I allowed her to think that because she didn’t need to know everything. “I need to go grab my skincare from downstairs.”

“I’m going to shower,” I told her, as she kissed me and then climbed out the bed while I went to take a shower.

By the time I showered, brushed my teeth and did my push-ups, I walked out the bathroom and Wonder was in my bed. She was cuddled in the middle under the blanket fast asleep.

“Spending all that damn money got you tired.”

“Resting my eyes, Mavie,” she replied, never opening her eyes. “You sure take a while in there.”

I went over to the bar and poured myself scotch. Taking it back, I looked around my room to make sure everything was in order before getting in the bed. My blankets were so damn soft and weighted, so it always felt like I was being held whenever I got into the bed.

Right in the middle of the bed, Wonder was laying there with no pants on. “No pants, eh?”

“I can’t sleep with socks and pajama pants… it feels like I’m suffocating.” She yawned, as she got even more comfortable.

Fuck.

I wanted to be close to her, and although the feeling was something I hadn’t experienced in so long, I wasn’t scared of the shit. Wonder didn’t scare me; she made me more drawn to her than anything. There had never been a woman in my bed, and there she was.

Laying in my bed like she owned it.

Shit, if she asked, I probably would have signed the deed over to her. Her skin was so soft as my leg touched hers. “Is this new for you, Mavie?”

“What?”

“Cuddling with someone?”

“Yeah.”

She moved closer to me and got into my arms. “I used to cuddle with my mama… always made me feel so warm and safe. I would give anything to feel like that again, been so long since I’ve felt like that.”

My arms held her as she rested on my chest. “I wanna make you feel that way, Stevie.”

She looked at me. “You already do, Mitchell… just don’t ever tell me to shut the fuck up ever again.”

I laughed. “Never.”

“Good… night.”

“You ever got your pussy ate before, Wonder?”

She slowly pulled her head up and stared into my eyes. “You won’t put sauce on your chicken, but you’ll eat my pussy?”

I licked my lips. “I’m a complex person, Wonder… I’m picky about food and pussy… answer the question.”

She shook her head no. “Never.”

I kissed her lips and flipped her onto her back as she looked at me. “First time for everything, right?”

“Maver—” her words were caught in her throat, as I pulled her panties down, and rubbed my thumb down her crease, feeling the wetness she felt for me.

I looked at her. “You wet for me, Wonder?”

She blushed as she nodded her head. “Are you sure?”

I didn’t warrant her question with a response, as I kissed her pussy lips while she kept inching back. Placing another kiss on her swollen lips, I held her legs, pulling her closer to me.

“I don’t like when somebody plays with my food, Wonder,” I growled in her pussy, and she arched her back, as her legs opened wider for me.

Placing small kisses on her lips and her inner thigh, I stared up at her as she leaned on her elbows and watched me. Flicking my tongue between her folds, she gasped so hard I thought her damn teeth were going to come flying out of her mouth.

Her scent and taste sent my senses in haywire. I was like a dog getting his favorite treat and couldn’t contain myself. It had been so long since I ate pussy, and the way that it came back to me like second nature was a God send.

“Oh, God…” she moaned out.

“Not God… baby, this all me.” The vibration from my voice sent a shock through her body as she tried to scoot back onto the bed, and I pulled her closer to me, as I continued to flick my tongue over her pearl.

Slowly.

Then I sped it up, as her hand found its way on top of my head, holding it there. Showing me what she wanted. “Tell me, Wonder… you like getting your pussy ate?”

“Hmmmm,” she couldn’t get her words together because I was tongue deep inside her. Lifting her legs up, my tongue went from her pussy down to her ass, and she squealed. “Mav…It’s my as⁠—”

She couldn’t get the words out because I made her feel so good. My dick was hard as a rock as I inserted a finger inside of her. She was so damn fucking tight. I knew when I got in there, I was gonna fucking explode.

I told her about me needing an heir, so it wouldn’t be no surprise when her ass was pregnant soon after with how her pussy was nearly squeezing my finger. “I gotta stretch you out, baby,” I told her as I kissed the inside of her leg.

“Uh hmm… it feels so good,” she had her head tossed back as I inserted another finger inside as she squirmed.

“You gonna give me the silent treatment again, Wonder?” I asked as I inserted one more finger, and she tried to scoot back again. “Stop running from me… how you gonna take me if I don’t stretch you out… Answer my question.”

“Never… no silent treatment.”

“I want you in my bed every night, Wonder… no more downstairs… you hear?”

She nodded her head, not saying anything, and I softly bit one of her lips, and she gasped. “Mavie… wha…”

“You hear me?”

“In your room… right,” she breathlessly repeated.

Alexa still had music softly playing through the speakers hidden within my room. “Late Nights & Early Mornings” by Marsha Ambrosius played in the background as I watched her struggle to lean on her elbows.

Removing my fingers, I reached up and unbutton her pajama shirt, watching her breast fall out of the button down.

I licked my lips, tasting her juices on them. “What?” She looked at me, starting to feel self-conscious.

“You’re perfect, Wonder. Don’t let nobody say anything different or I’m gonna kill ‘em for you… K?”

“K,” she smiled at me, as I lifted her legs and dove back in, causing her to scream out.

When her legs got to shaking, I knew she was near, as I inserted a finger and flicked my tongue inside her quickly, while she gripped everything from the blanket to the pillow trying to hold onto something.

Anything.

She leaned up. “Mavie… I’m about to…”

“Go ahead…. I wanna taste more of you.”

She tossed her head back as I never lost my groove. Eating Wonder’s pussy felt like art. Every lick was a stroke of the brush, every slurp was a splatter of the paint. When her body started to shake, it was the water cup filled with mixed paint residue spilling over.

Placing a kiss on her lips, I leaned up and took her in. “Definitely not picky when it comes to eating yours.”

My baby had this goofy ass smile on her face as she looked up at me and then kissed me. “Mitchell.”

“Wanda.” I kissed her lips back, as she pulled me onto her.

I rested my head on her chest, as she held me as best as she could, rubbing my beard as my eyes became heavy. Her heartbeat was slow and smooth as it played against my ear. Her smell, warm and inviting – like her spirit.

I’ve always felt safe, and I paid a lot of money and knew how to protect myself to assure that I was safe. However, I had never felt safe and warm like she had described in a woman’s arms. Even as I dozed off, I listened to her humming the tune to whatever was playing while she continued to stroke my beard.