“You don’t have to thank me, Angel. You earned this.” I kissed her forehead and walked her back toward Sametra and Omni. My parents came over, too. Ma wrapped her up, and I smiled at that.
My mind was already in that back room.
I caught Omni’s eyes. She nodded. She knew.
“Stay with Sametra and my folks. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“DaVinci…”
“Shh. I’ll be right back.”
I kissed her forehead one more time and walked toward the kitchen.
Malik fell in step without saying a word. Stetson did too.
“Y’all don’t have to come,” I said.
“We know,” Stetson replied. “We coming anyway.”
#
The back room was small, just storage space for extra chairs and event supplies. Keith was slumped in one of those chairs, Langston standing guard by the door. When I walked in, Keith looked up, and I watched the exact second he realized he’d fucked up.
Good.
Malik and Stetson came in behind me, and Langston closed the door. The click of the lock was loud as hell in that quiet room.
“Nigga, who the fuck are you?” I asked, shrugging out of my jacket and handing it to Langston. My voice was calm, too calm. “You better start speaking and pleading before I end yo ass right here, right now.”
Keith tried to stand, swaying a little. I pulled my gun from the back of my waistband and let the barrel hang low by my thigh, not waving it, not doing too much, just letting him see that I wasn’t making idle threats.
His eyes fixed on it, and all that liquor courage disappeared from his face.
“I’m Keith,” he stammered. “I work with Halo. And I—”
“And you what?” I stepped closer. “Thought it was a good idea to disrupt my event? Disrespect her in front of her people?”
“I was just trying to get her attention. I love Halo. You ain’t the man for her. I am.”
Before he could say anything else, I rocked his shit. One clean punch to the mouth. He hit the stack of chairs, slid down a little, and I felt my knuckles sing. I hadn’t knocked a nigga out in a minute. That felt good, so good I wanted to roar.
“So let me get this straight." I grabbed his cheap-ass shirt and slammed him back into the chair. “You thought acting like a bitch was gonna change her mind about you? That's really what you thought? You're a bold nigga and dumb.”
“Man, I’m sorry…”
“Nah, you weren't sorry when you were yelling that bullshit. You weren’t sorry when you embarrassed her in front of a hundred people.”
I hit him again. Harder this time. His head snapped back.
“I didn't mean…”
“You didn't mean what?” I grabbed his face, fingers digging into his jaw, forcing him to look at me. “To disrespect my woman? To run your mouth where you had no business?”
He tried to look away. I tightened my grip until he gasped.
I cracked him across the jaw one more time, just because. His head whipped to the side, and when he looked back, blood was streaming from his lip down his chin. His breathing turned ragged. Sweat and fear were drowning the liquor now. I could see it in his eyes; he was starting to realize this wasn’t about teaching him a lesson. This was about whether I decided to let him leave breathing.
“DaVinci,” Stetson said quietly from behind me. Not telling me to stop. Just reminding me there were witnesses.
