I turned to look.
Julius. Serenity’s husband. Walking into the main bar area.
With Ivy. Serenity’s best friend.
They were laughing. Standing too close. His hand on the small of her back as he guided her to a booth in the corner.
Quest and I locked eyes. The same thought running through both our minds.
“That nigga cheating on our sister,” Quest said, his voice deadly quiet.
Thad looked over, saw what we were seeing, and his expression darkened. “Yo, what the fuck?”
Julius and Ivy hadn’t seen us yet. They were too wrapped up in each other. Too comfortable. Like this wasn’t the first time.
My blood was boiling. Serenity had been nothing but good to that man. Stood by him when he was building his business. Loved him through everything. Used her connections to help him get to where he wanted to be. And this was how he repaid her?
“Come on,” Quest said, already moving.
We walked out of the private room and into the main bar. Julius finally spotted us, and the color drained from his face.
Ivy’s eyes went wide.
“Julius,” Quest said, his voice carrying across the space. “Ivy. Y’all got a minute?”
It wasn’t a question.
Julius stood slowly. “Quest. Prime. Thad. What y’all doing here?”
“Could ask you the same thing.” Quest’s tone was ice. “Since last I checked, you were married to our sister. Not her fuckin’ best friend.”
People in the bar were starting to notice. Starting to watch.
“It’s not—we’re just—” Ivy stammered.
“Save it,” I cut her off. “Both of y’all. Come with us.”
“Listen, we can explain—” Julius started.
Quest stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous level. “Nigga, that wasn’t no fuckin’ suggestion. Come with us. Now.”
The threat was clear. We could do this quiet, in private. Or we could do it here, in front of everyone. It was always dope to see my brother go from corporate to thug in a flash of a blink. Quest may have been the CEO but he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. None of the Banks boys were soft.
Julius swallowed hard. Looked at Ivy, who looked like she wanted to disappear.
“Alright,” he said finally. “Alright.”
“Good choice,” Thad said.
We led them outside to Quest’s black Escalade, and I could feel the weight of what was about to happen settling over us.
Serenity was our precious baby sister. And these two had betrayed her.
This wasn’t going to end well.
18
PRIME
