“Yes, sir,” Pyrite answered with a nod. “Keeping my head down and making moves like you told me.”
“Smart,” he nodded, then turned to Pop. “I didn’t know what you needed, so I brought a little bit of everything.”
“This shit should be peaceful, but if it isn’t, I understand if this isn’t a war you want to be a part of,” Pop said, and Xayne shook his head.
“You know how I feel about the Kilmores,” he chuckled. “This shit is just my style.”
“Alright.” Pop dapped Xayne up and then turned to face my brothers and me. “Shut the fuck up and let me work.”
We nodded, then followed behind the two older men into the building. Even though it looked like Xayne was alone, I knew better. His ass had been in the streets too long to ever walk alone. We may not have seen his protection, but I knew it was there, waiting for a nigga to fuck up.
“How the fuck does Pop know Xayne St. Thomas?” I asked Pyrite. We walked into the empty office and down a long hallway. “Or your ass, for that matter.”
“I did a stint in the asylum with his daughter,” answered with a laugh. “Xoey is cool, people, I’ll introduce you.”
“Nah,” I denied, shaking my head. “Keep her crazy ass on your side of the family.”
“Nope, as soon as this shit is handled, I’ll introduce you to the Twelve.”
“The twelve?”
“Yeah,” he smiled and nodded. “She got twelve personalities.”
I glanced over at Citrine, who wore a confused expression, and he shrugged. How the fuck did she have 12 personalities and walk the streets freely? I was about to ask him, but Pop turned left, and we followed. I expected it to be a longer hallway, but instead, we came to a door. Pop didn’t even wait; he turned the handle, and we walked into a conference room filled with the Kilmores.
I ran my tongue over my teeth and locked eyes with Quincy. He sat next to his father with a cocky expression on his face, while Grant was nowhere in sight.
“What can I do for you, Stone?” he said, grilling pop, then turned to Xayne and kissed his teeth. “St. Thomas.” The bad blood between the two was obvious.
“This is a business call,” Pop said, returning Luther’s energy. “Your boy did some business with mine.”
“I heard,” Luther nodded. “Shit got a little hot though.”
“Which is why we are here. What’s the price tag for it all to go away?” Pop said, getting straight to the point.
“Quincy already said that he told your boy that his debt was cleared,” Luther said, shaking his head.
“Don’t play with me, Luther,” Pop sneered. “I can read between the lines. The girl, what’s her tag?”
Luther chuckled and wiped his hand over his mouth. I knew this shit wasn’t sitting right with me for a reason. He shrugged, and it took everything in me not to step around my Pop and Xayne and rock his shit.
“It’s been paid,” he insisted. The Kilmores shared the same long face, pointed nose, and round eyes. Bitches flocked to them, and none of them were faithful, not even Luther’s ass, and he was a pastor. The only decent one was Grant, but that nigga was a bitch.
“You already know how we move,” Pop answered. Pop and Luther had a history; I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but I knew it was something deep. Old-school niggas never showed their hand, and to see all three of them standing face to face, I could tell that they had issues that only bullets could fix. “Name your fucking price.”
“Your baby boy,” Luther nodded at me. “He’s going to be a doctor, right?”
“Yeah,” Pop replied. He grilled Luther, then laughed humorlessly. “You want him on your team?”
“Yeah,” Luther answered. “My business needs a doctor. As soon as he’s done with his shit, he’s on my team.”
“For how long?” Xayne questioned him. His head tilted to the side like he was trying to figure out what the catch was.
“Life,” Luther answered with a smirk. “I’ll wipe your slate clean.”
“Deal,” I said before Pop could turn down the offer. He cut his eyes at me, but I didn’t care. For Yale, I’d be locked in with these niggas for life. I put my hand out. “I’ll be on call for y’all once I finish school and everything else, and you won’t go after Yale.”
“Deal,” Luther happily agreed. “I’ll be watching you, lil nigga.” He nodded. “Understand something about me. I collect on all my debts, so the second you fuck up, I’m coming after her.”
