The boyish grin he offered warmed her heart. Her baby brother was definitely feeling this woman.
“Nah you don’t, but you know all my secrets. I’m not trying to run her off.”
“Ooh, secrets. Yep, I’m good. You can go,” Nyelle teased, causing Vega to groan.
“See that’s what I’m talking about.” She looked up at him with a teasing grin. “Don’t believe shit she says unless it helps my situation. Anything else is a lie.” He winked at Nyelle then gave Paris a warning look before he left the two of them. It was true, Paris knew all of his secrets, or at least most of them since she had helped raise him, but he also knew she would never tell, or at least he hoped she wouldn’t. Vega had a sketchy past, mostly with women, and even if he had a life before Nyelle, he didn’t want her to know just how crazy that life was.
After leaving his now two favorite women, Vega found his way to his brother’s office. Stepping inside, his first move was to close the door before he focused on Ace standing in the doorway leading to the balcony that sat off his office. He had his large hand wrapped around a glass of brown which Vega knew was Hennessy, Ace’s drink of choice.
“You’re a brave man.” Ace spoke in a teasing tone without turning to face his brother.
“Why you say that?”
Vega moved beside his brother who then looked to his left with a devious grin in place. “You left her at the mercy of Paris. You’ll be married by the end of the month if she has any say about it.”
Vega laughed at the thought, liking the idea of giving Nyelle his last name. “Shit, I’m cool with it. I would marry her ass today if I thought she would say yes.”
Ace watched as his brother stepped away from him and looked out over his property. Like the rest of the property, it was pristine and looked like money. After a moment of reflection, he turned to face his brother, folding his arms across his chest, leaning against the concrete railing of the balcony.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you actually meant that,” Ace stated before lifting his glass to his lips.
“Know better then, fam, because I do mean that shit. Now what’s so important that you had to see me today?”
“I’ve been watching Patterson. He’s getting reckless and him being reckless means he’s willing to do anything. You need to move different.”
Vega’s face hardened. Here they were again having the same fucking conversation. One he was tired of having. Vega didn’t need Ace babysitting him. His movements were calculated and he knew what the hell he was doing. One misstep, or rather lapse in judgement, didn’t define who Vega was as a man. He got caught slipping three years ago, but the three years he spent in a box guaranteed it would never happen again. Not only that, but his new motivation further ensured that.Nyelle.
“What’s reckless?”
Ace lifted his glass again and peered at his brother, sensing his rising irritation. Ace didn’t give a fuck about Vega’s bruised feelings. He loved his brother, but Ace loved his freedom even more. Vega had escaped once without Ace feeling any backlash from his bad choices, but he wasn’t sure if that would be the case if Vega got caught up yet again.
“East was arrested?—"
“The fuck you mean he was arrested?” This was news to Vega. He wasn’t in East’s immediate circle because East didn’t really have one, but it seemed as if he would have heard about him getting knocked had that been the case.
“Relax, it wasn’t about that. Turns out, it was a misunderstanding with a woman he’s dealing with. My guys followed Patterson and watched the entire thing going down?—"
“Hold the fuck up.” Vega’s face went hard again as he processed what was being said. “So, you have eyes on Patterson, and they witnessed East getting knocked, but you didn’t do shit about it?” Vega waited, seeing the answer before his brother spoke it.
“Hadeyes on him. He’s not interested in you, which means I don’t have to be concerned with him sniffing around anything I have going on. As for East, I couldn’t get involved. That would have only made it worse and we don’t need the attention. I’m tired of this shit, Vega. I want to let it all go, and before I end up in jail or dead, that’s exactly what the fuck I’m going to do. Getting involved with a complicated situation with a detective is not something I need right now. East wouldn’t have wanted me involved either. He’s smart and doesn’t want a confirmed connection to me. You’re well aware that East has made that clear on more than one occasion.”
Vega chuckled arrogantly, dropping his chin and shaking his head as he processed what he was hearing.
As he lifted his eyes to his brother, the brother he admired and looked up to all of his life, Vega now saw a different man. They had their differences, but to know Ace had witnessed one of the men he claimed to respect and trust get knocked and didn’t feel it necessary to intervene didn’t sit right with Vega. It was a well-known fact that Ace didn’t get his hands dirty. Ace was the brains and the money, but to let a trusted soldier go down while you did nothing just didn’t feel right. “So you didn’t do shit?”
Ace gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at his baby brother. “What the fuck could I do?”
It was no secret Ace wasn’t the man most thought he was. He didn’t get his hands dirty. He hadn’t earned his spot. It was handed to him. Years of pretending had taken a toll on him. Ace was a brilliant businessman. His mind was sharp. It was the only thing that kept him going over the years after taking over for his father. It was one of the reasons he pushed for his men to be more than just running the streets. He wanted his brother to adopt the same policies but they weren’t the same. Vega wanted to get it out the mud, he wanted to get his hands dirty. It was what made his blood pump feverishly through his veins.
“Shit, I don’t know, something. This wasn’t just any muthafucker. It was East. Hell, there were times when I felt like you wanted him to be blood more than you wanted me to, and you let your people stand by and watch shit go down. Why the fuck they didn’t just take that muthafucker out? We’ve killed cops before…” Vega paused and looked in his brother’s eyes. “Well not you, but East has handled things like that for you. You couldn’t have your men step up when it was necessary for him? What type of shit you on, bruh?”
Ace felt the gut punch but chose to keep his cool. There really wasn’t anything he could do about the situation now. When his guys called and asked what their move should be, he told them to stand down.
“What the fuck was I supposed to do? Have my guys kill a detective on the block with the potential for anyone to walk up on the situation?”
“A piece of shit detective who’s shaking down our people. Hell yeah. That muthafucker needs to die. He cost me three years of my life and you’re cool with him locking up someone you damn near consider family. You should have just made the call to cancel his ass. You really think anyone would have one fucking word to say in his defense?”
“You’re talking crazy, Vega. How is that supposed to work?”
