“You okay?” Cabo knew his lady. He could see the tension in her expression and body.
“For now, yes, but what you said didn’t help.”
Cabo chuckled and joined Ava, pulling her into his body. She couldn’t help but relax against his solid frame. The man was hersafe space and she loved him with everything that she was. It was the reason she accepted the good and bad that made up who he was.
“East is a good man. I’ve known him for years and never once have I had to question anything about him. If your niece is with him, under his protection with her life and her heart, then she’s in a good place. Now let’s go so I can figure out who’s fucking with my people and what I need to do to ensure it ends here.”
After planting a kiss to her temple, he released her from his hold and the two began the process of getting ready to fly out. Cabo was hoping for an easy resolution as he had a full week but would do whatever necessary to ensure East was good.
“I can sit hereall night if that’s what it takes.”
East didn’t say a word. He knew the drill. He half expected Patterson to skip the formalities and not actually book him. So when he was brought in, fingerprinted, and placed in front of the camera for mug shots, East knew this was about to be a little more complicated than he expected. For the first time in his life, his name was officially in the system. It was possible his name came up in conversation with detectives and cops over the years but they could never make anything stick. He was careful and smart. He learned a lot from Ace, then Cabo when he began buying from him, and what wasn’t taught or provided by them East learned on his own. He was a natural when it came to his hustle. Not all men were built to handle certain roles, but East was born for his. It was his natural state of being to be a leader, to be successful and do it in a way that had others trying to mimic his actions. It was another reason East’s blood was boiling now. Never once had he slipped up until Joi. Fucking Joi.
This situation was the reason he didn’t want to let anyone in.Women complicated shit. His complication landed him in handcuffs and now in a precinct at close to four in the morning with his trigger finger experiencing spasms each time Patterson addressed him.
“Still nothing?” Patterson was growing annoyed. East hadn’t said a word to him or spoken at all since they left his shop. He thought for sure that he would play tough, but he felt certain he could at least get him to entertain a conversation.
East lifted his eyes to Patterson with the darkest look reflecting from them. It caused Patterson to falter slightly which East caught and Patterson prayed he didn’t.
“That woman is a walking billboard that’s gonna cost you at least a year. I have the power to make that stick. Are you really going to be that stupid and not even entertain a conversation with me? I’m trying to help you out here, son?—"
“I’m not your gotdamn son and I’m not entertaining shit you have to say. You want something I’m never going to give you. Your stupid ass already showed your hand. I didn’t touch her. She admitted to that. You can either let me go now or wait for her to get with a lawyer who will sue this entire fucking department for holding me when you didn’t have a reason. You make that call.”
Patterson’s face burned with anger, turning red. “You aren’t as smart as you think you are, I?—"
Both men looked to the door when it opened. East straight ahead and Patterson over his shoulder. Seconds later they had a visual of a man in a dark gray suit followed by a lieutenant. “This man is here for Mr. Joseph. You need to step out while he has a minute with his client.”
Patterson’s face flushed red again. He wasn’t sure how Joi procured a lawyer so fast and at this hour but here he was. East didn’t say a word. He had no idea who the man was or whyhe was there, but he could only assume Joi had reached out to someone.
“You must be one of them ambulance chasers.” Patterson looked him up and down, knowing for sure that he wasn’t. The clothes he wore were expensive and so was the watch on his wrist.
Pavia smirked and returned the favor, looking Patterson up and down, but with a little more discontent than he expressed. Seconds later Pavia’s face morphed into a cocky grin. “I am Christopher Pavia. One of the best criminal attorneys in Miami. I’m undefeated when it comes to cases of injustice such as what I’m sure that my client is experiencing but I’ll verify that here in just a moment. Now get the fuck out so I can speak with him privately.”
“Who the hell do?—"
“Patterson, out. Let him speak with his client.” The lieutenant stated once more but with unmatched urgency which caused Patterson to send a glare his way before he retreated. The second the door closed, Pavia reached into his pocket and handed over a business card to East, placing it down on the table in front of him. East’s eyes dropped to it before he lifted them again, looking to Pavia for more clarity.
“Cabo sent me. He’s outside in the car. I thought it best that he not come inside.”
East’s brow dipped in, expressing more confusion. Navi had left before he was arrested and there was no way Joi knew him. That meant Cabo potentially had him watched.
“How the fuck he know I’m here?”
With no deviation from the business-focused look on his face, Pavia explained.
“To my understanding, the young lady you’re friends with is the niece of Ms. Ava Calhoun. Joi, I think her name is, called her aunt to ask for help after you were arrested. When Cabo realizedit was you, I was on his private jet accompanying him here to handle this.”
East was relieved and annoyed at the same time. Cabo wasn’t watching him, however, yet again, letting Joi into his life complicated things. East stood firmly on being his own man. That meant not being in debt to anyone. This situation placed him in debt.
“How do I get out of here? The charge is bullshit. He knows I didn’t do it.”
“Understood and already handled. They’re preparing to release you now. I only wanted to speak with you privately while we waited so I could let you know that by the end of the day tomorrow it will be like this never happened.”
“They did the full process,” East stated, considering the events leading up to him being placed in this room.
“Doesn’t matter. I get paid a lot of money to make things happen, which is why I give you my guarantee that by the end of the day tomorrow Eastland Joseph will not appear in any search provided by their systems.”
Pavia slipped his hands into the pockets of his tailored pants. All he knew of East was what Cabo handed over in the file he kept on him. It was personal information, bank statements, titles to properties, a copy of his license, social security card, and birth certificate. Information that was only used as a reference for Cabo to have a better understanding of who his client was. It was something he kept on anyone he dealt with on a consistent basis and nothing he would ever use against them unless given a reason. East had proven he would never give Cabo reason.
