Shabu shook his head but stood to have his brother’s back, right, wrong, or indifferent. Relic casually got up as well, like he knew everything moved on his time and not a moment beforehand.
His eyes drifted to Kennedy a final time before he and Shabu snuck out of their section from the opposite end. He gave a subtle head signal to Rocco in passing, directing his security to watch over the ladies before heading down the stairs and to the door leading backstage. Shabu pulled out his badge from his pocket to show the guards there before they were given permission to enter the hall leading to the dressing room. Relic stalled once there, smoothing a hand over his imported, mother-of-pearl button down that he’d untucked to conceal his pistol. Shabu gripped his shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze.
“Handle yo scandal, bro. If she doesn’t fuck with you after this, at least we know your intentions were good.”
Relic turned the knob and ambled inside after hearing that since his intentions weren’t good. They weren’t quite bad in his eyes either. In the end, Kennedy would have the closure she needed, while he would have one less nigga in his fucking way who could become a bigger distraction for her while he was behind bars.
It didn’t get more intentional than that for Relic.
The chatter in the room ceased at his presence, and he took in the faces around the room. His labels artists, other than Tekken who was on stage, were lounging about. Los, and two muthafuckas who didn’t belong there, but were summoned by him, stared as he trained his sights on the man he’d searched online for a visual. Relic had found an image of the nigga at the lounge he owned and recollected that face to memory.
He had sent the same man a ticket to the event under the guise of it being Kennedy sending him an olive branch from her prepaid phone. Relic knew Ezekiel wouldn’t turn down the offerif it meant getting near the person who had slipped from his grasp.
Kennedy.
“Everyone besides Los and those two niggas, get the hell out,” he instructed with a calm tone that didn’t match the energy brewing inside him.
Ezekiel aimed a glower at Relic as if he knew exactly who the fuck he was the moment he stepped in the room. Like he knew Kennedy, her type, and that she’d fuck with nothing short of the man calling the shots.
“Oh, hell nah! I know I’m not getting put out when I know some shit about to pop off,” Pierre fussed, outraged at being banished.
Relic leered in his direction, and his cousin sucked his teeth like a mad bitch, grabbed a water off the coffee table, and then waved a hand to direct Calm and Aura out of the door. Shabu closed it, and Los stood from the couch where he’d been seated beside a passed out Saucy.
“What the fuck is this supposed to be?”
The guest Relic hadn’t personally invited, but figured Ezekiel would bring along, spoke up first.
“You must be Sarge, right?” he guessed before resting a hand on his chest. “I’m Relic, and I know the nigga next to you with that tired ass suit on is Ezekiel. Now, since we got that out of the way, let’s cut to the chase. Kennedy was never texting you, Zekey pal. That was me. You two seem to have unfinished business, so I decided we’d just clear it up tonight. She’ll be here once she notices I’m missing, but I think we should have a conversation first.”
Ezekiel chortled and leaned against the dressing table with folded arms, sizing Relic up while tossing his head in pity. If the nigga believed he could check him, he was out of his mind or ready to meet his fucking maker.
“I can’t think of a single thing I need to holler at you about. Get Kennedy in here.”
“You get her in here, nigga. Oh, wait, you can’t ‘cause you couldn’t even get her ass to hear you out on a prepaid line. You couldn’t take a hint, so I’m doing you a favor by setting this meeting up. This is your time to shine, Ezekiel, so make it count because it’s your last.”
“Y’all young niggas crack me up. You hear this shit, Sarge?” He backhanded his friend’s arm as they chuckled at Relic’s pure audacity. “If I want to call Kennedy every minute on the fucking hour, I will. If I want to visit her at that salon she runs, I’ll do that, too. You ain’t scaring me, and you ain’t stopping shit with me and her. What we got going on has nothing to do with you.”
“See, that’s the thing,” Relic stated coolly with a clasp of his hands. He stepped toward Ezekiel and stressed the fact, “Y’all don’t have shit going on, muthafucka. Now, I tried to keep it player because this little issue goes beyond you thinking you can get Kennedy back, but I tend to get disrespectful ‘bout shit that belongs to me. I know that her pussy is superb, head is lethal, and loyalty unmatched, but ain’t none of it for you, nigga. Fuck around and die behind my bitch tonight if you want to.”
“Your bitch? Yea, I can see you’re just fun for her like the last nigga was. A rebound. A mini me. You don’t even respect her, so I know she won’t be with your ass long.”
“Funny how you think you know her, but you don’t even know, Kennedy loves being my bitch. When she isn’t that, she’s my partner. My right hand and reflection. She’s my...” He paused and snapped his fingers, pretending like he was searching for the term. He gazed at Shabu. “What does P call her, bro?”
Shabu smirked. “Your Bonnie.”
“My muthafuckin’ Bonnie! Larenn. The queen to her goddamn king! See, you haven’t had Kennedy like I have her.Never will. I get the boss bitch, the mastermind, and the freak that loves how I show her why I’m daddy when I’m in that—”
Ezekiel charged Relic, sending a right hook to his jaw before he could finish his sentence. Blood pooled in Relic’s mouth, and he smirked because Ezekiel had just made his fucking night.
Another hit connected with his face before they both stumbled backward, falling onto the couch just as he sent a jab to Ezekiel’s nose, hearing that crack of bone before a gush of blood followed. Pure satisfaction coursed through him. He shoved Ezekiel off him to stand, and they swung at the same time, going pound for pound while fucking up the room in the process. The couch rammed the wall with a thud after their solid builds bumped it before scrapping in the opposite direction.
Relic heard muffled shouting around him but didn’t care to make it out as they scuffled, colliding with the wall and then falling against the dressing table. A pain radiated through his jaw when Ezekiel did a bitch move and struck him with an aerosol canister across the face and then head. His temples pounded as he two-pieced the nigga to frazzle him before slinging this bulky frame onto the dresser. The mirror cracked when he slammed Ezekiel’s head against it and then flung him to the ground. Adrenaline coursed in Relic’s veins, charging him up, and he punt kicked Ezekiel in the face before scooping him up just to body slam him through the wooden coffee table.
“That’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” Los lauded, clapping his hands hard as hell. “Thought you was ‘bout to let him beat yo ass folks.”
Relic caught himself as he tripped over Zeke from the table collapsing under the weight. He scrambled to his feet and swiped an arm across his bleeding lips as the dressing room door opened. Kennedy stepped inside, took a look at the faces staring back at her, and froze dead in her tracks.
“It’s not as bad as it looks.”
