“Don’t say shit else to that nigga, but he asked a valid question. Are you ready, Kennedy? You have permission to walk away if you aren’t. Take it.”
She shook her head and stressed, “These bitches have been fucking with me for no reason, and Mea has Saucy so shook, she barely leaves her condo, even with Slim dead. I want to see those hoes get exactly what they deserve.”
“I figured that’d be your answer, but I hope you’re as ready as you think you are. Let’s go.”
Koda was long gone, and so was Kennedy’s sham of a relationship that’d ignited her love for the drug game, but she hadn’t lost that addiction to the thrill of it all.
To the power.
To assisting with calling the shots.
To being the woman on the side of a certified hustler, and true boss, who ran shit with an iron fist.
Koda and Ezekiel had instilled her with a certain skill set to thrive, while Relic was thrusting her into his tactical warfare headfirst to see if she could walk just as big as she talked. Her stomach churned as her eyes toured the poorly lit road they were parked on the side of, waiting for Aura and her flunkies to drive past in the protective detail SUV Relic had rented for the night, so he wouldn’t have to use his own security team. Judging from the time frame Rocco had told Relic they’d left; she knew shit was about to pop off within minutes.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” she whispered to Relic, who sat in back next to her with a calmness she’d bet was meant to lull her into a false sense of security, but it was futile. “What if Aura’s driver takes another route?”
“They won’t, but Rocco is tailing her in case. As far as they know, he’s her security, so it won’t look suspicious.”
“Okay, but what if the dudes with them don’t follow them and decide to go somewhere else?”
“They won’t. I had Rocco play cool with them, and he offered them a nice chunk of change to help him keep an eye on the girls tonight.”
“And they went for that? Dumb asses,” she muttered, craning her neck to see where Shabu was posted up in the van she’d seen him hop into before they left. She couldn’t spot it. “But what if—”
“What’s your list order?” Relic cut in before she could shoot off more questions. She sat back with an exhale, and he reminded her, “You didn’t tell me the order you would put my folks in. I want to know what’s your type.”
“You know my type, Relic. I’m fucking it.”
His eyes stared straight ahead, but he cracked a smile. “You’re a professional at deflecting, Larenn. Morrone may need to put you on payroll.”
“I’m serious! I don’t look at or interact with them like that to where I can put them in order. Shabu is a homie to me, Titan is a sweetheart, Pierre is my sworn enemy, and Los annoys me a bit.”
Los spun in the driver’s seat to glare at her. “How the hell did I get in it?”
“Because I knew you were being nosey. Plus, I don’t like how you’re in secret competition with Relic. You like getting him riled up.”
“We all fuck with each other like that. It ain’t as deep as you’re making it. Tell her, folks.”
“I see headlights coming. Look alive.”
Kennedy caught the brief look of shock on Los’s face when Relic didn’t endorse him. He gave a subtle nod and then grabbed the two police hats from the passenger seat to toss Relic one as he put on the other. Kennedy tried to ignore the sudden adrenaline pumping through her veins like a hit of dope as a suburban sped past them while Los started the car. He shot out of their hiding spot and flicked on a siren after a second vehicle flew by, tailing the truck.
Relic squeezed her thigh as she watched Rocco’s truck skirt to a stop before reversing and routing in the opposite direction while the vehicle Los was behind pulled over on the side of the road. Los flicked on his high beams to blind the occupants of the car before he and Relic climbed out to put their opposition to rest.
Kennedy had barely clasped her hands onto the head rests to peek between the seats when Los walked up to the car window and pulled out his semi-automatic, dumping nonstop rounds into the driver and passenger rider. Relic shot through the rear window before moving to the back passenger side to finish off the remaining occupants. Air refused to fill her deflated lungs as she looked up ahead, watching the suburban careen to a stop after being cut off by the van she was searching for minutes prior. The door slid open, and bullets riddled the suburban’s windshield before bodies hopped out the van stealthily—one she was certain was Shabu from his familial, cocky gait matching his brother’s down to a science.
Her insides tried jumping out of her damn skin when the car doors swung wide, and Relic dove in the passenger seat while Los reclaimed the driver spot. Los sped toward the cars ahead, jerking to a halt before Kennedy went still in trepidation as she watched Shabu seizing a kicking and screaming Aura out of the suburban before tossing a black garbage bag over her head. He tugged up his pants at the hips and then flung her over a shoulder, lugging her to the awaiting van. Gunshots sounded again, causing her blood to pump in her ears, before his team followed his lead and hopped in the van to peel off faster than they’d appeared.
The silence left behind in their wake was as deafening as Kennedy ever heard it.
“Come on,” Relic urged her, climbing out of the car.
Kennedy thought she heard him wrong until his steps slowed, and he glanced over his shoulder with a wave of his hand to summon her. The confidence she had exuded earlier evaporated into thin air as she blinked, taking time to restart her motor functions to help them guide her out the car and to Relic as he pulled on a pair of gloves. Just as she neared him, he snatched Ronnie from the backseat like a sack of potatoes and dropped her onto the asphalt before he did the same to Mea, trapping Ronnie beneath the dead weight.
“Please,” Ronnie gargled, sputtering blood while her pleading eyes gazed at them. Relic sneered.
“Take off your shades, Larenn. I want your face to be the last she sees. I want her last muthafucking thought to be whether or not trying to rob you was worth her life.”
