“Will do,” Titan told her, giving her a polite smile. As soon as the woman spun on her heels and moseyed out of earshot, he stated in incredulity, “I know this nigga didn’t just get us in trouble, and lied straight to her face, but still ended up with a free slice of cake. If that ain’t the story of his damn life!”
Pierre tossed a grilled meat cube inside his mouth and chewed with a bob of his head. “Facts. The nigga always ends up on top however he gotta do it. I can’t even knock him.”
What goes up must come down.
Relic tuned out of the conversation when those words from Los popped into his head. His eyes drifted around at nothing before he addressed the woman who his folks had been referringto while speaking that quote into existence when they’d taken their kids to the shooting range.
“You blurred the lines.”
His random statement made Kennedy glance at him. “What?”
“You had me meet your folks. You got me explaining shit to your nephew and flying you out like you’re mine. You got me doing the most in front of my family, and you made my damn son fall in love with you,” Relic grumbled, tugging his chin hairs as he stared ahead. Seconds passed before he looked at her. “You blurred the lines between us being a partnership or relationship. You opened that door, Kennedy. Don’t act surprised when I walk through it.”
The slight curl at one corner of her mouth alerted him that she knew as much and didn’t mind it. She’d craved it from the moment he’d told her that she couldn’t post him because of Aura. Kennedy was baiting him, and Relic was anxious to accept it and allow her to reel in the biggest fish of her fucking life. Her doing so would push him one step closer to his end game.
“What the fuckdo you mean, they can’t find her?! She was at a damn club, so I know muthafuckas got something on camera. Did anyone survive the shooting?”
Relic put on his best performance, pretending that he was enraged as he lounged poolside on a cushioned chaise while listening to Sojourney relay the drama that had gone down with Aura in his absence. From the time he’d taken his phone off airplane mode, it’d pinged with notifications and calls he wasn’t in the frame of mind to deal with. Relic hadn’t done so until they returned from dinner and settled in for that very reason.
He puffed the cigar he was smoking and gazed at the night sky, with stars brighter than he’d seen in years, and then at the forest surrounding their beach house, giving it a sense of seclusion. A splash of water lured his attention to where Kennedy sat at the pool’s edge, dangling her feet in the deepend as she scrolled on social media, searching for information to ensure their names weren’t attached to Aura’s incident in a negative light. Every theory so far had pointed at Ronnie and Mea for getting Aura mixed in their karma since they were known for setting niggas up to get robbed. Because of their soiled reputation, Relic’s ruse had gone smoother than he expected.
“...All dead. What should I do? Has anyone called her parents?”
Relic blinked and tapped back into a conversation he had checked out of after the first minute of her weeping in his ear. Sojourney was so fucking weak and useless that it sickened him at times.
“I’ve only been gone twenty-four hours, and I already have a missing rapper and a damn singer crying in my ear more than she does on a track. Give me time to put my ear to the streets and get more information, Saucy. I’ll call you with an update once I have it.”
He hung up, tossed his phone on the table beside him, and then pinched his nose bridge with an exhale. His eyes flitted at Kennedy when she sniggered at his reaction.
“What the hell is funny?”
“You. Why’re you acting stressed when we knew this would be the fallout of it? I hope you have someone with a little sense checking on the package.”
“I was supposed to have someone keep eyes on it?”
Kennedy stared at him like he’d lost his fucking mind before shouting, “Relic! The way those young niggas I saw last night act, they may really do what I said was done to Sonny! Yes,itneeds to be monitored.”
“Calm your ass down, Ms. Mastermind. It’s in a safe location, and Drish is on it. What’s our next moves to do damage control?”
“The team needs to put out statements. They’ll all do it tomorrow afternoon like they’re just catching wind of it. I can get Tek to do his first and then Calm. Pierre goes last because he’ll do one of his usual, shit talking videos where he threatens whoever did something to her, but then we’ll take it down. We just need his up long enough for people to screen record it.”
“Smart. It makes P seem like he gives a fuck, but they know he can’t incriminate himself. I’m sure if he didn’t do that, there’d be talk about him being pussy. Can’t win for losing with the masses.”
“Yep. The only one who isn’t speaking out is you, but that makes sense because you never have. I’ll ask Treasure to write a post on your behalf to put on your page.”
Relic hiked his thick brow while puffing his cigar. He expelled a cloud of smoke before probing, “Since when do I have a page?”
The unenthused seriousness in his question made her laugh before she shook her head at his genuine hatred for social media.
“The music label’s page, Relic. Technically, that one is yours. That’s the business you’re the face of, regardless of how much you try to make it Pierre. People know you the most for the record label. Not my salon, the restaurant, or any other secret businesses you may have. Now, do I need to change their flights, or is everyone leaving on the PJ?”
“Why would their flights need to be changed?”
“Because, unfortunately, we can’t be lounging around for days on a trip while your artist is abducted. I’m giving us tomorrow, but we need to head back no later—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Relic cut in, causing her to gape before shutting her mouth. “Do you hear that?”
Her forehead creased before she replied, “Hear what? It’s quiet.”
