“This who you chose, Jasmine?” Marcus spat, his face inches from mine. “This weak ass nigga?”
Blood roared in my ears. I hated the sound of Jasmine’s name in his mouth.
With a guttural yell, I bucked my hips and shoved him off me. He staggered back, spitting blood to the floor with a wild look in his eyes.
“That all your bitch ass got?” he said with a bloody grin.
We ran at each other again, neither of us willing to back down. I caught him mid-stride and slammed him into the side of a parked car so hard the impact set off the car alarm. Marcus was stronger than I’d anticipated, but I had more to lose.
I pinned him against the car and kneed him in the stomach. Marcus keeled over as I threw punch after punch into his ribs— the fight draining from him with each blow I landed.
“Again, this all you got, nigga?” he laughed weakly.
I growled and threw him to the ground. His head bounced off the concrete. He rolled over, choking on more blood, struggling to get up. My chest heaved as I stared at him. Even in his fucked up state, I could see the hatred in his eyes.
“Why won’t you just stay down?” I muttered.
His eyes darted again to the gun lying a few feet away.
”Nuh uh,” I kicked it out of his reach before he went for it.
I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into a concrete pillar. “You should’ve never come to Atlanta.”
“Cash!” Jasmine’s frantic voice rang out.
I turned to her and saw the fear all over her tear-streaked face. She didn’t need to watch this drag out.
With a roar, Marcus shoved me back and swung wildly at me.
I hit him with a hook to his temple, bringing him down again. He groaned as he struggled to get back up, but I was ending this now.
I walked over and picked up the gun. He was on his knees now, swaying.
“Fuck you,” he spat, his voice hoarse but defiant.
I nodded slowly. “Gotta give it to you—you ain’t a beggin’ ass nigga,” I leveled the Glock with his head. “I respect that.”
Marcus glanced over at Jasmine through swollen eyes.
“Tell Kyree I said, ‘what’s up.”
The shot went between his eyes. His body jerked and collapsed onto the concrete with a heavy thud. He’d get no last words.
I stepped over his body and fired again, watching the blood pool under his head.
It was done.
CHAPTER29
JASMINE MILLER
Marcus was dead.Marcus was dead.
The realization finally hit me as I stared at his lifeless body. Bile rose in my throat as I stumbled back and threw up. My knees buckled as the little salad I’d eaten earlier splattered onto the ground.
My head spun and my vision blurred. I’d seen dead bodies before, working in the ER. Shit, I’d been there when a few patients took their last breath. But watching somebody’s life get snatched in front of you was different. My body shook as I dry heaved, gasping for air.
“Hey, hey.” Cash’s deep voice broke through the fog. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me upright. “I got you, baby. I got you.”
