Farah—gone.
Thad—handled.
Vivica—caged.
Dubz—singing like a bird.
Every single one. Every threat. Every snake. Every ghost. Handled.
I let out a breath. A real one. Felt like I’d been holding that shit since I met the Goddess.
I pulled my phone out and looked at the home screen. Zainab’s face staring back at me, that picture I snapped the other morning with the twins. She was exhausted, glowing, a baby in each arm, looking at the camera like she still couldn’t believe this was her life.
Makes two of us, Goddess.
I locked up the warehouse, got in the whip, and drove.
Forty minutes. No music. No calls. No nothing.
Just the road and the silence and this strange, unfamiliar feeling spreading through my chest that took me a minute to identify.
Peace.
I ain’t never had that before. Not really. Not since before Rashid. Not since I was that little boy who loved music and action figures and didn’t know yet that the world was full of people who’d take everything from you if you let them.
I thought about Vivica sitting in that cell. Probably still plotting. Still convinced she could politic her way out. That was the difference between her and Farah. Farah knew when she was beat. Vivica would scheme from the grave.
Let her. That cell was home now.
I thought about Thad. Mehar was holding that nigga hostage and I was footing the bill. But whatever. She deserved it after all she’s been through. Zainab was perfectly okay with her carrying out the revenge because she had enough hatred for all of them
I thought about Zahara.Woman I never met. Twin sister whose murder started this whole thing. Whose death wentunsolved for years while her sister walked around wearing her name, raising her son, carrying guilt so heavy it bent her spine.
I got you, sis. I got every last one of them.
By the time I pulled into the driveway, the sun was doing that California thing. Golden hour. Everything washed in honey and amber—the stucco walls, the lawn, the two car seats I could see through the back window of the truck.
Car seats, man. I got car seats in my truck.
A little over a year ago, I was catching bodies as a hitman. Now I’m worried about which brand of car seat got the best safety rating. Life is wild.
I sat in the car for a minute. Engine off. Windows down. Just breathing.
This right here. This was what the war was for. Not the warehouse. Not the blood. Not the threats and the chains and the holes in the ground. This. A house with a woman who loved me in it. Kids who needed me. A boy and a girl who looked at me like I put the sun in the sky.
This was the finish line. And for the first time in my life, I actually crossed it.
Didn’t even get my key out before the front door flew open.
Yusef.
“Prime!” He hit me with that bear hug, arms wrapped around my waist, face buried in my chest. Kid was getting taller. Another few inches and he’d be looking me in the eye. “You’re back! Zainab said you had business, but you were gone forever.”
“Forever?” I ruffled his hair. Needed a cut bad. “It was like eight hours, Yu.”
“That’s forever when you’re bored.” He pulled back and looked up at me. Zahara’s eyes. Every time. Killed me every time. “Are you done now? Like, done done?”
I crouched down so we were eye level. “Yeah, lil man. I’m done done.”
