“I-I have a proposition for you…” I swallowed the dry air in my throat. “I’m in a bind. Not only do I owe you, but my business is tanking because of some bad choices I made.”
I paused, attempting to steady my shaky voice. Sweat began to pour down my forehead as I shook from his menacing glare. I had to get a grip because Dame felt like my only hope of getting everything back on track and coming out on top.
“Blossom is always working, always with her best friend. Her work calendar is still synced to mine from a previous job, and I was thinking if I helped you, you could, well… you could pay me.”
Angling his head, he stared at me as if I had lost my mind. In a way, maybe I had. Here I was, knee-deep in shit, and my answer was to throw my sister to the wolves. Too bad I didn’t give a fuck. This was life or death for me.
“You mean to tell me that not only do you owe me money...” He pushed off his desk and placed his hand in his pockets. “But you want me topay youto help me snatch your sister.” He took a few steps toward me before he crouched down, bringing us eye to eye. “You do know I have every intention of making her mine in every sense of the word. I’ve wanted your sister since the day she turned me down at her open house. No one turns me down.”
“I-I don’t care what you do to her.” I held his stare, eyes twitching as I spoke the words out loud that I’d said to myself a million times. “I want her gone.”
“Hmm.” His lips twitched as he stood to full height. “Tell me, Rowan. What do you have in mind?”
Fresh off vacation,the last thing I wanted was to come back home to drama. I still had another week off from work, and while I didn’t want to deal with bullshit, I knew duty called. Pulling up to my parents’ gate, I put the code in, waiting for the muthafucka to get out of my way. It didn’t take long before I was zooming down the driveway and pulling up to my parents’ crib. While we all had access codes to get inside the house, I would never let myself in. There was no telling what type of time Jaseon was on when it came to my mama.
“Hey, baby boy.” She smiled at me as she opened the front door. The smell of something fried hit me in the face instantly. “How was your vacation?”
“It was cool, Ma.” I smirked, pulling her into a hug, kissing her temple. “You look pretty today. I like what you did with your hair.”
“You see me, son?” She tussled her ginger tresses as she closed the door behind us. Looping her arm in mine, she grinned as she led me through the foyer. “I thought I would try something different since the season is about to change. Your father sweated most of the curls out, but—Ok! Ok! Come back, son!”
Grabbing my arm to keep me from leaving, she giggled hysterically as she led me to the den where my father was sitting with Uncle Amir and Uncle Mitch. Seeing my mother latched onto my arm caused my father to frown, and I knew he was about to be on his bullshit.
“JJ, if you don’t get your hands off my muthafuckin’ wife, you’re going to be shitting out of your nose after I get done putting my foot up your ass.”
“Nigga, this is my mama.” I chuckled as he pulled her from me. “You mean to tell me I can’t love on my girl?”
“Get your own woman and come back to let me know.” My smile faltered when thoughts of Blossom crossed my mind. When my father stood, I shook her from my frontal lobe and prepared myself for whatever reason I had been called over. “Let me holler at you in my office for a minute. Jamir is already in there.”
After slapping hands with my uncles, I followed them to the back of the house. As quickly as I shook Bloss Baby from my mind, she jumped her fine ass right back in position—front and center. We had been back home for two days, and all I wanted to do was bury myself inside of her. For the past two nights, I’d watched through the cameras as she tossed and turned in her sleep, calling out mindlessly to me. I was going to let her enjoy a few days of peace before I made my presence known in her life.Once I did, she would have to understand this was how things would be going forward.
“Karlie told me you showed them a good time on y’all’s trip. That’s good shit.” My father slapped my shoulder as we stepped into his office. Jamir was seated at our dad’s desk as if he belonged there, typing away on his laptop. “You might be my least favorite child, but I love the way you take care of your family. Maybe I didn’t do half bad raising your fool ass.”
“Remember that when it’s time for your old ass to go to a home.” I mugged him before walking over to dap up Jamir. “What’s up, baby boy. You good?”
“Hey, JJ.” He stood from the cushioned desk chair and pulled me into a brotherly hug. “I was going to stop by your house earlier, but Dad told me he would just call you over. I have something that may help find Rowan and those who helped him steal the product and money.”
Sitting down in the chair, he went back to typing away as I looked over his shoulder and watched. It didn’t take long before the screen lit up with various street cameras. How was he able to get a sky view of a state highway? I had no idea, and at this moment, I didn’t give a fuck. I was ready to kill anyone associated with what happened at my dad’s trap house.
For a few minutes, I stood there and watched. I began to get irritated as I observed the same unmarked Toyota zoom through the city. I was just about to ask Jamir what the fuck was his point in showing me this shit when the car finally pulled into a gas station on the outskirts of Willow Springs.
“Zoom in.” I tapped the desktop screen once the guys started exiting the car. It was dark, but the lights from the store gave the camera a clear view of the occupants. “Can you put that shit on the big screen, baby boy?”
Standing to my full height, I folded my arms and watched as Jamir did exactly what I asked. My uncles and fathersaid nothing as I walked toward the footage, spread across the massive TV screen. Excitement flowed through me as I anticipated finding out who would be next to die.
“There’s Chris, but we already know where he is,” I spoke to myself as I watched the newly-deceased man walk into the store. “Rowan, you’re next, my boy.” I frowned and watched him pace the front of the car, hands on his head as if he was distraught. “Finally, we have—” Stepping closer to the screen, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Tell me I can’t be this fuckin’ lucky. Pause that shit and blow it up.”
Right there, in black and white, was none other than Detective Tyreek Hines Jr. Telling Jamir to pause the video and zoom in on the still shot, I felt a bolt run through me. A slow grin spread across my face when I realized my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Although he had a hood over his head, I knew without a doubt it was him. I could feel the adrenaline begin to flow as I thought about all the things I wanted to do to ensure he suffered a slow and painful death.
“That nigga is about as slow as a crockpot on low, just like his dead-ass pappy,” I heard my father say from behind me. “Son, what are you thinking? You know I don’t like it when you’re quiet.”
Stuffing my hands in my slacks, I rolled my neck a few times before I turned to address him. It was then that I noticed the eyes of all the men in the room were on me. I was just about to respond when there was a small tap on the door.
“Sorry for interrupting.” My mother stuck her head in the room and looked between us. “I just wanted to see if you guys wanted any more spaghetti before—Oh! I know him.” She stepped further into the room and pointed toward the TV. “Babe, you remember when Mo and I went to get drinks a few of weeks ago, and I was telling you about the guy that hit on me at the bar?”
“I know damn well you ain’t talking about the nigga whose breath smelled like tilapia twat!” My dad frowned, folding his arms as everyone else in the room either chuckled or mumbled in confusion.
“That’s the nigga you dissed?” my dad asked my mama before his eyes narrowed. “You sure?”
