Mama named him Savage, and the nigga lived up to every syllable.
He stood there staring at me like I was a ghost. Or maybe like I was the devil. Hard to tell. Same eyes as mine. Same build. Same rage sitting right under the surface.
“Long time, Griz!” he said finally.
I said nothing. Tape still over my mouth.
He paced slow, talking like we was catching up over drinks. Said how much he admired me growing up. How he wanted to be me. How I cut him off years ago ‘cause I saw too much of myself in him—and I didn’t want that blood on my hands.
Then he stopped in front of me.
“You know why you here?”
He pulled out his phone.
Hit play.
The screen showed me exactly why I was here.
There was a video of Gremlin. Bag over his head. Tied up, and being beaten, like a slave. I knew that the life my brother Gremlin lived, would come back to catch up with him, but I still didn’t know why the fuck I was here.
Before the clip ended, a woman stepped into frame.
Cherish.
She looked straight into the camera and smiled.
“Let’s play a game,” she said. “He took my entire family from me. Now I’m taking his. Ten million by Friday to stop the bloodshed that’s to come. Only catch? You gotta come find me.”
The video cut.
Sav slid the phone back in his pocket.
“You was supposed to kill her,” he said calmly. “You told us it was done.”
I swallowed.
Gremlin.
That name rang in my head like a warning bell.
“She got him,” Sav continued. “And if you can’t lead us to her… your life on the line too.”
I already knew.
This was my fault.
I should’ve killed her on arrival. No hesitation. No mercy. Especially knowing what Gremlin held over all of us. Especially over me. Something in me allowed myself to fall for her, even though I knew that I shouldn’t. She played the fuck out of me, and now I was here.
Sav leaned in close.
“To me,” he said low, “it look like you fell in love with the bitch. Only reason a nigga would disobey orders like that.”
His eyes hardened.
“And love,” he added, “gets everybody killed.”
The tape stayed on my mouth.
