***
When I walked in and saw Nico sitting and talking to Serayah, all I saw was red. I thought,What is he doing with her?How did he find me?My head was reeling.
After getting Serayah up to go with Chase, I turned back to Nico. He sat there with an arrogant grin on his face, and I just wanted to smash it to pieces. Finally, he stood and said, “King,my boy. You don’t call. You don’t write. I had such a hard time finding you.”
“What the fuck are you doing here, Nico?”
“I came to find you…but, I gotta say, Princess Serayah is a fine piece of…” before he could finish, I punched him with everything I had in me. “You stay the fuck away from her…and away from me.”
All the years of hurt and anger. It all came out in that one blow. People in the coffee shop gathered their things and scattered. The punch had sent him stumbling against the table. You could hear the screech of his chair sliding across the floor as he knocked into it. Nico grabbed his jaw and shakily stood up again.
After he was on his feet, I said, “Don’t make scene. Outside. Now.”
I followed him outside and we went around the corner to talk. He was tall, but slender. When I was younger, he looked bigger to me. I didn’t have the muscle that I do now. Sizing him up there in the coffee shop, it’s crazy to think I was ever afraid of him.
Nico righted himself and turned to face me. “I’ve been looking for you. One day, I took you in, trained you, and then, you just left.”
Nico was someone I looked up to when I was younger, more vulnerable, and naive. I ran away from home when I was fifteen and my dad got into drugs. A friend introduced me to Nico, who was older than me, and from the outside, looked like he had his shit together. In a way, he was like a father figure. Eventually, he took me under his wing and before I knew it, I was stealing cars for him. I despised him for it.
I said, “Don’t act like you didn’t lead me into a life of crime. I was lucky to get out before I lost my life. I’m not about to let you drag me back in.”
Nico chuckled. “Is that why you left? Too bad. You were the best car thief around. Look at you now, though, Kid. Not the scrawny little guy I knew all those years ago.”
“I’m not yourkid, Nico. I never was. I have a life and a legitimate job that doesn’t put me in prison. I don’t owe you a fucking thing.”
He resigned himself. “Okay, I get it. But…if you ever find yourself out in the cold again, you know who to see.”
“I’d rather freeze to death.”
Nico shook his head, said, “Got it. Have a nice life then,” and walked away.
I watched him walk to his car, pull away, and drive off. It was then last time I ever saw him. I felt like I could breathe again and finally leave my past behind.
Just then, Chase came up behind me. “Who the fuck wasthat, man?”
“Nobody, at least not anymore.” My phone went off, so I looked down to see that Cass had texted me and Chase:214.
I said to Chase, “Someone must’ve told Cass about the punch already.” I gritted my teeth and stifled a, “Fuck! Let’s get Ms. Flores home first, and then we can go see Cass. Mack and Gabe should be able to handle security without us for a while.”
Chase nodded and said, “Sounds good.”
All I could think about was how the fuck I was going to explain it to Cass.
Chapter 10
King
Gabe stayed with Serayah while Chase and I went to Headquarters. When we walked in, Cass was looking out the window, standing quietly.
“What happened today?” He asked without looking at us.
Clearing my throat, I said, “It was nothing. Someone was talking to Ser… to Ms. Flores, and I knew they were bad news. I wanted to get her away from him.”
Cass turned around. “You did. So, why stay and keep talking to the guy? And isn’t today your day off?”
“It was someone I knew, growing up...”
Cass held up a hand. “Did you handle it?”
