Twenty minutes later, Crown pulled up to Nivéa’s place just as the sun broke harder through the morning haze. His chest tightened the moment he slowed near the curb. Her car was missing from the driveway.
As he hopped off the bike, movement on the porch next door caught his attention. Nivéa’s neighbor sat in her metal chair, wrapped in a faded housecoat, watching him with open curiosity. Confusion lined her face as her gaze bounced between him, the bike, and the empty driveway.
Crown gave her a polite nod. “Mornin’.”
Ms. Barbra’s brows lifted slowly. She recognized him, but something wasn’t adding up in her mind. He could see it on her face, the way she studied him longer than necessary, as if trying to piece together a puzzle that didn’t quite fit.
“Good mornin’. You lookin’ for Nivéa, baby?” Ms. Barbra asked.
“Yes, ma’am. You see her this mornin’?”
Ms. Barbra hesitated, shifting in her chair. “Well… yeah, I did. She and the baby left not too long ago.”
Crown nodded, forcing himself to breathe. Leaving meant she was alive and well, and that had to count for something. Still, the way the old lady kept watching him made him uneasy.
“Everything alright?” He asked.
“Mmhmm… I think so.” Ms. Barbra squinted at him, tilting her head slightly. “It’s just… they left with a man.” She paused, studying his face. “I thought it was you.”
The air went still.
“Come again, Ms. Barbra?” Crown’s gaze narrowed, his thick brows pulling together, catching her off guard. She hadn’t expected him to remember her name after just one encounter.
But he did.
Crown was the type who never forgot details. Faces, names, where people stood, and how they spoke. One meeting was more than enough for him to remember someone. Even in the darkness that night, he recalled everything. The old Taurus parked in her driveway, the brick of her house and its faded color, the cane she leaned on when she stood, and even the way Nivéa addressed her. His mind filed away details automatically, whether they mattered in the moment or not.
“Well, she said he was her child’s father and that they were going out for breakfast—”
Ms. Barbra grew quiet, realizing that Nivéa had already introduced Crown to her, which meant it wouldn’t be another reason to do so. The little old woman also realized she had not only stepped into business that wasn’t hers but that it might even be dangerous. She replayed the moment in her head. She knew she’d seen Nivéa come out with the baby. Knew there was a man with her, too. At the time, she’d assumed it was the sameone she’d seen standing in the driveway that night. Crown. Hell, she was old. Faces started to blur after a while.
But standing there now, really looking at him, she realized she’d been wrong. They shared the same complexion and were both tall, and she thought Nivéa clearly had a type. Still, the differences were obvious up close. This man stood at least four inches taller. Broader through the shoulders. Fresh haircut, cleaner…sharper in a way the other hadn’t been. There was no mistaking it now.
“Did she seem fine?” Crown asked.
“Yes, she seemed just fine. Moving a little slow from what seemed like exhaustion, but good.”
“You mentioned they were with her baby daddy. Are you sure that’s what she said?” He pressed.
Ms. Barbra cleared her throat and stood up abruptly, like she needed distance from the conversation. She didn’t know anything was wrong earlier. Nivéa hadn’t looked frantic at all. Just tired, the kind of tired that comes with having a newborn. She’d spoken normally, even offered a small smile.
In Barbra’s mind, this was young folks’ business. Niggas running in and out of a young girl’s home. And while she could be nosy, this felt like the kind of trouble that came with heat attached. Drama she wanted no parts of. Crown was standing there asking questions like he was the gotdamn FBI, and she hadn’t missed the aggressive edge in his body language the moment she mentioned another man. Ms. Barbra shook her head and decided right then she wasn’t getting tangled up in Nivéa’s games.
“Alrighty,” she said with a smile, brushing her robe down. “I got bacon in the stove, baby. Don’t need that burning. You should try calling her. Have a nice day.” She shuffled back inside, her old bones aching and all.
Crown kept his expression neutral until Ms. Barbra was fully inside and the door shut behind her. Then his face hardened. He pulled out his phone and tried Nivéa again. But he didn’t have any luck that time either. His grip tightened around the phone as frustration crept up his spine. He didn’t know what the hell to think anymore. Had her baby daddy gotten out of jail, and she’d taken him back? The thought pissed him off. Nivéa had sounded so sure she was done with that part of her life, so confident. But then there was the silent alarm being triggered. That part weighed heavily on him, refusing to let his mind rest.
As Crown walked onto Nivéa’s porch and lowered himself into a chair, the sound of multiple Harleys cut through the air. He already knew who it was. Smoky pulled up in front of Nivéa’s home, parking behind him along with a few others, but only he dismounted.
“You tracked my location,” Crown said.
“Fuckin’ right. Where’s your lady? Everything good here?” Smoky questioned.
“I’m about to find out.”
Crown opened an app on his phone to a tracker Nivéa had no idea existed. He hadn’t told her about it, not a word. He’d slipped it onto her car quietly back when they made things official. How the hell could he explain something like that without sounding crazy or revealing just how dangerous his life really was? He’d already crossed a line by breaking into her home. Telling her about the tracker would have been too much. He knew that.
Once Crown locked in with her, he went all out. He needed to know where she was at all times. Not to control her, but because his lifestyle didn’t allow blind spots. A man like him did his best to stay two steps ahead, always assuming someone would try to use what he cared about as leverage.
