I don’t want to be one of those girls who says, “He doesn’t mean it, he’s just angry.” But I also don’t want to be one of those girls who lets a man talk to her like shit and get away with it by chasing his ass.
I jump in my car and drive straight for home with shaking hands and tears streaming down my face.
10
Darius
Fuck!
Shit!
Turning from the bullet holes lining Tariq’s house, I catch her taillights disappearing around the corner. The fact we’ve been shot at tonight has nothing on my rage more than having to send Amelia away. This isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked, and it won’t be the last. It’s the way it is. They attack, we retaliate, then they come for us again and so the circle goes around, never once breaking.
The terror on her face when she realised what was happening is burned into my mind. Punching the front of the house does little to relieve the fear of her coming so close to being hurt because she was with me. There’s no way I could live with myself if anything happened to her.
She thinks I ran out because I enjoy the fight, but she couldn’t be farther from the truth. I didn’t hesitate to run out to try and eliminate the threat toher. I wasn’t thinking of holding my own to keep me and my boys safe. It wasn’t about holding up our reputation. It was for her.
“If we hit them now, they won’t expect us so soon.”
Turning to Jermaine, I nod. They will pay for tonight. Tariq walks out with Clare under his arm.
Looking around, she asks, “Where’s Amelia?”
“I sent her home.” Is all I say, I’m not explaining myself to her. Focusing on Tariq, I instruct, “Round up three cars, load up, and be ready to go in ten minutes.”
“You’re not going to leave me here alone, are you?” Clare asks Tariq.
The moment his eyes cut to mine before settling on hers, is the moment I know he feels more for her than he lets on. He’s never put a chick before us before. And the fact he’s questioning himself now, is all I need to know to keep a closer eye on him from now on.
“You’ll be fine, or I could drop you at home?”
“No,” I interject. “We haven’t got time for that shit. She either stays or gets a cab.”
Walking down the steps, I lean against the wire fence. I hear them arguing and with one glare from me over my shoulder, he ushers her inside.
None of us have time for her shit tonight. This is business and business always comes first.
“It was wise to send Amelia home,” Jermaine says joining me.
“She shouldn’t have been here in the first place. I won’t make the same mistake again,” I vow.
“You like her.”
“It doesn’t matter, I won’t take any risks with her.”
It would be pure selfishness on my part to keep her around just for me, and while I’ve been known to be selfish, it’s not in me to be so with her.
“It’s a shame Tar don’t feel the same about that bitch… not saying Amelia’s a bitch,” he quickly adds when I glare his way.
“He likes her, he does shit his way and I do mine my way. If he believes he can protect her, that’s on him. We both know it’s hard enough protecting our own ass let alone someone else’s.”
“So you’re done with her?”
Swallowing thickly, I roll my neck. “It was never going to work anyway. Best to shut that shit down now.”
He lets me brush it off without arguing the point I’m lying through my fucking teeth.
The guys head out of the house and hang around waiting for instruction.
