“When the last time you been on a million-dollar yacht, nigga?” Savio asked as he turned to face the lil nigga who was like a brother to him.
Twizz looked out at the water and shrugged. “Never.”
“Exactly. Smile, lil nigga. I survived my five-year bid, we got fresh legal jobs, and we’re on a mothafuckin yacht. Plenty of reasons to be happy.”
Twizz cracked a grin. “Guess you right.”
He was right. Savio got lucky only getting a five-year bid after getting caught with a pound of work on him with a prior record. When Twizz was fourteen, Savio took him under his wing. There was a thirteen year age difference between them, so Savio looked at Twizz as a cross between a little brother and a son. The two had been thick as thieves for a long time. Twizz saw Savio through his bid and held things down on the outside, but that only meant he got deeper into the streets. It had been a month since Savio got out, and his only mission was to get both himself and Twizz on the right path. Twizz was resistant to that idea, but he really didn’t have a choice fuckin’ around with Savio.
“I’m always right, lil nigga,” Savio said as he put Twizz in a playful headlock.
“Nigga, I’m a grown ass man. Wish you would go on with that lil nigga shit,” Twizz said as he jabbed at Savio’s side.
That would never happen. Twizz might be twenty-seven now, but he was still a lil nigga to Savio and always would be, and not in a bad way. Twizz washislil nigga. Savio raised him and taught him everything he knew. To him, lil nigga was a term of endearment.
“Yeah, aight, Tyler,” Savio joked as he released Twizz.
“Man, go ’head and keep callin’ me lil nigga. Government name is wild as fuck,” Twizz grumbled.
Savio chuckled as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. The smile on his face vanished as he turned around, ready to get active.
“Chill, man. It’s just me,” Marcellus said with his hands up in mock surrender.
Savio relaxed. “My bad, G. Prison ain’t really good for the nervous system and shit.”
They dapped up and gave each other a brotherly hug. Marcellus was his homie from way back when they lived in theEllway Projects. They both got up out of there and went their own ways, but there was never any love lost.
When Savio was set to get out of prison, he reached out to some of his connects and got put back in touch with Marcellus, who apparently ran a multi-million-dollar security firm. Savio jumped at the chance to have some legitimate work and even finessed a job for Twizz too.
“You good here, man. Niggas know not to be on no fuck shit at my event,” Marcellus assured.
Savio knew that was a fact. Marcellus grew to be a damn legend. He was Grim’s protégée, and that nigga surpassed hood royalty. Marcellus stepped right into his shoes. Savio had to give props where props were due.
“Happy birthday, by the way. Didn’t take you to be the partying type. When we was little, you stayed out the way, so this is a surprise.”
Marcellus flicked his nose and chuckled. “Blame my damn wife. There she go right there.”
Savio’s attention shifted to a pretty ass redbone with long straight hair. She walked up to Marcellus and kissed his cheek with a smile. “There you are. I thought you might have snuck off the boat before they set sail.”
Marcellus chuckled. “I thought about it.” Savio watched their interaction with a smile on his face. Love was something that was never really on his radar until prison sat his ass down and forced him to evaluate his life. Settling down with a beautiful woman and maybe having a few babies really didn’t seem all that bad. Seeing that his boy had done it made Savio feel like that could be in the cards for him too. They were cut from the same cloth. “Baby, this is Sav. Sav, this is my wife, Cassydie. Baby, Sav is going to be Cash’s new head of security.”
“Nice to meet you.” Savio shook Cassydie’s hand.
Cassydie sized him up with a knowing smirk. “Likewise.”
Savio nodded toward Twizz, who had stood there quietly observing. “This is my family, Tyler. He goes by Twizz. I was told he secured a job under your company as well?”
Marcellus stepped forward and firmly shook Twizz’s hand. “Nice to meet you, bro. You’ll be guarding Cashmere’s sister, Ivoree. I wanted to make sure y’all could stay in close contact, so you’ll pretty much be in the same house. Cashmere is pretty low-key. She just works and goes home for the most part. Ivoree is the same, but she goes to school instead of work. It should be light work for you, Twizz. Sav, you got your work cut out for you, my nigga. Cash is real feisty and don’t like any of her security. She might be difficult, but don’t let her knock you around.”
Savio smirked. He wasn’t the type to let anyone knock him around, so Marcellus didn’t need to worry about that.
Cassydie punched her husband on the arm. “Not too much on my bestie.”
“Yeah, okay. Your bestie makes my job real hard,” Marcellus said before he kissed the top of Cassydie’s head. “Aye, Sav. Let me holla at you for a second.”
Savio nodded and stepped to the side with Marcellus.
“Everything good?” Savio asked.
