“‘Cause if this goes left,” he paused, shaking his head like he didn’t want to finish the sentence. “I wanna go out like myself.”
“I hate when you talk like that,” I whispered.
He stepped closer and lifted my head.
“I don’t. I just don’t lie to you.”
I swallowed hard and looked away, trying to hide the tears that were trying to form.
“Nobody is dying tonight,” I said firmly.
His thumb wiped the tear from the corner of my eye. “I kno’, but just in case…”
“Whodie.”
“I’ll choose this every time. You, every time.”
“You better not leave me.” My voice cracked as I wrapped my hands around his waist and pressed my face into his chest.
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” he said.
The drive was quiet. What did I expect? For Whodie to be talking my head off about what we were going to eat after? Neither of us knew the outcome of this shit. I sat in the passenger seat, just staring ahead while my fingers played on the edge of my door handle. Whodie had one hand on the wheel and the other resting on his gun. We both were taking a chance riding dirty with a fed case pending. It was a chance I was willing to take.
“Don’t be nervous.” Whodie looked over at me with a smile.
“I’m not,” I lied.
He knew I was lying by the way I was counting the damn threads in the door handle. When we pulled into the location, you could feel the shift in the car. The warehouse sat alone with part of the ceiling missing. It was a building I was looking at, but I was told that the infrastructure would collapse at any time. I didn’t want to risk it. That was years ago, and the building was still standing.
“I want you to stay close to me. No matter what happens…you stay close,” Whodie said, grabbing my jaw and kissing me passionately.
“Same for you,” I told him.
“Ain’t nobody takin’ me away from you.”
We stepped out together. It was like as soon as I stepped out, every sense in my body activated. The doors to the warehouse creaked as Whodie opened them for me.
“I don’t like this shit,” I muttered.
“Shit, me either, but we here now.”
Then, a slow clap echoed through the space.
“Look at that,” Rico’s voice carried. “The queen finally shows her fucking face.”
Rico appeared dressed in an expensive suit like this was just another night on the town. Niggas wasn’t even dressed for war.
“You wanted to meet. Now I’m here,” I said, stepping forward.
His eyes went from me to Whodie before smirking.
“And you brought your damn guard dog.”
I became nervous. Inside, I was praying that Whodie kept his composure like Hollow had told him to.
“I brought what I needed. I’m sure you did too,” I told him.
“You always were smart. That’s why Sosa trusted you with everything.”
