“You want to go at Moose, that’s on you and your higher power. The Blackmoors don’t bully easily, and I can’t stop anyof them from coming after you should you choose to behave recklessly.”
“I wonder if you knew the truth about that family would you be so confident,” Danilo hinted.
Inari wanted to ask what truth but got the feeling Danilo might also be baiting her. Either way, she fucked with Moose and his brothers. Her sister was now carrying a Blackmoor heir, and Coast might as well be. Mozzi was that baby’s father in every way that mattered.
Although things with Moose had been strained recently, that one night together made it like that time apart didn’t exist. The two of them fell into comfort with each other organically. It was what she loved about them. Neither had to try too hard. Moose was attentive to her and he listened. When the two of them were together, it was easy to shut out the rest of the world, and she’d never felt safer than when his arms were around her.
Danilo backed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him and leaving Inari with spiraling thoughts. He knew exactly what he was doing, planting seeds of doubt in her mind about Moose. From what he’d gathered about him through his street contacts, the nigga wasn’t as noble as Inari wanted him to be, and neither was his family.
Mozzi knew Lin would want to go home and lick her wounds, and Nickel more than likely was going to be with her. He rode shotgun with Kong. Moose was in the backseat filling the clip of his weapon with lead across his lap. He’d been thinking about Inari and how funny she was acting but trying to get his head in the game. Woman problems were the quickest way to get distracted and end up with your fucking head blown off. In thepast, this wasn’t a problem for him because he purposely kept women at arm’s length after Sisi.
Every now and then his mind would wander to her too. If it weren’t for her, he doubted he’d even have the capacity to feel what had taken over with Inari, but it wasn’t the same. For one, Sisi was the past, and she blew out of Ree Heights the minute an opportunity presented itself. Moose was always kind of resentful of that, but he didn’t want to come off like some bitter bitch over it. It was some puppy love shit now that he looked at it as a grown man.
Inari was a welcome ray of sunshine in his dreary ass world. Her ambition and wit were sexy, and he liked that she didn’t hold back. A lot of women approached him and his brothers looking to agree and be arm candy, but there was no substance aside from that. Sex was also a weapon with a lot of them. Bitches loved to perform for them rather than be authentic. It was why Mozzi was drawn to Coast, what Kong saw in Ayla, and how Inari got his attention from their first encounter.
Dragging his hand down his face, Mozzi clocked two cars coming down the block where Lin’s apartment building was located. One belonged to Nickel, the other was his boys following them. After parking in the lot, everyone unloaded from their vehicles. Nickel was pissed, injured, and talking shit the whole time he limped over to Lin’s building.
“Nickel, you need to dead this shit. Now,” Lin mumbled, jaw throbbing from where Coast hit her. “Going at Mozzi constantly is not going to end well for either of us.”
“Fuck Mozzi, his bitch, and anybody else who think they can disrespect me!” Nickel roared. “Call that nigga Sipes, tell him I’m green lighting this shit, and if he want his baby mama to make it, he better give me a good fucking reason to leave that bitch breathing.”
His voice carried through the bare parking lot of Lin’s complex, and Mozzi and his brothers could hear everything clearly. Mozzi’s trigger finger itched listening to how callously he threatened. Once he dealt with Nickel, Sipes would be next, and that was on his little Rara cooking in Coast’s belly. That nigga wouldn’t make it to catch a glimpse of his daughter.
“What’s the play?” Kong queried, glancing his brother’s way.
“Lay everybody down,” Mozzi stated.
“Lin too?” Moose paused.
“Fuck her. She made it clear tonight what side of the fence she on. I ain’t got time to gamble on that bitch. She gon’ be a problem every time she see me or Coast, and since that bitch want to ride for Nickel, she can join him in the fucking dirt.” Voice cold, emotionless, Mozzi didn’t give one fuck anymore.
Once upon a time, Lin meant something. It might not have been some fairytale love story, but he fucked with her and even respected her. She was a stripper, but she’d bossed up and turned it into a whole brand. Very few were able to do that. She had a following, got flew out for jobs and to host events. Mozzi had invested in her. He might not be one for tricking on women, aside from Coast, but if he could flip some shit and get some money in the process, he was with it. Lin had no choice but to give him ten percent after he invested in her website, wardrobe, accessories, and stylist.
She went from dancing in hole in the walls with other sardine smelling bitches, to some upscale shit with private dances, parties, and other events at Luxe. Motherfuckers were paying top dollar and throwing bills at her on top of that. Her set was a must watch whenever she was on the schedule, often sending the club over capacity. Now she was about to be a fucking memory.
“Bet that. Kong, roll. I’m ready.” Moose snapped the clip into place for his weapon and held it in the firing position.
After leaving the club and making sure Coast, Inari, and Ayla were okay, the three switched out Kong’s whip for a car they could do dirt in and ditch when they finished. There was too much on the line. Mozzi knew if he didn’t get rid of Nickel now, it would come back to bite him. Kong shifted the two-door Mazda into drive and pressed his foot on the gas. The screech of the tires against the pavement left Nickel and his men all turning simultaneously as Moose and Mozzi aired it out. He was grateful for it being so late and no innocent bystanders lingering around. This type of shit was usually left to their goon squad, but it was personal with both Lin and Nickel, so he wanted to handle it that way. As long as he’d been doing this shit, Mozzi still didn’t mind getting his hands dirty. He made sure to send a kill shot right through Nickel and Lin’s head.
Moose handled his boys, spraying their legs down first, then their torso before they hit the ground. Kong never even stopped the car. He sped off the lot and hit a quick left into traffic.
Forty-five minutes later, the three brothers stood over a hill on the edge of Ree Heights that bordered Four Corners, Kansas. Endless views of the valley and different meadows that led into the farming area of some of the wealthiest black farmers in the state lay below. The moon hanging above them illuminated their shadows in the night. Watching the two-door Chevy cruise downward into the brush moments later smashing into a tree and exploding, Mozzi glanced at Moose then Kong. Flames flickered off their faces, and they waited until the car was engulfed in flames. Turning synchronously, they strolled up the middle of the road.
The farm was about a mile ahead. When they arrived, Kong unlocked the garage and lifted the door, exposing the black Hummer parked beside a black Silverado truck. Dropping the duffel bag with the guns on a nearby wooden work bench, Mozzi sighed. Kong popped the back latch to the Hummer and lifted it.
Jumping onto the bumper, Moose cracked his pinky ring open as his big bro pulled out a side compartment with an ounce of weed and a pack of Backwoods, so he could roll up. Dipping his pinky nail into the white substance, Moose brought it to his nostril and took two bumps. Mozzi secured the guns in a panel under the work bench and joined his brothers at the car.
“Yo, so you serious about this getting married shit?” Moose asked, swiping the tip of his nose and closing his ring as Kong sat beside him, gutting a cigar to twist up for the road.
“Apparently as serious about it as that shit you keep putting up yo’ nose,” Mozzi quipped.
“Fuck you. You sure you ain’t off your meds?” Moose teased.
Mozzi flipped him the bird and fished his phone out of his pocket so he could turn it on.
He wasn’t even fully powered up when the thing flashed in his hand, and Trouble popped up on the screen. Instantly a smile lit up his face. Swiping to answer, he mushed the phone against his ear.
“Are you okay?” Her worried tone made him smile.
