“You don’t know what she has on me…”
I hit him one more time because I needed him to understand what that choice cost and his head snapped sideways, his eyes rolled back and he went limp against the wall. I stood up and looked down at him and felt nothing because men like Dante didn’t earn emotions. They earned consequences.
Prime and Justice were standing behind me. Prime’s face was blank. Justice was checking his phone.
“Please let me go,” Dante started to cry.
“You got his number?”
“Just a burner but he probably ditched it.”
As those words left his mouth, I received a call from Lyric. What the fuck did she want? Hadn’t she caused enough drama in my life?
Shortly after that I received a text message from her.
If you’re looking for a nigga named Mega, he’s been staying with Camille. He’s her cousin.
“The fuck?” I muttered.
“What?” Justice asked.
I’m not playing. Camille’s cousin Mega has been hiding at our condo for the past week. I just found out. Here’s the address.
I stared at the screen and let the words rearrange everything I thought I knew about Camille. My ex-girlfriend was Mega’s cousin. She’d been hiding him in her condo while I was turning DC inside out looking for him. While Mega was kidnapping my sister, Camille was giving him a couch and a borrowed car and cover.
Every interaction I’d ever had with Camille ran through my head in about three seconds. The three years together, the pregnancy lie, the breakup, the paternity question she’d left hanging. Was any of it real or had she been connected to the people trying to destroy my family the entire time?
“What is it?” Prime asked.
“Mega is Camille’s cousin. He’s been staying at her condo.”
Prime’s jaw tightened. Justice looked up from his phone. Neither of them said anything for a second because the weight of that sentence needed a moment to land.
“Let’s move,” Prime said.
I drove to Bethesda in twenty minutes. The condo was in a nice building off Wisconsin Avenue. It wasn’t as nice as the spot I almost let her have but it was luxurious. With her salary as a lawyer she could afford a nice spot. Lyric buzzed us up from the intercom without hesitation.
She was waiting at the door when we stepped off the elevator. She rushed toward me and threw her arms around my neck before I could stop her and I stood there with my arms at my sides and let her hug me without returning it.
“Oh my God, Quest. As soon as I found out I had to tell you. I couldn’t believe Camille would do something like this. You know I would never betray you like that. I’ve always been loyal to you, even after everything. I just want you to know that.”
“I appreciate you telling me,” I said. I peeled her arms off my neck and stepped past her into the condo. “Where is Mega?”
“He left a couple days ago. I don’t know where he went.” She followed me into the living room, hovering close. “But Camille should be home soon. She went to pick up some things for the baby.”
I looked around the condo. Nice furniture, clean, smelled like one of those expensive candles Lyric always bought in bulk. There was baby stuff in the corner, a car seat still in the box, a stack of onesies on the dining table. Camille was nesting. Eight months pregnant and harboring a fugitive between assembling a nursery.
“Quest, can we talk for a second?” Lyric sat on the arm of the couch and crossed her legs. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking andI miss you. I miss us. And I know you’re with Mehar now but I was thinking maybe we could work something out. You were poly before. Maybe if Mehar is open to it, we could try again. The three of us.”
“No.”
“Just hear me out.”
“My heart belongs to Mehar. There’s nothing to hear out.”
“So I don’t get anything after looking out for you? After being the one who called and told you where Mega was?”
“I said thank you. And after that robbery stunt you pulled, I don’t owe you shit.”
