I knew Rose well, and she liked to keep it simple. I wouldn’t call her a tomboy, but she wasn’t the kind of woman who needed a glam squad just to go to the grocery store. She could dress up or down when needed, but most times, she was somewhere in between.
I already had some plans in the works for tonight, but I wanted her to think this was spontaneous. If I played this any other way, her nosy ass would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out what I had planned.
“You want to go to Kustomize Your Kicks?”
Her eyes brightened as she stood and headed to the bathroom.
“Ooo, I’ve been wanting to go there.”
I’d overheard her and her sisters talking about it, so I knew she’d agree.
“Cool. Can you wash and braid my hair when I get back from the barbershop?”
“Yeah. I was starting to think you didn’t like braids anymore,” she said.
In the past, I had regular appointments to keep my hair braided and lined up. Rose loved it when I wore it out, so I appeased her on occasion. While we dated, she became my braider, but I continued to get my linings at the barbershop.
When we ended things, I didn’t give a fuck what my hair looked like most of the time. I’d always had a head full of hair, so I learned to do two French braids when I was a teenager. Aside from that, a slicked back ponytail was my go-to, and one or the other had been my look for the past year.
“I didn’t have anyone to braid my hair.”
She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “We both know that’s a lie, but okay.”
“After you started doing my hair, I got a little spoiled. You know how much I enjoy sitting between your legs with that hot pussy?—”
In the middle of my talking, she turned the shower on, drowning out my voice. Once the water warmed, we showered together, and I managed to keep my hands to myself. If I didn’t have an appointment at the barbershop, it would’ve been a different story.
“I’ll be back in a few hours. I got a few stops to make when I leave the barbershop,” I told her once I finished getting dressed.
We shared a quick kiss, and I headed out, running into Rocky on my way to my bike.
“They found him,” Rocky said.
“Where’d they find him?”
“In a rundown motel on the outskirts of town. He’s still there, and Carl’s got some people on him. I’ll send Noel, Semiyon, anda few others to the location to confirm. If it’s him, they’ll take him to the spot.”
“Nah. I got something else planned before we take him there.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Send Busta to take care of him. He’ll know exactly what to do.”
Busta was probably the most gutter, hood nigga I’d ever met. He’d spent most of his twenties and thirties locked up, and while there, he switched teams.
Once released, he didn’t let go of the streets, but instead of selling drugs and taking lives, he found another way to be of service. We’d hired him numerous times to show rapists, abusers, and pedophiles what it felt like to be taken advantage of.
“Have done to him what he planned to do to Rose and what he did to those other women. I like how you think, but you did learn from the best. I’ll let you know when it’s taken care of, and he’s been taken to the spot.”
“Honestly, I probably won’t bother with him until tomorrow. I got plans with Rose tonight, remember?”
“Oh shit. It slipped my mind once I got the call from Carl. Enjoy your date. Our people know what to do.”
We connected our fists and went our separate ways. I hopped on my bike and felt a bit of relief. It had been almost a month since Preston had kidnapped Rose, and I’d been dreaming about how I wanted to end his life since the moment I knew she’d gone missing.
The Riders’ organization had been struggling since we shut them down. Carl came to us twice in the past month, begging us to let them put some men back on the block. I told him to use his manpower to find Preston because I refused to budge until he was found.
The ride to the Black Reign Luxury Spa for Men and Women felt short because I was in my head for the entire ride. When I arrived, I entered through the barbershop door. Immediately, I felt annoyed because the place was full at nine o’clock in the damn morning.
