Using my foot, I rolled her to her back, sending her into a coughing fit. Blood covered her face and stained her hair.
Putting one foot on either side of her, I crouched down. “You forget, Gianna, I am my father’s daughter.” Leaning in closer, I gripped her face in one hand. “And the First Lady of Destiny’s Enforcers. And I want to thank you. You seemed to have unlocked my full potential.”
As I dragged the knife across her throat, I stared into her eyes, nearly the same brown shade as mine. Her body quivered as wet, gurgling sounds came from the cut as she struggled for air.
Gasps came from behind me so I said, “Leave if you must.”
But none of them moved except Mama Hen. She came to my side and crouched down as well. “No. I want to see the life leave her eyes. I want my face to be the last thing she sees. Youhave taken a lot from me, but you didn’t take everything. And now, you lose.”
“Oh, and Jeannie,” I said, “If for some reason your mother does avoid prison or a hit from your family, just know, she’ll have a long, slow, extremely painful death. She’ll be lucky to stay behind bars.”
Jeannie tried swallowing, only intensifying the squelching sound of her bleeding out.
As her lips turned blue and veins popped in her face, she finally stopped moving and the sounds ceased.
I slammed the blade back into the floor and Mama Hen helped me stand up. I wrapped my arms around her, and we shared a moment of tears. Not from sadness or regret, but relief. It was over.
Chapter 42
Hawk
The door opened and I flicked my cigarette away. The ladies filed out and went to their men. Sugar hugged herself as she came out, and Mama Hen was right behind her, quick to grab her shoulders and pull her close.
Finally, Kitty Kat emerged. She was a sight.
Blood covered her hands, and was splattered over her face and clothes. As she came closer, I reached for her. “Damn, woman. You already got a stain on your new patches.” I pulled the hem of my shirt up and wiped some blood from her face.
“I need to go clean up. But Shiv–”
“On it. Let’s go to the infirmary you two,” she said to Sugar and Ma.
“Do you need to go with Shiv?”
“No.”
Shiv called back, “Yes. I want a look at that shoulder before I go to bed. Doctor’s orders.”
“She’s very bossy,” Kat said with a smile.
“Jackal loves it,” I told her. “C’mon. Let’s clean you up then go grab a drink.”
“Hey, thank you for that,” Kat said as we headed to our house. “I got a little carried away. I hope I didn’t steal too much of it from Mama Hen.”
“I know Ma. She did what she wanted, but she likely saved the best for you. Passing the torch.”
“She’s done so much for me. It’s nice to have a mother again,” Kat said. She tightened her grip on my arm as we walked across the courtyard. “Maybe since this is all behind us, you can think about letting her go back to work.”
“Did she put you up to this?” I asked, slowing my stride.
“No. But she misses it. I know she couldn’t go before. I get it. But now, the threat is gone. You’re letting me open a business. Let her go back to work.”
I considered how I could make that work. Having to run it was a pain in my ass, but Ma loved it. Thanks to Kat’s brother, we would have to rely more on the other chapters for a while to move product, so we wouldn’t be making as many runs, at leastfor a while. “Maybe we can ease back to that.Ifshe’s willing to have escorts. And we’ll need more guys at the club. Hopefully it’ll be quiet around here for a bit.” Squeezing her hand, I said, “You’re very hard to say no to, you know that?”
“In that case, Penny wants to leave. And I think you should let her.”
I stopped that time. “What? Why?”
“Hawk. I’ve been in her shoes. Except my brother at least wanted me to be married off. She has no life, and you told me once you didn’t want her to end up with any of these guys,” she said, turning to face me head on. “Which is honestly ridiculous. They’re your family by choice. Why would you not want one of them to be by her side?”
