“That’s a hard question?—”
“No, the fuck it’s not,” Love said, cutting me off.
I rolled my eyes. “I still have love for him. Gio was my first love. But Gio is never going to change his ways, and I don’t want him.”
Love stood up and walked over to me.
“I can protect you. I can keep you protected better than any police can, only if you let me.”
I raised my eyebrow. “What you mean by that?”
“I mean if I fuck with you, we’re locked in for life. You already know how I feel about you, Islah. I’m not letting no hurt ass nigga take you away from me. I will add another angel to y’all city if he lay a finger on you, and that’s a promise.”
I shook my head. “Baby, you don’t get it. One thing about Gio, that nigga feels like I belong to him.”
“Okay, and?” Love said with no care. “He can feel however he feels. I don’t play about what’s mine.”
“I get that, Love, but Gio is supposed to be in jail. I don’t know what is going on.”
I needed to figure out what was going on. I tried to pull up the jail website, and Love took the phone from me.
“Girl, you not finna do all that,” he said in that calm, controlled tone. “I’m telling you that you are highly protected with me. Why are you trying to convince yourself otherwise?”
I let out a deep breath and threw my hands up in the air.
“Okay, Love, I trust you.”
He nodded, blowing smoke out of his mouth with a grin on his face.
“A real nigga is in your life now, baby, forget what you’ve been through.”
Chapter 27
Craving Islah
Iwas moving fast, faster than usual, to stack my money.
I was outside every day, from sunup to sundown, catchin’ plays back-to-back. I wasn’t playin’; I felt like I was moving cleaner, more precise. My mission was clear, and nothing was gonna stand in my way.
First thing in the morning, as soon as my eyes opened, I sent out a kite, got dressed, and then hit the road. I drove around the city like I was fuckin’ DoorDash till it was around afternoon, then I made my way to Kronic’s block. Surprised to see Bully when I pulled up.
I parked, hopped out the car, carrying my duffel bag with me.
“Nigga, we need to talk,” Bully said before I got halfway up the sidewalk.
I shook my head. “No, the fuck we don’t; I have shit to handle.”
I walked up on the porch and took a seat beside Kronic.
“You are crashin’ right now,” he said low. “I don’t like this for you.”
I let out a short laugh, dry as hell, and dropped the duffel bag at my feet.
“Crashin’?” I looked at him, eyes low. “Nah… I’m finally moving right.”
“You are moving off emotions, G. That’s a big difference,” Bully added.
I ignored him, pulling my phone out, checking my messages.
