Page 16 of And It’s Still You

Moya was waiting for us, looking pretty as ever. I studied her from head to toe before asking, “Did Ocean pick out your dress?”

“Yes.” She folded her arms and looked me over with her brows raised toward her bangs. “He did this on purpose.”

Ocean burst out laughing as if he’d heard the funniest thing ever. Moya’s dress was all-white, flowing perfectly off her lengthy frame. The black heels and silver accessories would make one think we’d planned to match because Ocean’s outfit was similar to mine. Moya wagged her head as she pulled Ocean over, and I joined them.

We posed for the pictures. I did my best to not touch Moya, but at one point, we both tried draping our arms around Ocean’s shoulders. I felt the bracelet on her wrist and smirked.

“It looks good on you,” I complimented.

“Thank you. I must say that you have good taste.”

“I know.”

Moya playfully rolled her eyes as we continued posing for the pictures. The sound of a man calling her name caused me to whip my head in the direction I heard it coming from. A suave-ass nigga came waltzing her way with his arms out. Moya didn’t seem too pleased to see him. From the fake, thin smile stretching her lips to the half hug she gave, she wasn’t feeling dude while it was obvious he was feeling her.

I gritted my teeth at the way he openly checked her out. He rubbed his chin as he looked her over and made conversation. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. All I knew was that he had about ten seconds to get out her face before I stepped in.

It didn’t matter that we weren’t together. At the end of the day, she was Ocean’s mother, and I’d always protect her.

Just when I was about to step to them, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, and Onyx called my name simultaneously. He was almost running to me, bringing that sickening feeling back. I briefly glanced at my phone again to see it was Yandy calling. By the time I tried answering it, she hung up, and I saw all the notifications I had from her and the cameras at the pharmacy. Yandy immediately called back.

“What happened, Yandy?”

My breathing hitched when she tried explaining, but she was crying far too hard for me to comprehend one word. I guess everyone could sense something was wrong because our families slowly started surrounding me.

“Yandy, I need you to take a few deep breaths and start over,” I encouraged, trying to keep myself calm.

After a few agonizing seconds, she explained, “Someone robbed us, O’Shea.”

The only reason I didn’t react or spazz was because Ocean was right beside me, staring up at me with a concerned expression. I glanced over at Onyx who was pacing back and forth with his hands on top of his head.

Fuck.

No words needed to be spoken as I locked eyes with Moya. She gave one simple nod of her head before grabbing Ocean’s hand and directing everyone else away from us. I informed Yandy that I was on the way and left with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Once we were outside and away from everyone, I turned to Onyx and interrogated, “What the fuck is this?”

“I don’t know, O, but we’re going to figure it out. Whoever did this, they tried getting the M warehouse too.” He stopped in his tracks and turned toward me. “Don’t tell yo’ sisters this, but they’re being targeted too.”

“What did you do, Onyx? We haven’t been targeted in years, and now, this shit is coming out the blue. What happened?”

“That’s the thing I’m trying to figure out. I’ve been moving like I always do, so this shit has me baffled.”

From the strain in his tone and how he looked me straight in the eyes, I knew he wasn’t lying, which only led me to believe it was someone in his organization.

I tapped his chest with the back of my hand and said, “Let’s gather all the information we need and start connecting the dots. Compare notes and all that good shit, but we need to dead this immediately.”

“I hear you. I’m ‘bout to head to the M warehouse. Call me when you get more information.”

“A’ight.”

We parted ways. I hopped in my truck and peeled out of the parking lot. When I was about halfway to the pharmacy, Moya called me. I prayed she wasn’t on any bullshit because I wasn’t in the right mindset to argue with her.

“Hello?”

“Shea, are you okay?”

I sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know, Love. Someone robbed my pharmacy.”