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I realized there was nothing stopping me from leaving. My phone and keys were in my purse. I could throw some clothes in a duffle and be out.

And then what? He already said people would be at my condo moving my stuff. Going to Siani’s was out because I wasn’t about to drag her into this mess, and I’d rather set myself on fire than call my mother.

I frowned as I racked my brain trying to find a way out of the mess I had made, and for the first time in my adult life I was stumped. Cardez had shown me last night that he wasn’t above hurting the ones closest to me to get what he wanted.

In short, I was fucked.

The elevator dinged and I turned around ready to pop off.

In walked the man from last night. The same one who’d held a gun to Jody’s back. He was tall, about 6’5 and swole. His light brown skin was covered with tattoos.

I bum-rushed him. Or at least I tried to. He grabbed my forearms to stop me from doing anything stupid like swinging on him the way I did to his friend last night.

“Get the fuck off me!” I screamed.

“Ms. Evans.” He sighed like he was dealing with a petulant child. He had the same steely demeanor as Cardez.

“Don’t get all polite on me now, nigga. Where was that shit last night?”

He rolled his eyes. “Dez had a meeting this morning. I’m here until he gets back.”

“For what? You think I’m ‘bout to jump out the window?”

“I was told to be here.” He walked past me into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a bottle of water. “The movers are at your condo now. They’ll have everything over here by tonight.”

My stomach dropped. “I should be there.”

“Not really.”

“Fantastic. A bunch of strangers get to go through my shit while I’m stuck in here with your big ass,” I said, throwing my hands up.

“Anybody ever tell you that you’re dramatic as fuck?”

I made a face at him and sat at the island. “Who put hands on my cousin?”

He frowned. “Nobody.”

“Her lip was busted.” I wasn’t about to be gaslit like I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes.

“She tripped trying to get away from us when we picked her up yesterday,” he said. “We not the type to go around beating on women.”

“You just pull guns on them,” I shot back.

It didn’t fix anything, but I felt a little better knowing that nobody had physically hurt her. I knew Jody was traumatized and might disown me when everything was all said and done, but nobody had touched her. I held onto that because it was the only thing I had right now.

He didn’t try to make conversation, but I needed noise to fill the awkward silence hovering over us.

“What’s your name?” I finally asked.

“Marco.”

I crossed my legs. “So, Marco. How do you feel about all of this?”

He shrugged. “Not my place to feel a way.”

“So you’re just a mindless minion?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Never that, ma. Dez is handling the shit his way. Is it the best way? Probably not. But it’s his call, so I let the nigga rock.”