CHAPTER 1
LUCCI
My brother,Tyler pulled into a parking space at one of the biggest parks in Diamond Cove, North Carolina because that was the move for the day. It was a sweltering ninety-four degrees out, but that didn’t stop people from congregating at the park and just kicking it. He was itching to pull up at the park because The Hellcat Barbies were supposed to be there. The Hellcat Barbies was an all-female car club. Each one of the members drove Dodge Charger SRT Hellcats or Challengers. They were about twenty deep and as he parked his Denali, my eyes raked over the vehicles lined up on the other side of the park. The cars were nice indeed.
“Boy, I haven’t seen an ugly chick in that car club,” Tyler marveled. “But muhfuckin’ Breezy, Lauren, Cressida, Aubree, and Saskia are the baddest.”
“Breezy?” I repeated because I lowkey liked the name for a female.
Tyler glanced over at me with a broad grin on his chestnut-brown face. “Yeap. That broad is fye as fuck. Slim, thick, she’s ‘bout 5’7 and has light brown skin. She drives the Nipsey blue joint.”
“Damn, you stalking them or something?” I implored. “You sure do know a lot about them.”
Tyler kissed his teeth and waved my comment off. “I’m trying to hit Lauren, and her and Breezy are real close. Lauren drives the matte black one. I see why you be fucking them sophisticated hoes. I’m done with hood rats. Saskia is a cardiovascular perfusionist. Whatever the fuck that means.”
With a laugh, I pushed the car door open and exited the vehicle. It was hot enough to go shirtless, but not everyone needed to know I had my heat tucked. The white tank top that I wore concealed it. I never went anywhere looking for trouble, but if trouble found me, I was always ready for it. I had always been taught that beef was a broke man’s sport, but there were times when it couldn’t really be avoided. There were just some niggas that were put on this earth to test people, and I had a very low tolerance for bullshit.
If I wasn’t with Tyler, I was with my best friend, Maino, or alone. I didn’t need to roll with a bunch of people. I was good solo or with my day ones. Opportunists, fakes, and snakes had no place in my direct world. Nine times out of ten, someone always had a motive. The men were just as bad as the women. Someone somewhere always had their hands out wanting something from me, and it got real old real fast.
The deeper we advanced into the park, people greeted my brother and I, and some even attempted to stop us to hold conversations. My focus was determining who was in attendance at the event, going with my brother over to the women, so he could be a car club groupie, and parking my ass on the hood of someone’s car. Twisting the cap off my bottle of water, I spotted a woman that fit Breezy’s description posing for a picture in front of a blue Hellcat. Tyler hadn’t lied. Lil’ Baby was fine. She was dressed in a navy-blue tennis skirt trimmed in white, and a matching sports bra. On her feet were blue and white sneakers,and her long braids hung down past her ass. A few tattoos decorated her otherwise flawless skin.
I chugged my water as Tyler walked up on a petite, light-skinned female with a short pixie cut. Her black car was parked right beside Breezy’s. She was the one that had taken Breezy’s picture. “What up, L?” Tyler greeted her with a hug as she smiled bashfully.
“Hey, Ty. How are you?”
“Better now that I see you.”
I snorted lightly, and Tyler cut his eye at me. My skin tone was on the lighter side just like our father, while Tyler was darker like our mother. People often joked that he should have been the light-skinned, ‘pretty boy’ because that nigga loved himself and women. The right woman could make his ass soft as cotton. Me on the other hand, if I had a dollar for every time someone called me mean, I could buy a Hellcat cash. It wasn’t that I was mean. I just didn’t tolerate dumb shit, bullshit, or fuck shit, and I had no problem checking anyone that attempted to involve me in it or bring it around me.
“This is my hating ass brother, Lucci. Lucci this is Lauren, and this is her homegirl, Breezy.”
“Hi,” Lauren smiled politely while Breezy did the same.
Not every woman in the world wanted me, but I got hit on enough to know that most women weren’t too shy to shoot their shot when they saw someone they liked. Especially when they knew that someone had money and good dick. Nah, I wasn’t arrogant, but plenty women had told me that they heard the D was like that, and the money part was obvious. I wasn’t super flashy, but I liked what I liked and most times it wasn’t cheap.
Women threw themselves at me so much that when a woman didn’t act thrilled or pressed to be in my presence, it made me wonder what her story was. Breezy wasn’t stuck up or rude, but she damn sure didn’t give thirsty. After she smiled at me,she diverted her attention elsewhere. My orbs darted over her fingers. She didn’t appear to be engaged or married. Honestly, it didn’t even matter why she didn’t seem to be interested. For the past three years, I’d been in a relationship.
Kiandra wasn’t the love of my life, but she was a rider. She held me down on more than one occasion, and she was solid. In my line of work, someone that was loyal and wouldn’t fold was important. Kiandra wasn’t moved by dollar signs or my popularity. If a person asked me to choose between loyalty and love, I’d choose loyalty every time. There were no ulterior motives with Kiandra. She was as genuine as they came. Kiandra was also smart, pretty, and she was a good girl. Shorty went to church every Sunday, she didn’t smoke, barely drank, shit she barely cursed. I had love for her, but I wasn’t in love with her.
Out of respect for her, no one knew that piece of information. I kept it guarded. And because she was such a loyal person, I didn’t entertain other women no matter how tempting it became. I’d feel like a complete asshole if I cheated on her with a sack chaser that turned out to only be around for superficial things. I’d seen men in my position get set up and robbed, killed, even snitched on by a woman that they were sleeping with. I didn’t trust many, but Kiandra was up there with Tyler and Maino. I owed Kiandra. So, if I had to live life without that fairytale love bullshit then that’s what it was. I’d much rather have someone in my corner that would ride ‘til the wheels fell off versus a muhfucka that was only around for the good times. That love shit nine times out of ten was only a façade, and I wasn’t interested. I’d take Kiandra over the smoke and mirrors any day.
I waited patiently for Tyler to finish his conversation with Lauren while I looked over the cars. I stopped in front of Breezy’s and admired the paint job. I could feel her eyes on me while my gaze poured over her vehicle. Without lifting my head, I spoke.
“What’s the fastest you ever pushed the dash?”
“I’m never going over a hundred,” she chuckled.
That comment made my head raise. “You got a car that can go up to two hundred miles an hour, and you’re scared to drive faster than a hundred?”
Her brows and shoulders lifted unapologetically. “Hey. I like the cars, but I’m not a street racer, and I’m not trying to die.”
My head bobbed. “I get it. You’re just a girl, right?”
A broad grin inched across her face. “Precisely.”
I chuckled while admiring the tiny jewels she had on all four of her canines. “Hey, Breezy boo,” a tall, dark-skinned female with locs sauntered over to Breezy, and they hugged.
Tyler chucked his chin up signaling that he was done talking to Lauren. I walked over to him and titled my head at her. “You good to stay out here for about an hour? Me and Lauren are going to grab some food when we leave here.”
