Me: Damn, you really trying to fuck up my season by draining all my energy. I won’t be long.
Makari: Take your time. I'll be waiting.
Me: Don't start nothing you can't finish.
Makari: Who said I couldn't finish…
I grinned, locked my phone, and tossed it in the passenger seat. The sooner I could get to Ky and hear whatever he had to say, the sooner I could get my ass home and drop some dick off in Makari.
McCall’s didn’t openfor a few hours so it was empty when I walked through the door. Dee, his hitta turned club security, lifted his chin and grinned when he noticed me. “What’s good, O? Y’all gonna win that third ring, this year?”
“You already know.” I extended a closed fist to him and he met it with his own. I moved past him to find Ky in his office. Idropped down in the chair across from his desk, watching while he blazed up the blunt in hand.
His eyes were on me, already low, which made me chuckle. This nigga stayed high. I had no idea how he managed to run a successful business but he made it work.
“Your ass stays blazing.”
He offered a lazy smirk and chuckled. “Life is good when you smoke the good shit. Hell, you might need to burn some trees from what I hear. Your player days are dead and gone.”
I nodded and brushed a hand over my head. “Yeah, I got a little shorty and she’s running me too. Beautiful as fuck though.”
Ky chuckled. “That’s good shit, O. Never thought I’d see the day but it works.”
“It has to.”
“I feel you. I’m not gonna keep you from her for too long. Just wanted to holler at you about something.”
His expression turned serious and I tensed because the look he gave me was cryptic as hell. “What’s up?”
Ky took a long drag from the blunt, dropped his head back, and exhaled the smoke slowly. When he lowered his head again, he looked me right in the eyes. “I heard a few things a couple weeks ago. According to my people, I know who ran up on your brother.”
Everything in me stilled and my muscles locked tightly. “Who?”
Ky shook his head. “I’m not gonna tell you that. Just know it’s handled.”
“Nah, fuck that being handled shit. I need to know.”
He shook his head again. “Nah, you don’t. You’re not in the position to fuck up your life, O. You have money on the table and your daughter to think about. If I know you like I think I do, her mother is in the picture too. She’s fine as hell.”
He grinned and I grilled him for the comment but also because I was annoyed. “This isn’t about them.”
“Isn’t it, though?” He looked me right in the eyes. “If something happens to you, who’s going to be there for them? I know what’s on your heart and what you feel you need to do, O, but I can’t let that be on you.”
“You don’t have toletme do shit,” I growled. “Give me the damn name and I’ll handle it.”
Ky leaned back and inhaled from the blunt. “I can’t do that. I owe you. I went down for two years and you put food on the table for people I care about. You made sure I was straight when I touched down. Family takes care of family so I’m handling this for you. No matter what you believe and what you feel you can carry, you’re not a killer, O. My people are gonna move on this and you’re gonna take care of your daughter and your girl. You’re gonna win the Super Bowl and be the man Rion would want you to be. That’s it. That’s the only way this happens. Either you promise me that or ol’ boy gets a pass and you have to live with knowing he’s out there still breathing when Rion isn’t.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“I would if it meant saving you from fucking up your life. You agree and justice is gonna get served.”
“But not by me, though, and that’s a problem. I owe him this.”
Ky pulled from the blunt again. “Nah see, that’s where you’re wrong. It will be served by you, fam. Just not by your hands. You tell me what you wanna do and it’s done, but my way, my rules. I can’t let that shit be on your conscience. So what’s it gonna be? Am I handling it?”
I was so damn torn because as much as Ky was right I wanted to be the one who ended the muthafucker. He took something from me…someonefrom me, but as soon as Ky made his point, I could see Avi and Makari in my head and I wouldn’t do thatto them. I knew how it felt to suffer that type of loss. Makari went through it with her father and I refused to put her in the position to lose me. It wasn’t the same, didn’t even compare, but she cared about me and losing me would hurt not just Avi but Makari too. The decision was made. I looked at Ky and nodded, got up, and walked out his office.
The minute I was in my car, I slammed the door and dropped my head against the seat, closing my eyes before my hand came down several times on the steering wheel. With my fist throbbing, I started my car, shook away the emotions, and drove home to the only reason why I wouldn’t have blood on my hands tonight…
