“So, that’s what this is about? Money?” I cut in. “You wanted fuckin’ money?”
“You damn right I did. I took care of that lil’ girl, not you!”
“And whose fault is that?” I cocked my head to the side.
“Aye, hurry this shit up. I’ain come here to hear no fuckin’ monologue,” Buck asserted. I could tell he was getting irritated and ready to kill this nigga.
I turned my attention back to this nigga. “You know what? Had you come to me like a man, I probably would’ve looked out for yo’ pussy ass just off the strength of you doing what I couldn’t. Nah, but instead you chose to be a bitch nigga and chose the wrong route.”
“Fuck you,” he muttered.
Instead of responding to his dumb ass, I smirked and pressed the button that was on the side of the wall. When I did, the floor opened and slowly started lowering him and his accomplices into a sea of acid. I watched in sheer delight at their bodies burning off the bone in a matter of minutes. The piercing tone of their cries were satisfying.
Nobody moved. Nobody flinched. Buck lit a blunt like it was just another ordinary night. “Damn, I meant to get that nigga’s jacket,” he muttered. “That shit was nice.”
“You niggas need therapy.” Stacks shook his head as he led the way out the warehouse.
Laughing, I said. “This is the therapy.”
“Hell yeah,” Buck agreed.
And just like that, we left the warehouse. No guilt. No regrets. Just another problem eliminated.
19
Chapter Nineteen
Shayna
a few days later…
Something was wrong. Sean never went this long without checking in, especially not after some reckless shit like what he did. It’d been a full day, and I hadn’t heard a damn thing. No calls. No texts. Nothing. I paced the living room, phone in hand, checking the screen like it that would make something changed.
You good?
Hit me back.
Sean, call me.
Nothing.
My stomach twisted, and for once, it wasn’t guilt. It was fear.
“Mommy, is he here yet?” Liberty asked from the stairs, swinging her feet while clutching her little backpack like she was heading to Disneyland and not just her daddy’s house.
“Not yet, baby,” I said, forcing a smile. “But he’s on the way.”
She nodded and smiled wide, the same smile I used to flash when I thought everything in the world would go my way. “I can’t wait to meet everybody. Do you think my little cousin like fruit snacks?”
I bit my lip, eyes stinging. “I’m sure they do.”
That girl had been buzzing since the DNA test. Kilo hadn’t confirmed it yet, but deep down I knew. And so did Liberty. She talked about him like he was already hers. Her daddy. Her protector. Her world. And now, I was about to hand her over to a man who might’ve just killed my brother.
A knock loud hit the door, causing me to jump out of my thoughts.
Liberty shot up, squealing. “Daddy!” I moved slower. My feet felt like they were made of bricks.
When I opened the door, Kilo stood there in all black and cold, dark eyes. No smile. No softness. Just him and that quiet intensity that had always made people shut up when he walked into a room.
