Page 26 of A Kingpin’s Weakness

No bodies. No noise. Just ghosts and tension. But behind a loose panel in the back, we found the bricks. The same bricks supposedly stolen when Noah got shot. Rich stood over them with a look that could slice marble.

“Slimy-ass nigga set the kid up?”

He shook his head, biting down so hard on his bottom lip, I thought he’d break skin.

Southside stepped closer. “But for what?”

I looked at the dusty packages, then at the empty room.

“Double profit,” I muttered. “He sold the product to the chico, got the money, and kept the dope. Planned to flip it again through more money so he can then keep buying through King and Pops. Noah was just the bait. Small fish. Ronnie ain’t give a fuck.”

Southside let out a breath like he’d been holding it since we left the first house. “That’s cold.”

“That’s Ronnie.” We torched that spot, too. No second chances. No remains.

Next Stop: Ronnie’s House. This was different.

This wasn’t just a trap. This was home. The kind of place you tucked your kids in and kissed your wife goodnight.

Which made what we were about to do even darker.

But I didn’t give a fuck. Neither did Rich.

Lia was gone. Stormi had been touched. And Ronnie had took the only superhero I knew. That made this personal.

There used to be rules in this life. Women and kids were always off-limits. You didn’t cross that line. Ever. But that was before Lia got zipped into a body bag and Stormi’s name ended up in a snake's mouth.

Now? Fuck them rules. I didn’t blink twice walking toward Ronnie’s crib. I had death on my breath and Stormi on my mind. Her voice, her skin, her taste still clinging to my lips like a promise I had to get back to.

" If this nigga already got a wife ," Southside muttered, scanning the block as we moved up, " how the hell was he gon’ marry Stormi?"

I didn’t even look at him. “Your guess as good as mine," I said, licking my bottom lip slow, Stormi’s flavor still fresh. "Maybe he thought she was another trophy. Maybe he ain’t think at all." All I knew was he wasn’t gon’ touch her. Not again. Not ever.”

Before Southside could respond, I caught movement from the corner of my eye. One of Ronnie’s soldiers was creeping up behind him with a pistol drawn.

Pop! My shot dropped him before he could blink. His body hit the pavement with a thud, and Southside spun around wide-eyed.

“Damn, nigga. Warn me first.” He checked his shirt like he expected to be bleeding.

“Wasn’t enough time.” I holstered my piece and moved forward. We had a mission.

Ronnie still lived in the same damn hood he supplied. Big boss but no foresight. Got your moms, grandma, wife, and kids sleeping under the same roof as your product. Stupid. Arrogant.

Made our job easy. Too easy. We had our soldier crack the system alarm off, door open, silence in the air like it knew what was coming.

Room by room, we moved through the house like shadows. Every bedroom held someone who shared blood with Ronnie. And every single one of ‘em went to sleep that night not knowing it would be their last.

No fear. No pain. Just dark. Lia ain’t get that mercy. Stormi ain’t get that protection. And my pops got no loyalty. This was balance.

Last bedroom. That’s when we heard her voice.

“Ronnie… I think someone’s here.” She whispered like it mattered.

I kicked the door in. The woman scrambled for the gun Ronnie kept on his side of the bed. Too slow.

“Hand me the motherfuckin’ phone,” I said, walking straight to her, snatching it out of her hand and pressing the speaker before the snake could slither away.

“Ronnie,” I said, my voice flat, deadly. “You’ve been a busy man.”

His voice came smooth and smug through the line. “Seth. You haven’t been busy enough.”

“How ‘bout you stop hiding and face me like a man?”

“We’ll meet. In due time.”

I clenched my jaw, knuckles white as I stared at the woman who laid beside him every night. Her eyes were terrified but not surprised.

“Stormi keepin’ that pussy tight for me, I hope.” My heart skipped. That calm I wore like armor cracked, but I caught it before it could spill.

He wanted to provoke me. He wanted to own my anger.

“Should’ve snatched up Lia instead,” he continued, his voice like poison, “Heard she A1… Was A1.”

Next to me, Rich gripped his gun like he was holding back a scream. “Snatching women for pussy, Ronnie? That what it’s come to?” I asked, keeping my tone even, like I wasn’t one second from losing my soul.

I looked the woman in the eyes. She still didn’t flinch. She knew who her husband was.

“So you really did it, huh? You killed my pops. His own best friend.

His right-hand man. The man who wiped my tears when I couldn’t even stand up straight at the funeral. The one who held my mother’s hand and prayed with her while her whole world fell apart.

You took him from me. You ain’t just crossed a line, Ronnie, you set fire to everything that ever mattered to me.

And now I’m coming for you. Not just with heat.

Not just with revenge. I’m coming with everything I’ve been holding in since the moment they zipped up that body bag and my mama broke in half on the church steps.

You should’ve stayed loyal. You should’ve stayed gone. Now ain’t no talking. Ain’t no mercy. Ain’t no walking away. You’re next.

“Laura. End them niggas.” Ronnie’s voice barked through the phone. Laura reached for the pistol stashed in the nightstand.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

We filled her with more bullets than she had seconds. No hesitation.

Southside lit the curtain on fire, tossing the bottle without a word.

Everything started to burn bed, bodies, and all the lies they’d built this life on.

I stood in the doorway for a second, staring into the flames.

This wasn’t about turf because everything in this city belonged to me. This was about Lia.

About Stormi and my pops. About peace I wouldn’t feel until Ronnie’s blood touched the same dirt I buried my father in.

“Jet leaving in an hour,” King said flatly, over the phone.

“I want this nigga.” “Yeah, this fuck nigga gotta go,” Rich and Southside echoed almost in sync, voices cold as steel.

I didn’t say shit just gripped the wheel tighter as we pulled away from Ronnie’s spot.

I’d already hit every damn house in town trying to find that snake.

My next move was catching him in the act with King.

The way Ronnie was moving lately, slick and shady, I knew he was plotting.

He wasn’t just moving work behind my back. He was trying to take the whole throne.

“We about to load the jet with King. We’ll see Ronnie at the meet,” I told them, eyes straight ahead.

“You sure we can trust this nigga, King?” Southside asked, side-eyeing me from the back.

“I trust him with my life.” My voice didn’t waver. “He ain’t have to come to me about Ronnie, but he did.”

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“I still don’t see why we couldn’t take your jet,” Rich grumbled as we boarded King’s Gulfstream.

It was clean. Discreet. All white leather with gold trim.

King and I were the same; our lifestyles screamed power, but we kept it silent and humble.

The kind that moved behind shadows, not flashing in the light.

I understood why Rich and Southside felt some type of way. We’d known Ronnie since before the streetlights meant curfew. We ran through the game side by side, and yet this whole time, he’d been finessing… quiet, calculated, grimy.

But King? I’d known King just as long. We ain’t grow up together, but we came up in the business around the same time.

His loyalty was proven Solid. He could’ve easily pocketed Ronnie’s money and fed both sides me and him.

But he didn’t. He stayed ten toes down with me.

King knew I was supposed to be the only supplier in my city, and he moved accordingly.

“I don’t need anybody in my business,” I said, settling in. “It needs to look like I’m still in town.”

Rich shook his head. “Nigga, I hope you right about this.”

King walked back toward us after the flight crew finished prep. He sat down across from us and placed his phone on the table. His face was unreadable calm, but locked in.

“Ronnie’s about to call. Don’t blow this,” he said.

Seconds later, an unknown number lit up on the screen.

King answered. “Yeah.”

“Hey King, it’s Ronnie,” came that familiar, snake-slick voice.

“Yeah.”

“Trying to see if we still on for tomorrow night?”

“That depends on if you have my money.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Then the meeting is on.”

“So, am I meeting with you or Pops? 'Cause his people told me to call you.”

King didn’t miss a beat. “And I just told you the meeting was on.”

“Okay... can we keep this between us? I don’t need Seth in my business.”

Hearing my name out that coward's mouth had me grinding my teeth so hard my jaw popped. I kept still, but the rage was building fast.

“You worried about the next man,” King said calmly, “when you need to make sure your money and business is right.” Then he hung up. Just like that.

Silence settled over us after the call. No one spoke. We didn’t need to. The betrayal, the heat, the anticipation… it all hung in the air like smoke.

Ronnie was flying into enemy territory Rico’s stomping grounds, King’s right-hand. And if everything went right, tomorrow, Ronnie was gonna see what it felt like to burn.

“So glad we can finally do business together. Always wanted to work with your family.” I heard Ronnie’s voice before I even stepped inside. Smooth. Confident. Like he owned every inch of this cold-ass warehouse.

That line stung, like a slap across my face I didn’t see coming. Working with my family? Funny how words can twist, turn, and stab when the truth’s been buried beneath years of lies.