Page 8

CHAPTER 8

EARTH

I let out a small laugh and left the kitchen. This girl was fucking crazy. She’d kidnapped me so my family would kill her nigga. I didn’t do domestic shit. If she didn’t want to marry that nigga, she needed to talk to her family, not bring my ass into their shit. I respected the hustle; I just disagreed with how she went about it.

Midway up the stairs, I stopped walking. This was his house, and she brought me here? Yeah, Shorty might have been fine and even had a few screws loose, but she had me fucked up.

I pulled my gun from my waist and went back downstairs. The fact that her security searched my bag but still left my gun was comical. These niggas obviously didn’t respect her as much as she thoughts or they were shitty at their job. She wasn’t in the kitchen or dining room, so I went looking for her. The living room and the library were empty. I was about to give up, but then I remembered an office on this floor, so I made my way that way.

I pushed open the office door, and she was sitting behind the desk, headphones on, typing away at the laptop. She was chilling like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb in my fucking lap. “Ay!” I slammed my hand on her desk to get her attention.

“You don’t have to yell,” she sighed as she pulled her headphones off. When she looked up at me, I had to step back. McCoy was too fucking fine. Her dark eyes bore into me, and for a second, a nigga’s heart stopped. She was back in her boss bitch persona, but it was too late. I’d already seen that she could be soft and planned to use that to my advantage. “What can I help you with, Earth?”

“You got me in this nigga’s house, knowing our family got beef?” I questioned with an attitude. She was fine—cool, I got that—and yeah, my dick was bricking up more and more with each passing second she stared at me, but she had me completely fucked up.

“This is my house,” she countered.

“You just said you got a fuckin’ fiancé. Now you tryin’ to tell me he doesn’t lay his head here?” I questioned with a grunt. McCoy shook her head, and I huffed. Wasn’t no fucking way she was with this nigga, and they didn’t live together. “Stop fuckin’ tryin’ to play with my mind, McCoy.”

“He doesn’t live here,” she denied. “This is my house. He’s never even stepped foot on the property.”

“But he’s your nigga?” I laughed. “How does that shit work?”

“It’s a long story,” she sighed.

“Give me the cliff note version of it,” I replied, and she shook her head. “Look, you got me here, and you need my help. You gotta open your fucking mouth.”

“What do you want to know?” she questioned apprehensively, and I stepped back. Her eyes told a story her mouth wouldn’t. Something was going on, something way deeper than a woman wanting to get away from a nigga.

“Why the fuck do you need my help when you got niggas?” I asked. “You had five Escalades full of niggas and a bunch more in a warehouse. That doesn’t look like someone that needs my help.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” she said, and I grunted. “I already told you that.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“They were loaned to me,” she answered, and I laughed. How the fuck did she get niggas on loan?

“What do you do that niggas can pay you in street niggas?” I asked her once I got myself together.

“A lawyer,” she answered, and I nodded in understanding. I’d never met a lawyer who wasn’t crooked, and even though she was fine, I couldn’t put shit past her, especially since she had me snatched up using loaners. “Look, I was desperate.”

“That shit is obvious.”

“But I’m smart.” She smirked, and I nodded. “I mean, I got you snatched up without any problems.”

“That’s because I chose not to kill them niggas,” I said. “You ain’t notice not one shot was fired? That’s because I let them take me. Don’t get the shit twisted.”

“Why did you?” she asked. She leaned back in her seat and watched me closely. “Everything I learned about you says you’re a killer. I’ve watched you kill a handful of people over the last few weeks, yet you let them take you. Why?”

“Because I was intrigued.” I shrugged at my honest answer. “Nobody has ever been bold enough to snatch up a DBB.” I smirked at her. “I wanted to see who had a death wish.”

“I don’t,” she denied. “Which is why I had you snatched,” I grunted. That shit didn’t make sense. She had my ass snatched because she didn’t have a death wish? Maybe she wasn’t as bright as I thought she was. A degree didn’t mean she had common sense. From the looks of it, she didn’t. “Look, you don’t have to believe me.”

“I don’t.” I laughed. “The shit you just said made no sense. You too fine to be this damn na?ve.”

“I’m not na?ve.” McCoy rolled her pretty ass eyes, and I shrugged.

“Prove me wrong then ‘cause this shit seems like you are. You got me snatched using some loaner street niggas, which means you are going to have to have them niggas killed ‘cause they have no loyalty to you and will eventually use that shit to come after you.”

“They won’t,” she denied.

“And why not?”

“Because I know where all their bodies are buried. I have a deal with them; they do my footwork, and I keep them out of jail. A service for a service,” she said, looking smug. I couldn’t help but nod in appreciation because the shit was clever. A street nigga always needed a lawyer, and having one on retainer was brilliant, no matter how the debt was paid on their end.

“Why not have them niggas kill him then?”

“Because it can’t be connected to me,” she answered.

“Why not?” I needed to know where her head was at. This plan didn’t feel like it was a spur of the moment, but at the same time, there were scattered pieces to this puzzle.

“Because disloyalty equals death in our world,” she answered. “We both know that.”

“We don’t know shit.” I shook my head. “Niggas around me are loyal.”

“You sure?” She questioned me like she knew something I didn’t. “Because everybody has a price.”

“DBB is solid.”

“How do you think I knew where you were?” she asked, and I reared back. I had a weak nigga in my fold? They’d die as soon as this shit was over. “Everybody, including DBB, has a price. I found the right price and got the information I needed.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why come after me?” I asked her again. There were a million niggas with the heart of a killer who were looking to make a name for themselves.

“Because you hate Jamel as much as I do.”

“You’d hate the nigga responsible for killing your closest friend, too,” I said, and McCoy nodded. “So, you asking me for help could have gone a different way. One business meeting would have been all you needed.”

“I needed this to look legit,” she said, shaking her head. “If not, this marriage will happen, and I can’t let it.”

“Why?” I asked, and McCoy sighed. “Don’t make it seem like I’m annoying you.” I sat across from her and shook my head. “Why the fuck is your family making you marry that nigga? What is it he has that’s keeping you locked down? You loved him at one point or something?”

“At one point in time, I thought I did,” she answered, and I nodded. “But that was a long time ago. And I don’t have any family. It’s just me.”

“What do you mean, it's just you?” I questioned. “You tellin’ me you ain’t got nobody in your corner?”

“Not that’s biologically related to me,” she denied, shaking her head. “I have two friends, and that’s it.”

“How that nigga get his hooks in you, then?” I asked, trying to wrap my mind around this shit. Something was off. She was being too vague about shit. This went deeper than just not wanting to marry his ass. “At one point, you had to love him.”

“At one point,” she replied. “But not anymore.”

“What, that nigga cheat on you or something?” I asked with a laugh. “Look, I don’t do domestic shit. If you’re just trying to scare this nigga because he got another bitch, then let me go. I don’t have time for the games.”

“If he has another woman, I would gladly pay her to take him off my hands,” McCoy said, and I grunted because I could tell she was lying.

“How old are you, McCoy?”

“Thirty-five.”

I laughed. “You slow or something?”

“No,” she huffed.

“You better not be because if my ass is helping you and you turn out to be slow, I’ma be pissed.”

“So, you’ll help me?” she asked with a small smile.

“I ain’t got no choice, do I?” I countered. “I’m here until my family does what the fuck they do.”

“Right,” McCoy agreed.

“Alright, cool,” I said, then stood.

I woke up the next morning, pissed off. Not because I had a bad night due to discomfort; the bed was comfortable. It had more to do with McCoy.

Snatching me up was smart as fuck, honestly. It was shit I would have done if I was her. But her ass was hiding something, more than likely something serious as fuck, too, because she was guarded as hell. I mean, yeah, I got it, I was a stranger in her damn house, but I didn’t ask to be here. She forcefully invited my ass here.

After I pissed, brushed my teeth, and showered again, I got dressed. That was another thing that got to me. The closet was full of clothes, shit I’d rock, and in my size. McCoy planned for me to be here for a while. With no phone or computer, I could not contact my family and let them know I was okay. For now, all I could do was bide my time.

“Yeah?” I called out at the sound of a knock at the room door. McCoy pushed the door open, a small smile on her face when she saw me. Today, she wore a long-sleeved, high-neck matte green dress. It didn’t look thick but shit. It was the summer, and I knew she’d be hot by the end of the day in that shit. On her feet was a pair of matching sandals. Her wild curls were pulled up into a ponytail at the top of her head, and she didn’t have an ounce of makeup on, except for lip gloss. She was fine with a bare face and a simple-ass outfit on.

“Food is on the counter if you’re hungry,” she said, and I nodded. “I’ll be back in a few hours. I have a million and one apps, so you should be able to find something to watch. If I don’t have it, order it. There’s a phone on the table downstairs. Press one for me.”

“The fuck you mean, press one for you?” I questioned with a grunt.

“You’ll see.” She shrugged with a smirk. “I’ll be back later.”

I watched her go, surprised the same woman who had just walked in here was not the same woman I talked with last night. Don’t get me wrong, it was McCoy, but her vibe was different. She had her boss vibe going. Shit was sexy, but I couldn’t front. I liked the unguarded side I saw last night better.