Page 5

T he moment I stepped back into my penthouse it was a breath of fresh air.

Tone was sitting on the edge of the sectional in the living room with his phone in his hand but always alert.

While Victoria was sitting on the barstool with her legs crossed like she wasn’t feeling some type of way on the inside, but I knew better.

She tried to act cool, sipping on some water like her world wasn’t rattled.

Her vibe was just different, and I could feel it.

I’d been around enough snakes and schemers to know when somebody was trying too hard to act unbothered.

She was bothered alright, but she wasn’t bold enough to question me and if she knew what was good for her, she better had played her cards right.

I tossed my keys on the marble counter and gave Tone a quick nod. “You good?” I asked.

“Always,” he said with that same low tone he always had. “You?”

I didn't answer, I just looked toward Victoria and then grabbed my phone and shot a quick text to the housekeeper.

I only hit her line when it was time to travel.

She knew what to do, pack light, pack smart, and pack dangerous.

I needed all my shit, my duffle, the Glock, the burner phones, clean IDs, and my preferred colognes and shit.

Twenty minutes later, she was inside, moving like she knew the place like the back of her hand. Victoria watched but didn’t ask no questions. She wanted to and I could see it in her eyes. She just ain’t have the heart to.... not with me.

“I’m leavin’ for a couple days,” I finally said, breaking the silence while I leaned on the edge of the couch.

“You’ll be here under Tone and the crew’s watch.

Don’t try shit, don’t think shit, and don’t let nothin’ happen to you.

You get clipped while I’m gone, I’m sendin’ yo’ uncle a fuckin’ gift basket with yo’ body in it. ”

She pursed her lips together and squinted her eyes while tightening her jaws, but she didn’t say a word.

That was a smart move. Right then, my phone buzzed, and El Blanca’s name flashed across the screen.

I stared at the name for a second before answering, already knowing what kind of energy he was on.

“Where are we with the Moreno front?!” he barked.

I sat back on the armrest of the couch with the phone tucked between my shoulder and cheek. “Still scopin’ it.” I said unbothered like a muhfucka.

“You’re dragging your feet, Royal. I said burn the motherfucker down. You slipping?”

“Nah,” I replied coolly. “I just don’t move sloppy. I said I’d handle it so stay in yo’ lane till I do.”

There was a long silent pause and then a dark chuckle. “Seems like you’re pulling away,” he said in a low threatening voice. “Don’t forget who built you.”

I smirked. “You ain’t build me, El Blanca. You opened a door, and I turned that shit into a fuckin’ kingdom.”

I hung up before he could reply because El Blanca had me fucked up.

I was one of the most loyal muhfuckas when it came to him, now he wanted to weigh egos and wipe me out.

By the time the maid was done, and the sun started to fade behind the skyline, my black motorcycle was warmed up and ready to go.

I changed into a full black fit, a black helmet, and had a black chopper tucked under the seat ‘cause it was time to get on my king shit.

The streets always welcomed me like I never left and truthfully, I probably never would.

The wind kissed my face as I cut down through Brickell, past the neon lights and traffic lights that didn’t mean shit to me.

I wasn’t obeying no laws tonight. I pulled up near the club, cut the engine off and waited like a thief in the night.

Five minutes… maybe ten later, I saw the white Escalade.

It was the same one security clocked watching O’Shynn’s club with tinted windows, sitting low like it belonged in the city but wasn’t really from it.

I didn’t hesitate ‘cause I had no time to waste. I yanked the chopper from the bike holster, revved up the engine, and swerved up to the driver's side. I didn’t have time to talk nor ask questions. If you riding dirty around my family, you already chose yo’ side so I lit that bitch up. “Pussy muhfuckas!” I growled.

The bullets tore through the Escalade like Swiss cheese.

The windows shattered, tires popped, and metal twisted.

I kept shooting until I saw heads drop. I didn’t even wait to see who they were, and I didn’t give a fuck.

If El Blanca sent them, they knew what time it was.

If it was El Dorado? Message received… if it was the Feds, I guess we’d soon find out.

I peeled off, cut through an alley, and hit a side street until I was just another bike in the wind.

I wasn’t scared of no war ‘cause I wasthe fuckin’ war.

The effect of the chopper still shook through my arms, but it felt good to me.

I emptied the rest of the clip into the white Escalade as the glass flew like glitter.

The driver slumped to the side; another body dropped in the back.

They might’ve come with silencers and scope rifles if I’d given them the chance to get too comfortable, but I wasn’t giving nobody that chance. This was far from a fucking warning.

I sped off before anybody could even blink and hit a hard right turn through the back alley.

I knew the layout of Brickell like the lines in the palms of my hands.

The city damn near bowed when I rode through it.

The wind once again slapped against my jawline as I dipped beneath the neon glow from the skyscraper windows and blew past tourists who didn’t even know death had just rolled through behind them.

My phone buzzed once in my pocket. It was text from Tone.

Tone: You good?

I texted back without stopping: “Always.”

By the time I hit the turn into my building’s private garage, my adrenaline was still pumping full speed. I rolled my bike into its reserved spot, hopped off, and tugged my helmet off with one arm. I could feel the sweat trickling down my spine, but I wasn’t tired.

I glanced at the other exotic cars lined up next to mine.

The matte black G-Wagon, deep gray Ferrari, bulletproof black Escalade, and the Bently truck…

my fleet… my kingdom on wheels. I used my finger to enter the elevator and rode the elevator up to the top floor.

The penthouse doors opened, and the scent of Versace candles my housekeeper always lit filled my nostrils, while the familiar smell of gunpowder still lingered in my nostrils and clung to my clothes.

I dropped the keys in the bowl at the entry, peeled off my shirt, and grabbed the pre-rolled joint from the humidor on my bar.

Lit it with my engraved torch lighter. Victoria was nowhere in sight, but Tone sat in the living room cleaning one of his guns with the phone tucked between his shoulder and his cheek.

I could tell he was going through it with his girl, so I kept walking.

I walked through the living room slow, before I stepped out onto the balcony and leaning shirtless on the railing as the city glistened beneath me.

Downtown Miami sparkled like a muhfucka.

Brickell always glowed, and I could still see the faint blue and red sirens flashing a few blocks down where that Escalade got turned into Swiss cheese, but I wasn’t worried.

I took a slow pull on the joint, letting the smoke fill into my lungs before exhaling into the night air.

The warm breeze brushed over my chest, and I stood there like a fuckin’ God.

My phone buzzed again catching my attention.

This time it was a message from O’Shynn: Flight’s locked and the private jet leaves at 9AM. Everything’s set in the Bahamas. Carmen’s gonna love it. I think I need a raise.

I tapped out a simple response: “Appreciate you. Keep eyes on the streets… I gotchu.”

I leaned back into one of the patio chairs, with the joint hanging between my fingers as my mind drifted to Carmen.

I thought about the way she looked in nothing but that towel earlier.

That slow glide of water down her back and the heat in her eyes from her being pissed.

She moved around me like she wanted to kill me and fuck me at the same time, and I loved that shit.

Even if I’d never admit it. Maybe I was a lil toxic, maybe not.

She’d do time for me, kill for me, and right now, in the middle of this war, she was the only woman whose presence didn’t feel like a liability.

Yeah, I planned that trip for her, but if I was being real with myself, it was for me too.

Because for the first time in a long time, I wanted tofeelsomething more than chasing the guns and the butter.

I took another pull off the joint watching the smoke rise and vanish into the dark sky as I thought about El Blanca’s ass.

“He might run everything else,” I muttered to myself, flicking ash off the balcony.

“But he forgot who run this Miami shit.”

I was mid-pull on my joint again when the sliding glass door behind me slid open, followed by heavy footsteps and an irritated sigh.

Tone stepped out on the balcony shirtless with his joggers hanging low and his big ass Cuban chain swinging.

He had that “my girl done got on my damn nerves” face written all over him.

He ran a hand down his jawline and mumbled, “Man, I swear… this woman gon’ drive me to jump off this balcony.”

I smirked. “She bitchin’ huh?”

Tone flopped into the chair next to me with his phone in one hand.

“She just mad I ain’t home again. Talkin’ bout how the baby kickin’ and I’m missin’ all the special moments.

I told her, ‘Ma, the only thing kickin’ around here is bullets flyin’ and bodies droppin’.

’” He looked over at me with a serious face. “She ain’t find that shit funny.”

I nodded my head slowly. “Nigga, you gon’ get stabbed in yo’ sleep.”

Tone shook his head, then cracked a small smile. “She know I love her crazy ass.”

We sat in silence for a lil bit, just listening to shit moving around us.

Then he looked over at me. “So what’s up with you and Carmen?

You tryna slide past the fact y’all was damn near makin’ soap operas earlier.

” Tone asked. I cracked a half smile but didn’t say shit ‘cause it really wasn’t nothing to say at all.

Tone caught that. “Ohhh, word? You on that type of time now?”

I finally answered, “I’m takin’ her to the Bahamas tomorrow.”

Tone sat up. “On the jet?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“That’s romantic as fuck for a kidnapper.” He grinned. “You know you ain’t right for snatchin’ her up like that, right?”

“She was actin’ out,” I said, flicking ash. “Sometimes you gotta pop out and remind niggas.”

Tone nodded, chuckling. “You toxic, bro.”

“And she love it.”

“She do,” he agreed. “Y’all gon’ laugh about all this shit one day. Probably with a baby crawlin’ around.” Tone leaned his elbows on his knees, glancing over. “You ever think you could be a one-woman man?”

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I took another pull and allowed the smoke to swirl around my thoughts. Then I exhaled slowly. “One day… I’ll find out.”

Tone looked at me like he saw something deeper behind my words, then he stood up, patting my shoulder. “Until then, King, enjoy yo’ last days in the streets... ‘cause once that girl really lock yo’ ass down, you gon’ be out the game.”

He walked back inside, leaving me alone on the balcony again. And for the first time… I didn’t know if I minded that idea although it wouldn’t be no time soon.