Page 15

Crown Gravehart

E mber fucking Hills. It has been some years since I took a trip out this way.

Back when I used to make runs, Ember Hills was my old stomping grounds.

We already had the Grove on lock, and Honor wanted to expand our reach.

I was with whatever 'cause all I cared about was money and Emily's hoe ass.

Wolfe wasn't ready, but I was already knee-deep in this shit.

I told Honor to give me three months, and Ember Hills was ours.

I ended up doing that shit in two months with a little help.

My nigga Lynx was the first nigga I met out here.

It was a late night, and I was out doing recon, trying to figure out where to strike first. I caught him taking work from a back alley where some of the local dealers stashed their shit.

That shit was dumb, in my opinion, but it spoke to the reason they no longer got money out here.

I followed Lynx a few blocks over, then cut him off as he crossed the street.

Hopping out, I pulled my gun and told him to hand over all the shit he stole.

With his shoulders rolled back and an ill mug on his face nigga said I was gon' have to kill him if I wanted that work.

That right there piqued my interest. Long story less long, Lynx stole the shit as get-back for his sister.

She was dating some dealer, and he beat the shit out of her.

Back then, Lynx didn't fuck around in the streets, but the nigga was wise.

The plan was to steal the work from the dealer, and once it was noticed the work was gone, the dealer had to answer to someone, and that someone more than likely was gon' kill the dealer.

That shit was clever. Eliminate the problem without having to do much.

Some might've seen Lynx as a red flag, but all I saw was an asset.

He knew how to move in his city while staying under the radar, and that was the type of nigga I needed if I planned to knock off every major player.

That night, I made a deal with Lynx. I'd kill the dealer who fucked with his sister, but before I could even finish laying out the terms, he agreed.

By the end of the week, the dealer was dead, and two weeks later, Lynx kept true to his word.

He introduced me to Syn. Like I said, Lynx wasn't into the street shit, but Syn was.

I paid her graciously to help me clean house.

A month into being out in Ember Hills, I was already taking over, one block at a fucking time.

Now Lynx moved around out here more than I did.

The drops and pickups were on him. This was his borough, so I let him run it how he saw fit.

.. until today. That bullshit Choyce told Honor 'bout someone trying to set up shop was the only reason I was here.

Honor wanted to handle it, but him taking the lead on shit was over.

Wolfe and I were kept in the dark for too long regarding this nigga.

Had it not been for Chosyn coming into our lives, I doubt we'd know the little we did about Honor's connection to Lucian and all this Sovereign Circle bullshit.

Lucian had the three of us by the balls and carrying out hits that his bitch ass son was too afraid to handle.

I didn't fuck with Choyce, but I respected her.

She went about getting her position the wrong way, but she had more gumption than her bitch ass husband.

Honor's past was still a mystery. The nigga still only told us what he wanted us to know.

Wolfe didn't like the secrecy. I didn't care too much 'cause things always had a way of coming to the light.

For the moment, we were moving as a unit, and that was enough for me.

"You think Killian knew about this random nigga trying to set up shop?" Rize quizzed.

Scratching along my jaw, I shrugged. Shit was hard to tell.

As soon as Honor relayed Choyce's message, I looked toward Lynx. If anyone was supposed to know what was happening out here, it was him. No one set up shit without his say-so. Lynx claimed he hadn’t heard anything about a newcomer in town.

I took my boy at his word and suggested that Choyce might be fucking with us.

Honor nixed that notion, saying Choyce wasn't one to play about her money.

I gawked at that nigga, wondering how the fuck he knew. .. but again the nigga had secrets.

We agreed Killian was the nigga to see to find out the truth.

Lynx might've run things for the Gravehart Demons out here, but Killian was the unpronounced king.

Lynx offered to ride, but I told him I was good and told Rize to come with me.

Lynx probably took it as a slight, but it wasn't. Niggas out here knew him.

They respected him, and a lot of them were cool with Lynx.

This wasn't a friendly visit. Right after I finished with Killian, I was calling a meeting.

Those niggas knew if I showed my face, the likelihood of death was high.

I wanted all these niggas to be on alert.

I needed to feel the tension in the room, and that shit wasn't gon' happen with Lynx by my side.

"That nigga knew." Rize nodded, answering his own question.

"How you figure?"

"You saw the nigga." He chuckled. "He stays on high alert and is too fuckin' antsy not to know what's happening in his city.

The few times he came to the mill while I was there, I made sure to stay outta his and his fucking dogs' way.

Them big muthafuckas and him were waiting for a slip-up just so they'll have a reason. "

I chuckled inwardly. Rize was spot-on. Killian Teixeira was a peculiar ass nigga.

He'd randomly pop up at the mill to speak with Honor.

I was there a time or two, and all Killian said outside of whatever bullshit he said to his dogs was wife .

The nigga was on edge about being tied down when he didn't seem to like people.

Access to his ports in exchange for a wife was crazy to me but I guess that's the type of shit influential men was into.

"You might be on to something," I finally responded to Rize. "If someone is really trying to get money out here, he'll know. Shit, he knew about me laying bricks in his city not even six hours after I killed some nigga for Lynx."

"Word? What'd he do?"

I shrugged. "Killian and Lucian did business together back then. My guess is Lucian told Honor to handle it, and that was how Killian and Honor met. Whatever issue I caused was settled."

Whether Honor went and spoke on my behalf or not, I still would have been good.

I didn't know it at the time, but Lynx introducing me to Syn changed the game.

Emersyn, or Syn as she liked to be called, was Killian's sister.

The two of us wreaked havoc in Ember Hills.

If I got caught up by Killian, I would bet my last on Syn having my back.

"That's crazy. Honor really be fucking with made men."

"Word."

I kept it short, not wanting to speak too much on Honor's situation, not that I even knew enough to tell.

Honor kept more shit to himself than a bitch refusing to use a public bathroom.

I used to think he'd go crazy holding in all that emotional turmoil.

Finding out Lucian locked him up for days just to break him changed my whole perspective.

Whatever trauma he dealt with was better left buried within his subconscious.

The day Honor freed those suppressed emotions was the day niggas felt the weight of the Gravehart name.

"Aye, if Killian makes money with y'all, and a new nigga moving in can possibly fuck that up, why allow it?" Rize asked. "Why fuck up a guaranteed cash flow for some shit that might start a war?"

"You scared to get active?"

"Yeah, ight nigga." He chuckled eerily. "I live for this type of shit. I thrive in chaos." Rize nodded, satisfied with his response, then reached behind his ear to retrieve his blunt.

I let the windows down to help drift the smell anywhere but on my clothes. Taking a few pulls, he angled the blunt toward me, but I declined.

"I'm good."

Being high wasn't how I wanted to deal with Killian.

Rize shouldn't have been smoking either, but some lessons niggas had to learn on their own.

My phone vibrated with a text from Four.

I smirked until I saw what that shit said.

Her text was a simple okay . There wasn't anything to read into, but I read all through that shit.

"Aye, do me a favor and cover your ears," I said to Rize.

His gaze flickered in my direction. His brows crinkled in confusion.

"Nigga, for what?"

"I gotta call Four."

"Ight call her. Fuck that gotta do with me covering my ears?" he chuckled.

"'Cause I don’t need you running off with my sauce and shit. Anything I say to Four is meant exclusively for her. Don't try to hype your hoes with my shit."

"Crown, get the fuck on with that dumb shit." He laughed. "Oh, you deadass?"

The nigga's eyes bucked when he caught the expression on my face and the tension in my jaw.

"Trust, I ain't ever trying to talk to my bitch how you speak to Four."

"Fuck that mean?"

"What you and Four have ain't some I'm trying to dabble in right now. I'm young as fuck and getting money. A bitch can't give me shit but pussy and an occasional headache. There's no room for feelings in my life."

"You young niggas stay thinking money and pussy are the only reward in life."

"You say that like you weren't out here moving like us young niggas," he huffed.

"I fucked around to mend a broken heart and disregarded anyone's feelings outside of my own 'cause some shit wasn't right within me."

"Ight, but I'm young and turnt. Let me live."