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"Whenever we stayed at Four's spot, she used to get up super early. She'd watch the sunrise and then go chill in her closet. I used to wonder what she did in there, but I didn't question it. The day I picked her up from the hospital, I found out what her ass was doing."

Letting my words sink in, I took a pull from the blunt.

"Fuck was she doing?" Wolfe asked.

"Either crying over the nigga she lost or praying for him to come back. Four had a shrine to her ex hidden in that bitch."

"Naaaahhhh!" Wolfe said, shaking his head, disbelief twisting his face.

"Deadass." I nodded. "She didn't deny it either, just kept telling me I didn't understand."

"What if it weren't as deep as you think?"

"Nah, it's deep 'cause when I told her I junked her car, she told me she hated me."

"Four didn't say that shit."

"Hearing it knocked the wind out of me. I could do nothing but laugh forreal."

"Four's going out sad." Wolfe sighed.

"We both are. Four fucked me up saying that shit, and still, I pull up on her to watch her bedroom window and wonder who's the reason her bedroom light stays on all night, me or the fucking carcass."

"You love her, so I get it, but damn."

I chuckled 'cause like me, this nigga didn't know what to say.

"I love her, but I don't trust shit she says. When Emily started her bullshit, what she said didn't matter because her actions gave her away. Four?—"

Realization set in, and I couldn't do shit but grin 'cause the joke was on me and it landed like a muthafucka.

"Aye, you good?"

"I'm straight. But I was saying Four was on flaw shit, and I never saw it. Everything she said matched her actions. Even after she said she hated me, I still saw love in her eyes."

"Chosyn said y'all were spending a lot of time at your crib, tho'."

"Yeah, after she told me she loved me. She never really wanted to be at her spot after that."

"She might've been trying to break whatever habit grief put her in. A dead ex can fuck your head up, especially if love was still there when he passed. How did that nigga die?"

"You remember the nigga I killed for fucking Emily?"

"Not really. Honor handled that shit. What's he gotta do with this, tho'?"

"That's Four's ex." Staggering back, Wolfe coughed hard as fuck, caught off guard by what I said.

"It fucked you up, huh?"

"Wait, you're serious?" he rasped with his hand out for the blunt. I passed it back to bro and nodded my head.

"That's fucking?—"

The doors of the mill opened, grabbing our attention. I took a pull from the blunt as Choyce sauntered over with the same unspoken confidence as Chosyn. I chuckled to myself because the two were more alike than either was willing to admit.

"This meeting is a little light, don't you think?" Her gaze drifted between Crown and me.

"Honor's still in the hospital," Wolfe answered, kicking his foot against the wall.

"I know where Honor is. After getting shot, I'm sure little Ms. Perfect won't be letting him out of her sight for a while." The disdain in Choyce's tone didn't go unnoticed.

"Watch how you speak on my sister," I calmly stated. I didn't know shit about the beef between Choyce and Navy. I didn't give a fuck about it either, but respect needed to be shown for Navy, whether she was in the room or not.

"Calm down. It's not that serious. I was more so asking about the rest of your crew. I'm a busy woman with better things to do than spend my time at a torture playground." Choyce smacked, gesturing for the blunt.

I passed it to her as Syn walked into the mill.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got caught up with..." Her voice trailed off when she spotted Choyce.

"Don't get quiet on my account," Choyce teased, blowing smoke.

"A bitch could never put me on mute," Syn responded coolly. "I don't talk business in front of people I don't trust."

"Syn... is it?" Choyce frowned, tapping ash from the blunt.

"Emersyn to you."

"Emersyn," Choyce mocked. "Everyone in this room has something to lose if any of us were to be disloyal? To be here means trust isn't optional. It's required."

The tension between Syn and Choyce didn't seem as bad as the expressions on their faces wanted it to seem.

The two were dominant forces, and in most cases, that was a recipe for disaster, but not with them.

Choyce needed an ace who wasn't tied to Lucian.

Syn had the potential to be that for her, but both women had to step outside their egos.

"I gotta get a sign that says leave the catty shit at the fucking door," I said, nudging Syn to stand down.

"I'm fine," Syn answered, brushing past Choyce. "Where's Rize and Lynx?"

"They're not coming. Too much is happening around us. Until I know for sure niggas are solid, anything from this point until I say differently stays between us." I glanced at everyone, making sure they all understood.

"Ight, let's get down to business. Everything we have moving in the Grove and Ember Hills is getting shut down," I announced.

"Slowing down the money is supposed to do what?" Syn questioned.

"Stop a person's livelihood, and they become desperate," Choyce answered.

"I think shutting things down is our best move.

I'll speak to Lucian about the connect keeping the next shipment until we can figure this shit out.

He won't be happy, but I'm sure, there's a favor or two I can take on to make sure it happens. "

"Get it done," Wolfe told her. "Have either of you tried reaching Breeze?"

"I reached out the day after the dock situation, but the number was disconnected. More than likely, it was a burner," Choyce answered.

"Same," Syn added.

"None of this shit feels like it's about territory," I said more to myself than anyone else.

"If not territory, or sweeping y'all off the board, then what?" Choyce quizzed.

"We got hit first in Ember Hills. Mick let them niggas rob the bricks and burn the money.

Whoever did the hit got what they needed product-wise to start laying the foundation of their operation.

We didn't hear anything 'bout it. Six months later, Choyce gets a bug 'bout a nigga wanting to set up in Ember Hills, but outside of that, what else have we heard?

Situations keep happening, but there's never any follow-through. "

"It's personal," Wolfe said. "Whoever is doing this shit is playing the long game. They're throwing bones, waiting for us to attack."

"They're not after us nigga they're after me."

"Crown, we were all at the dock that night. If they wanted to get at you, they would've reached out for a meet with you and not Choyce and me," Syn pointed out.

"Wolfe said they were throwing bones, waiting for us to attack. Those first two situations didn't provoke me. I killed Mitch and kept business moving. I went to speak to Killian, and that was settled with little conflict. Nothing popped off until?—"

"Four's accident," Wolfe finished for me. "They toyed with you to see what would send you off the deep end."

"Exactly. When you hear back from your people, get at me," I told Syn, then turned to Choyce. "Handle getting the next shipment stalled. If you run into any issues, let me know."

"Nice to see someone else take charge for once. I'll be sure to tell Honor he's not the only one capable of leading." She winked. "I'll be in touch when I have something."

The four of us walked out of the mill with Syn and Choyce getting in their cars and pulling off first. Wolfe and I waited a few minutes before getting into his car and dipping off.

"What you wanna do about Four? You're not fucking with her, but if she's in harm's way, we gotta move her."

"I know."

"If you don't want her at the crib with you, she can come stay with Chosyn and me. We'll have her ass on nanny duty," Wolfe joked, but sounded too damn serious.

"That might be the move until we figure this shit out. Did security find anything on the cameras from the shooting at the hotel?"

"Not shit that we don't already know. Black car, tinted windows, no plates, and the nigga doing the shooting was masked up."

"Same shit from when I got shot," I mumbled.

"Nah, this don't have shit to do with that. All of this might be a big-ass coincidence."

"My mom taught me coincidences don't exist. A hidden message unfolding in perfect timing."

"The universe isn't aligning to knock you off. This shit gotta be something else. I don't see niggas coming at you knowing Honor and I aren't too far behind."

"Y'all weren't supposed to make it off the dock. Think about that shit, Wolfe. They weren't aiming at me. Those bullets were for everyone but me."

"Crown, you can't?—"

"The nigga I killed for shooting Honor was Dre," I blurted, cutting him off.

"Dre? Last I heard, he moved to Philly 'cause shit wasn't working for him here."

"I know who I killed on that fucking boat. We gotta tell Honor."

"Telling Honor won't do shit but have him trying to leave the hospital. I spoke to Navy. She said Honor coded on the operating table. He's gotta rest up. We've been telling him to let us handle shit, so now's the time for us to step up."

"You're right." I nodded. "Call Chosyn and find out if they're still at River's."

Wolfe reached into his pocket, and as he was pulling out his phone, his shit started ringing.

"Wassup beautiful, I was just about to hit you," he answered, then paused before saying, "You're on speaker."

"Crown."

"Chosyn," I mimicked her dry tone.

"Can we not be petty right now, please?"

"Shit, you tell me. Why did you call Wolfe's phone if you wanna speak to me?"

"River is mad at you, and honestly, so am I."

"I told you to stay neutral in that shit," Wolfe told her.

"Nah, it's cool, Wolfe. Let Chosyn pick the side of her fucked-up friend. I bet she knew about that shrine to that nigga this whole time."

"My heart," Wolfe called her sternly.

"Yes, Wolfie," she cooed, trying to play my nigga.

"You knew about that shit with Four?"

"Yes, but she's my friend, and it wasn't my?—"

"That's fucked up, Chosyn, but I'm not mad. Just remember that shit the next time I bring Wolfe to the strip club with me."

"Go ahead and watch my girls and me snatch that bitch up." Chosyn laughed eerily.

"Chill, Chosyn," Wolfe spoke.

"Fine, but Crown, I didn't mean it like?—"

"Nah, stand on that shit 'cause I didn't do shit to your friend," I told her.

"I know you didn't. However, leaving her on the rooftop in the midst of a panic attack was fucked up."

"Honor owns the hotel. Nothing was going to happen to her. What's fucked up is me not getting a slice of cake. I know it was good 'cause it looked just like Four's glasses."

"This nigga." Wolfe laughed.

"I froze some for you. River did say she appreciated you having the car brought to her place."

"Is that why you called? To tell me Four appreciated some shit. She could've hit me with a text 'bout that."

"Would you have responded if she did?" Chosyn quipped, then smacked her lips when I didn't answer. "Exactly! But you can talk to her about it when you pick her up."

"Wolfe is coming to scoop y'all. Four's gotta stay at y'all's crib for a minute."

"Stay at our place for... matter of fact, it doesn't matter. River hurt you, I get it, but I need you to put that aside and remember why you love her."

I let out a frustrated sigh and started tugging on one of my braids.

"What does she need?" I asked.

"I'm going to send Wolfe an address. Pull up, but please don't start no shit. Matter of fact, Wolfe, you go in and get River. Crown can stay in the car."

"Yeah, ight," I huffed. "Just send the address."

Wolfe took the phone off speaker and talked to Chosyn for a few minutes before hanging up.

He typed the address into the GPS, and wherever Four was, it was an hour or so away from us.

The exact address wasn't familiar, but I was familiar with the area.

Four was in the Grove, a place she shouldn't have been without me.

Her ass didn't grow up out there, so there was no reason for her to be there unless she was on fuck shit.