Page 82

Crown Gravehart

B ringing the car to a slow stop, I tried to shake the ill thoughts I had 'bout meeting up with Honor.

Wolfe and I were on our way back from checking out property and a therapist upstate when Honor called.

I hadn't seen or spoken to him since the blowup at the hospital, and damn sure didn't know they'd discharged him after he passed out.

Knowing him, he probably raised hell until they gave him his walking papers.

We weren't seeing eye to eye, and as far as I was concerned, it was best we kept our distance.

Still, the fact that he called Wolfe instead of me rubbed me the wrong way.

Honor was in the wrong, yet he was treating me like a foot soldier who came running 'cause he asked for a fucking meet.

I didn't say anything to Wolfe 'bout it because it wasn't on him.

He knew what happened between Honor and me, but anything other than that wasn't his burden to carry.

"Let me know now if I've gotta call Rize to help me keep you off this nigga." Wolfe laughed as I parked.

"You think this shit is funny?" I scoffed. "That nigga lied to me, and you're joking like I'm not ready to forget he's my brother and kill his ass."

Before he could hit me with that kumbaya bullshit, I hopped out and stalked toward the mill. The second I stepped inside, my nostrils flared.

"Yo, what the fuck is that?" I muttered, tucking my face into my hoodie.

"I know this nigga didn't go in my room," Wolfe asserted, brushing past me and heading for the hallway he always said was off-limits.

"Honor, the fuck you doing in here?" he barked, pushing open the door.

"Oh shit... " I froze. Bones dangled from a hook and slumped in a chair was a body.

"Taking care of business," Honor casually replied.

I laughed under my breath.

"You got something you wanna say?" Honor asked.

"Nah, but you might wanna text Navy. You're leaking."

He glanced down at the blood seeping through his clothes. "Fuck," he gritted. "I didn't even feel that shit."

"It's the adrenaline," Wolfe mused, grabbing a chair and dragging it over. "This type of shit will have you feeling invincible."

"Fuck giving that nigga somewhere to sit," I snapped. "Fix the smell in here before I burn this bitch to the ground."

"Had this nigga hit my line for help, the ventilation system would've aired this bitch out already," Wolfe muttered.

"I didn't need help. I got the acid heated up, so I was straight," Honor shrugged.

Wolfe raised an eyebrow. "How the hell did you even?—"

"Don't ask him anything." I chuckled lowly. "He won't do shit but lie."

"Keep talking, and I'll burn your flesh clean off the bone next," Honor threatened.

"I'll kill you first." The gun behind my back came out to play, but I wasn't the only one drawing. Honor pulled his too, arm steady, aim locked on me.

I didn't flinch. I just cracked my neck, daring this nigga to give me a reason to shoot.

"I always knew you were a treacherous motherfucker," I said.

"Get out your feelings," Honor replied coldly. "Look at the bigger picture."

"What picture? The one where Wolfe and I play soldiers while you keep secrets to fulfill some type of master-fucking-plan?"

Honor turned to Wolfe. "That's how you feel?"

"Keep me outta y'all shit," Wolfe interjected. "Long as no bullets fly, talk all the shit y'all want."

"Nigga you pussy!" I barked.

Wolfe's eyes thinned.

"We both know ain't shit pussy 'bout me but my wife's pussy on my breath."

"Nah, nigga you're pussy just like that nigga over there." I jerked my chin at Honor. "I get it, tho'. Honor helped you become a man. He unlocked the crazy in you and helped you build this muthafuckin' sadistic ass warehouse. Y'all loyalty lies in this weird shit that gets y'all niggas off."

"Where the fuck is loyalty?" Wolfe barked. "'Cause the same nigga you have your gun pointed at is the same nigga that helped you get off them pills and cleaned up every fucking mess you made!"

"With my muthafuckin' self! Fuck Honor!" I slammed the gun against my chest. "I'm the only nigga I can trust. You're letting this nigga off the hook like he didn't lie to you.

He knew Chosyn's father was alive. Knew Chance was tight with Lucian and didn't say shit.

How the fuck you gon' side with him over me? "

I was pissed, but underneath it all, I was hurt. It was the same fucking story, just a different face.

"I'm not taking sides," Wolfe insisted. "I can see the logic and flaws in both of y'all. Honor kept shit from me, but so did Chosyn. How I'ma forgive the woman I love but not the nigga who basically raised me?"

"Yeah, well, that bitch-ass nigga didn't raise me." I shrugged, masking the hurt behind nonchalance. "Yo! Who the fuck did you kill in this bitch, Oscar the Grouch?"

"You a funny ass nigga, but nah, I killed the nigga that was causing issues in your household.

" Honor's voice was low, devoid of emotion.

"The skeleton is Rakim, and that body over there belongs to his mom.

The rest of his crew has been taken care of, too.

" Honor stood up, tossing his gun on the table.

"So instead of bitching, thank me, nigga. "

"Honor muthafuckin' Gravehart," I said, smirking as I slapped my palm against my gun. "Always the muthafuckin' savior, never the problem."

I couldn't even pretend I wasn't relieved Rakim was dead. That nigga was a headache I didn't need.

"But you know what? I'm not even mad about it. I won't ask how you got it done so easily. I killed Lynx, and you killed Rakim. Problem fucking solved. It's still fuck y'all nigga, tho'." I tucked my piece back into my waistband and turned to leave.

"Crown, get the fuck back here so we can talk this shit out," Wolfe ordered behind me.

"Fuck that nigga." Honor chuckled. "If he wanna be mad that I kept some shit to myself while looking out for his bitch-ass, let him."

I tugged at my braid, trying to scratch the itch of my trigger finger. Honor knew who the fuck I was, and he was pushing it. He wanted to see just how far I was willing to take shit. Regardless of how I felt, Honor was still my brother.

"Be careful 'round that nigga," I said, turning toward Wolfe. "And remember who raised that nigga."

I walked out of the room, then out of the mill, muttering under my breath, "Fuck both them niggas."

Honor thought because he put me on and looked out when I had nothing that I was supposed to look past his transgressions and keep shit moving.

Every time he kept something to himself, it came back and fucked all of us.

First, it was the shit with Lucian. That nigga wanted millions to let Honor out from under his reins.

That should've been a conversation between brothers, but he kept it to himself until shit hit the fan.

Then it was this shit with him not saying anything about River and Sincere, or how he suspected Lynx was up to bullshit and put Honey on him.

This nigga didn't know shit about honesty, and I refused to keep overlooking that.

Back in the car, I got a text from Four.

I laughed 'cause this was pure fucking irony.

Four

Meet me where we first met if you want your money back.

Another text came through of piles of money on a bed that was in a crib I kept in Ember Hills. I stashed money there in case of an emergency. Only one person knew about that spot, and it was only because it was in her name.

Me

Tell Syn I said wassup.

I leaned against the hood of my car, in the exact spot where I met Four. I walked over with the intention of speaking to Chosyn after I heard her ass was outside acting crazy again. I knocked Four's arm off Chosyn, and her ass was tight.

"Why do you look so mean, beloved?"

"Maybe because you knocked my arm off my bestie like she belongs to you."

Four's bark came with a lot of bite, but that pussy of hers gotta wetter than what her name implied.

"Why didn't you tell me you were friends with my wife?"

I smirked at the thought 'cause just from looking at Four I knew what was gon' happen between the two of us.

Chosyn was supposed to be my best lady and River's maid of honor at our wedding.

Back then, our future felt big, full of possibilities that all ended the same.

.. Four as Mrs. Gravehart and me fucking on that pretty pussy for the rest of my life.

Now it felt like all those possibilities had been tossed off the rooftop, like the memories of Four's ex.

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked up at the sky. Not a single star was in sight, just a lonely streetlight humming above me like it was mourning too.

Honor had secrets.

Wolfe had excuses.

And Four... she had my heart and hadn't done shit but crush that muthafucka from the moment I handed it over.

Everyone I loved had somehow turned shit around and made me the villain in their story.

They all wanted me to forgive without them acknowledging how their fucks up damaged my trust in them, but being back here, where a lot of this shit started, brought a strange kind of clarity.

I already had plans to dip once Rakim was handled.

Honor did me that favor, so a nigga was leaving sooner rather than later.

I needed time to think without all the bullshit 'cause trauma has been tying me to everybody in my life, including Wolfe, Honor, Gigi, Chosyn, and Four.

We loved throwing around the term chosen family , but how true was it when survival kept us together? This shit with Honor was the first time we'd really been at odds, and the first thing we both reached for was a threat and a gun.

The family I loved needed to be tested. I needed to know that even when I didn't need my brothers, they'd still show up like I did.

The same went for Four. All she knew was me chasing her, but what happens when I stop?

Would all the shit she said still be true, or would she fold and be on to the next nigga?

I didn't have the answers, but the universe had a way of revealing all things. I just have to give it space to speak.

Looking down the street, I noticed a shadow moving toward me. A slim, thick figure with a confident walk. Even in the dark, I knew my wife. She stopped a few feet away with her gaze locked on me like we were strangers.

"I didn't know if you would come," she admitted, voice low.

"You told me to come," I said flatly. "You should've known I was pulling up."

Four smiled. "Syn said you would. I misjudged her. She's really not that bad."

"You would say that after she brought you to my crib and showed you where I kept my money."

"Why didn't you tell me about the house?"

"I planned on it, but I wanted to make sure you were solid first."

"Telling me you love me should have proven that," she smacked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I've loved the wrong woman before and couldn't trust her. I can't go off that anymore."

Nodding, her gaze ran from mine.

"I left the money at your house."

I stepped forward, closing the distance until we were face-to-face.

"That's cool, but I'm not tripping off that shit," I told her.

"Then why did you come? Other than my asking you to."

"To ask, why you insist on playing with my heart."