Page 27

I shoulda pulled the trigger. Easy. Quick.

Gave Baarbie what he wanted and us the peace we needed.

But I didn’t. In my world, if I saw an ounce of disloyalty on my crew, I shot first and asked questions later.

With this though, some shit wasn’t adding up.

And now I was seein’ pieces of myself in Baarbie’s broken stare, like he was wearin’ a mask I knew all too well.

One that I was finally beginning to understand now that I had my diagnosis.

But Baarbie? He ain’t want to live to figure this life shit out.

The drugs had been slowly killin’ him for years, forcing him to hide his truth in the shell of a crackhead.

Yet even a junkie had moments of reverence. Suddenly, a very important piece of the timeline of Rev’s killing came into focus in my mind as I quickly glanced at Titan and muttered, “He ain’t do this shit.”

Titan’s gaze hardened for a second, lookin’ from me to Baarbie like he was contemplating if he needed to take control. When he nodded, he was deciding to trust me instead.

Lifting my arm, I removed my Glock from Baarbie’s forehead, not seeing the relief in his eyes that I had hoped for, but anger instead.

“Just kill me,” he demanded, grabbing the Glock and placing it back on his forehead.

“Whateva you think I did, just take me out. I can’t do this shit no more, man.

” His voice cracked and his eyes watered.

“I can’t, bruh. I don’t even know who the fuck I am anymore.

I can’t do it, Cruz. I’ve done some shit I can’t come back from.

Seen some shit that always be in my nightmares.

Just kill me, Cruz. Please, just do it.”

Baarbie repeated his plea several times, his voice going from frantic to a faint whisper as the tears streamed down his face, causing me to get choked up in the process.

When we heard a noise outside of the door, Titan told me he’d handle it and escaped into the darkness of the hallway.

“Baarbie, did you set up a crew to kill Rev?” I asked, watching him intently even though I had worked out the answer already.

“Nah,” he huffed, the truth in his eyes before he followed it up with, “Yeah, I did. Just kill me. Get justice for Rev.”

His confession was fake. “Death only seems like an easier penance because living is hard and takes work.”

He nodded in agreement, still clenching my gun against his head.

I placed my hand over his and uncurled his fingers from my Glock before putting it in the back of my jeans.

Baarbie was my mom’s first child who she had before she had me and moved away from Miami.

He was raised by his father, and I was raised by our mother.

Neither of us knew about each other until our mom and his dad had passed away.

For me, I had The Paradox for support. I also had my frat brothers and my Crowne siblings even if I ain’t always talk to those fools. And I had … her . Ri. My sanity.

But Baarbie?

He only had me, abuelo, and Mekhi.

He was my responsibility. It didn’t matter if he was older. I was my brother’s keeper, but only now was I really understanding what that shit meant.

“Bruh, you ain’t done living yet,” I said. “You’re still here, breathing and accepting rehab. This shit aint over for you.”

Baarbie closed his eyes against his emotions. “Cruz, ion know if I can get betta. I’ve tried before and that shit ain’t work.” His voice cracked harder this time, full of disappointment and anguish.

Leaning down, I did something that I hadn’t in a long time. I opened my arms, pulled him into my embrace, and hugged my big brother as he cried into my shoulder. Half of the shit he was sayin’ wasn’t making an ounce of sense, but somehow, makin’ all the sense in the world.

“Starting now, we do betta,” I told him, wondering how the fuck shit had got so convoluted. “ I’ll do betta. You got me in this shit wit’ you now. If you fall, I’ll be there to help pick you back up.”

When he relaxed in my arms and his cries turned silent, I felt the weight of that silence on my shoulders, the guilt eatin’ me alive that I’d even given up on him in the first place.

Had it been Rev, Storm, or Titan, I would have been in the thick of it right by their side.

But I’d failed my other brother, and for that I may never forgive myself.

It took a while, but eventually, he calmed down a little, two grown ass men clinging to each other as the heaviness of life weighed down on our brotherhood until we were drowning for so long, we ain’t know how to swim up for air.

When I made it back to the car, I was mentally and emotionally drained. Titan and I drove home in silence. Yet, when we returned, Storm was there waiting for us.

“What happened?” he asked. “Did you kill him?”

I shook my head. “At the last second, I remembered that one of me and Mekhi’s contacts had given us all the dates and times that my abuelo had gotten Baarbie into rehab under an alias so that media outlets wouldn’t get ahold of the fallen star athlete.

Last October, he enrolled him for four months. ”

Storm shook his head. “Baarbie was in there during those crucial months we were planning the attack on McAllister after finding him in Tennessee?”

I nodded. “Yeah. So Calvin wasn’t around either. I ain’t let that fool nowhere near my business when my brother wasn’t around. I ain’t see Baarbie much during those planning and prepping months at all, but now we know why.”

“And we’re back at square one,” Titan stated. “Got us lookin’ like amateurs at this shit.”

Had that gunman who had told us that Baarbie had hired him for the hit at the gym not died soon after his confession, maybe he would have more info for us. But now, we’d never know.

I punched the wall, cracking some of the drywall, but I ain’t care right now. “I hate being played. Whoeva is pullin’ the strings is having a goddamn field day at our expense.”

Storm paused on whatever he was about to say when all of us heard the light tiptoeing of feet as Ri reached the top of her stairs and lightly walked back to her room.

Three things were certain to us in that moment.

One, eavesdropping was gonna earn her a pleasurable punishment because her pussy was the healing we needed tonight.

Second, Baarbie was innocent … but I almost murdered my brother and that would haunt me to my grave.

And three, Titan, Storm, and I were no closer to finding out who ambushed us than we had been six months ago when Rev was killed.

Which meant, for the first time in our lives, our enemy was still several steps ahead of us.

And if we weren’t playin’ offense, we were playin’ defense.

We had to think about Ri, too. All of this was new to her, and she was still learning how we operated. One thing I knew for sho’ though was that I would die and sell my soul to the devil before I let anything happen to her.

When my eyes met my brothers and the men I trusted most in the world, the consensus was clear. Come hell or high water, we’d finish this shit for Rev.

For us.

But especially for Santari.

“What do y’all say we go punish Ri for spying on us,” I suggested to the fellas. “Maybe bury ourselves in some pussy and get back to figuring out this bullshit tomorrow.”

Storm smirked, already turning to take the stairs two at a time, while Titan and I followed. When we reached her bedroom and pushed open her cracked door, instead of pretending to be asleep, she was on her knees in the middle of the bed, gloriously naked and licking her lips at the three of us.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked, her bratty behavior making my dick jump.

I raised an eyebrow, torn between wanting to spank her, or keep quiet and she where she was goin’ wit’ this scene.

Soft R&B music was playing from the Bluetooth speaker on her nightstand as she slowly swayed seductively to the beat.

Her eyes roamed over all three of us, her mischievous smirk drippin’ with propositions when her seductive eyes stopped on me.

“Cruz, take off your clothes and stand to the left of my bed.”

Storm caught her gaze next as she added, “Storm, remove yours too. I need you to the right of me.”

When her eyes landed on Titan, she stood and pointed to her bed. “Titan, I want you naked and on your back with your head at the foot of the bed, but not too close to the edge. Cruz and Storm need room to stand at the end.”

Me, Storm, and Titan shared a look of amusement at her demands, but I knew what Ri was doin’.

She prolly overheard our entire conversation, not just part of it.

So now, she wanted to help us forget about it.

At least for tonight. And if that was the case, she also knew that I almost killed my own flesh and blood.

Storm, Titan, and I made quick work at removing our clothes, our eyes never straying from Santari. Following her request, Titan laid on his back and propped his hands behind his head.

The way Ri sashayed the short distance back to her bed was sexy as hell as she crawled across her sheets to Titan and positioned herself so that her pussy was hovering over his mouth.

Since she was on the opposite end of the bed without the support of the headboard, Storm and I moved into action, each of us taking one of her arms to keep her steady as she lowered herself onto Titan’s awaiting tongue.

The grunt that Titan released when he finally felt her on his tastebuds had me jealous that his mouth was having all the fun. Then just like that, our innocent little Santari started ridin’ Titan’s face.

“Shit,” I muttered. “You look so goddamn delicious ridin’ his mouth, Ri.”

“Fuckin’ gorgeous,” Storm added, both of us staring at her hungrily. It didn’t take long for Ri to get into a good rhythm, her eyes darting back and forth between me and Storm.

When Titan scooted down the bed, it gave Santari room to place her hands on either side of his head, prompting her mouth to start chasing my dick until she caught it.

I released a loud and satisfied groan over how at home my dick felt when it was covered in her saliva. However, I didn’t miss the way her eyes continued to venture to Storm as she rode Titan’s face, while sucking me off.

“Storm, wanna see how much her filthy mouth can handle?” I asked, running my hand over the side of her filled cheek.

Storm licked his lips and cupped his dick, already preparing for her warmth when he answered, “Fuck yeah. I think she wants to choke on some more dick while Titan eats her out.”

Ri moaned into the ceiling as she continued to ride Titan’s face, moving her hips in a way that had him licking her pussy and her ass while his hands gripped her by the thighs to keep her in place.

“Widen your mouth,” I instructed. “We want you suckin’ my dick on one side and Storm’s on the other, while Titan continues to fuck you wit’ his tongue.”

Santari did as she was told, giving enough room for Storm to push his way in, her mouth widening inch by inch. It was a beautiful thing to watch both of her cheeks get so full of dick, that tears began running down her face.

“Fuck, baby,” I huffed, wiping beneath her eyes. “Look at you takin’ all of this dick in your mouth while on the brink of your own orgasm.”

“Shiddd,” Storm muttered, “I think she likes having two of us in her throat, Cruz.”

He and I shared a dangerous smirk, while Titan slapped her ass for good behavior, the move forcing her to take me and Storm even deeper.

“And I love the way your teeth are lightly scraping us,” I added. “Keep doin’ that shit.”

Santari’s watery eyes softened at the praise, her determination to suck us both while not breaking her rhythm of ridin’ Titan’s face causing her to increase the bold strokes of her tongue.

“You’re a fuckin’ vision,” Storm told her.

“A goddamn beautiful mess,” I added.

“And delicious as hell,” Titan mumbled in between his tongue thrusting inside of her. “The best kind of juice a man can drink.”

Not before long, Santari’s powerful orgasm shot through her, but our best friend’s little sister never stopped sucking me and Storm. It was impossible to be gentle after watching her come apart on Titan’s face, while feeling the gush of spit in her mouth as she continued to come wave after wave.

Damn. I love this shit. It was crazy how much I needed to experience the way my friends touched her … fucked her. How together, we pulled the wickedness out of her soul and replaced it with something so addictive, we couldn’t get enough of wrecking her world.

Santari didn’t stop pleasing us until we each succumbed to our own release, and even then, she wasn’t finished with us. Instead, what was supposed to be her punishment for eavesdropping ended up being a moment of healing that we needed.

She was ours whether she realized it or not, and in this house, we always protected what was ours. That was on Rev and my mama.

The muthafuckas who were hunting us thought they’d remain on top. Yet, all shootin’ up my gym and setting up my brother to take the fall did was make us hungry for blood. We were already goin’ to hell, and this was just the beginning.

They wanted a battle.

But they betta be strapped up for war.

Continue The Primal Fetish Paradox trilogy with Sinful Chains by Shae Sanders and Sinful Submission by Stephanie Nicole Norris!

Want to read more about Cruz’s Crowne siblings? Check out Crowne Legacy , Maverick Dynasty , and Once Upon a Murder . Click flipping the page for an excerpt from Choke and Stroke Academy .