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“Ladies and gentlemen, the man you see before you today is Solomon Godfrey.” The district attorney stood casually in front of the jury as she began her closing argument. “He wears fine suits and high-end glasses. His shoes are worth more than my yearly salary. He’s the epitome of esteem as he sits before you today, but you know that is a lie. The man you see at that table is wearing the best mask, and the name Solomon Godfrey is merely an alias.

“That man over there is ‘Solo the god.’ That is what they call him in the streets. He believes he has the power and right to take any life he wants without repercussion. That is the message he sends every time he kills one of our citizens and gets away with it.

“You have heard testimony throughout this trial detailing all the vile, manipulative, and disgusting acts Mr. Godfrey has committed. The facts of this case are clear. Solo the god murdered Mr. Baxter in cold blood then burned his house to the ground to get rid of the evidence. It is your duty to find him guilty of that crime.”

She paused, giving the whole courtroom time to let the things she’d said about me sit in.

“Take a good look at him, because the next person he kills could be you.”

The district attorney shot daggers at me with her eyes as she returned to her seat. I could feel all the eyes in the courtroom burning holes in the side of my face, but I wasn’t moved. In fact, I had completely tuned everyone else in the courtroom out and focused all of my attention on her.

Natasha Reigns sat on the second row of jurors in the third chair. Only half of her face could be seen from where I sat, but I already had every inch of that face committed to memory. When I closed my eyes, I could still see every wrinkle and crease in her big, pink lips. If I focused hard enough, I could taste them.

“The DA wants you to believe my client is nothing more than a gang banger.”

I hadn’t even noticed Tone, my lawyer, get up to deliver his closing argument. Much of the day had gone by in a blur since my thoughts were occupied with the moment Natasha stepped foot in my clubhouse.

“She talks about his clothes and shoes to distract you from the fact that her case is made up of complete lies. Solomon Godfrey is a war hero who fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He knows the true value of human life because he lost so many of his friends down range to the same violence he is being accused of.

“Ask yourself why would my client take the same lives he traveled thousands of miles and spent years away from his own family to fight for? You won’t be able to answer that question because it just doesn’t make any sense. Do the right thing and find my client not guilty of all charges. He deserves to be at home with the people who care about him.”

The not guilty verdict came faster than I thought it would, and when the DA polled the jury, the decision was unanimous. How pissed she was leaving the courtroom made all the shit she’d put me through over the last year worth it. That bitch had made her career off trying to take me down, and I was happy she was failing.

I stood and hugged my brother tight before I thanked him. Tone had been my best friend since the sandbox, and there was no one I trusted with my freedom more. The streets were my playground, but he owned every courtroom he’d ever stepped foot in. When I decided to join the army, he went to law school, and we both excelled—he at defending his clients and me at eliminating my enemies. We were two sides of the same coin.

After fighting to get through the mob of reporters swarming like the vultures they were, we slid in the back seat of the black SUV parked outside of the courthouse waiting to pick us up.

“How did it feel to hear that verdict?”

“Like freedom, bro.” I dapped Tone up again as the driver merged into traffic. “Where we headed?”

I had no idea where we were going, but I was hungry as fuck. I needed to put something on my stomach.

“The bros have put something together for you at the clubhouse,” Tone said before instructing the driver to take us there.

The cloud of smoke in the clubhouse was thick, and bitches were everywhere. Blunts were being passed left and right as soon as we walked in. I’d hugged and dapped up almost every person on the way to the section I normally occupied when I wasn’t upstairs in my office. Tonight, I wanted to be out on the floor. I was at home and surrounded by the family I’d created.

“What you drinking tonight, Solo?” one of the bottle girls asked as soon as we sat down.

“Bring us three bottles of Mansion House,” Tone declared since he knew I didn’t drink, and he would have them all to himself.

I never liked what alcohol did to men. My mind needed to be clear at all times. I’d only picked up smoking weed because I wasn’t allowed to do it in the military. Now, I dabbled but never went overboard. Being high would never be a good enough excuse for making bad business decisions.

“I told you to stop drinking that shit.”

“Telling me to put down the brandy is like telling you to sell all those guns you got hanging around your house. Sounds dumb as shit, don’t it?”

“If you say so, nigga. Where’s that prospect? The one whose sister was on the jury.”

“I saw him at the bar when we walked in. Want me to go get him?”

“Yeah, send him over here. I want to rap to him alone .” I emphasized alone because I knew Tone would come right back with him. With Tone being my lawyer, I needed to keep him on the right side of the law. That meant some things just couldn’t be discussed in front of him.

It didn’t take long for Tone to do as I asked. In less than ten minutes, Rebel was walking into my section.

“What’s up, Solo? Tone said you were looking for me.”

“Yeah, sit down.” I pointed to the seat across from me and he did as he was told. “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything. I appreciate you helping me and my sister. Is she still with you? I haven’t heard from or seen her since the other night.”

“You worried about too many things at one time. Pay attention.”

“You right. What is it you need me to do?”

“I want you to join the army.”

“What? I can’t join the army. I’m a prospect. I got duties here at the club. I thought I was doing good.”

“You are, but you would be a better prospect if you had more discipline. It takes intelligence and discipline to be a god. That fight you started the other night threw us into a war. You realize that, don’t you?”

“I do, and I want to stay and help you fight it. The Burners are some pussies. It wouldn’t take nothing to get rid of them niggas.”

“The only way you can help me is by disappearing. Join the army first thing in the morning, or you’ll be dead by noon.” I ignored the confused look on Rebel’s face as I got up and left.

I saw so much of myself in Rebel. He was smart but explosive, and it didn’t take much to set him off. I sealed the peace between the Steel Gods and the Southside Burners when I became president ten years ago, and in one night, he’d shattered that peace. If I didn’t kill him, someone else would, so sending him away was an act of kindness. Joining the army at eighteen years old saved my life. I just hoped it could do the same for him.

I didn’t like the hour-long drive from the city to my house as much as I liked living in the middle of nowhere away from everything and everybody. The time it took me to make it home gave me time to plan. I knew the Burners would strike eventually, and I wanted to be ready.

“You had someone kidnap me from a courthouse? You really have no respect for the law, do you?”

The way she stood in front of me with her hand on her hip put Natasha’s curves on full display.

“Are you in chains?”

“No.”

“Was someone holding you at gunpoint?”

“Of course not, but you know what I mean.” Her face was scrunched but still cute as hell.

I strained myself for hours in that courtroom this morning trying to remember every detail of her face, so I was thankful to be seeing it up close and personal. She was easily the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

“Then you weren’t kidnapped.” I pushed Natasha in the direction of the couch. “Sit over there.”

If her face remained that close to mine for a second longer, I wouldn’t be responsible for what happened next.

“Don’t put your hands on me, and I am not sitting down. I’m leaving.”

“No, you’re not.” I chuckled at the thought of her thinking she could just leave. “You owe me for saving you and your brother’s life. I collect on all debts.”

“I appreciate your help, but that not guilty verdict says we are even. I don’t owe you anything.”

She tried to storm past me to get to the door, but I snatched her up in my arms.

“The face that launched a thousand bikes.” I traced Natasha’s face with my finger as I put my own twist on the age-old quote. “I’m sure wars have been fought for less.”

I released her, and she backed away, straightening the dress she’d worn to court.

I let my eyes travel down the length of her frame and stopped at her ankles. Her brown skin was as smooth as butter. I imagined those ankles locked firmly behind my head. She was short as hell and thick in all the right places. Her curves only heightened the desirability of her petite body. They pointed to the fact that no matter how small she was, she was a fully grown woman.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened at your clubhouse, but this whole thing about me being your property is not going to work. You do not own me.”

She pushed past me again, and this time, I let her. It didn’t take her long to make it to the front door, and I watched without moving to stop her. When she swung the door open, she was met by one of my guards.

“Excuse me, sir.”

Instead of stepping to the side for her, he looked at me.

“You can close the door.”

He did so without even acknowledging her. “Follow me. I will take you to your room.”

“My room? I am not staying in this house.”

“Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?”

She stood with her hand on her hip in defiance.

“Cool.”

I picked Natasha up and threw her over my shoulder. She kicked and screamed, which did nothing but blow my high. This girl had been a problem since the day I met her, and I couldn’t wait to get rid of her. I didn’t need more complications, so the faster I could bury this whole situation the better. I just needed to figure out the right way to do it.

Having a member of the jury who’d just acquitted me turn up dead would lead the police back to my front door. The war that I’d just created with the Burners was already going to throw a wrench in a lot of the business moves we were trying to make. I didn’t have time to be fighting on all sides. Handling her had to be done right.

Her ass brushed against my cheek as I carried her up the stairs. I felt a sudden urge to bite it which only pissed me off more. I shouldn’t be thinking about how smooth her skin was or how soft her ass felt against my face. Her lips shouldn’t have been so heavy on my mind, but they were.

“You cannot keep me here. I need to get back to the city and find my brother.”

“Listen, you can try to leave if you want to, but you won’t make it far. How comfortable you are here is going to be up to you. If I catch you trying to escape, I’m either going to tie your ass up or put a bullet between those pretty eyes of yours. It depends on how I’m feeling at the moment. If you act like you got some sense, you can make yourself at home here. The fridge is always stocked, and I have every streaming service you can think of. Just sit tight until I figure out what to do with you.”

“Until you figure out what to do with me? What does that even mean? Are you going to kill me? Did you already kill Rebel?”

She shot off one question after another, and I didn’t plan on answering any of them. I honestly didn’t even know the answers myself.

I needed to kill her. It should have been done and made to look like an accident as soon as she left the courthouse. A car accidentally hitting her as she crossed the street to her car would have sufficed. I could have stopped a war and resumed business as usual, but I instructed Brian to bring her here. Now that she was standing in front of me looking so small and afraid, I couldn’t fathom how such a beautiful face could bring the ruin of my whole organization.

“The remote is on the TV stand,” was all I could say before exiting the room and putting as much space between us as I could.

The way that woman made me feel was dangerous, and the only type of danger I liked was the kind I created. Natasha had to go.