Page 44 of Steel

“I give you my word?—”

Their eyes widened, and I heard footsteps behind me. Quickly, I spun around to see a man standing there.

“Who the fuck?—”

Before he could finish the sentence, I sent a bullet between his eyes, and his body hit the floor with a thud. The girls screamed and cowered further into the corner.

“We have to go,” I told them.

This time, they didn’t hesitate to run out of the room. I led them back up the hall where I saw Smoke leading two other girls.

“Take them,” I said to him. I have a few more rooms to check.”

The girls went with him, and I checked the last couple of rooms. When I got to the last one, I kicked the door in to find a nigga holding a little girl down while on top of her.

I let off a shot, hitting him in the shoulder. He cried out and vacated the bed. What I saw broke my heart. The girl couldn’t have been more than ten. She had bruises on her face and arms.Blood was smeared on her legs and thighs. When I looked at her, all I could see was Nayelli. I’d never caught anybody in the act of violating another, let alone a child. That shit made me see red.

Before I knew it, I’d dropped my gun and tackled the man to the floor. My fists pounded his face as he didn’t even try to fight back.

“You sick son of a bitch! That’s a kid! She’s just a little girl!”

Grabbing him by the collar, I slammed his head into the concrete floor. Blood was pouring everywhere from his head, but I couldn’t stop. Standing to my feet, I brought my size thirteen boot down on his neck. I heard the bone crack, and his body went limp. That wasn’t enough. Repeatedly, I stomped his face until he was unrecognizable.

My anger at Neha and what I walked in on fueled the power of my feet.

It wasn’t until I felt strong arms wrap around me, pulling me back, did I begin to let up.

“Nigga, chill!” Deuce yelled.

“He’d dead, Steel!” Smoke said.

“Get the fuck off me!” I yelled, snatching away from them. I turned to see my brothers and Noah standing there, looking from the body to me like I was crazy. Silas stood in the hall, cradling the little girl in his arms as she cried. My chest heaved as I looked around the room at them.

“Leave,” Deuce told the rest of them.

They filed out of the room, leaving us alone. My brother stood there for a moment, staring at me like he didn’t know who I was.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked.

I tried to walk past him, but he shoved me back.

“Nigga, I’m talking to you!”

“Deuce, fall the fuck back.”

“Hell nah. Since when were you this sloppy? The fuck is going on with you tonight?”

“You didn’t see that shit, man. He . . . he was on top of her . . . violating her, Deuce. I can’t unsee that shit.”

He sighed heavily. “I know this shit ain’t for the weak, Steel. We knew it was a possibility we’d find something like this tonight, but you went rogue, my nigga.”

I sniffed, fighting back tears. “I’m cool.”

“No, you ain’t. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but it’s clearly more than this.”

“I said I’m cool. Drop the shit.”

“Take your stupid ass back to the van. We’ve got the rest of this.”