“You just now getting here?” he asked, and she nodded.

  “Yeah. I had a long night after you dropped me off.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot you and your girl stayed up doin’ the best friend thing. I hope you didn’t tell her nothin’ too bad about me.”

  “Never,” Kiesha said and forced a laugh.

  “I’m about to head out and go handle some business. Have a good day, okay, shawty?” Cam told her and kissed her forehead.

  He walked away, leaving Kiesha and Adrian standing awkwardly in the hall. When he was gone, Kiesha tried to duck away into her office, but Adrian gently grabbed her elbow to stop her. When she looked at him and saw how hard he was studying her, it was hard to keep the sadness off her face.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing. It’s nothing.” She tried to pull away from him, but his grip on her arm got firmer.

  “Did Cam do something to you last night?”

  “What? No. He took me right home after the event. I’m just not in the best mood today.”

  She didn’t notice the small look of relief on his face. All she wanted to do was go into her office and use her computer to look up Malcom’s address. But Adrian wasn’t letting it go.

  “Then why were you crying?”

  “How do you know I was crying?”

  “You never wear this much makeup in the office, but it’s still not enough to hide the puffy bags under your eyes. Tell me. Maybe I can help.”

  He finally let go of her arm, and to her surprise, she didn’t will her legs to make a beeline for her office and slam the door. There was something about his presence that made her feet stay planted. He was truly concerned about her. She couldn’t just see it. She felt it. She sighed.

  “My friend London. Last night she stayed the night to wait for me to get back from the showing. We were going to eat our favorite little snacks and watch movies. Girl stuff. But when I got there, she was all beat up.”

  “What happened?”

  “When she went to the store, an old friend of mine and some other people were there talking shit about me.”

  “Why?”

  “This old friend and I fell out behind a boy, a boy she was always pushing me to talk to, but I found out they were fucking the whole time.”

  “That’s foul.”

  “What’s more foul is I found out she was never my friend. I think she hates me, and I never knew. Anyway, London defended me when they were talking shit, and they jumped her. Even the boys. They beat her up so bad, and it just hurts my heart to see her like that. She’s a good friend. So if you don’t mind, I need to go look up where this motherfucka lives.”

  “You can’t do that,” Adrian said, and Kiesha made a face.

  “What do you mean I can’t—”

  “Your computer has limited access. Mine doesn’t. I can pull up any listing: sold, owned, or on the market in the state of Florida. Do you know his first and last name?”

  “Malcom Donald.”

  Adrian led her to his office and motioned for her to sit in the seat she assumed Cam had just gotten up from. He sat down behind his desk and cracked his knuckles before going to town on his computer. After minutes of watching him work, she saw his brow furrow as he was reading something on the screen.

  “It might be under his parents’ name,” Kiesha suggested.

  “Nah, it’s just . . . how old is this Malcom again?”

  “Eighteen, nineteen.”

  “This is him. How is this motherfucka affording to live in a half-million-dollar home? Hold on. Let me do a background check real quick.” His fingers went to town on the keyboard again before he started scrolling. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “What is it?”

  “It says here that his parents were killed in a car crash a couple years ago, and ever since, he’s been living with his older brother. Drako Donaldson.”

  “Who?”

  “He’s a dangerous man.” Adrian rubbed his chin in wonder. “This is crazy.”

  “What’s the address?” Kiesha asked.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t give you that.” Adrian looked sincerely sorry, but Kiesha wasn’t trying to hear that at all.

  “So what was the point in all of this?”

  “This is bigger than you even know. Malcom’s brother is into some dangerous shit. Street shit.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “I just know. And I can’t have you showing up on his doorstep wilding out. I’ll handle it.”

  “If he’s so dangerous, what are you going to do? You’re a Realtor!”

  Adrian held back his chuckle, and Kiesha wanted to reach over and pop him on the side of his head. However, it was he who did the reaching. He took her hand in his and looked her deep in the eyes.

  “Kiesha, trust me. I’ma handle it. Malcom won’t get away with what he did to your friend.”

  The annoyance she’d felt toward him subsided. Maybe it was the earnest expression on his face or the way his thumbs caressed her hands. She didn’t know how he would do it, but she believed that he would keep his word.

  “Okay. I trust you.”

  There was a sudden tap on his office door, and Adrian could have kicked himself when he saw Megan standing there. Her eyes zeroed in on Kiesha’s hand in his before glaring at Kiesha. Adrian pulled his hands back and sat up straight in his seat.

  “Can I help you with something, Megan?”

  “Yes, um . . .” Megan cleared her throat. “Was I interrupting something?”

  “No, no. Kiesha and I were just handling some business.”

  “Good. Because I thought, after last night, maybe you would want to go grab some lunch together today? I definitely worked up an appetite.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Adrian told her quickly.

  Kiesha could tell he was trying hard not to look at her. But he looked guiltier than all get-out. She herself didn’t understand the pit she felt in her stomach. What had happened last night?

  “All right. Well, you know where to find me.” Megan winked at him and left.

  A silence came across the office, and Kiesha didn’t want to ask. But the question was sitting on the tip of her tongue, trying to claw its way out. Adrian was still avoiding eye contact with her.

  “That must have been why I couldn’t find you last night.” She tried to say it like a lighthearted joke. “You were with Megan?”

  “I . . . it just happened. I had too much to drink,” Adrian exhaled and shook his head.

  “I thought you had rules.”

  “I do. And I’m sure I’m going to pay for breaking them.”

  He had to have meant with Megan, but when his eyes finally found hers again, there seemed to be a plea in them. She wanted to say something, but the words never found her. Not wanting to think about Adrian and Megan, Kiesha returned her focus to the matter at hand.

  “Let me know what happens when you get a hold of Malcom, okay? I don’t want what happened to my friend to happen to anyone else.” She stood up and made to leave the office.

  “Kiesha!” Adrian called, stopping her in her tracks. When she turned around, she saw that he looked just like she felt. There was something he wanted to say, but he was fighting against his tongue to say it. Finally, he just forced a smile. “Good work yesterday. I’m really proud of you.”

  Disappointed, Kiesha forced her own smile and nodded. Without another word, she went to her own office to get a head start on their next project. She thought the person on her mind would be Cam, or even London for that matter. But the person running laps through her mind was the one across the hall.

  Chapter 21

  Normally Adrian got a full, good night of rest, but he found himself waking up at 5:00 a.m. Friday morning. That usually happened when his waking thoughts trumped his dreams. He lay in the pitch black of his room, staring upward until his eyes adjusted to the dark. He focused on the ceiling fan while his thoughts formulated in order. They all had a starting point, and it was Steelo. He was there in Florida moving around like there was no problem, when he knew, in fact, there was. Something was making him feel safe, and Adrian had found a lot of dots, but none of them were connecting.

  Not only that, but news of his welcome home party had spread like wildfire across social media. There was some outrage due to some people knowing about his snitching history. However, the love he received outshined the hate, and that alone invoked anger in Adrian, mainly because, at that point, Steelo had to know that his being there wasn’t a secret anymore. That meant he was sending blatant disrespectful shots to the ones who had banished him.

  Adrian was happy that neither his father nor Cam’s was active on social media. A war would have broken out if Antonio knew what was going on. He was a “shoot first and later” kind of man. That was where he and Adrian differed. Adrian preferred diplomacy first. Peaceful resolutions in the streets were always best because they kept the wrong kind of eyes off the operation. Bodies dropping left and right was never a good thing, and that was why, for Adrian, a feud was always the last resort. He liked to keep things clean. Still, he wasn’t afraid to get things popping if he had to.

  He was starting to feel like Steelo was purposely forcing hands. And what bothered Adrian the most was that he’d been so focused on the corporate side of things, he had no clue how long Steelo had really been there in the background, plotting. He didn’t like thinking so hard that his head hurt, and that was exactly what he was doing. Adrian forced himself out of bed and to the kitchen to make an early breakfast.

  He’d left his phone on the counter the night before, and when he checked it, he groaned. There were three missed calls and several text messages from Megan. He didn’t even care to see what they said. He knew it was his own fault that she was on him like that. He’d broken his own rule with her, and that alone probably made her feel special. But the truth was she just wasn’t. Beauty and good sex alone weren’t enough to hold his attention. Adrian had an old soul, and because of that, he needed depth. The most important things to him were a person’s sense of self and their integrity. Megan was too thirsty to have him. And by the way she’d blown up his phone, she was clingy, too. It was something he’d have to officially address the next time he saw her. There was no way in hell he would ever have any kind of sexual interaction with her.

  As he cooked, he thought back to Kiesha in the office. It was amazing to him that Cam hadn’t picked up that her energy was off. All Adrian had to do was take one look at her to know something was wrong. And he didn’t care what he had to do, he just knew he wanted to fix it, whatever it was. However, when he found out what it was, he was almost floored by how close to home it was for him. There was no way he was going to let her confront Malcom on her own. Drako was a cold-blooded killer, and catching a body was nothing to him. Kiesha’s body would never be found, but Adrian also knew that it wasn’t something she would just drop. After working closely with her even for a short amount of time, he knew how determined she was. That was why he told her he would handle it, which he would—two birds, one stone style.

  Adrian poured himself some orange juice and sat down to enjoy his breakfast. By then, the sun was coming up and poking through the blinds in his living room. As he ate his eggs and hashbrowns, he turned on the early morning news.

  “Late last night, Miami PD infiltrated a building after receiving an anonymous tip,” the black female newscaster was saying.

  The cameraman zoomed in on a warehouse that over a dozen officers were outside of. Adrian stopped eating to lean up in his seat and get a better view of the building. The warehouse wasn’t just any warehouse. It was one of theirs.

  “Our officers here received a tip on possible cartel-level drug trafficking going on at this very location. However, when they arrived at the scene, all they found were a few people inside seeking shelter. Unfortunately, one of the men was injured by officers in the process. More on this story when we come back.”

  Adrian felt a tension headache coming on and realized he was clenching his jaw out of anger. Someone was sending the police sniffing at their door. Whoever had tipped the police off about the Parks’s underground operation couldn’t have been too deep in the fold. Otherwise, they would have known that they switched warehouses weeks ago. Still, it was too close to home. Adrian picked up his phone to call Cam, but before he could, Cam was calling him.

  “You seein’ what I’m seein’?” Cam asked.

  “The news?”

  “Hell yeah. Somebody’s playin’ the Feds game with us. I don’t like that shit.”

  “Me either. Tally up everyone who knew the location of the last spot.”

  “I already did that. And guess whose name came up.”

  “Drako.”

  “Yup.”

  “Damn.”

  “Yup,” Cam said again. “He picked his first order up from the warehouse. He probably thought we moved like dumb niggas and kept all of our spots the same.”

  “Either way, that was too close a call for me. Have our boys tighten up. I don’t want anybody who doesn’t need to know shit to know shit. Understand?”

  “You already know I’m with the vibes. But about tonight, you thought about how we’re goin’ about it?”

  “Yeah, and I think going through the front doors would be a problem. I want to creep up on that motherfucka.”

  “And how you gon’ do that?”

  “Bosses come in through the back. And, Cam? I don’t know what to expect tonight, so make sure—”

  “The shooters gon’ be ready. Don’t worry about that. I’m the brawn, and you’re the brains. Just make sure you do what you need to do so I don’t even have to step in.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Chapter 22

  “Does my makeup still look okay, Kiesha?” London asked, leaning over the bathroom sink.

  Kiesha finished drying her hands and made her way through the small crowd of ladies to get to her friend. The muffled sound of music was making its way into the bathroom from the dance floor of Club Saki, and Kiesha was ready to get back out to it.

  All social media had been talking about was the party that was happening that night. Apparently it was the place for anybody to be, and Kiesha thought that getting out of the house would make London feel better. And what was the point of having fake IDs if they never made use of them? So the two of them got dressed real cute, Kiesha in a nude skintight dress and London in a black one. Kiesha had beat London’s face and covered the bruises and cuts, but her girl was still feeling a little self-conscious.

  “Girl, you look amazing as always,” Kiesha reassured her genuinely. “Literally flawless.”

  “Yeah, flawless,” London said sarcastically, looking at her face.

  Kiesha took her hands in hers and looked into her face. She really had to give it to herself. She did the dang thing on London’s makeup. She was already a beautiful young woman, but the makeup made her look like a goddess.

  “Your physical wounds will heal, but right now, nobody can even see those. Let’s work on healing this”—Kiesha pointed at London’s chest—“because we don’t have time for you to be having PTSD!”

  “Kiesha!” London exclaimed and burst out laughing. She took one last look at her face and smiled. “You’re right. I am a bad bitch. Let’s go back out, because I swear I saw too many fine niggas!”

  They left the bathroom and made their way over to the bar. Kiesha wasn’t really a drinker, but that night they both needed something to take the edge off. She ordered them shots of Patrón, and when they threw those back, they ordered two more. All Kiesha had eaten that day were some tacos earlier at work, so the buzz hit her fast. Soon the girls were lost in a fit of giggles and moving their bodies to the loud music.

  “Ooh! This is my song!” London exclaimed when Big Boogie’s song “PTPOM” came on. “Let’s go shake some ass!”

  She grabbed Kiesha’s hand and pulled her to the side of the dance floor where they did just that. The men standing around were looking at them like they wanted to eat them for dessert. The girls, on the other hand, weren’t too fond of them getting all the attention. They could have joined in on the fun, but the issue with pretty girls was that some of them acted like it was a crime for other pretty girls to exist.

  Kiesha saw them and just rolled her eyes. She wasn’t about to let a hater ruin her night. She was just happy to see the smile back on London’s face. Plus, it had been a long week at the office. She deserved a night out. She and London continued to dance until their feet hurt in their heels, and even after that they danced some more. It wasn’t until the DJ started playing slower tunes that they made their way off the dance floor and to a high table. The shots seemed to have gotten to London a little more than Kiesha, so she helped her friend onto one of the chairs.

  “Bitch, I got it. I got it!” London said, laughing and trying to swat Kiesha away.

  “No, you don’t! You’re going to fall off the chair!”

  Kiesha laughed with her, and when she was sure London wasn’t going to topple over, she sat down across from her. She took a moment to survey the club. She was happy that the AC was working because it was packed. There were so many faces that she couldn’t focus on just one, so she turned her attention to the stage. At that moment, the handsome DJ cut the music and got on the mic.

  “A’ight now, I see a bunch of fine ladies in the building tonight! And, fellas, I see y’all came dressed to impress!” The crowd of people, including London, cheered back at him. “Y’all already know it’s your boy DJ Doc on the ones and twos tonight celebrating my boy Steelo. It’s his welcome home party, and we’re here to have a good time. Make some noise for my big dog one time!”

  He pointed at someone sitting over in a VIP section to the side. Kiesha followed his finger as the crowd cheered. A good-looking man rocking a fresh fade and dripping in Gucci stood up, nodding like he was the man. She guessed he was Steelo. Although he was an older gentleman and had one or two people his age with him, his section was filled with younger men and women.

  “Ooh, he looks like he has money!” London observed. “Look at his chain!”