“Did you just call yourself my man?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Yeah. I’m not?”

  “We just haven’t made anything official, so I didn’t know.”

  “Well, now you do. I’m falling for you, Amira, and I want you with me . . . if you’ll have me.”

  She smiled big and nodded her head before kissing him again, deeply. The way their tongues danced made her grow hot between her thighs. She wanted him, and that time, just allowing him to give her head wouldn’t do. She wanted their bodies to be one.

  He seemed to be on the same page as her because before she knew it, he broke the kiss and led her to the back master bedroom. Once there, he scooped her into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Their lips reconnected, and his hands ran up her legs and under her skirt. His warm hands felt good as they fondled her bottom, and she grinded her body into his, hoping to turn him on even more. Gently, he laid her down on the bed and looked at her with wonder.

  “You’re beautiful, Amira. You could have anybody you want. You know that?”

  “Yeah, but I want you. And only you. And right now, I want you . . . here.”

  She spread her legs and moved her thong out of the way so he could see where she was talking about. She rubbed her slippery clit with two fingers while watching his face get more turned on by the second. He wanted her just like she wanted him. It was obvious. But still, he hesitated.

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “First, I want you to make love to me like in the movies. I want to feel how much you really care about me. And then . . . I want you to fuck me like you hate me.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Now, come on. There’s a flood warning.” She grinned and reached up to pull him down on top of her.

  When she got home, Amira tried to open and close the front door without making a sound. It was almost midnight, but the lights inside were still on. She didn’t know if it was Winnie who was still awake or her father. Either way, she didn’t want to answer any questions they may have had. She couldn’t wait for the day they didn’t treat her like a child that needed to be watched.

  She also hadn’t told them about Tevin, especially not after how much her dad couldn’t stand Jerron. Although he had been right about him, Tevin was different. She didn’t want him to be prejudged. When the time was right, she would tell the world about him, but right then, she would enjoy and keep him to herself. She managed to make it up the fifth step when she heard loud shouts from the kitchen area.

  “Shit!”

  The voice belonged to her father, and he sounded angry. She had half a mind to continue up the stairs, but curiosity got the best of her. She fixed her clothes before returning down the stairs and toward the kitchen. When she got to the entrance, she saw that her dad was sitting with his back toward her and on the phone. Winnie was nearby, hurriedly trying to fix him a cocktail. Amira’s brow creased. He only drank when he was having a horrible day.

  “How wasn’t I given a heads-up about this? I pay you good money to let me know what’s going on in the bureau. My client is a very dangerous man. You know this.” He paused to take the cocktail from Winnie and swallowed a big gulp of it. “Yeah, well, next time, try harder. Kaleef Hinton is the biggest name going around over there. You should have known that they were planning to arrest him. Thanks for nothing!”

  Aramous disconnected the call and slammed the phone down. Amira made to walk toward him, but Winnie saw her and shook one of her hands no. She then gestured her head as if to tell Amira to leave the kitchen. Amira nodded. She didn’t have to be told twice. When her dad was mad, he was like a raging dragon. She took Winnie’s advice and rode the high Tevin had given her to her bedroom.

  Chapter 9

  Kaleef getting taken down by the Feds caused the motion to be slow in the streets. Things were quiet, and everyone felt they had a target on their backs. Not only that, but also the charges he was facing were steep; so steep, whispers of if he would be getting out began circulating in the different organizations. Many people hadn’t paid what they owed, and Sparrow knew it was because the big man was off campus. It was up to him to keep the ball rolling, or so he thought, especially since word on the street was that Eddie Lanes over South was talking big trash about Kaleef.

  Eddie had been getting product from Kaleef for years, but it was no secret that the two men didn’t care for each other. What they had was a mutually beneficial business relationship. It was no surprise to Sparrow that he was speaking ill of Kaleef while he was down. All it did was leave room for someone to take his place. The streets moved like that, but Sparrow would let everyone know that nothing was changing any time soon.

  Sparrow was planning on paying Eddie a visit anyway, but it made the meeting more imperative when he didn’t pick up his usual shipment. His order was one of Kaleef’s biggest, and he was always on time. It had Sparrow’s mind going, and he knew Kaleef wouldn’t be happy to hear it. He’d been locked up for a few weeks since the judge denied him bail. Sparrow didn’t want to add more bad news on top of what he was already going through. He would handle it himself.

  On his way over South, he stopped to pick up Jerron, Zech, and Tay. Zech and Tay were cousins and good for a gunfight. They had come up in Kaleef’s organization and had been loyal workers for over a decade. Sparrow trusted them with his life. They got in the back, and Jerron hopped in the passenger seat.

  Jerron was a young, hotheaded gritter, but Sparrow had taken a liking to him. He was the type to shoot first and get out of there before questions were asked. He was thorough regarding the drug game and getting money, which was why Sparrow didn’t understand how a girl could have his nose wide open like that. Sparrow had seen her with his own eyes. She was bad and all, but there were a million like her. He would never go out sad like Jerron had over some vagina.

  “Yo, what the fuck was that at the club the other night?” Sparrow asked as he drove.

  He had been busy handling business since Kaleef had been locked up, so he hadn’t had time to talk to Jerron about what had happened. Sparrow would have never put his money on Tevin if someone asked who would win in a fight between him and Jerron. However, seeing how easily he dropped him, Sparrow realized he had clearly underestimated the kid.

  “What you talking about?” Jerron played dumb.

  “You know what I’m talking about. At the club the other night. You and Tevin.”

  “Huh.” Jerron smacked his lips. “Fuck Tevin.”

  “From how he dropped yo’ ass, I would guess it’s fuck you too.”

  “Man, that motherfucka sucker punched me over that bitch!”

  Sparrow glanced at him and saw the rage coming over his face. He watched Jerron clench and unclench his jaw muscles. It was clear that Tevin and the girl were a touchy subject for him.

  “Who’s the bitch anyway?”

  “I used to fuck with her, but I cut her loose. She been fucking with Tevin to make me mad.”

  “You sure that’s the story? It looks like she’s really feeling him,” Sparrow asked doubtfully.

  “Yeah. I don’t gotta lie about shit. She been on my line begging to come back. But fuck her too.”

  “A’ight,” Sparrow said, dropping the topic.

  They had just pulled up to the lounge where they were meeting Eddie. Sparrow nodded in the rearview mirror at Zech and Taylor after they parked. Everyone exited the car and went inside the club.

  The pungent aroma of smoke filled Sparrow’s nose as they made their way to where Eddie was. He sat in a section in the back surrounded by his own people. Eddie was a dark-skinned man in his early forties who didn’t go anywhere not dressed in a suit. He was a clean-cut guy with a clean fade and trimmed beard. He was the type to keep only the sexiest women on his arm, and that day was no different. Two fine specimens sat with him, staring at him like he was a god.

  As Sparrow approached, Eddie gestured for them to get up so he could sit down. They did so without a second thought and went to the bar. Eddie’s goons, however, stayed put and watched Sparrow like a hawk, which was fine because Jerron, Zech, and Taylor returned the favor.

  “Sparrow, how’s my favorite number two doing?” Eddie greeted him in his naturally hoarse voice.

  “Hmm.” Sparrow laughed at Eddie’s little dig. “I would be doing better if I knew why you didn’t pick up your shipment this month.”

  “Right to business, I see.”

  “Right to business.”

  “You don’t want to enjoy your time in this fine club first? All the fine women in here. You could use their company. You look tense,” Eddie said, but when he saw the serious look on Sparrow’s face was unchanging, he sighed. “Okay, well then, I guess I’ll get to the point. Kaleef is in jail.”

  “Will you answer my question or keep stating the obvious?”

  “The obvious is the answer to the question. I don’t know if it’s wise to continue doing business with someone the Feds have obviously watched. If the tables were turned, do you think Kaleef would keep copping from me?”

  “If you think they’ll be able to hold him in there, you’re a fool. He has the best lawyer in the state. He’ll be out soon. And how do you think he’ll feel when he learns how quick you were to write him off?”

  “Ha. I don’t think your boy is getting out of this jam. Like you have eyes and ears on the inside, so do I. And I heard Cheryl Pond is who’s testifying against him. And if memory serves me right, she was his old connect, right? He had to have worked a number on her for her to turn on him like this.”

  “As I said, he won’t be in there long,” Sparrow repeated, keeping his voice even.

  The truth was Kaleef hadn’t said anything about Cheryl Pond, leading him to wonder if he even knew. But if what Eddie said was true, then Kaleef’s situation was much more serious than he thought. Five years earlier, Cheryl had gotten caught up transporting a big shipment of drugs to the US. It got her a forty-year bid and put Kaleef in the position to deal directly with her family.

  “Well, until his situation changes, I will take my business elsewhere. I can’t take that kind of risk. You understand, right?”

  “Listen, you oversized M&M,” Sparrow growled, standing to his feet. Eddie’s men gripped at their waists, and so did Sparrow’s men. “Kaleef fucked with you when nobody would let you touch their product. And this is how you repay that generosity?”

  “Business is business.” Eddie shrugged. “But if you want to make it more than that, I’m inclined to tell you that these gentlemen right here aren’t the only shooters I have in the building.”

  Sparrow and Eddie glared at each other. Sparrow was trying to find the bluff, but there was no way to know for sure. Every fiber in his being told him to blow Eddie’s roof back, but he had to save that fun for another day. Sparrow motioned for his men to stand down and then turned back to Eddie.

  “I’ll be seeing you,” he said.

  “Is that a threat? I love those.”

  Sparrow chuckled and nodded his head before walking away from the table. Men like Eddie were his favorite kind of giant. The sound they made when they fell was satisfyingly deafening. Jerron, Zech, and Taylor followed him back to the car. Sparrow stopped Jerron from getting in but let the others climb in.

  “You thinking what I’m thinking?” Jerron asked before Sparrow said a ward.

  “Only if you’re thinking that Eddie has to go.”

  “Say no more. It’s done.”

  “Nah, I need this done clean. Not any of that hothead shit you’re known for. Nah . . . I need Tevin in on this too.”

  “I ain’t working with that motherfucka,” Jerron said, making a face.

  “It’s not a request,” Sparrow said, cutting his eyes at him. “I don’t give a fuck if y’all don’t like each other. You’re going to work together on this. Tevin is the cleanest killer I’ve ever met. Unlike you, he’s calculating, and this is a job I need to be thought out. It has to look like an accident. We don’t need a war on our hands. Understand?”

  “Yeah, man.” Jerron let out a hard breath. “Can’t believe you’re tryin’a have me work with that clown.”

  “Hopefully, next time, you think before you start a stupid-ass beef over some pussy.”

  Chapter 10

  As a man accustomed to his freedom, jail was a bit of an adjustment for Kaleef. It wasn’t his first rodeo, but it was his first time being in one so long. He’d had the utmost confidence that Aramous would keep his word and get ahead of the case, but that confidence faded when the Feds arrested him while he was checking the mail. It faded even more with each day he sat in a jail cell.

  Cheryl Pond. The name sent anger coursing through his body as a corrections officer led him to his visit. At one point, she had been what some would call his business partner. Through him, she had integrated her family’s product through Atlanta and other parts of Georgia. It was a good arrangement . . . until she found herself on the wrong side of the law.

  The officer directed Kaleef to a seat with clear glass in front of it. On the other side of the glass was Sparrow. He already had the phone to his ear, so Kaleef picked up his.

  “How you holding up in here?”

  “It is what it is,” Kaleef said, then felt someone hovering over him. Turning his head, he saw that the officer was still standing there. “Aye, do you mind? Give me some fucking space.”

  “My bad, Kaleef,” the officer said and quickly went to stand behind another inmate.

  Kaleef shook his head in annoyance, and his friend laughed.

  “You’re the man wherever you go, I see,” Sparrow said.

  “I don’t want to be the man in here. That’s a fool’s dream. I’m ready to be a free man. You talk to Aramous?”

  “He said he’s doing all he can do. The charges against you are pretty steep, and apparently, there’s a lot of fucking evidence. What the hell happened, Leef? Who fucked up?”

  “Listen, they don’t know shit. It’s all speculation. And whatever that bitch has to say about me won’t be able to stick.”

  “You mean Cheryl Pond?”

  “Her.”

  “That’s what I’m confused about. I thought the Ponds were solid as they came. Why would she suddenly turn snitch?”

  “I don’t know,” Kaleef lied.

  He did know, but he didn’t understand how Cheryl knew. However, it was the only reason he could think of that she would want him to suffer the same fate as her. Five years earlier, an opportunity came to Kaleef to expand in areas of Georgia that he’d never touched with his product. It was a kingpin’s dream. The only thing was, Cheryl didn’t trust upping the amount of product her family was already giving him. Nor would she set up a meeting between Kaleef and her father. Even though he always made good on his money, she wouldn’t budge.

  Kaleef was beginning to feel like an ant under a thumb. That was where Cheryl wanted him to stay. What had started as a fruitful business venture between two bosses soon turned into a dependent situation. Kaleef didn’t like that. So, he did what he had to do. He knew he was being investigated for a different charge at that time. At Sunday family dinner, Kaleef let slip that a shipment was being transported to a local warehouse. Days later, a bust happened, and Cheryl, unfortunately, didn’t make it out with her freedom. And unfortunately for her father, Sleepy, he didn’t make it away from Kaleef with his life.

  “Kaleef?” Sparrow said, waving his hand in front of the glass. “You still with me?”

  “My bad. I was just thinking. You need to tell Aramous to put some pep in his step and get me the fuck out of here.”

  “I can tell him all I want, but that won’t change the fact that we don’t know where Cheryl is. If she’s the key to this whole thing, then she gotta go because we need you out here.”

  There was something about the way he said it that Kaleef didn’t like. He raised a brow and studied Sparrow’s face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Eddie.”

  “What about that suit-wearing motherfucka?”

  “He said he doesn’t want to cop his product from us anymore. He didn’t get his last shipment.”

  “Why?”

  “Shit, in so few words, he said he doesn’t want to tie his business to a sinking ship.”

  As a businessman, Kaleef understood. But as the businessman who had taken a chance on Eddie’s broke ass when nobody else would, he was infuriated.

  “Is he still alive?”

  “For now,” Sparrow said simply, and Kaleef nodded, knowing what that meant.

  “Listen, when you leave here, I need you to make Aramous work harder. He has connections everywhere. He can find out where Cheryl is.”

  “And how am I supposed to do that?”

  “He just needs a little push, that’s all.”

  “Like an incentive? I can drop some money off to him later.”

  “Nah, money won’t be enough to do this. I need you to take something he loves,” Kaleef said, pulling something out of his pocket and pressing it on the glass. “You need to get her.”

  “Is that—”

  “His daughter.” Kaleef cut him off, but Sparrow shook his head.

  “Nah,” he said, looking closer at the photo as if trying to make sense of something. Suddenly, it clicked. “I know her. That’s the little bitch Tevin is fucking with. Him and Jerron just got into it over the bitch.”

  “Tevin, as in my cousin?”

  “Yeah. He brought her to the club the other night. They were all hugged up and shit. He’s really feeling her. Damn, small world.”

  “Well, I need you to do what you gotta do. Tevin will understand. Matter of fact, don’t even tell him. I don’t need anything getting in the way of Aramous’s work ethic.”

  “What you want me to do with her?”

  “I don’t give a fuck. Put her to work if you have to. I need Aramous to know I’m not playing with his high-sid-ity ass.”

  “Say no more.”

  Chapter 11