Capone

9. Capone

9

capone

The minute the shots rang out I grabbed my gun from my hip and rushed toward Erin. She was frozen in time as I grabbed her up and maneuvered through all the screaming and chaos. Erin didn’t fight me on it, she allowed me to hold her as we made it out the back of the club. The only reason I knew how to find the back exit was because that was how I came in with Naheim and Capri.

My car was parked in the back, and I helped Erin into the car before grabbing my phone and calling Naheim. It went to voicemail as I hopped into the driver seat and called his phone again. I trusted Naheim and knew he would protect my sister with his life. I just needed to know if they made it out.

“Fucking, Ryai,” Erin finally came out of her trance and tried to hop out the car, but I locked the doors.

“You smoking crack if you think I’m about to let you run back in there… what she had on?” I hopped out the car.

Erin described what she was wearing, and I ran back inside while people were still screaming and running. I already knew what her cousin looked like so I scanned the big ass club to see if I could spot her.

Nine times out of ten they had already made it out the club because their section was on the first floor. The music had stopped because the DJ jumped ship the moment he heard the shots go off. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I grabbed it.

“Yo.”

“We out. Link with you in the morning,” Naheim said and then ended the call. That was all I needed to hear, as I continued to scan the club.

When I didn’t see her, I headed back outside before the police could show up. I jumped in the car, pulled out the spot and sped down the back alley until we were on a different avenue.

Erin held her phone on speaker while she rocked back and forth in the seat. “Come on… pick up... Ryai!” she screamed into the phone when her cousin finally answered the phone.

“Erin, where are you?” I could hear the panic in her cousin’s voice. “I tried going to the bathroom to find you, but it was nea—”

“I’m safe, Ryai. I ran into Capone, and he got me out of there… are you alright? Did Dante make it out?” she questioned.

She was lucky it was a serious moment, or I would have snatched her phone and tossed it out the window. “Yes. We’re all fine…thank God.”

“Where are you? I’ll come to you.”

Ryai sighed. “In the back of a cab trying to get out of this traffic. I’m gonna just go and stay with Tevin tonight. Are you going home?”

“Yeah—”

“Nah, she coming to her other house,” I replied, not giving a fuck that I had been eavesdropping on their whole conversation.

Ryai laughed. “Well, alright, damn… go, Erin.”

“I am going home,” Erin was adamant that she was taking her ass home, but I was heading the opposite direction of Brooklyn.

“Be safe and call me in the morning… okay?” Ryai told her.

“Okay. Love you, Ryai.”

“Love you, too.”

When they ended the call, Erin leaned back and was able to take a breath. I don’t think she had taken one since I pulled her out the back of the club. She turned her attention out the window as we neared the Holland Tunnel.

Our section was on the third floor, and even from how high I was I could spot Erin. In a room full of women, I could spot my woman. My section had the perfect view, and I was able to see her all cozied up with the next nigga.

My blood boiled when I saw him put his arms around her waist and whisper into her ear. I wanted to pull my piece out and shoot that nigga right then and there. That was before I even knew who he was. Naheim told me that was that fat bitch Trilla’s nephew.

How the fuck did Erin and his nephew even cross paths? I sat back and watched her the entire night until I was tired of her allowing this nigga to touch her. I sent that text and within five seconds she was removing herself from his grasp. Her ass looked like she saw a ghost when she read that text message. When I saw her leave the section I followed behind to the bathrooms.

There was something about Erin that made me possessive over her. I didn’t want nobody even fucking breathing on her, and we weren’t even together. I lost hella points when I didn’t show up for our date, and she wasn’t going to let me forget that shit. I guess she knew I wasn’t trying to hear shit about bringing her back home because she quickly ended the conversation about me dropping her back home. As I drove, I kept sneaking peeks at her.

Her arms were folded as she took in the view of the winding road that led to my house. I bought this house because of how secluded and tucked away it was. I didn’t want something easily accessible. Capri always joked about it being the bat cave because of how remote it was. The only thing that connected me to the other houses in the neighborhood was the trail in the back of the house.

I didn’t even know who my neighbors were, and I knew they didn’t know about me. It wasn’t like they could pop over with a cake and welcome me. The only way they could was from the trail in the back, and I had installed a huge gate. I liked my privacy and didn’t move here to make friends.

Soon as you pulled off the winding driveway, we came into view with the iron encrusted gates with CD initials. I punched in the code and the gates opened, giving us access beyond the gates. Erin’s face was nearly pushed up against the glass as we made our way to the house. I chuckled because all that playing cool shit went out the window when she saw our crib. I’ve always been the kind of man that went after what he wanted.

It may have sounded crazy to refer to her as my wife and my home as hers, but all I was doing was speaking shit into existence. It was only a matter of time before she would be in my kitchen butt ass naked making me dinner.

I killed the engine and leaned further back in the chair. “You alright?”

“Y…you live here?”

I laughed. “The fuck you thought? I just pulled into someone else’s gates?”

“With who else?”

“Me.”

“Capone this is a lot of house for just one person.” She continued to take in the midcentury modern mansion I had purchased four years ago.

The house sat at the top of my neighborhood with views of the New Jersey and New York. There were massive glass windows at every turn in the house. While you were taking a shit you could see a view of the New York skyline.

I was proud of this house because it was my home. A place for my family to come and chill without asking questions. Everyone that was close to me knew the code to enter the house. As much as I bought this house to share with my family, they all knew I liked my own space.

“Come on, Gorgeous.” I got out and walked around the car to open her door. Erin was hesitant at first and accepted my hand.

When she tried to remove her hand from mine, I held it tighter, pulling her closer toward me. We held hands as we walked up the steps. I discreetly hit the code that granted us access into the house.

She dropped my hand soon as walked into the entryway. “What the fuck?” Erin whispered as she took in what was in front of her.

The focal point of my entryway was the glass windows that displayed my cars. I was a car collector, it was something I had always been interested in, even when I was dead broke. The minute I made sure my family was straight and my money was good, I went crazy buying different cars. Most of the cars displayed were collector items that would never be driven.

“How is this your home? It’s like a museum…” she allowed her words to trail off as she walked closer to the window and admired the cars. “Which one is your favorite car?”

I walked next to her and nodded at the red Ferrari parked in the center. “The 1962 Ferrari GTO. The first car I bought when I hit a personal goal.” I smiled as I took in the car’s beauty.

“What was the goal?” she turned to look up at me.

“I made a certain amount of money,” I replied.

I watched as she took everything in. “And here I thought my favorite car was outlandish.”

“What’s your favorite car?”

“Mini Cooper.”

I laughed as she looked almost offended that I had laughed. “Out of any car in the world, your favorite car is a Mini Cooper?”

Erin crossed her arms and stepped back. “Everyone’s favorite car should be a Mini Cooper. It’s great on gas, small enough to fit in tight spaces, and it’s the perfect size for me and my brother.” She ran down all the reasons why a Mini Cooper was a practical option for her.

“Your favorite car isn’t supposed to be practical.”

“Well, mine is. You have your favorite car, so that’s not really practical. Not many people have their favorite car sitting in their foyer.”

She had a point.

The day I crossed millionaire off my bucket list was one to celebrate. I got here by putting the work in and being smarter than the rest. While Trilla was still on the block and working hard, I was able to sit back because I was making money in more than one way. He was fine with the illegal shit, and I wanted more than that.

When it was all said and done, I wanted something to fall back on, and something for my son to have when he was older. I never wanted him to follow the same path that his father had to. I’ve done things that I wasn’t proud of, but they were necessary.

I never bragged about the cold shit that I had to do. It was something that I had to do in order to stand where I was at this moment. Eventually, I knew my day would come and I would have to answer for the all the wild shit I had done.

“You’re one person. Why do you have so many cars?”

“Because I can,” I answered honestly.

Depending on my mood I could drive any one of my cars, except the Ferrari. That was a collectible that would be passed down to my son when I was gone. I did a lot of shit because I could and felt no way about the shit either.

“One, two, three, four, five.” She walked past each window that took her deeper into the house. “And I see more in the background.” She pointed to the cars that were pushed back in the garage.

I was happy that she was thinking of something other than the shooting at the club. As she went on about the cars I stood and watched her. “You look real good tonight.”

Erin stopped talking and started to blush. “Thank you. Capone, that doesn’t give you the right to threaten to shoot the club up because I was on a date.”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek just remembering that she was out with Trilla’s nephew tonight. I didn’t even know the man, but we had beef because he touched what was mine. “I already told you what you have to become comfortable with,” I reminded her of the body that would be on her conscious.

“Why though? You stood me up, so clearly you weren’t interested in me.”

“I had a reason.” I walked past her and into the kitchen.

She followed behind me and took a seat at one of the kitchen stools. “What was the reason?”

“I ain’t trying to get into that right now.” I grabbed a bottle of wine from the wine fridge and pushed a cup over toward her.

“I think I des—” her phone interrupted whatever she was about to say. “Hey… yes, I’m safe. No, I’m good I promise. Dante, you’re swe—”

I snatched the phone from her hand and tossed that shit in the sink, turning the water on. I would buy her another phone, but she wasn’t about to be entertaining this nigga while in my fucking face. I don’t think blood boiling was the proper description for how hot I was right now. Erin stood with her mouth agape, staring at me like I had lost my mind.

Maybe I had lost my mind.

When it came to her, I would lose every piece of mind I had because I wasn’t playing with her. I wanted Erin, and I was clear when I told her that I wanted her.

“What the fuck? My phone… what the fuck?” she screamed and jumped from the stool, coming to the sink.

The water was still running over her phone as she pulled it from the sink. “Don’t disrespect me like that again.” I took her face in my hands, staring down into her eyes. “Erin, I’m fucking cool on a lot of shit, but disrespect is where I draw the fucking line.”

She snatched away from me with tears in her eyes. “We’re not even together, Capone. You fucking took me to get fish and think I’m supposed to just be with you? You didn’t even have the decency to call and tell me you wouldn’t be coming. Had me buy a dress and look stupid as fuck when you didn’t show. Call me a cab, I’m leaving.”

I laughed.

The minute I laughed something switched in her eyes. I could tell I had pissed her off further, which didn’t make matters better. “If you think I’m putting you in cab at this time of night, you bugging.”

Erin’s neck damn near broke with how fast she turned toward me. “Do you think I’m a fucking joke?” She lifted her hand to slap me, and I grabbed her wrist, twisting it gently and placing it behind her back. I backed her up against the counter and placed a kiss on her lips. Erin looked up into my eyes while she tried to steady her breathing.

Once she was calm enough, I released her hand and nodded toward the opposite side of the house while fishing for my phone in my pocket. “Guest suite is down that hall to the right… take my phone and check in with your cousin and brother.”

She didn’t know what to say as she accepted my phone and stood there with her words caught in her throat. I watched as she slowly walked out the kitchen and started down the hall. “Oh, Gorgeous?”

“Yeah,” she said, barely above a whisper.

“Don’t ever try to put your hands on me… I never intend to put my hands on you, so I’m gonna need you to do the same. Like I told you, respect is big for me… feel me?”

Erin never replied. She turned around and continued down the hall while I grabbed her soaked phone. With the amount of water that had filled in the sink, I knew rice wasn’t going to do shit for this phone.

When I heard the door slam down the hall, I headed upstairs to shower. As much as I wanted her upstairs, things were tense between us. Could I have approached the situation differently?

Fuck no.

Talking to that nigga in my face like shit was sweet was a hell no in my book. Erin belonged to me, and I didn’t give a fuck if she knew it or not.