Capri 3

Prologue

prologue

. . .

Capri Inferno

Jesse’s House

I was never nervous when it came to hanging around Jesse. Tonight, I was nervous because she wanted to host dinner at her house, and I didn’t know what I was walking into. Jesse had been trying to get me to sit down and talk since the shooting at lunch.

She wasn’t stupid and I was certain she wanted answers. She wanted to know what the hell went on, and how Meer and the rest of the men were connected. Quameer was my husband now, and even before vows, I would always protect him and Quasim. Like I wanted to protect my own brothers, I would protect Quasim like he was my own blood.

I watched Blair walk down the street, knowing she parked further down the block. I was so happy that she had been invited because I don’t think I would have survived this alone.

A Bentley pulled around the block with the bass knocking, while me and Blair stood wondering who it was. When the window rolled down and we saw Zoya, I shook my head. “Bitch, who car you have?”

Zoya smirked. “I’m borrowing it from my little yeah while he away.”

Zoya was always so damn secretive with who she messed with. Even in college, you never knew who she was with or who she fucked because she kept it to herself. She was never one to gossip about who she was messing with. I think that was why Jesse and Brandi couldn’t stand her.

Zoya had always been a mystery. Even before I knew who her family was, she always kept a low profile. She quickly parked in the empty space behind me, and then got out. “Why did she invite us to dinner? I was cool with going to grab Chipotle and finishing up this case I have.”

“We can’t avoid her forever, Zoya.”

“Who says? Shouldn’t you be home with your new husband? I know you can’t go on a honeymoon right now, but you can at least spend some alone time with Meer.” We stood outside of Jesse’s house, none of us wanting to even go inside.

I almost wanted to make an excuse and quickly leave to avoid going inside and pretending with her. Blair looked down at her phone and smiled.

“Quasimmy?” I teased.

She looked up at me. “He wants to come with me to my next chemo appointment.”

Zoya squeezed Blair’s hand. “Girl, that man likes you so damn bad. At the wedding… I saw him hold your hand.”

“It was so I didn’t trip off the flooring on the beach, Zoya… relax.”

Zoya gave Blair that look. “Girl, please. You were well off the beach and heading to the reception tent, and he held your hand, pulling you behind him… I saw you.”

“And I saw you kiss Goon… so we’re even.”

I could have sworn I saw the red on Zoya’s chocolate cheeks as she rolled her eyes at Blair. “I was removing something out his beard and he told me to kiss him… said I was a chicken if I didn’t, and Zoya Caselli doesn’t back down from any damn challenge.”

“Including using her tongue.” Blair snorted.

The door behind us opened and Jesse was standing there with this smile on her face. “Um, the doorbell is here… why are you guys out here?”

“Bitch because we don’t want to come inside,” Zoya mumbled.

I looked at her and held back my laugh. “All arrived at the same time, and were talking about my wedding.”

Jesse held the door open and welcomed us inside. “You know, when Brandi called and told me you got married, I was actually hurt.”

“For what? You couldn’t even make her birthday party in the same city,” Blair said, as she walked further into the house.

Zoya smirked. “It was beautiful, and a time was had on that dance floor,” she continued to rub it in, and I couldn’t help but laugh at both she and Blair reenacting the running man they did on the dance floor during the soul train line my mother made.

“It wasn’t intentional… Meer planned the wedding, and it was a surprise to me.” I tried to smooth things over when I really didn’t have to.

Jesse didn’t give a fuck that I had gotten married. “Anyway, I had dinner catered and invited my father’s fiancée.”

I rolled my eyes, not expecting to spend the damn evening with Tasha’s ass. “Oh nice… getting acquainted before she becomes family.” Zoya smiled.

Jesse did this smile that I didn’t like, as she walked further into her house. “She means the world to my father, so I would like to have a great relationship with her.”

Jesse led us into the dining room where she had a full spread with place cards with all of our names on it. I took a seat next to Zoya, and across from Blair as we looked for Brandi. Tasha was sitting at the table and already two glasses into her wine.

“This is my father’s fiancée, Tasha… Tasha, these are my friends from college.” She introduced me to Tasha like I hadn’t met her already with her father.

I offered her a tight smile as Jesse went into the kitchen and was bossing the staff to hurry up and leave. “The fuck is this about?”

“Be on your toes, Capri… I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Tasha warned me, as she poured more wine into her glass. “She been on edge since I arrived a little bit before you guys.”

I could tell she was being honest because Jesse did seem like she was acting off tonight. Instead of allowing us to ring the doorbell, she came to the door to find us standing at the front like she had been waiting for us.

Blair looked at me. “I don’t have a good feeling, either… like why are we all here? Where is Brandi?”

As soon as Blair asked the question, Jesse came out the kitchen with a basket of bread like her ass was the Cheesecake Factory. “Alright, there’s fresh garlic butter on the way.”

She took a seat at the head of the table and looked at all of us. “Are we waiting for Brandi?” Zoya questioned.

Jesse sipped her wine and laughed. “Brandi has something to do… she’s doing something with her daughter.”

Lie.

Ryder was at Capone’s house having a sleepover with CJ. They were both doing a battle of the favorite movies, and my nephew of course was going to pull out all the Sonic movies to show Ryder that her movies sucked.

“Hmm,” I replied, looking at the bread, and decided to grab the water. “Thanks for inviting us to dinner.”

“Although I’m not sure why I’m here,” Tasha muttered.

“Where’s the bathroom? I have to pee so bad that I think I might go on myself.” I laughed and pushed myself away from the table.

“Down the hallway on your right,” Jesse said, as she took a sip of her wine, and turned her attention back to Blair.

She continued asking Blair a bunch of questions like she was expecting a child or something. Blair would rather rip her eyeballs out before helping Jesse with anything relating to a pregnancy. I quickly rushed in the bathroom and let out a sigh as I felt the pee rush out of me.

Nobody ever told you about the constant need to pee when you were pregnant. I could take a sip of water, and the next moment I had to use the bathroom like I had gulped down three gallons of water in a short amount of time.

After washing my hands and fixing my hair, I exited the bathroom and headed down the hall. I paused in the hall and walked backward because I thought I was tripping. I didn’t pay attention when I passed the office earlier because I had to use the bathroom badly.

The whiteboard held my attention as I cracked the door open a bit more and looked at the photos of my brothers. She had pictures of them with their wives, and one picture of Cappadonna with Promise.

Cappadonna’s picture was in the center with a bunch of circles drawn around it. My picture was linked to the side, along with Capone. She had pictures of Quameer and Quasim up there, along with Goon.

There was a question mark near Goon and Quasim. From there, the picture of Zoya was next to mine, with a long line to the other side of the board with a blank picture, but Menace Caselli was written over the blank picture

“What the fuck is this?” Zoya whispered.

I jumped because I wasn’t worried about watching my back, but this whole board of my life. “I don’t know, Zoya… I got a bad feeling in my stom ? —”

“Biggest pet peeve is when I invite someone over and they take it upon themselves to mind business that isn’t theirs.” A medium built White man with salt and pepper short hair, and matching beard leaned in the doorway.

“Fuck you meaaan? You got my fucking picture up on this board… I would say this is my business.” Zoya folded her arms.

David.

I’d met him twice briefly, and one of the times Jesse had casually tossed his name over her shoulder while he was across the room in a conversation.

“A Delgato and a Caselli under my roof… feels like a fever dream.” He smiled with pride like he collected two of the rarest bottles of liquor worth millions.

Zoya looked at me, and we both realized we were screwed because our purses were at the table. “David… how are you?”

I didn’t know much about him other than what Jesse said. He was a politician who always traveled for work. “I’m great now that Jesse was able to convince you both to come to dinner.”

“David, as in the man that Jesse is marrying?”

“Yep.” I looked him in the eyes, and he smiled. Clearly, he was smitten with me as he remained in the doorway, the only way to exit the room.

“Join us at the table for dinner.” He removed himself from the doorway, and me and Zoya quickly left the office and went back to the table where Jesse was sitting.

“Oh, great… you met my honey,” Jesse smiled, as we both took our seats and Blair looked like she saw a ghost when David walked into the dining room behind us.

“Ja…Jasper, what the fuck?”

Jesse looked at David and then at Blair. “Please don’t tell me that you were messing around with her?”

Zoya sipped her wine and looked at Blair. “This old nigga, Blair? Are you going through a midlife crisis.”

This wasn’t the time to discuss why Blair felt the need to mess with this older White man. I assumed she wasn’t ready to introduce us to her man. Not that he was a damn older White man.

When he broke up with her, Blair acted like the relationship never happened. She was so excited when I first came home to tell me about her mystery man, and then something snapped when he broke up with her. It was like she turned her feelings off or was numb to being disposed of when it came to a relationship.

“He’s not fucking old… he’s only fifty-six.”

“Too fucking old for you, Jesse… ain’t he around your father’s fucking age?” Zoya stood her ground.

“Blair, this is the man that broke up with you because you have cancer?”

She shook her head slowly while looking at David. “It wasn’t anything personal, Toots… I’m getting married and I could tell it was becoming more when you revealed your diagnosis to me. Plus, you were like a vault… couldn’t get nothing out of you… never introduced me to the friends I needed to meet.”

“Fuck you, Jasper… if that’s even your fucking name!” Blair screamed, tossing the breadbasket at him.

Jesse stood there disgusted. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Tasha didn’t look confused because she already told me to be on my toes because something felt off. “What the fuck is going on, Jesse?”

Jesse ignored me as she shaved off some cheese from the fancy board she had filled with cheese, jams, and nuts. “I don’t know, Capri Delgato… or is it Inferno now that you’re married to Quameer?”

“You always been a whack bitch, Jesse. Not even surprised by the shit you do. Then you got grandpa over here involved… the fuck is your end game here?”

Jesse had this fake ass shocked expression as she looked at us. “Do you know how hurt I was to find out two of my friends belong to important families?”

“Use friend loosely,” Zoya muttered.

“After our explosive lunch and I saw both you and Zoya pull guns out like you were part of Charlie’s Angels or something, I needed to know more. Especially after everything seemed to be deleted that we ever had lunch together. When I spoke to the owner of the restaurant, all his footage had been deleted, and then there seemed to be no evidence of you two getting away… I mean none… even Brandi was all crickets when I asked her how she made it home.”

“What the fuck is your point, Jesse?”

“Menace Caselli is a name we all know, but none of us know who he is… no pictures, and he’s like a damn ghost.”

“He pays good money to remain that way. The people that need to know him, know who he is,” Zoya folded her arms. “However, the people that do see him end up in the ground shortly after.”

David looked at Zoya, before turning his attention to me. “Not your brothers. I give it to them; they move very smart… too damn smart. However, they aren’t complete ghost.”

“Wanna take their dick out your mouth…. Sucking them a little too hard.” I smirked, folding my arms right along with Zoya.

I could tell we were pissing him off because we weren’t scared. Why the fuck would I be scared when I had a dozen different niggas running behind me? “Cappadonna being linked to the Inferno Gods is very funny… and to the leader of one of the most ruthless biker gangs on the East Coast.”

“I think it would be in your best interest not to include him, because that’s a beast you don’t want to poke, baby,” Blair turned to look at him.

“Is it because you’re fucking him now, Blair?”

If I didn’t know better, I would assume David had some feelings for Blair with the way he looked hurt when he asked if she was fucking Quasim.

“Jasper… or David… I don’t know what the fuck or who the fuck you are. Not that this is your business, but I am not fucking Quasim. That doesn’t mean he won’t rip your head off like I was fucking him.”

I could have sworn I saw David shutter when Blair mentioned what Quasim would do to him once he found out what was going on. Sim was very quiet, but I knew the evil he has done in the world. It was the reason he always stayed with his Bible, and always said a quick prayer before we rode out on niggas.

“Are you two done with whatever this is?” Jesse raised her voice. David didn’t like Jesse, and it was clear from the way he looked whenever she spoke. “I couldn’t sleep after that lunch and found myself obsessed with you, Capri. You’ve always been mysterious, never giving too much. We saw when you got new cars, and you never struggled like the rest of us.”

“Bitch, you had Dior heels for homecoming… you were not struggling, either,” I called her out like she had been slaving all her life. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I want the Delgato twins and being that you are here… they’ll come no questions asked.” David smiled, thinking he had come up with a fool proof plan.

“And her?” I pointed to Tasha.

“Who do you think brokered her damn deal? Jesse had no clue you two were so familiar with each other.”

Zoya raised her hand. “Quick question, cum mouth… what does this have to do with you being a politician? Shouldn’t you be worried about all the old ass men concerned with women’s bodies when they can’t get a stiff dick without a little blue pill?”

“Is that what you told them?” David smiled at Jesse.

David walked closer to us and extended his hand. “Special Agent David Jasper.”

“Nigga, get your hand out my fucking face. You want me to get my brothers here for what?” I questioned.

“Clearly he and his bitch wanna die.” Blair came and squeezed in between me and Zoya, while we looked at him.

David looked at Tasha. “You are mighty quiet.”

Tasha looked at her nails. “Everybody seems to speak for me…. why bother anymore? I just need to know why I am here.”

“Because my father doesn’t know the snake that you are!” Jesse blurted.

We all, even David, looked at Jesse like she was slow. “Babe, I know you heard him say he brokered the deal. Think that happened without your creepy father knowing?” Zoya was the first to speak. “Is this why Brandi started fucking with Tookie… are you both in on this flawed ass plan, and you… Special Agent… you supposed to be a professional and this plan sucks. What is the end game here, to kill us?”

“What? Brandi has nothing to do with this, and her and Tookie reconnecting has nothing to do with me.”

“Reconnecting?” I asked.

Jesse slapped her thigh and let out a loud sigh. “Yes… did you not know she and Tookie used to mess around behind Quameer’s back in college? I think everybody knew about it except Quameer, and apparently you. There was a time she thought her daughter might have been Tookie’s baby.”

My heart ached and it made me want to beat the shit out of that bitch for hurting my baby. Meer never deserved the way Brandi treated him in college. I could see why he became so heartless after they broke up.

She took a good man and made his heart cold because she was too immature and not woman enough to accept the love he wanted to give. I thanked God that Meer never allowed his past hurt to come into our relationship. No matter how hurt he was, he was always open with his heart and allowed me in.

When the lights flicked off, I felt Blair’s hand slip into mine as we looked around, not able to see anything. The lights came back on, and Zoya sucked her teeth.

“Boo.”

David jumped as we looked at the man leaned in the doorway to the dining room. His toffee skin was covered in tattoos coming up his neck. His menacing smile graced his face, which was covered with a luscious thick beard. It made me wonder if all the men in my life used the same beard products.

His hair was cut in a low fade, with the perfect hairline that not even Lebron could buy. His low eyes, contributed to his sex appeal. I didn’t care that I was a married woman, I wasn’t blind and could appreciate the art standing in front of us.

That art being Menace Caselli.

“How did you know I was even here?” Zoya asked, her arms folded as she looked over at her big brother.

His eyes went from Zoya over toward David who looked like he had seen an actual ghost and wasn’t sure who the ghost was. “I believe you said I’m a ghost, right?”

Menace leaned in the doorway coolly, as we all stared at him. A part of me was relieved he was here, and worried about how the fuck this was going to turn around. At the end of the day, we were at a US Marshal’s home, along with a special agent for the DEA.

This wasn’t small local cops that we were talking about. “Menace Caselli?” David couldn’t believe the ghost was living and breathing in his dining room.

“Yeah, nigga… I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

“Me…Me, have something that belongs to you?” he stammered, not sure on what else to say or do because that big dick energy he was tossing around minutes ago was long gone.

Menace sighed, bored that he even had to be here. “Landon… take that nigga upstairs to get his laptop.”

“My… My… work issued laptop?” David stammered.

He moved so quick as he grabbed Jesse’s hair and pulled her head back. “You don’t only got fucking work on that laptop. You got a video that belongs to one of my girls that you and Morgan decided to fuckin’ rape.”

Zoya gasped. “Not Kennedy.”

I didn’t know who Kennedy was, but apparently, she meant a lot to Zoya and Menace for him to be here. “When it comes to my women, I protect them… they’re fucking family. They are how my family fucking eats. You hurt them; you might as well hurt me. Hurting one of mine, then having the balls to record it like it wouldn’t come back to me.”

Menace looked at her before his lookalike, a younger version of him, came out the kitchen with a plate of food. “Come 212 with me real quick… I ain’t never been on a special agent’s laptop,” he said between chews of his food.

Jesse whined as he held her head. “Had some time to look over your little arts and crafts board in there… you, my bitch, should have just learned to mind your business. You thought by holding a Caselli and an Inferno here that everything would be peace and cupcakes, bozo?”

David didn’t know what to say as Landon bumped into him, towering over him. “You not stupid… go ahead up there and watch his back as he uncovers that video,” Menace instructed Tasha who hadn’t said a word.

She was so confused and concerned that she remained quiet, hoping nothing would happen to her. Tasha quickly scrambled from the table and followed behind Landon, who was pushing David up the stairs.

“Do you think killing a special agent is going to be glossed over?”

Menace smirked. “Everything I do is glossed over.” He shoved Jesse away from him, and then looked at me and his sister. “You alright?”

I nodded. “Never better… can you explain what the fuck is going on?”

“I don’t know much about shorty’s plan other than what I discovered from that board on the way in from the kitchen. I’m here because a video was brought to my attention with Morgan and that fucktard sexually assaulted one of my women.”

Zoya looked at her brother. “Was it Kennedy?”

Menace ignored his sister. “Why the fuck do I have to always find out what the fuck you into, Zoya?”

“I thought I was coming to damn dinner and apparently it was dinner and a show.” Jesse was fuming as she stood in the corner, pissed.

Blair removed herself from between me and Zoya and paced the dining room. “I cannot believe I was falling for the damn opp.”

“You always seemed to find yourself with the wrong one,” Jesse had the nerve to say. “Reason Brandi couldn’t stand you. It was always you when it came to Tookie… even I could see he was beating the shit out of you, but Brandi was blind.”

We heard some movement upstairs and Menace leaned off the wall, and quickly headed upstairs while we remained seated. “You and Brandi have always been jealous, and it has become obvious since we’ve become grown.”

“I could never be jealous of a foster kid who was never loved in the first place. You can never find love because nobody wants to love you, Blair. You cling to Capri in the hopes that she’ll love the stray cat that you are.”

Jesse walked over toward the buffet with the quickness as I hopped out of the chair to get in her ass. “Bitch, you were never loved… why didn’t we find out who your father was?”

Jesse was rummaging through the drawer, as I stood in her face in the corner. “Shut the fuck up and be quiet,” Jesse mumbled as she held the gun to my chest.

My entire life flashed before my eyes as I watched the look in her eyes, while she held the gun to my chest. “Oh fuck no.”

From the way Jesse was standing, you couldn’t see that the gun was pointed to my chest until you were next to us. By the time Zoya noticed, she was already beside us and Jesse rubbed the gun down the side of her face.

“Big dawg, where is all that mouth you usually have?” Jesse laughed manically as she kept the gun trained on us.

“Put the gun down and I’ll show you the hands, too… point that shit at me and only me. Leave Capri out of this.” Zoya looked at me, and I knew it was because I was pregnant.

Jesse peeped the look between us and laughed. “Fitting that two sisters of drug lords would stick together.”

“My brother doesn’t sell drugs,” Zoya corrected. “Ask your fiancé, he knows what he sells, and seems like he has abused it… which is a big no for Case House.”

“Hey Jesse!” We looked up at Blair, who was standing behind Jesse, who turned around to look at Blair and was met with a punch to the face.

Jesse was so caught off guard that she stumbled, dropping the gun onto the floor. “Get the fucking gun!” Zoya yelled when it slid across the wooden floors.

I went to lunge for the gun, and Jesse pulled me back. She had her hand wrapped around my damn hair, and was pulling it hard, as I tried hard to reach for the gun. Blair went to lunge for the gun, and Jesse grabbed onto the back of her dress, letting my hair go.

Jesse was focused on Blair, so I went after the gun, grabbing it. Zoya had Jesse in a headlock as she pulled her away from Blair. “Calm the fuck down you crazy bitch!” Zoya yelled at her while Jesse swung her arms every damn way possible.

“Get the fuck away from me! Get off me!” she continued to scream until Zoya shoved her ass near the dining table.

Jesse held the dining table with both hands as her hair covered her face. She tried to catch her breath, and whipped her hair out of her face. “You come into my house, assault me and think you’re going to walk out of this situation untouched? I work for the federal government for crying out loud.” She continued to laugh, while trying to steady her breathing.

I ended up back in the corner she first had me pinned against when she pulled the gun. “Jesse, calm the fuck down because I’ll fucking fill you with bullets.”

She smiled. “Go ahead… do it… come on,” she lunged at me and I pressed the trigger, and nothing came out. “Not loaded. You think I would keep a loaded gun in this house with you criminals?”

Everything happened so quick that I never checked the gun. I was so busy trying to get the shit so she didn’t get it again. “Jesse get the fuck away from us… you won’t leave this house alive if you hurt me.”

Jesse picked up the mini knife from the cheese plate and lunged at me, but Zoya jumped in and grabbed her wrist, controlling it so she wouldn’t slice one of us. Zoya shoved Jesse so hard that she fell against the dining table, but didn’t give up.

“Jesse!” Blair called, and she turned with the quickness ready to hurt Blair. She didn’t even care who she hurt, she just wanted someone to hurt.

“Fuckkkkk!” I screeched, seeing how Jesse stumbled back as Blair plunged that knife into her head.

Blair snatched the small paring knife while Jesse stumbled back where I was once standing. She held the door as she exited out of the dining room, and we followed her into the kitchen.

She didn’t speak, and I didn’t think she could see because she was feeling around for things that weren’t in her reach. Blair used her heel and kicked her in the back. “Bitch, don’t fucking call me a damn foster child, and you damn sure don’t threaten the little family I do have.”

Jesse fell onto the floor, choking out words as blood poured from her head. Blair kicked her over, so she was on her back as she shoved the knife deeper into her head and then stomped her in the chest.

Me and Zoya looked at each other when she turned to face us, the reality slowly creeping into her as she stared at us.

“I… I just snap ? —”

“You did what the fuck you had to do, Blair,” Zoya hugged her, as we removed her away from Jesse, whose body was still trembling, even though she was already dead.

“What in the fuck?” Menace asked, causing all three of us to jump as he looked at Jesse on the floor.

“Got what you needed?” Zoya asked.

He smirked. “Yeah, then the pussy tried to get tough… so the plan went differently… call your husband.”

“How in the hell do you know he’s my husband?” It was the wrong question to ask now, and irrelevant because I did need to call Meer.

“Menace Caselli knows everything,” Zoya rolled her eyes while mocking her brother before the words could leave his mouth.

“You know… I should have whipped all y’all asses, but I was trying to be a gentle parent.” He paused and looked at his sister. “I do know everything, including who you went to visit. Don’t worry… we gonna talk.”

“No, we’re not… I’m grown, Menace.”

He looked at her and decided to table this conversation for another day. “Call Core.”

Zoya put her hands on her hips. “You want me to believe Core isn’t with you… bullshit, Menace.”

“Zoy, fucking do what I said and stop playing with me!” he hollered, and then looked at the steps. “Don, come the fuck on.”

His lookalike came down the steps and looked at his sister. “Hey sis’.”

Zoya quickly hugged her brother before he sprinted behind Menace, who was walking calmly, as the lights flickered before going out. Once the lights came back on, they were gone.

From Blair pushing the knife further, she had blood all over her hands as they started to shake. I held her hands, the blood transferring onto mine. “It’s going to be alright, Blair. We will protect you… this will be like it never happened. Meer will take care of this.”

I quickly called Meer, and he was on his way before the words could leave my mouth. We all waited, pacing the kitchen unsure of what to do.

Zoya called Core and gave him the third degree to see if he was lying about not being with her brother, before she went out the side door to bring them in.

“Baby, if you doing shit like this, we gonna need to call a family meeting,” Meer said.

Zoya looked at Blair. “Blair protected us.”

I took a deep breath. “Jesse’s fiancée was the man Blair was dating… babe they knew everything.”

My attention went to the stairs forgetting Tasha had been upstairs with Menace, and he was now gone.

Meer looked at me while trying to figure everything out. Since he came in, he heard his baby mother was messing with his enemy and now he was witnessing a body on the kitchen floor with a knife stuck in it. “Where is her fiancé? Who the fuck is he?”

“Fuquan’s boss…he’s upstairs…dead.” Tasha came down the stairs with blood on her hands.

Meer looked from Tasha back at me and then to my hands. “What the fuck went on, Suga?” He was trying to figure everything out.

“She had a gun to Capri’s chest and then Zoya’s chest… then she was talking crazy about Quasim and you, and how she was taking everyone down… I fucking snapped. You guys have been family to me, and I swear I couldn’t allow her to shoot Capri knowing she’s pregnant,” Blair spiraled as tears fell down her face.

Quasim gently lifted her chin and kissed her cheek before whispering something into her ear. She searched his eyes and nodded her head. “We’ll handle it.”

“Menace was here,” Zoya told Core.

“Already knowing,” Core replied while looking up the steps. “What the fuck happened up there?”

“Something I wished I never experienced… he fucking…he fucking turned into a demon as he… God… then his dead body fell onto me… and then he was gone,” Tasha couldn’t even get her words together.

“How the fuck do you know Forty’s name?” Core asked, as he looked at her and waited for her to answer.

“Men talk when they are scared. He started talking about one of his agents that he knows is crooked, and how he would give his information up if they could overlook the situation. He has a whole file on Fuquan and who he’s connected to, including the governor. Street name and everything. He told Landon how to access it after they got the video from his computer thinking it would save him. Soon as Landon destroyed the file, Menace leaped on him like a maniac… Goodness,” Tasha held her chest while closing her eyes. “What the fuck is gonna happen to me?”

“I believe it,” Zoya muttered.

Quasim held the side of Blair’s face and looked into her eyes. “Capri, take her back to the lake house and we got it from here.”

“I’m already removing street cam footage and trying to get into their cameras… we gotta be smart on how we move… two government officials… fucking Menace, bro’… always everywhere and nowhere at all.” Core shook his head as he whipped a second phone out.

Meer grabbed my face and kissed me on the lips. “There’s a dog in the back of my truck… take it home with you.”

“A fucking dog?” Zoya blurted while Blair stared straight ahead, stuck.

Meer looked at Zoya. “Just take Beretta fucking home… hurry the fuck up and get out of here now.”

Quasim looked at Meer. “Blaze, you know how to set this shit, so nothing comes back on us.” He nodded at his brother, while Meer kissed me again. A look I had never witnessed appeared in his eyes.

Did I marry a fucking pyromaniac whose last name happened to be Inferno?

Me, Zoya, and Blair all left, while I quickly grabbed the cutest puppy in the world. I saw Blair’s car being driven down the block and saw Yasin behind the wheel while Zoya put Blair in my car, and I put the dog in her lap and left.

As I pulled off the block, I looked at the house of horrors in my rearview mirror.