Tempting Chaos

Prologue

“I’m high as fuck.” Asao dropped his head back on the sofa, focusing on the beat that thumped around him, trying to stay grounded.

It was late and he should have been gone hours ago but women filled the studio and with that brought kush and alcohol.

That meant Dom was distracted and no work was getting done. They were in for a late night.

Na’Mya was gonna be on his ass because he’d told her he would beat the sun home. Based on how his head was currently swimming and the lyrics pushing through his mind, that shit wasn’t happening.

“I told you not to smoke that shit.” Niles chuckled at his boy and Asao grinned lazily.

“I ain’t no bitch. Fuck I look like passing on that fire.”

“You look like a man whose girl is gonna have his shit in trash bags by the door when he pulls up. My is going to fuck you up.”

“She knows better.” He smiled at the thought.

She for sure would have his shit bagged up by the door.

She had done it before. His girl didn’t play and was getting tired of his absence in her life.

For years she’d put up with Asao’s shit.

He was born of the streets and just trying to make it.

She was his hood princess who wanted more for him than he wanted for himself.

Na’Mya loved Asao but she was changing. For the past two years, the money he laced her pockets with had paid for community college instead of designer bags.

When she talked about the future, it included marriage and kids.

She wanted things that he couldn’t give if he didn’t change his ways.

Her growth was beautiful. Asao loved to see his baby hopeful.

He would give her the world. Shit, that was what he was grinding for but he needed more time.

Dreams were expensive and running the streets was funding both of their aspirations. He often found himself between a rock and a hard place because punching another man’s clock wasn’t gonna keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs.

It damn sure wasn’t going to pay for college tuition and studio time.

Na’Mya was patient because she understood the position Asao was in but she was fearful because hustling had an expiration date.

Na’Mya would die without her man but knew Asao would die if she took away his ability to be one.

He was a provider and a protector, doing things the only way he knew how. Asao needed time and she needed him.

The fuck was he supposed to do with that?

Asao sat up and dropped his face into the palms of his hands.

He massaged his eyes and glanced around the studio.

The smoke was thick as hell from what they had been blazing.

Trees had been burning since they fell through just after midnight once they were done spreading bricks and guns throughout the city.

For the past two years they had been selling in bulk, trying to stack money quickly to fund their next venture.

Asao was the investment. Niles and Dom were willing to funnel their money into their boy because he would be their exit plan.

Ten years in the streets still breathing with no pending charges was an anomaly where they came from and none of them wanted to push their luck.

The bodies they dropped and the dope they pushed would only get them so far.

It was time to repent and their sanctuary would be the studio.

“Let me run this shit so I can take my ass home,” Asao mumbled with every intention of getting in the booth, but thick thighs and a sea of brown skin moved between his legs, stopping his movement.

“Or you can let me get you right first.” Brown eyes lowered to his dick, igniting Asao’s irritation.

He frowned and angled his head to the side delivering one word. “Move.”

Shawna licked her lips and smiled through the embarrassment because all eyes were on her.

Everyone knew who owned Asao’s heart but that didn’t stop others from trying to get a piece of him.

He was fine, paid, and gave good dick to those he deemed worthy.

The problem was, in recent years there had only been one woman reaping the benefits.

“There are plenty of muthafuckers in here who will fuck you. I’m not one of them.

Move,” he stated in a way that had her shuffling back to give the space demanded.

When she was out of the way, Asao stood and yanked his sweats up.

With one last glare, his long legs carried him toward the booth with a stride that had all eyes on him.

“If you just want some dick, I got enough to share.” Dom’s animated voice broke the tension Asao left behind. Shawna grilled him hard before stomping back to the corner where she dropped into one of the folding chairs and focused on her phone instead of what was going on in the studio.

“Ay, run that shit so he can take his ass home.” Niles smirked, shaking his head.

In the past two years he had seen his boy go from a man who ran through pussy daily to a man who was only loyal to the woman who owned his heart.

Asao wasn’t faithful when she’d first gotten his attention but their status changed with little effort.

He fell hard and fast. When she made demands, he became loyal to only one.

They respected how he moved, even if they had no plans of following in his footsteps.

Dom turned to the board and cued up the track he wanted his boy to rhyme over. Asao’s voice followed and the words came effortlessly.

Hood’s finest…rep climbing

Muthafuckers clocking…bitches watching

He’s that nigga…finger on the trigger

Weight slanging…money gaining

He got that heat…she’s at his feet

On her knees…soft subtle pleas

Pussy on a platter…that shit don’t matter

She been around the block…pussy wet and hot

Can’t trust her…she’s a nut buster

Dick down her throat…skilled never chokes

She’ll suck you dry…peep the look in her eyes

She wants my heart…it’s not mine to handle

My lady deserves that world…not a studio scandal

I ain’t the one…you can’t be my two

Got a queen and my role…make her dreams come true

She don’t want money…she just wants my time

Believes in me…gonna always be mine

A nut ain’t worth…losing my world

Sex ain’t better than love…I’m riding with my girl

When Asao looked at Shawna, her face blazed and everyone in the studio went crazy.

“Damn, he didn’t have to do her like that,” someone said through a laugh, opening the door for everyone to talk their shit.

“Girl, leave now. You can’t recover from that.” Trina smirked from her position on Niles’s lap. He chuckled, knowing his boy was on one. Asao already didn’t give a damn about how reckless his mouth was but the weed in his system only made matters worse.

Shawna’s eyes moved around the room before she was up and heading toward the door to leave. When she glanced at the booth, Asao smirked and winked at her. Shawna shot him a bird and stomped her way out.

He tapped the glass and circled his finger in the air, letting Dom know to run that shit again. It was time to put in real work so he could take his ass home and fuck forgiveness into his girl.

By three a.m., Asao had multiple new tracks he felt good about.

By six, no one was left but the three friends.

Dom had the tracks mixed and cleaned up so their boy could do his thing.

Niles had been making calls to get his boy’s music in rotation.

He had no connections but understood money made shit happen.

If they had to pay to play, that was how they would get shit done.

Once the city was on board, there wouldn’t be a soul who would deny them.

Asao had the talent and the drive to get them out of the streets.

“Ay, I might need you to run me by the crib,” Asao muttered, going through his texts.

His girl had hit his line an hour ago cursing him out about not being home.

It was Tuesday and she had classes all day.

Since Asao’s whip was out of commission with a busted engine, he had been pushing the one he’d purchased for his baby.

He didn’t need much, so while she was riding in luxury, he was in bullshit.

“You drove,” Dom said from beside him as they pushed through the door to exit the side of the building.

“Yeah I know but My got class today and she hit my line saying she was coming to get her shit.”

“Yeah, your ass fucked up. You can have my sofa until she lets you come home again.” Niles smirked, tossing his hood over his head and shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

“Muthafucker, you bought that shit. How she putting you on a foot chase?”

“Her name is on the paperwork,” Asao said with a sly smirk, knowing that his money had made the purchase but her happiness was what negotiated ownership.

“You know she’s running this muthafucker and his pockets,” Niles joked but knew it was all love between Asao and his girl.

Wasn’t a damn thing she wanted that he wouldn’t make happen; so the week after she got her acceptance letter, he put keys in her hand.

She didn’t ask him for anything but she didn’t have to.

As soon as they pushed through the doors, cold air wrapped around them but the chill that crawled down Asao’s spine didn’t have anything to do with the December temperatures.

Something felt off and his boys felt it too because Dom and Niles mirrored his motion when he pushed his hand beneath his sweatshirt to retrieve the steel at his waist.

The second he lifted his head, everything slowed down. The sky was still dark from the early hour so he couldn’t lock in on anything until the red from the taillights cut through the darkness and the sound of the automatic firing stilled his heart.

Gun in hand, Asao took off running, firing at the blacked out Camry. Bullets flew past him when his boys mirrored his actions. Tires screeched, glass shattered, and a voice confirmed what he feared.

“Shit, that ain’t him. That’s his girl. Why the fuck you didn’t you check that shit…”

Clips emptied into the Camry, and when the driver caught one to the dome, the vehicle sped forward from the dead weight of his foot on the gas. The car crashed into the side of the building next to them. None of that mattered because the damage had already been done.

Asao felt that shit like the bullets had entered his chest and not hers.

Her heart was no longer beating but neither was his and the ones who’d taken her from him were going to suffer the same fate…