Chapter 28 #2
This fucking dickhead.
BOOM!
The explosion outside rocked the building. Crystal chandeliers rattled overhead, swaying dangerously as gasps filled the room.
BOOM!
The lights flickered, and the gasps turned to full-blown screams as glass shattered somewhere in the distance. The low rumble of motorcycles got louder.
Security and a handful of cops sprinted towards the exits, their radios crackling as they tried to assess the situation. Panic spread through the crowd—chairs scraped against the floor as people scrambled to their feet and rushed for the emergency exits.
I cracked my knuckles as an eerie sense of calm washed over me. Jelani sat back in his chair and checked his watch, completely unfazed.
On stage, Marcus gripped the podium, stuck as chaos erupted around him.
His gaze darted across the room until it landed on me.
A slow smile spread across my face as I raised my glass and tilted it slightly towards him in a mock toast. The expression on his face twisted between rage and fear before he stumbled back and pushed through the people who’d rushed the stage.
Fontaine’s voice came through the earpiece. “Fifteen minutes until the cavalry's here. Y'all need to move.”
Jelani drew the Glock from the holster under his jacket. He flicked off the safety and rolled his shoulders as he stood. “Let’s get your nurse back.”
Gunfire erupted before I could respond, setting off another wave of screams through the room.
I tapped my earpiece, crouching low, keeping my head on a swivel. “Nai, where you at?” I pulled my gun from its holster. Outside, the Reapers‘ motorcycles revved louder, and another explosion went off, shaking the floor beneath us.
“These Reaper niggas are out here with rocket launchers, bruh,” Fontaine said in disbelief over the earpiece. “What the fuck?”
“Yeah, I hear it,” I said, ducking behind a toppled table. The gala had turned into mayhem—the screams and glass breaking was deafening.
“I’m looking for your girl,” Nai said in a clipped tone. A grunt followed, then a gunshot cracked in the background.
A fresh round of gunshots went off, this time inside the ballroom. I peeked over the table and froze.
A man in a black Halloween mask with glowing red Xs over the eyes and matching red stitching across the mouth stood in the middle of the room. He looked like something out of a nightmare, waving an AK-47 over his head and firing rounds into the ceiling.
These Reaper niggas were unhinged.
Most of the crowd had cleared out by now, but a few stragglers huddled under tables, clutching each other and covering their mouths to stay quiet.
“They called the SWAT team,” Fontaine said. “They’re fifteen minutes out.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. We didn’t have enough manpower to handle a whole SWAT team.
“We good. SWAT ain’t shit,” CJ’s voice crackled confidently through the earpiece. “Get your girl, Money. We got you out here.”
I wasted no time, bolting from the ballroom into the main hall. Hudson Hall was a mess—glass littered the floor, and the smell of smoke was thick in the air.
I pulled out my phone and opened the tracker app installed on Jasmine’s burner. The blinking dot on the screen moved steadily toward the garage.
“They’re headed for the garage!” I barked, sprinting towards the stairwell. A man stepped in front of me with his gun drawn.
Pop.
He dropped before I could raise my weapon. I looked over my shoulder to see Jelani lowering his gun.
“Good looks,” I said, stepping over the body, continuing towards the stairs.
At the stairwell door, Nai was struggling with another of Marcus’s security guards. She kneed him in the balls and was reaching for the knife strapped to her thigh.
Pop! Pop!
I let off a few rounds and dropped him.
“I had that,” she snapped, panting.
“Teamwork,” I retorted, yanking open the door.
We flew down the stairs and burst into the parking deck just as Marcus was shoving Jasmine into an idling Yukon.
“Marcus!” I bellowed, gun raised.
He froze, turning to face me, his expression twisting into an angry snarl.
I took a step forward. “Let her go!” I ordered
“Fuck you,” he spat. He yanked his piece from his waistband and aimed it at me. “Ain’t nobody fucking scared of you, Money!”
“This shit’s between me and you. Leave Jas out of it.”
Marcus sneered, dragging Jasmine forward. “She don’t even want to go back with you! Go on, tell him!”
Jasmine’s tear-streaked face looked at me. No words came out of her trembling lips.
Marcus shoved her hard. “She said it herself—she’d be better off without either of us. So what now, huh? You take her, and she gon’ leave your ass anyway. Then what?”
I shook my head. “And you over here snatching somebody who ain’t want your ass in the first place,” I fired back. “You’re a fucking clown, Marcus. Now, I don’t like repeating myself. Let. Her. Go.”
Marcus laughed again. “You not gon’—”
Bang!
He jumped back as the warning shot ricocheted off the concrete near his foot.
“I won’t miss next time,” I warned.
Jasmine used the moment to slam her heel down on Marcus’s foot.
“Shit!” He hissed. His grip loosened enough for her to wrench free and scramble away from him.
I charged him, slamming my shoulder into his chest. Both of us went down.
“Fuck off me!” he growled, throwing an elbow into my ribs. I ignored the pain flaring through my side as we both scrambled to our feet. I shrugged off my suit jacket as I rolled my shoulders.
Marcus squared up before lunging and swung for my face. I ducked and moved to hit him, but he caught me first with a punch to my gut that knocked the wind out of me.
“This all the infamous Money Banks got?” he taunted, as I staggered back. “You soft, nigga.”
I wiped my mouth, spitting on the pavement. “And you New York niggas talk too fucking much.”
I was ready when he rushed me again—this time, my fist into his nose. Blood poured down his face. Adrenaline surged as I grabbed his jacket and slammed his head against the truck’s window.
Marcus groaned, but still fought to break free. I yanked him up, ready to ram his head again, but he twisted out of my grip and dove for the gun on the ground.
“Nah, nigga,” I snarled. My hand closed around his collar as his fingers brushed the handle of the gun. I pulled him back with everything in me, sending us both tumbling to the ground.
Out the corner of my eye, I saw Jelani start to move, but Nairobi threw her arm against his chest—this wasn’t his fight, it was mine.
Marcus landed on top of me. Stars exploded behind my eyes as he punched the side of my head. I put my hands up to cover myself as he rained down punches.
“This who you chose, Jasmine?” Marcus spat, his face inches from mine. “This weak ass nigga?”
Blood roared in my ears. I hated the sound of Jasmine’s name in his mouth.
With a guttural yell, I bucked my hips and shoved him off me. He staggered back, spitting blood to the floor with a wild look in his eyes.
“That all your bitch ass got?” he said with a bloody grin.
We ran at each other again, neither of us willing to back down. I caught him mid-stride and slammed him into the side of a parked car so hard the impact set off the car alarm. Marcus was stronger than I’d anticipated, but I had more to lose.
I pinned him against the car and kneed him in the stomach. Marcus keeled over as I threw punch after punch into his ribs— the fight draining from him with each blow I landed.
“Again, this all you got, nigga?” he laughed weakly.
I growled and threw him to the ground. His head bounced off the concrete. He rolled over, choking on more blood, struggling to get up. My chest heaved as I stared at him. Even in his fucked up state, I could see the hatred in his eyes.
“Why won’t you just stay down?” I muttered.
His eyes darted again to the gun lying a few feet away.
”Nuh uh,” I kicked it out of his reach before he went for it.
I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into a concrete pillar. “You should’ve never come to Atlanta.”
“Cash!” Jasmine’s frantic voice rang out.
I turned to her and saw the fear all over her tear-streaked face. She didn’t need to watch this drag out.
With a roar, Marcus shoved me back and swung wildly at me.
I hit him with a hook to his temple, bringing him down again. He groaned as he struggled to get back up, but I was ending this now.
I walked over and picked up the gun. He was on his knees now, swaying.
“Fuck you,” he spat, his voice hoarse but defiant.
I nodded slowly. “Gotta give it to you—you ain’t a beggin’ ass nigga,” I leveled the Glock with his head. “I respect that.”
Marcus glanced over at Jasmine through swollen eyes.
“Tell Kyree I said, ‘what’s up.”
The shot went between his eyes. His body jerked and collapsed onto the concrete with a heavy thud. He’d get no last words.
I stepped over his body and fired again, watching the blood pool under his head.
It was done.