Chapter 12
The morning sun was coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows when room service knocked. I'd ordered breakfast for both of us. Waffles, bacon, fresh fruit, coffee. The kind of meal that said we were celebrating.
Tatti came out of the shower wrapped in one of the hotel robes, her hair still wet from the steam, her face fresh. No makeup. No guards up. Just her. And she was pretty as hell.
"That smells good," she said, walking over to where I was setting up the table on the balcony.
We ate without talking much. Just existed together.
She'd steal pieces of my bacon. I'd feed her fruit.
It was simple and it felt like something I'd been missing my whole life without even knowing it. She was showing me that shit didn’t always have to be war.
Life was supposed to be peaceful sometimes.
After we ate, we ended up back in bed. She was laying on my chest, tracing circles on my stomach with her finger. My phone was on silent but I could feel it vibrating against the nightstand. I ignored it the first few times.
On the fourth call, I knew it was important.
I reached over and grabbed it. Tyree's name was on the screen.
"Give me a second," I told Tatti, kissing the top of her head.
She nodded and rolled over, giving me space but staying close enough that I could feel her presence.
I answered.
"Yeah?"
"We got a problem," Tyree said immediately, no greeting, no bullshit. "The DA won't budge. I've tried every angle - the prison negligence, the weak case, the speedy trial violation. They don't care. They want Zaire. Bad."
I felt my jaw tighten.
"Why? And they know damn well it’s no reason to hold him. No evidence, nothing!” I asked, already knowing the answer but needing to hear him say it.
"Because they've never been able to get at your family," Tyree continued.
"They've tried for years. Never stuck anything. This case against Zaire is their shot. They think if they can lock him up, it puts pressure on you. It's leverage. I can’t say what’s the exact reason but I have to agree with you. This shit feels personal. I’ve never seen a case like this not be thrown out. "
I was quiet for a moment, running through options in my head.
None of my options were clean. All of them involved making somebody disappear or flipping somebody who couldn't be flipped. My brother wasn’t safe in that prison.
His life had been attempted, and muthafuckas was taking this shit for a joke.
"What about the judge?" I asked. "Who we working with?"
"Judge Atkinson," Tyree said. "He’s tough. Doesn't respond to the usual pressure."
I ended the call without saying much else. Just told him I'd call him back.
When I turned back to Tatti, she was sitting up, looking at me with those eyes that saw everything.
"What happened?" she asked.
I didn't want to worry her with this. We were supposed to have two days. Just us. No business. No outside world.
But she was my wife now. And she was asking.
"The DA won't move on letting my brother out, even though they don’t have a case,” I said, laying it out. "Tyree's tried everything. They want Zaire too badly. This is about getting at the family, not about the actual case."
She was quiet for a moment, processing.
"Who's the judge?" she asked suddenly.
"Judge Atkinson. Why?"
Tatti sat up fully now, her whole body shifting into focus mode.
"My father mentioned things about him before," she said, her voice getting that sharp edge that meant she was thinking strategically. "He said Judge Atkinson had secrets that could make him lose everything. That he was compromised on some level."
I watched her, seeing something shift in the way she was moving. She wasn't scared or worried. She was solving.
"Call my father back," she said, turning to face me. "Tell him to set up a meeting with Judge Atkinson and that you not taking no for an answer. Tell him that you want to discuss your brother's case. And tell him that I'm coming with you."
I shook my head no, immediately. I ain’t know what the hell this girl had up her sleeve, but I felt like I had to trust her.
"Nah. I'm not putting you in that," I said.
"Kaseem, listen," she said, moving closer to me. "I know Judge Atkinson. I've met him at events with my father. He knows me. If I show up on your arm as your wife, it won't seem strange. It'll seem like you're just bringing your new wife to a professional meeting."
I still didn't like it.
"Once I'm in his office, I have a reader," Tatti continued, and I could see the plan forming in her mind as she talked.
"It's small. I can use it to duplicate everything off his computer.
Emails, files, documents. Whatever dirt my father said he has on him, we'll find it.
I just have to get at least three feet within that computer. Then we'll have leverage."
I looked at her for a long moment. This was my wife sitting in front of me, talking about breaking into a judge's computer system like it was nothing. Like she'd done this a thousand times.
"You sure you can do that?" I asked.
"I have a degree in this shit,” she said simply. "Duplicating data off a computer is literally what I do for a living. If he steps out of the office for at least five minutes, I can do it."
I felt something shift in my chest. This whole time, I'd been thinking about protecting her. Keeping her safe. But she wasn't asking me to protect her. She was asking me to let her use her skills to help me instead.
That was different.
That was real partnership. That was some shit I wasn’t expecting out of this marriage.
"Come give daddy a kiss," I said, and I could see her smile spread across her face.
She crawled over to me and I grabbed her face, kissing her deep. When I pulled back, I looked at her with new eyes.
"You smart as hell," I said. "And you a quick thinker. Real quick."
She smiled against my lips.
"I learned from watching my father," she said. "I may have cut him out of my life, but I learned how to think like him. How to see angles and how to manipulate situations in my favor."
I kissed her again, holding her close.
For the first time since I took over this empire, I didn't feel like I was carrying it alone.
I had somebody beside me who could think three moves ahead.
Somebody who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Somebody who was using her brain as a weapon just like I used mine. I knew that I had to protect her too, and not let any of this shit touch her. So, we wouldn’t be making a habit out of her inspector gadget shit either. This time was just necessary.
“I’m about to call your pops.” I told her.
"You did good today. Real good."
She leaned her forehead against mine and I realized that this marriage wasn't just about protection or business anymore. This was about having a real bitch in my corner. Someone who could stand beside me and fight alongside me.
And that changed everything.