Chapter 20
Messiah and I returned to the party, but I was ready to go home. Seeing Ryan sitting in the crowd at the wedding had me confused and nervous.
I didn’t have my gun on me, which was odd because I always kept it nearby.
But this was a wedding—my sister’s wedding.
I didn’t want to bring malice into a day of peace, so I left it in the rental.
Throughout the whole ceremony, I kept thinking that maybe he had the drop on me.
It didn’t dawn on me that he was Messiah’s father, and that was the reason he was here, until I looked at my man.
The resemblance was uncanny. Putting it together that Messiah was his son was the worst feeling ever.
I played it cool, though.
I made sure to keep my distance and watch him, just in case he was out to harm me. While everyone danced at the reception, I excused myself and went to get my gun out of the rented BMW, and then hid it in the shed.
Now knowing that the man I was falling in love with was the son of my uncle’s enemy, I couldn’t go through with the hit. It was too messy. However, I would put Mayani and Megan in place to execute it.
I didn’t want to hurt Messiah, but I couldn’t allow his father to kill my family.
Uncle Lamont was the closest thing I had to my father now that Lorenzo had cut me off.
Losing him would surely break me. I just had to play it cool and not look suspicious.
After all the toasts and cutting of the cake were done, I stood from the wedding party table.
“I’ll be right back, babe. I’m going to go talk to Paige,” I told Messiah.
“Okay, hurry back. I’m ready to get up out of here.”
I smiled. “You read my mind. Be right back.”
I headed in the direction of my smiling sister and leaned over in her ear. “Come take a walk with me.”
She nodded and told Harvey she’d be right back as she followed me out of the ballroom into an empty room. I closed the door and turned to her solemnly.
“I have to break up with Messiah,” I blurted.
She frowned. “Why? What happened?”
“First, I’m not trying to ruin this day for you. I’m very proud and happy for you, and I wish you a lifetime of happiness.”
She looked on, confused. “Why are you saying this, Arie?”
I sighed. “You know the man Uncle Lamont ordered the hit on?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s Messiah’s father.”
There was a pause before she spoke. “How do you know?”
“He was here… at the wedding. There is no mistaking that man is his father. They look too much alike.”
“Is he still here?” she asked, alarmed.
“No. I saw him leave not too long ago. I don’t think he knows who I am. I can’t be with him knowing that I’m about to order a hit on his father…”
“Arie… that’s Harvey’s family too. Why would you put this on my conscience right now?”
“Because I’m your sister, and I’m in a fucked up situation?—”
“You don’t have to go through with it, Arieana. Fuck Uncle Lamont! His ass didn’t even show up to my wedding to walk me down the aisle. Let him handle it if he wants the job done. I already told you to call that shit off with him. What happened with that?”
“The nigga is scared they’re going to kill him if he doesn’t get them first. He doesn’t have access to the AA anymore, so he needs me to get access to the shit I’ll need to take him out.”
“Fuck that AA shit. You’re not doing it, Arie.
No one told him to steal from them! That’s his fucking problem.
Don’t fuck up what you have going on with Messiah.
This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you.
Are you willing to risk your happiness and freedom for a man who’s willing to throw you in front of a bullet? ”
“How are you saying he’s throwing me in front of a bullet when we’ve been hitting motherfuckas since college?”
“Don’t go there. This is way different from what we were doing! We were taking calls from outside sources, not from our family!”
“So, what if his father kills him? Then what?”
“Then you let it be what the fuck it will be. He. Stole. From. Him! What part of that aren’t you getting?
This isn’t your beef.” She walked up to me, looking me in my eyes.
“I’m going back to my husband, and we’re going to celebrate, then head to our honeymoon in Belize.
When we return, I’m packing up and heading to South Carolina to live out my happily ever after.
I don’t want any more parts of this shit any longer.
“Too many lives have been lost behind the shit we did. I’m ending this shit here.
As your best friend, your sister… someone who loves and cares for you with my whole heart, I encourage you to move on and do the damn same.
” She walked away from me and out of the door, leaving me even more fucked up than I had been.
She was right.
Uncle Lamont should have never stolen from that man, but as his niece, I couldn’t just let him die behind this. The phone vibrating in my wristlet brought me out of my thoughts. I reached inside, pulled it out, and saw an unknown number on my screen.
“Hello?”
“Arie…” the familiar voice spoke solemnly.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, it’s me… It’s your uncle. He’s gone, Arie…”
The phone slipped from my hand, my body hit the floor, and I wept.
Four Days Later…
It had been four days since Paige’s wedding, and I had been hiding out in a hotel up north. I had been sick for days and hadn’t been eating. Drinking liquor and eating dry-ass peanuts were the only things getting me by.
When I got the call that Uncle Lamont had been murdered, I didn’t say anything to anyone as I got inside my rental and fled the scene.
I shut off my locations and my phone. I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
I had been crying and puking since I got the news, and the only person I talked to was my father that night when he told me that everyone must die.
I agreed then because I was angry that I didn’t get a chance to defuse the situation.
I was irate that my uncle was touched, and I didn’t get a chance to talk some sense into him.
I blamed everyone, including the man I had given my heart to.
He had to know what was happening. There was no way he didn’t know when he was the CEO of the company my uncle stole the pills from.
I hated that I fell for him.
He promised me he wouldn’t hurt me, then turned around and did the shit anyway.
This was the reason why I was conflicted about giving myself to him, but I did it because I wanted to know what it was like to be loved.
My stupid ass .
I should have run the other fucking way. Now, I was about to ruin his life for playing dirty games.
Pulling myself from the bed, I found the strength to finally take care of my hygiene. I dressed down in a velour short set, brushed my hair into a low ponytail, and put on a hat and sunglasses. I grabbed my phone, gun, and keys before heading out of the hotel.
I drove two miles up the road to a local CVS and purchased four pregnancy tests. I then went back to the hotel and pissed on all of them. I prayed to God that they would show up negative. I couldn’t fathom the thought of carrying a man’s baby who betrayed me.
I should have never let Mooney and Paige get in my head about allowing myself to love.
To feel.
I didn’t want this shit, but somehow, I got it, and it felt good only for a brief moment, then it got snatched away from me.
How could he do this?
He promised he wouldn’t hurt me, and I warned him not to. It was only right that I hurt his ass back.
Looking down at my watch, the timer went off as I stood from the toilet seat and begrudgingly picked up the first test.
Pregnant .
I picked the second.
Pregnant .
The third and fourth ones gave the same result as I swiped them from the counter in a rage.
“Fuuuck! Son-of-a-bitch!” I screamed.
This was all my fault for being fucking reckless.
I stormed out of the bathroom, reclaimed the keys from the dresser, and hurried out of the hotel, heading to find a lying, snake-ass nigga.
It only took me an hour to get back into the city.
I had powered my phone back on to a plethora of text messages from my mom, Paige, and that dumbass, backstabbing bastard.
I texted Paige and my mom back to let them know I was okay, then headed in the direction of the hideout of the Assassin’s Association headquarters.
It only took me thirty minutes to get the drop on Messiah and his whole family and their businesses. After loading up on artillery, I left the hideout and went on my hunt.
My first stop was to their main block, where they sold product out of the North End side of town.
I crept up the block, seeing dope fiends and pill heads coming in and out of two houses that were next to each other.
I grabbed the Tech Nine from the front seat, got out, and stood in the middle of the street.
No one paid me any attention, and that was their downfall.
I lifted the gun and let off round after round at the houses. People scurried about, some getting hit and some making it through the alley on the side of the house. I didn’t stop shooting until I ran out of bullets. Getting back inside the car, I left the scene for my next stop.