19. Chapter 19
Queen Adanna
The asphalt beneath the custom van felt like red-hot glass as we blurred down the coastal highway. We were on the cusp of Gulf Shores, Alabama. The Gulf air whipped into a frenzy by the speed of three blacked-out vehicles tearing up the midnight road.
We were in the middle of a high-speed road rescue, locked in a pursuit after an armored freight transport.
Nana was at the wheel of our lead truck, laughing like an absolute maniac. Her hands were gripped tight on the leather wheel, but her eyes were wide, and giddy. Nothing gave my Nana a bigger high than a highway chase.
"Keep Nana on track, Adanna," Jade’s voice crackled into my earpiece. She was stationed alongside Nyah to monitor telemetry and grid lines. "She’s swinging outside her lane."
Before I could answer, Brooklyn’s voice cut through the secondary comm channel. "You know how she gets when she's driving."
Just as the words left Brooklyn’s mouth, Nana jerked the wheel hard to the left to cut the draft, nearly clipping the back panel of Kandi and Brooklyn’s pursuit. We were attempting to cage the freight truck in from both sides.
"Nana! Watch your lane!" I barked, grabbing the handle above the passenger window.
"I got it, baby! Let a girl drive!" Nana hollered back. Her silver hair bounced as she stomped harder on the gas.
Up ahead, the heavy metal cab of the freight truck swerved violently.
The driver’s side window slammed down, and an arm slithered out, holding a heavy-caliber handgun.
Bullets immediately rang out across the open highway, pounding against our reinforced windshield.
The bullet-resistant glass absorbed the pelting metal with spiderwebbing thuds, barely flinching under the impact.
Nana didn't even tap the brakes. She rolled down her own window, letting the roaring wind flood the cabin, and screamed at the top of her lungs over the engine's roar.
"Bring it, you bald-headed bitch!"
Through the passenger side mirror, I saw Brooklyn leaning half her upper body out of her window, preparing to unleash a spray of bullets into the transport.
My eyes narrowed. "Tell her to only shoot the front of the truck! If she punctures the cargo bay, she'll hit the kids!"
"Copy," Jade replied instantly.
A split second later, Brooklyn touched her ear, nodded, and pulled her weapon back. She dropped her foot on the accelerator, racing past us to cut directly in front of the freight truck. She leaned out, placing three precise rounds straight through the truck’s radiator and front driver-side tire.
Sparks rained over the Alabama pavement as the front tire blew, rubber shredding into strips. Bullets rang out before the freight truck finally groaned, losing power near the shoulder.
"Get me up there!" I ordered.
Nana swerved our truck right up to the front bumper of the dying rig.
I balanced my weight on the door sill before leaping across the narrow gap.
I grabbed the chrome door handle of the truck's cab and yanked the door open.
The driver and his front passenger were already slumped over, bleeding out from Brooklyn's rounds.
I shoved the dead bodies out onto the pavement, securing myself into the driver's seat.
The truck's modified kill-switch system was screaming in alarms. The emergency locking mechanism was far more complex than a standard setup.
I tapped my earpiece. "Jade. How do I shut this rig down before it flips?"
"Reach under the steering column to the red box," Jade instructed, her fingers clicking rapidly over her keyboard in my ear. "Flip the air-brake override, pull the main lever, and hold the clutch down until it stops."
I nodded and yanked the red toggle. Then, I slammed my foot down, and pulled the iron brake lever back with a hard yank.
The fifty-foot rig shuddered, coming to a dead, grinding stop right on the edge of the coastal highway.
I exhaled a sharp breath, unbuckled, and hopped down out of the cab.
Around the back of the transport, Nana, Kandi, and Brooklyn already had their weapons raised and pointed directly at the heavy steel double doors of the cargo bay.
The rear latches were padlocked tight. I stepped up, pulled my side-blade, and jammed it into the release mechanism, twisting until the steel popped open.
The moment the doors swung wide, I went still.
Inside the hot interior of the truck, two heavily armed guards were standing over a group of young boys huddled together on the metal floor. The guards spun toward the light, raising their weapons, opening their mouths to speak or use the kids as shields.
Thwack. Thwack.
Two shots echoed through the bay. Nana and Brooklyn fired in perfect unison, dropped both gunmen before they could even draw a breath.
The bodies hit the floorboards with heavy thuds.
I glanced over at Brooklyn, giving her a quiet, firm nod of approval.
She didn't say anything, but she met my eyes and gave a subtle nod back.
Brooklyn hopped up into the bay as she shuffled past the dead guards. She leaned down toward the terrified boys, holding her hands out. "Come on, little ones. You're safe now. Let's move."
She and Kandi began helping the young boys out of the dark truck, guiding them down to the pavement and packing them into the back seats of the pursuit cars.
With the rescue complete and the scene secured, I leaned against the side of the truck, crossing my arms as the team finished securing the kids.
"Ladies," I said, "don't forget you'll be meeting the King tomorrow night."
Nana, and the rest of the crew nodded in understanding, prepping the vehicles to head back home toward the port.
Nana walked up beside me, twirling her keys around her finger. A sly, knowing look on her face. "How's married life, baby? We’ve been missing you around the palace."
I opened my mouth to respond, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught Brooklyn standing near her car trunk. She must’ve seen my lip twitch.
I paused, turning my head slowly to glare at her, but it was too late.
"Are you smiling?! Bitchhh..."
Instantly, Jade’s voice jumped back into the comm line. "Wait! She's smiling?! Are you smiling, Boss?! Don't cut me off! Tell me!"
I reached up and clicked off my comms to drown out Jade's screaming. I turned toward our truck and opened the passenger door.
"Just drive, Nana," I muttered, looking away to hide the tiny twitch in my own lip.
Nana hopped into the driver's seat, cackling loudly as she fired up the engine.
The leather seats of the van were soft, but my body felt so weird. Every tiny bump in the road sent a deep, lingering ache radiating through my thighs. I kept my face turned toward the tinted window, watching the trees blur past, fighting with everything in me to keep my mouth in a straight line.
"Look at my crazy baby... just up in here cheesing away like you ain't got a single care in the world," Nana teased, as she hit the gas. She nudged my shoulder at the stoplight. "You let that fine man turn you every way but loose, didn't you?"
I pulled my knees together, adjusting myself in the seat as a flush of heat crept up my neck. I tried pulling my usual armor back over my shoulders, but it felt flimsy.
"That’s my business, Nana," I muttered, keeping my tone flat.
"Oh, please. You can’t hide a damn thing from me, Adanna," she laughed, clapping her hands against the steering wheel. "Look at you! Your skin is glowing, your eyes look soft... Lord have mercy, I love this for you! How was it?"
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, dropping my eyes to my lap. My hands were trembling slightly, so I picked at the corner of my nail just to give them something to do. "Painful," I said softly.
Nana’s loud laughter softened into a gentle, knowing hum. "And?"
I turned back to the window, feeling my chest tighten in a way I couldn't control. The memory of Damini’s hands digging into my hips, the sound of his heavy voice growling in my ear, and the weight of him breaking down my final wall came rushing back all at once.
"It was... okay," I whispered. I couldn't stop the tiny, reluctant curl at the corner of my lips if I tried.
Nana squealed, a joyful sound that filled the quiet cabin. "I knew it! I’m so happy for you, baby. You don't even know."
"Nana, please," I gritted out, the vulnerability making my stomach flip. I wasn't used to people seeing me exposed like this.
"Oh, hush up," she said. She reached across the console and gently cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at her. She smoothed her thumb over my cheekbone, and those eyes were filled with unconditional love.
Eww.
"I can be happy for my girl if I want to. You spend every waking second carrying the weight of this family, holding guns, and making tough calls. You deserve to be held. You deserve to feel something real.”
“Mhmm.”
“Did you take my advice?"
Looking into her eyes, the tight coil in my chest loosened. I let out a slow breath and gave her a small nod. "Yeah... I did. It helped... treating him like a friend at first. Taking the guard down a little bit."
Nana’s smile grew deeper, seeing right through the stoic mask to the quiet confusion swirling inside me. She slid her hand down from my cheek to cover my hand, giving it a firm squeeze before putting both hands back on the wheel as the light turned green.
"Good," she said softly. "You built like steel, Danni, but even steel snaps if it never gets to bend.
Damini looks at you like you're the air in his lungs, but raw passion comes and goes. The real work is in the quiet parts. Just remember to be friends first, Queen. That’s the part that keeps you secure when the blood and the business get too loud. "
The words settled in my chest, but the sudden weight of all that soft, emotional shit quickly weirded me out.
I pulled my hand back and crossed my arms over my chest, leaning shoulder-first against the passenger door. "Alright, alright, Nana, you’re doing way too much," I muttered, flexing my jaw. "Don't go turning this into a whole Lifetime movie."
Nana chuckled, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "Oh, hush up with all that lip. Matter of fact, we need to go celebrate! Let's hit up the spot, get some food, pop a bottle—"
"I can't," I mumbled under my breath, staring hard at the side mirror to hide the heat rising up my neck. "I gotta go back home."
Nana’s head snapped toward me so fast her earrings jingled. Another massive grin split her face before she started laughing out loud.
"Home?!" she shouted, practically slapping the leather on the steering wheel. "To run off back to that man?! Oh, Lord! Jade is never gonna let you live this down! Wait till I tell you this man got you over here blushing!"
I rolled my eyes so hard my temples throbbed, sinking deeper into the leather seat.
What was wrong with everybody? Ever since Dame and I consolidated power on Okoye, the inner circle was acting like soft, sentimental fools.
First Jade acting like a damn proud mother, and now Nana carrying on like I just won a prize at the county fair.
It was very gross, and uncalled for. I rubbed my forehead as genuine annoyance prickled under my skin.
Why couldn't my people just scowl, count cash, and plot homicides like normal syndicate group? Why did everybody suddenly want to cry tears of joy just because I got my back blown out by my husband? They needed to get a grip and keep that mushy shit away from me before I broke out in hives.
I leaned my head back against the headrest, letting her words sink deep into the quiet corners of my mind. I looked down at my hands and realized they felt different today. For the first time in my life, as the city rolled past us, I didn't feel like a weapon. I just felt human.
Eww.