Chapter 10 #3
Eyes lighting up when she spotted him, she was glad he’d showed up tonight.
She was out with a couple of her friends, and one of them talked her ear off while Rye zoned out.
The bass thumped throughout the club, and yet over all the noise, all she saw was Finn.
He was looking at something else though, and Rye’s deep, slanted, coffee-bean eyes followed where he was fixated.
The smile she carried upon seeing him quickly faded when she saw that he had eyes on another woman.
He said something to the guy he walked in with then took off toward the dance floor.
“You trying to get niggas slumped in here tonight, ain’t you, Luna?” Finn growled, taking her and Minx by surprise.
“Shit, Finn! You are killing the vibe. We just dancing.” Minx continued to move back and forth in front of him, but he never took his eyes off Luna.
He never looked at her that way, and she stopped moving and stood tall. Less than a foot apart, they squared off in front of everyone.
“You can dance up in VIP. This shit right here ain’t it.” Finn waved to the niggas around them.
“You getting real territorial.” Luna smirked, leaning toward him with a cute pout. “I kind of like that shit.” She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her soft breasts against him, and it was a wrap.
He softened his gaze when she pressed her lips into his gently. Finn’s dick jerked.
“Finn!” Rye’s high-pitched tone jarred their attention.
Luna still had her arms around his neck, and they turned together to face her.
She cocked one brow at the pretty, brown-skinned girl in front of her.
Finn tightened up, and Luna saw the flash of recognition flicker through his hooded brown irises.
He knew that girl, and judging from the hurt bouncing off her peepers, she knew him too.
Luna removed her arms from around Finn and sized his little thot bucket up.
“What’s up, Rye?” he greeted her, pinching his lips while looking her over.
She was looking good, but not in the way where he wanted to fuck her like he normally would.
“I’ve been calling you all week. What’s the deal?” Rye looked from him to Luna, waiting for an explanation.
“Yeah, Finn… what’s the deal?” Luna crossed her arms and cut her eyes at him.
He didn’t answer right away, and that told her more than she wanted to know. She scoffed, disgusted with him. Shaking her head, she stormed past him, but Finn reached out to catch her before she could.
“Look, she ain’t my girl or no shit like that. We was just smashing from time to time,” Finn explained, and Rye’s face wrinkled in shock.
“That’s not all it was when you were in my pussy,” Rye jerked her neck and said.
Luna cut her eyes at Finn.
“Yeah, I should have seen this coming, right?” Her eyes glistened, but she didn’t dare shed a tear.
She wasn’t built like that.
“You came in here regulating when you still got a roster of hoes you fucking with! Explain shit to her, not me.” Luna yanked away and stomped off with Minx trailing right behind her.
“Luna, wait up.” Minx tried to catch up to her.
“No, fuck this shit! And fuck him!” Luna shrieked over her shoulder. “I need to get the fuck out of this club, Minx.”
“Well, just wait for me,” Minx told her.
“I’m going outside.” Luna pulled away from her and moved toward the nearest exit.
Minx wasn’t sure what to do. Part of her wanted to fuck Finn and his little bitch up for hurting her friend.
When she looked up, there was Rose. He was staring back at her, and she felt someone bump her from behind. To her surprise, it was her father.
“Daddy,” Minx voiced, looking him up and down.
He stopped at her side and surveyed the room. The scent of his Tom Ford cologne hit her nostrils lightly, and she inhaled. She couldn’t recall ever seeing her father around these parts the same time as her. It was strange, and she was buzzed.
“Minx.” Max paused and kissed the top of her head.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, face scrunching up.
“Gannon summoned me. We have a few things to discuss. I told your mother I would grab some food for her and Mil on the way home.”
“Well, me and Luna were leaving anyway, so can we catch a ride with you?” she checked with him.
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “Just give me a few minutes,” he said, looking ahead to where Rose stood talking to Finn.
“Okay, we’ll be outside.” Minx nodded.
A night at home pigging out with her brother and parents sounded amazing.
She was starving, and she remembered that Luna had gone outside.
An Uber was their ride to the club since neither wanted to be a designated driver.
She was probably outside ordering up a new one.
Finn and Rose were in the middle of a heated discussion when Max walked up on them.
The girl Rye that Finn was dealing with was on the sidelines talking out of the side of her neck, doing her best to grab Finn’s attention.
“I gotta go talk to this crazy ass girl.” Finn dropped his head and swept his hand down his face.
“Her! How the fuck you don’t care about me standing right here in front of you, Finn!” Rye spat.
“’Cause you ain’t my fucking bitch! You a bitch that I was laying dick to. You knew that shit! If I ain’t hollered at you days at a time, which one of my bitches you think you are, Rye, hmm?”
“Fuck you, nigga!”
“That’s the problem… you wish I would. Even after all this shit, all you doing is making a scene because you want me to choose you.
It ain’t you. It won’t ever be you. Is that what you need to hear?
You make a nigga talk to yo’ bubble-head ass like that!
The one that just walked out of here, that’s me.
That’s who the fuck I’m going to war over.
I’ll go against you or any other bitch or nigga for that one.
Go find something else to do, Rye.” Finn took off in search of Luna, and Rye was left reeling from his words.
Embarrassed, she tucked her tail between her legs and went to join her friends, who watched everything unfold. Max blew out a sharp breath and shook his head.
“What was that about?” he asked Rose.
“Finn and his bitches,” he answered, shaking his head. “What you doing here?”
“Gannon,” Max stated flatly. “He called me. Said he needed to talk to me about some things.”
“Is that right?” Rose fisted his mustache. “You need me to stick around?”
“Nah. I ain’t worried about him. I got a few soldiers waiting outside in the lot in position, just in case,” Max answered.
“I think I’ll stick around anyway.” Rose nodded. “I’ma go check on this fool Finn and make sure him and Luna don’t tear the parking lot up.” Rose half joked.
He felt better if he stuck around while Max handled business.
Nobody knew what Gannon was on, but Rose’s instincts kicked in when he arrived in town.
The way he wormed his way into the family during his absence was unsettling.
Max continued to scan the scene before he looked up and noticed Gannon peering down through the office window.
Other shadows danced around, and Max took strides over to the staircase.
The party scene wasn’t one for him anymore.
He spent most of his time finding ways to make money and keep his family afloat.
He reached a narrow hallway with one door and raised his hand to knock.
Tapping three times, the door was pulled open, and Gannon waited on the other side.
“Max, thanks for coming through,” Gannon greeted him.
He stepped aside so that he could enter. Max was taken back by the other dark-skinned man in the room. He was seated behind Gannon’s desk like he owned the place.
“Who the fuck is this?” Max demanded as Gannon closed the door behind him.
Eirian fell back in his chair, arms crossed over his abs, a cocky smirk on his face.
“Maximiliano Ward.” He welcomed him. “A living legend around this mothafucka.” Eirian chuckled. “Have a seat.”
Max got the feeling that he was now in the midst of his enemy. His finger twitched, and spider senses tingled as Gannon went to stand beside his desk. Max didn’t budge from the doorway. He crossed his arms in front of him and breathed in through his nose.
“I got your welcome gifts. Kind of harsh. What them young boys do to you?” Eirian mocked, sparking a fresh blunt.
“Them young boys violated someone in this town. Like they didn’t have to answer to anybody. That’s not how things work around here,” Max clarified.
“I guess I missed the memo where you were the mayor or some shit.” Eirian chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
“Why did you call me here?” Max looked at Gannon when he spoke.
“This is Eirian. He’s new in town.” Gannon introduced them.
“And what the fuck that got to do with me?” Max kept his cool.
“See, I came to town because I want to expand my business. I heard this was a good place to do that,” Eirian stated.
“You heard wrong,” Max replied, eyes landing back on him. “We don’t need or want you here. So you can pack your shit and get on the next thing smoking away from here.”
“That’s not very welcoming,” Eirian kidded. “I thought we could play nice. I would hate for us to start off on the wrong foot.”
“You should have thought about that beforehand. I don’t play nice. This is my city. The people I care about live around here. We take care of each other, and we don’t let outsiders come in trying to rule shit. So if that’s all you got, I have some other shit I need to handle.”
“See, it’s not that simple. Things are changing… all the time. I think you could benefit from some of those changes. We just need to work together.”
“I don’t work with anyone. Maybe you aren’t hearing me correctly,” Max retorted, hand going to the pistol on his hip and resting there.
“I think I heard you just fine. No compromise,” Eirian concluded. “I hate to hear that.”
“Max—” Gannon chimed in.
“I thought I could trust you.” Max turned on him, rage flaring up behind his eyes.