Chapter 12
KASTIAN
I knew whatever it was that Ryder wanted to talk to me about was important because he didn’t want to link at my office, my house, nor his.
I found him in the park sitting on a bench with his teeth clenched together looking stressed.
Taking a seat beside him, I braced myself for the bullshit that was about to come.
My ass didn’t even want to ask. So I didn’t.
I just looked at him and waited for him to tell me what he knew.
“Ray Ray got knocked last week. He got caught with six ounces of coke and two guns. He already has an assault charge he’s going to court for.”
My brows furrowed. “Why didn’t we know he got arrested?”
“Because he didn’t tell us. He didn’t tell anybody.
The nigga agreed to become a confidential informant in exchange for a light sentence.
We don’t talk business over the phone, and you and I don’t do hand-to-hand transactions like that.
The only thing I can think of is maybe he’s wearing a wire when he cops dope from Lox. ”
The larger I became in the game; I decided that it was best I didn’t do many direct transactions.
I had workers in place for those kinds of tasks.
For a long time, it was Ryder, but that responsibility slowly trickled over to Lox.
More responsibility meant more money, so he damn sure wasn’t complaining.
I hoped that if Lox was to get jammed up, he’d keep his mouth shut, but I didn’t put anything past anybody.
The news that Ryder had just hit me with was the prime example of why I was getting tired of the game.
I could sit on my ass in my office and even if I was making less money, it would be way less stress and zero chances of prison time.
“When was the last time he copped some dope?”
“Four days ago.”
“Tell Lox not to serve his ass anything else. Put the word out. Nobody from our crew is to associate with that nigga. Once everyone cuts him off, he’ll probably get the hint that we know what’s up.
We can’t touch him though. Not if they have eyes on him.
Since we can’t kill him all we can do is cut the nigga off and act like he’s dead.
I’m shutting down every trap that I have.
No dope is to move until I find different locations.
If niggas are mad that their money is on pause, tell them to blame Ray Ray.
They can beat his ass but nobody better kill him. ”
“Got it.”
Ryder stood to get on the tasks that I’d just given him because time wasn’t of the essence.
Ray Ray’s rat ass knew where all the trap houses were located.
He didn’t know too much about me, but he knew enough about my business to make us hot.
My career in real estate often put me in the rooms with the right people.
I was also a member of the Millionaire Boys’ Club.
The MBC was kind of like a country club for black male millionaires in Diamond Cove.
Because of my membership with the MBC, I’d had the pleasure of selling homes to an attorney, an NFL player, two NBA players, a lawyer, and a judge.
In fact, the judge had used me three times.
He bought one home for him and his wife, and he bought the other two for investment properties.
He damn sure didn’t become a millionaire solely from being a judge.
His son was a police officer, and I had him on payroll.
His salary as a police officer was only $57,000 a year.
Which was roughly, $4,750 a month before taxes.
I paid him $2,000 a week. He made $8,000 a month just to keep his eyes and ears open for me and for turning a blind eye to things my people did.
The money he made working for me was double what he earned as a police officer.
It was my $8,000 a month that afforded him the home that him and his wife lived in and the BMW that he drove.
His wife was in the military and had been for ten years. People assumed it was the joint income or maybe because his father had money that he lived the way he lived. The truth of the matter was he was able to live a very comfortable life due to working for the bad guy.
Ryder and I parted ways, and I was pissed enough to find Ray Ray and put my hands on him.
I truly needed to come up with a date for exiting the game because the older I became, I didn’t have time for the unpredictable bullshit that came with drug dealing.
Leaving the game would be bittersweet, but there was no need to be greedy.
Of course, I couldn’t just up and quit. I was still sitting on a ton of heroin and methamphetamine, but once it was all gone, I was done.
The next evening, I dressed in a crème suit that had been perfectly tailored to fit me.
I was attending a black-tie event for black African American realtors in the area.
My firm did amazing, and there were other successful black realtors in Diamond Cove, but the ‘others’ outnumbered us for sure.
In real estate connections and networking were imperative, so I didn’t miss many chances to come together with my own.
Lowkey, I wondered if Persia would be there.
Her ass had a thing about not reaching out to me first, and I didn’t mind too much.
I thought about her daily, but I didn’t reach out to her daily.
I didn’t want to do too much and push her away.
If it was up to me, I’d fall asleep in that pussy and wake up in it.
Even though I didn’t care about David, I respected the fact that she was newly separated, and she probably needed some time.
I was the rebound and if I didn’t play my cards right, the situation might end bad.
So, I gave her space while checking in enough to let her know that it wasn’t my objective to just fuck her then act as if she didn’t exist.
The gala was being held at Millionaire’s Cove. That was the location of the Millionaire Boys’ Club. The owner, Koda, rented the building out for private parties and events. The gala started at seven, and I arrived at seven-thirty. There were already quite a few people inside with more trickling in.
“Kastian! Hi!” I looked over to see a realtor by the name of Morgan smiling at me and holding a glass of champagne.
We’d only met twice. The first time was at an open house, and the second time was at a closing.
We didn’t get to talk too much either time, but each time, she flirted her ass off with me.
Morgan was bad. She stood 5’6 had light skin, super thick thighs, a gigantic ass, and small waist. Her honey-blonde locs touched her shoulders, and she had dimples deep enough for me to stick the tip of my finger in.
She was bad for sure, but I never asked for her number or gave in to her flirting, and I wasn’t sure why.
“What’s going on?” I accepted a glass of champagne from the server that was walking by.
“Long time no see. I haven’t seen you in about five or six months.”
My brows hiked because it was odd that she was keeping count. “I know right. How have you been?”
I didn’t hear a word she said because at that moment, Persia sauntered into the room wearing a red dress that looked as if it had been painted on.
My manhood bricked almost instantly. I didn’t even try to hide the fact that I was captivated by her.
In fact, Morgan had been quiet for quite a few seconds before I realized she wasn’t talking.
When I planted my gaze back on her, there was a forced smile on her face and a hint of jealousy in her eyes.
“I’ll let you get going. It was nice talking to you.”
One of my realtors, a guy by the name of Tony, stopped Persia and was conversing with her.
Call me a hater or a cock blocker, but I was going over to interrupt them.
At least that was the plan before a guy named Josh came over to talk to me.
With each passing minute, more people trickled into the room.
The spacious room began to feel so crowded that I felt as if I was suffocating.
The collar of my shirt felt too tight around my neck, and I was uncomfortably hot.
I was dead in the middle of a room of professionals.
I damn sure wasn’t worried about anything popping off, so I had no clue what triggered my anxiety.
Maybe it was because every ten minutes someone was calling my name, and I was overwhelmed and overstimulated.
Being a realtor was nothing like being a drug dealer, but I still didn’t want to be perceived as weak.
Having a panic attack in the midst of at least one hundred people wouldn’t be happening.
I wasn’t sure what it was about panic attacks that locked my jaws up, but I literally didn’t have the strength to open my mouth to excuse myself.
I pulled at the collar of my shirt as I walked.
The shit felt as if it was choking me. Walking out into the hallway, I leaned against the wall and tried to calm the racing of my heart.
I wanted to go outside and get some fresh air, but it didn’t feel like I’d make it.
Out of all places for my anxiety to act up, I was annoyed that it chose that moment.
Clenching my fists together, internally, I willed myself to calm down.
I just needed to get right enough that I could make it out to my car and drive home.
Frustration had me ready to punch a hole in the wall because I couldn’t grasp why my hands were sweating and my heart was racing.
It felt as if an elephant was standing on my chest.
I couldn’t take it any longer and unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt.
“Kastian, you okay?” Persia approached me with dipped brows and eyes filled with concern.