Chapter 2
Fresh air was something Savio Meekins would never take for granted again.
He breathed in deeply with a smile on his face.
Savio had never been a nigga to walk around with a positive attitude and smiling all the time.
Ironically enough, prison changed that for him.
Most niggas went in there and came out hardened.
Savio went in cold to the world and came out thankful to be alive and ready to stay his ass on the free side of the world.
“Ol’ smilin’ ass nigga,” Twizz joked as he walked up on Savio.
“When the last time you been on a million-dollar yacht, nigga?” Savio asked as he turned to face the lil nigga who was like a brother to him.
Twizz looked out at the water and shrugged. “Never.”
“Exactly. Smile, lil nigga. I survived my five-year bid, we got fresh legal jobs, and we’re on a mothafuckin yacht. Plenty of reasons to be happy.”
Twizz cracked a grin. “Guess you right.”
He was right. Savio got lucky only getting a five-year bid after getting caught with a pound of work on him with a prior record.
When Twizz was fourteen, Savio took him under his wing.
There was a thirteen year age difference between them, so Savio looked at Twizz as a cross between a little brother and a son.
The two had been thick as thieves for a long time.
Twizz saw Savio through his bid and held things down on the outside, but that only meant he got deeper into the streets.
It had been a month since Savio got out, and his only mission was to get both himself and Twizz on the right path.
Twizz was resistant to that idea, but he really didn’t have a choice fuckin’ around with Savio.
“I’m always right, lil nigga,” Savio said as he put Twizz in a playful headlock.
“Nigga, I’m a grown ass man. Wish you would go on with that lil nigga shit,” Twizz said as he jabbed at Savio’s side.
That would never happen. Twizz might be twenty-seven now, but he was still a lil nigga to Savio and always would be, and not in a bad way. Twizz was his lil nigga. Savio raised him and taught him everything he knew. To him, lil nigga was a term of endearment.
“Yeah, aight, Tyler,” Savio joked as he released Twizz.
“Man, go ’head and keep callin’ me lil nigga. Government name is wild as fuck,” Twizz grumbled.
Savio chuckled as a hand clamped down on his shoulder. The smile on his face vanished as he turned around, ready to get active.
“Chill, man. It’s just me,” Marcellus said with his hands up in mock surrender.
Savio relaxed. “My bad, G. Prison ain’t really good for the nervous system and shit.”
They dapped up and gave each other a brotherly hug. Marcellus was his homie from way back when they lived in the Ellway Projects. They both got up out of there and went their own ways, but there was never any love lost.
When Savio was set to get out of prison, he reached out to some of his connects and got put back in touch with Marcellus, who apparently ran a multi-million-dollar security firm. Savio jumped at the chance to have some legitimate work and even finessed a job for Twizz too.
“You good here, man. Niggas know not to be on no fuck shit at my event,” Marcellus assured.
Savio knew that was a fact. Marcellus grew to be a damn legend. He was Grim’s protégée, and that nigga surpassed hood royalty. Marcellus stepped right into his shoes. Savio had to give props where props were due.
“Happy birthday, by the way. Didn’t take you to be the partying type. When we was little, you stayed out the way, so this is a surprise.”
Marcellus flicked his nose and chuckled. “Blame my damn wife. There she go right there.”
Savio’s attention shifted to a pretty ass redbone with long straight hair. She walked up to Marcellus and kissed his cheek with a smile. “There you are. I thought you might have snuck off the boat before they set sail.”
Marcellus chuckled. “I thought about it.” Savio watched their interaction with a smile on his face.
Love was something that was never really on his radar until prison sat his ass down and forced him to evaluate his life.
Settling down with a beautiful woman and maybe having a few babies really didn’t seem all that bad.
Seeing that his boy had done it made Savio feel like that could be in the cards for him too.
They were cut from the same cloth. “Baby, this is Sav. Sav, this is my wife, Cassydie. Baby, Sav is going to be Cash’s new head of security. ”
“Nice to meet you.” Savio shook Cassydie’s hand.
Cassydie sized him up with a knowing smirk. “Likewise.”
Savio nodded toward Twizz, who had stood there quietly observing. “This is my family, Tyler. He goes by Twizz. I was told he secured a job under your company as well?”
Marcellus stepped forward and firmly shook Twizz’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, bro. You’ll be guarding Cashmere’s sister, Ivoree.
I wanted to make sure y’all could stay in close contact, so you’ll pretty much be in the same house.
Cashmere is pretty low-key. She just works and goes home for the most part.
Ivoree is the same, but she goes to school instead of work.
It should be light work for you, Twizz. Sav, you got your work cut out for you, my nigga.
Cash is real feisty and don’t like any of her security.
She might be difficult, but don’t let her knock you around. ”
Savio smirked. He wasn’t the type to let anyone knock him around, so Marcellus didn’t need to worry about that.
Cassydie punched her husband on the arm. “Not too much on my bestie.”
“Yeah, okay. Your bestie makes my job real hard,” Marcellus said before he kissed the top of Cassydie’s head. “Aye, Sav. Let me holla at you for a second.”
Savio nodded and stepped to the side with Marcellus.
“Everything good?” Savio asked.
“I just want to be clear about somethin’.
The people my company does security for are powerful people.
People who do illegal shit. Your job is legal, and can’t no law touch you.
You have my word on that, but I just want to make sure you understood what you were getting into before you started.
I know your situation, and I wanted to be transparent. ”
Savio nodded in understanding. Neither of the men liked going into things without knowing, so Savio appreciated that Marcellus told him what was up.
He weighed his options. He needed this job.
He had some money saved up from before he got knocked, and Twizz made sure his home was good, but he was used to having long money and big pockets.
This job would set him up for life. Marcellus paid his men really well, especially those that landed the head of security jobs.
“You sure law can’t touch me?” Savio asked. That was really all he needed to know.
“I own the law, nigga. You good,” Marcellus said.
Savio believed him. He nodded. “The shit this Cash lady is into . . . is it harmful to people?”
Savio had only made three promises to himself when he got out of prison.
First, he wouldn’t do anything to spread harm to people anymore, like selling drugs.
Second, he wouldn’t personally dabble in anything illegal unless it was to protect himself or someone he loved. Third, he would live his best life.
Marcellus paused and thought about it. “Nah. She ain’t harming people. Maybe their pockets, but it ain’t no life or death shit.”
Savio was intrigued by this mysterious Cashmere, but he was told he’d meet her tonight, so he knew he wouldn’t be kept in the dark for long.
“Then it’s all good. Long as it don’t fuck wit’ my livelihood, I’m cool.”
“Bet. And look, there go Cashmere and Ivoree now. She look like she don’t want to be here even more than me.
” Marcellus chuckled as he left Savio’s side and walked toward a beautiful woman with a pretty round face and heart-shaped lips that had gloss on them.
There was another woman with her that looked like a younger version of her.
If he had to guess, the younger looking one was Ivoree, and the one that held his attention had to be Cashmere.
Savio stood back against the railing of the boat just as it gently pulled away from the dock.
His eyes stayed on her. She was breathtaking to him, even with her face frowned up like she had somewhere better to be.
Savio noticed the diamonds around her neck, wrists, and on her finger.
Her long hair was down and flowing and covering her ears, but he suspected she had some diamonds there too.
Marcellus hugged her while Cassydie talked animatedly to her. Ivoree clung to her sister’s eyes, but her gaze bounced around the party as if she was looking for something to get into.
The younger woman’s eyes landed on him, and she held his gaze for a moment before she looked away quickly.
She’s shy, he thought with a chuckle before his eyes landed back on Cashmere. She definitely didn’t seem shy. She exuded a certain energy that told him she was a boss.
Marcellus said something to her, and she huffed out an irritated breath before he led her toward him. Savio kept his eyes on her the entire time, and when she finally caught his gaze, her footsteps faltered, and Savio grinned. Yeah, he was definitely about to have some fun with her.