Chapter 25 Amethyst
Chapter twenty-five
Amethyst
“If you ever pull a gun on me again, I’ll forget our history,” I said, glaring at Mirror. His cocky ass shrugged, then relaxed into his seat. A ghost of a smile pulled at his lips, and he wiped his hand over his head. “Legit Mirror. History or not, it won’t matter.”
“What would you have done if you were in my shoes?” he replied with a smirk. When I didn’t respond, he laughed. “Exactly, you’d better be glad I only pulled it and didn’t shoot your ass.”
“My nigga.” I stood and shook my head. “Play with somebody else, not me. You heard what the fuck I said.” Mirror followed my actions.
“Sit down, Amethyst,” my pops said from beside me. I called him once shit had settled, and he came immediately. After he went off on Mirror, he sat down with Xayne and Tulane to discuss what the fuck was going on.
“Sit down, Mirror,” Tulane grunted. “The man said his peace, respect that shit.”
“I ain’t gotta respect shit, TJ,” Mirror said, shaking his head. “I didn’t lie to him, and he knows it. Me not shooting him was his saving grace, and that’s only because we have history.”
“So, sit the fuck down,” Xayne said, grilling us. “The people in this room aren’t our enemies.”
“You sure about that?” Xoey said, looking between us. Her left leg bounced, and she kept rubbing her hands over her thighs. “Because right now I don’t give a damn about history.” Her dark eyes settled on me. “You killed my cousin.”
“We didn’t know she was in the car, Xoey,” I sighed.
“We didn’t know who was in the car until Grant told me.
Shit, Yale still doesn’t know. When I found out it was her, it hurt that much more because I know how you feel about Xavier.
She wasn’t just your cousin; she was like your sister.
Your first best friend, and for that, I’m always going to feel a burden of guilt. ”
“Are you sure it was her?” she asked softly. For the first time, I saw the armor around Xoey fall, and that fucked with my head and heart. I was used to seeing her strength, in control, and right now, she was seconds away from falling apart. “Grant could’ve been fucking with you.”
“I doubt it,” I said, shaking my head. “That nigga knew what he was doing when he told me.”
“Which is?” Mirror questioned.
“Putting me in an impossible situation,” I answered and shook my head. “He knew that telling me would put me in this position. Y’all would want revenge and come after Yale.”
“Why did you say it was you at first?” Tulane asked. “She’s my daughter, you know, I’d do whatever to protect her. You could’ve told me, and I would’ve handled it.”
“By going after them?” I asked, pointing to the St. Thomas’. “That’s probably what they wanted. Have us kill each other, and they don’t have to do it. That shit is easy and lazy.”
“So what’s your plan?” Xayne asked. “Because I know how your mind works. You wouldn’t have told us if you didn’t have a plan.”
“I do,” I nodded, then rubbed my hands over my face. I turned to Tulane and grilled him. “I need you to take Yale and keep her safe while I figure out who the hell Grant’s boss is.”
“Take her?” he questioned, and I nodded. “Son, Yale has no idea I’m her father. She isn’t just going to go with me when she finds out who I am.”
“I know,” I replied. “She isn’t going to have a choice, though. I’m going to make her.”
“How?” Pop asked.
“By breaking her heart,” I answered, and he lifted his brow in question. “It’s the only way I can guarantee that she’s safe while I do what I have to do.” I sat back and wiped my hands over my face. “Xayne, you are going to have to declare war on Tulane. Shoot up Yale’s business.”
“Nigga, I’m not putting my daughter’s life in jeopardy,” Tulane interjected.
“She won’t be at the office; I’ll make sure of it.”
“How?” Tulane questioned.
“She’ll be at her house getting her pictures of her mama,” I answered. I turned to Xoey. “Take her, Grant’s body will be there.”
“You got all this figured out, huh?” Xayne asked with a humorless chuckle and shook his head.
“Something like that,” I replied. “Every move you make needs to look like an attack on Tulane. Go after his other daughters too, not just Yale.”
“Clarke and Berkeley are out there,” Tulane explained.
“Round’em up,” I said, standing. “Take them home, get to know them. Let them get to know each other, I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t let them out of your sight.”
“And for the rest of us?” Mirror asked.
“Stay the fuck out of my way,” I answered him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go apologize to my girl for breaking her heart.”
“Can’t do that,” Mirror said, shaking his head. “That nigga had something to do with my sister’s death, which means he’s mine.”
“Talk to Uri about that,” I said, then turned and walked away. Mirror could go after Quincy; my focus wasn’t on him. Uri had already staked his claim, and if Mirror wanted those problems, that was on him. My focus was on who employed Grant.
“Am,” Pop called my name, but I didn’t stop moving. “Am!”
No disrespect to him, but I didn’t give a fuck about what he had to say right now. I just wanted to be under Yale. Breathe in her scent, memorize her features more than I already have, and kiss her until her taste is embedded into my system.
**
I lit the last candle and looked around the living room to make sure everything was in its place.
It was raining outside, so the sound of it hitting the house played as the day’s official soundtrack.
Everything was perfect; I’d planned it down to the smallest detail, but I still felt like shit about what I was about to do.
I needed Yale gone; it was the only way I could protect her.
The sound of her coming down the stairs pulled my attention from the candle to wait for the moment she stepped around the corner.
“Am?” she called out softly. I stood in the middle of the living room, which I’d had emptied just for this.
The floor was covered with dark blue and light purple rose petals, and what felt like a million balloons littered the ceiling.
Because I had candles around the room, I was mindful not to have the streamers long enough to cause a fire.
A neat pallet with large pillows and a plush blanket, along with food and drinks, sat in the middle of the room. “Am?”
“In here, Sunshine,” I answered. I put my hands in my pockets and took a deep breath to try to calm myself down. For the first time in I don’t know how long, I was nervous as fuck.
Yale stepped around the corner and instantly stopped when she saw what I’d done. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked around, and I smiled proudly.
“What’s this?”
“I wanted to do something for you,” I said, taking measured steps towards her. The last thing I wanted to do was bust my ass on the rose petals and fuck up the mood. When I got close enough, I took my hand out of my pocket and pulled her to me. I kissed her, then started walking backwards.
“You did this for me?” Her brow went up in surprise, and all I could do was smile at her.
She was so used to doing things for others that when someone did something for her, she was always so surprised.
Even when I did something small, she acted like it was the best thing in the world, which is why I always tried to make sure everything I did for her topped the last. I never wanted her to settle for less than what she deserved.
“It’s othing,” I laughed, then stopped walking.
“It’s going to storm all day, and I wanted to show you how much you meant to me, so I decided to have a date at home.
” Her attention went to the room, and I waited.
“Is that okay?” She nodded, and that’s when I noticed that she was crying.
I turned her face to mine and wiped her tears.
“Talk to me, Sunshine. Tell me why you’re crying. ”
“Why did we wait so long to do this?” She sniffed.
“Because it wasn’t our time,” I answered, then kissed her. “We had to go through the bad shit before we got to this part.”
I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. Yale wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her face against my chest.
“I want this forever, Am,” she softly said.
“Alright, let’s eat,” I said, pulling back. “I already know you’re hungry, and I have plans for you, so you’re going to need all your energy. Yale smiled at me and nodded. I helped her to the floor, then started pulling everything out of the small warming basket. “I made all your favorites.”
“Really?” She crossed her legs and put her hands in her lap. She looked like an excited little ass kid, and all I could do was laugh.
“Yeah,” I nodded, then started uncovering the food: steamed spicy oysters, grilled vegetables, and lemon-crusted catfish.
I wasn’t a big fan of it, but I would eat whatever put a smile on her face tonight.
Because she didn’t drink, I had her favorite fruit juice chilled and a few bottles of water.
After I finished setting everything up, I took out Yale’s first gift and set it next to her plate.
“What’s this?” she asked as she stared at the box.
“Open it and see,” I said as I ate. Yale set down her fork, wiped her hands, then picked it up. She shook it a few times, then looked up at me. “To open a gift, you have to remove the bow.”
“I know how to open a box,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I’m trying to figure out what it is and why you got it?”
“Because I love you and thought of you when I saw it,” I answered in between bites of food. I’d had her gift for almost three months; it’d been sitting in my top drawer waiting for the perfect time to give it to her.
Yale nodded, then slowly took the bow off the box, set it aside, and then opened the small white box. Inside was a key. She looked up at me, confused, and I laughed.
“Do you remember when we were in college, and you said you wanted to own a house on the beach?” I asked, and she nodded. “Well, that’s a key to your house.”