Chapter 21
Kincaid.
“Twenty-two minutes. That’s all you have. The second you walk through the door, the timer starts. I’m watching. Twenty-two fucking minutes, Akel. If your ass is not out of there by then, I can’t do a damn thing for you.”
“I’m paying you and you’re threatening me?” I was amused by the exchange, but it was also one of the many reasons I kept him on my payroll.
“You’re paying me because I can get the job done. There’s a science to this shit. Twenty-two minutes, Akel.”
The call ended and I glanced at the building one last time before stepping out of my car and tucking my gun behind my back.
I wasn’t taking chances. The fact that he was expecting me didn’t mean I wasn’t at risk.
Once a week, this was his routine. The bar was closed, and he would come alone, tempting me to make a move.
We were similar in a lot of ways. The same way he had been following my movements, I followed his.
Eli had extended the invitation for me to get the answers I was looking for by being here, alone, once a week.
It was a risk, but one he was willing to take.
One he was sure I would also take at some point. Today was that day.
Once inside, it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. The place was dimly-lit and appeared to be frozen in time.
I could sense nothing other than the faces of those who worked there had changed in the decades that passed.
It used to belong to his father. A sentimental killer was the worst kind.
I chuckled, thinking about how it likely fucked with him that an Akel was in what he considered to be a sacred space, even though it was at his unspoken request. He wanted me here and had waited for the day I took the bait.
Eli sat with his back to the door, but I caught him watching me in the mirror on the wall behind the bar.
There was an automatic weapon within reach, but he didn’t touch it.
He wouldn’t, at least not right now. Eli wanted to talk, to tell me all his dirty little secrets, which would prove he had been manipulating things in my life.
His ego wouldn’t allow him to try to kill me until he was able to get that shit off his chest. Right now, Eli wanted to confess his sins, so I decided to grant him the opportunity, but mostly because I needed answers only he could provide.
Taking a seat at the bar, I removed my gun and placed it on the polished wood surface, ensuring it was within reach.
“Took you long enough.”
“I don’t move on anyone else’s time—especially not yours.”
He chuckled, rising from the stool that held his weight. I placed my hand on my gun, finger quickly aligning with the trigger. Regardless of what I knew, I didn’t trust this muthafucker.
Holding up a glass, which he placed next to the one he had been using, Eli smirked. “It’s not time for that just yet, but it’s coming. First, we talk. Might as well have a drink while we do. Could be a last for one of us.”
I watched as he poured enough liquor to fill the bottom of the glass and sent it my way. There were two stools between us, so moving it down the bar within my reach took a good hard shove.
“You first.” I motioned to the glass, and he grinned, filling his and tossing it back. I lifted mine and did the same but didn’t fully empty the contents.
I wouldn’t put it past this muthafucker to poison me. One can never be too careful.
“You’re a clever son of a bitch, Akel. More than I’ve given you credit for.”
He glanced across his shoulder before refilling his glass. I delivered a questionable stare, which had Eli talking again.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on a flight to Miami?”
I chuckled. “Is that what Joseph told you?”
I knew the minute Joseph found out I would be out of town, he would run to Eli, who would confirm my plans.
It was beneficial for him to keep track of me.
The illusion of me being in Miami was never about Eli.
It would give Joseph the confidence to believe he could see Nari.
Like the lovesick fool I knew him to be, he’d be sitting, waiting, actually thinking she would show.
“Joseph is fucking useless.”
A desperate man is a stupid one.
“I am curious about his role in this. The alliance doesn’t make sense.”
“He has no role. When I showed up at the club to do a little research on the girl, he just happened to be the one most eager to share. She really did a number on him.” He laughed, shaking his head.
“Dumb fuck believed anything I told him as long as I promised he could have her. He’s got a soft spot for her but doesn’t like you very much.
Didn’t take much convincing to get him to reach out to her.
Turns out she’s actually faithful, so there wasn’t much he could do for me.
He’s been trying to get her alone for months, but she didn’t bite. Stupid fuck’s gonna die for love.”
I snorted at the thought. More like a singular obsession.
“By any means necessary, I suppose.”
Eli nodded, tossing back the equivalent of another shot, a clear sign he was nervous. Maybe he was more intelligent than I had given him credit for. Or perhaps he sensed this was the end and he just needed the liquid courage to confess his sins.
“Do you believe in karma?” Eli asked, cutting his eyes at me before refilling his glass.
“In some ways, yes, but with the life I live, I’ve come to realize what most consider karma is really just the consequences of their choices. When the outcome is not favorable, it’s typically just bad fucking choices.”
Eli snorted. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you. I’m beginning to believe that fucking shit is real.”
“How so?”
“You’re married to my daughter. If her mother isn’t lying, that is. I can’t say I trust her all that much. The bitch did steal from me.”
My jaws flexed at the reference of Nari being anything other than mine.
“I still don’t follow. What does my wife have to do with karma?”
“Families are complicated. The secrets are what fucks you every time.”
I glanced at my watch.
Six minutes.
“Can we get to the fucking point?”
“All these years, I never knew where she was. Never fucking cared after a certain point, but she is the only one who ever got away. I searched for her too. Came up empty. It’s like she fell off the face of the earth, not that it mattered.
Endia was one of many, but I’m sure she’s already given you her version of our past. Here’s mine.
I fucked her. Probably shouldn’t have, but a woman like that is hard to resist. I’m sure you can relate.
Everything about that girl reminds me of her mother.
” He grinned with a twisted look in his eyes that had my finger twitching.
I refused to react because it was what he wanted.
“Endia wasn’t a woman. She was a kid that you took advantage of.”
“Mentally, maybe, but that body belonged to a grown woman. I just had to teach her what to do with it.” He shook his head as if reminiscing.
I had to control the urge to shoot the muthafucker.
“After a while, I never gave her a second thought and wouldn’t have until you married that girl.
They look so much alike that it fucked with my head some.
Had me realizing she not only got away, but she also stole from me.
I did a little digging and did the math.
That girl could really be mine. Do you know how disrespectful that is of her to have a kid—my kid—without my permission? ”
“Could be yours or not.” He claimed Nari one minute, but in his next breath, he wasn’t.
Eli shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t trust the bitch, but I can’t deny the possibility. I was a little careless in my younger years.” His eyes flashed with amusement.
“Then why make Nari believe something you don’t even believe yourself?”
“Because it was fun fucking with you.”
As I suspected, Eli didn’t give a damn about Nari being his daughter.
“You decided to play mind games with my wife just to fuck with me?”
“Initially, yes. I also knew if I made nice with her, she could hand over access to her mother. By the time I located Endia, you already had her under your protection. We could settle things now if you’d make a deal.
You let me have Endia and I promise to stay out of your way if you stay out of mine. ”
You will never get your hands on either of them, but you will be out of my way sooner than you intend.
I laughed arrogantly. “Not happening.”
“Can’t blame me for trying. Her time’s coming, though. Originally, I thought about killing her. Now, I think I might keep her around. She owes me and I’m curious to know if she’s still as sweet as she used to be. You know, some things get better with age and time.”
My eyes lowered to my wrist.
Eleven minutes.
“That’s not why I’m here. Get to the point, or I leave, and you go back to looking over your shoulder, waiting for the day I finally make good on my promise.”
“You’re an arrogant son of a bitch, Akel. Just like your father. You should have learned from his mistakes, but I’m guessing you don’t know the history between my family and yours, do you?”
“No, it was never important. All I needed to know was you and your family weren’t shit and always to keep you at arm’s length.”
He shook his head and poured another drink, immediately tossing it back. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. The history is everything. It’s what got him killed.”
My knuckles cracked as I closed my fingers into fists.
“Now, we’re getting somewhere.”
“Indeed, we are.”
The footage Kafi sent over of the day my father and Razi were shot might not have meant anything to them, but it gave me the answers I needed.
It was also hand delivered by Eli, regardless of whether they knew it.
I had a feeling they were none the wiser of the connection, but many things began to make sense for me.
I was simply missing the biggest piece of the puzzle. Why?