Chapter 4
Four
Cameron
Que’s tablet was still in front of me, frozen on the image of Jiro kissing Taylor outside her door. My fingers drummed once, twice against the wood before I slid it aside.
“You really thinking about touching that?” Que asked. “You know who he is.”
Before I could answer, a shadow fell across the desk. Tesh stood there, Mia balanced on her hip, sippy cup in the other hand. Her eyes locked on me like she was measuring how hard she could slap me. “You’re not seriously about to start something with him, are you?” she asked, narrowing them.
I leaned back, keeping my voice even. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“You think you’re slick, Cam. You’re not.” She shifted Mia and stepped closer. “You’re already playing with fire, and you’re acting like you can’t get burned.”
I didn’t look away from the feed. “I’m fine. I’ve got this handled, Mom.”
She laughed—no humor in it. “Going after Ethan? Fine. Rattling the police? Fine. But the yakuza?” She shook her head slow. “That’s different. The man who’s been threatening you is still out there. And the one giving the orders? She’s alive and she’s smart.”
I finally glanced at her. “You’re talking in circles.”
“No.” Her tone cut glass. “I’m telling you to get your priorities straight. Let Taylor live her life. You chose the street over her—this is the cost. Keep pushing the wrong way and she’ll learn the real reason you’re acting like this. That heartbreak will be on you.”
She kissed Mia goodnight, smoothed the blanket like she hadn’t just pulled a pin from a grenade, and left without looking back.
Que stepped out from the corner once she was gone. “She’s right. But I also know you.” He cut his eyes to me, voice low. “Does Taylor know her granny helped set up her father’s murder? That same sweet old lady’s been trying to put you in the ground ever since.”
I didn’t blink. Didn’t move. Eyes stayed glued to the monitor.
Que didn’t stop. “Sharon’s fingerprints are all over this.
Lamont. Alicia. Laurie. Ayesha—thank God Tesh lived, but she’s not out of the woods yet.
Patrice at the hospital? Targeted. Why the hell would someone rob your old nanny unless they were sending a message?
She’s coming after everyone tied to you. ”
He shook his head. “She already moved through the police—Jacqueline and Ethan’s affair?
Sharon and Jacqueline fed him intel on you.
Deuce and his crew? Reporting back to her.
She’s getting frustrated because you keep outsmarting her.
Frustration doesn’t make her quit, Cam. It makes her bolder.
It’s only a matter of time before she skips the games and goes for Taylor. ”
I turned to him, voice flat as a blade. “If she touches her, I’ll take out every single member of that family.”
Que met my stare and didn’t flinch. “Then focus on Sharon, Stephanie, Pharaoh, and the EAC. Put all that fire where it belongs. And leave Taylor the hell alone.”
I didn’t answer him. Just leaned back in my chair, eyes on the frozen frame of Jiro holding Mia, Taylor laughing like she didn’t have a care in the world. Que was right. He knew it. I knew it. Hell, anybody with sense would know it. But I’d stopped letting “sense” run the show a long time ago.
“Noted,” I said finally, the word tasting like a lie.
Because we both knew—whether she wanted me in her life or not—Taylor was never walking out of mine.