FAVOR
An ominous bank of clouds loomed outside Chester’s Chicken in Stonebridge, Kansas.
The growling of thunder from an oncoming storm cannonaded over Toni’s head as she counted her tips at the counter.
The rumbling matched the nervous pit that turned in her stomach over the last couple of hours.
Still rattled from her encounter with Fancy, she tried to keep busy but remained on edge, looking up at the door every time someone came in.
Between orders, she was in the bathroom heaving at the thought of having to go back to Onika and Urso.
She wasn’t going to give up her baby. If she had to go down swinging with everything she had, they weren’t taking her child.
Preoccupied was one way to describe her current state, counting the little tips she’d made already and adding them to the money she swiped from Bronx’s place.
Even with that, she only had about five racks.
In this world today, that wasn’t shit. She could get her a small place but would be scraping by with this job trying to maintain bills and take care of a baby.
Nervously nibbling on her bottom lip, she tucked the money into the apron pocket of her red and gray uniform.
Then, she snatched her pen and order pad, preparing herself for another table as a group of four stumbled in laughing and smelling like a brewery.
It was almost midnight, and it was already starting.
Tired, irritated, and hungry, Toni pulled herself together and let them get settled before approaching the table.
Before she could greet them, Marcie, one of the other waitresses, slid up and leaned close to her ear.
“I got them. You take table six. He asked for you specifically and slid me a fifty.” She nudged Toni toward the back of the restaurant, where a very poised man sat patiently.
From less than ten steps away, her feet suddenly had anvils planted in them.
He barely budged, and his dark, keen eyes fixated on her.
A well-groomed beard and goatee added to his handsome diamond facial structure.
Although he was in a black suit with a red silk shirt and matching pocket square, his shoulder length locs draping against his shoulders eased some of her tension.
He didn’t look mean, per se. To her, he seemed sad, which piqued her interest even more.
There was something so familiar about him that she couldn’t put a finger on.
“Welcome to Chester’s Chicken.” She finally found her voice, pausing a couple of feet from where he sat.
Suddenly she was self-conscious as hell. Between Chester’s dingy uniform, her beat up ass Nikes, and the bags under her eyes, she imagined she was a vision.
“What can I get you?” She tried to keep her attention on her pad instead of on him as she waited for him to give the order.
Canvassing her stoically, he tipped his head, both eyes narrowing intrusively on her.
“I only came here for answers. Have a seat.”
His tone was low. Even. Dangerous. A quickening shot into her lower region and stomach that she couldn’t control.
She just knew he had the type of energy to turn any woman into a mindless little slut on command.
The minute the thought entered her head, she felt guilty because she remembered that Bronx was gone.
Her mind was a trip, though, because in the same minute, she realized that he’d also been cheating on her.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know you. Are you wanting to place an order or what?”
Instead of responding verbally, he went into his waistband and set the .
45 on the table. He didn’t aim it at her or even threaten her, but she got the message.
Intertwining his fingers, he shot a calm gaze in her direction.
Taking a deep gulp, Toni drank in his confident, unbothered demeanor.
Every instinct she had screamed at her that this was about Bronx.
Looking around to make sure nobody was paying attention to them, she slowly eased into the booth across from him.
Eyes glued to the gun on the table, she trembled.
Bull drank her in carefully. The entire interaction took him off guard.
He wasn’t there to harm her. He meant that.
Instead, everything in him screamed to protect her against any and everything forged against her, and he had no idea where it came from.
“What do you want to know?” Her somber stare landed on the table.
“Tell me what happened to Bronx,” Bull instructed.
With tears flickering behind her troubled stare, she sucked in a deep breath and released it with a quivering lip.
“I don’t know what you’re looking for. I can tell you what I told Braxton.
He didn’t tell me about his business. It was something we didn’t talk about.
The only reason they got access to the money was I figured he was going to kill me anyway, and I thought it would make them leave.
They already knew what they were there for.
It wasn’t until after they shot him that they realized I was even there. ”
Bull listened, absorbing the information and allowing it to register.
When her misting eyes latched onto his, a switch flipped inside him.
He believed her. Or something in him wanted to.
Swiping his goatee, he continued to canvass her carefully while she fidgeted with her hands.
Shorty was bad, but green as fuck. He knew the type.
Given what his mother told him, she had to fend for herself.
Bronx was probably one of the only people that ever truly gave a damn about her.
“So, I know Braxton or Brenda sent you. What are you going to do to me? That bitch Fancy already tried to send me off to glory—”
“Go get your shit. Let them know this is your last day of work, and meet me out back in five minutes,” Bull carefully advised.
“What? I don’t even know you—”
“This ain’t up for debate, Antonia. Do what I said, and my name is Bull.” When he stood and draped his strong, muscular frame over her, she had no choice but to oblige.
His Phantom Killian Black cologne trapped her momentarily, sending unwelcome jolts to the treasured space between her legs.
She didn’t have time to process what he’d told her when she shot a quick glance in the direction of the diner entrance as two men in cheap suits entered and looked around.
Suddenly, there wasn’t a need for confirmation as something told her they were there for her.
Leaping to her feet, Toni quickly strutted in the direction of the employee room so she could grab her belongings and do as Bull instructed.
When she reached the back, she put the combo in her locker and rushed to gather her purse and the small duffel with the items she’d confiscated from the townhouse.
Slamming the locker shut, she listened as loud voices drew closer to the door.
Marcie had her back against the swinging door, blocking whoever was trying to break past her.
The gleam of the pistol in his hand sent Toni into blind panic.
There was no time for her to scream or cry when the raggedy metal door in the back popped open, and she was quickly snatched into the night.
The sudden downpour immediately drenched her, and she blinked every few seconds to see through the drops hitting her face.
Bull’s grip on her wrist was tight, dragging her to a nearby Chevy left running a few steps away.
Yanking the driver’s side door open, he shoved her across the front seat and hopped in behind her.
When they neared the tip of the back alleyway, he shot a quick glance left and right before yanking to the right.
A single shot pierced the back window, barely missing his head.
Smashing the gas, he sped off to his next destination.
Toni’s weary, watery gaze drifted over him while he focused on the road and gripped the steering wheel. Although leery as fuck, she didn’t get the sense that he wanted to hurt her, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Who are you? Where are you taking me?” She poked her head up to check their surroundings.
It was clear that he was leaving Stonebridge altogether as they neared the ramp to the expressway.
“Sit back and buckle up,” he ordered, never looking in her direction.
An hour and a half later, he pulled in behind an old storage unit.
She had no idea where they were. Bull got out and took his blazer off.
Using it as an umbrella, he ran toward the large metal sliding door and unlocked it with his key.
When he came back to the car, he hopped inside and shifted into drive, pulling into the dry space where there were two other cars parked.
“Where are we?” Toni queried, scoping their surroundings, heart running wild in her chest.
Bull didn’t answer, and her phone went off in her apron pocket.
It was her mother. Toni ignored all the messages she’d been sending today.
Since she hadn’t been home since the funeral, her and Urso were probably wondering where she was.
Snatching the device from her hands, he studied the screen before peering over at her.
“What are you going to do to me?” Her voice cracked in fear.
“That depends on you,” Bull responded.
“Who are you?”
She’d asked him before, but he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with any information about himself while barking orders at her.
“My name is Bull. Bronx was my little brother,” he told her, swinging his hard gaze in her direction.
The name didn’t ring any bells. She’d been with Bronx almost a year, and he’d mentioned a brother named Bezai.
Suspicious, she continued to peruse him with her sparkling eyes.
He shut her phone off and pushed the driver’s door open.
Dropping the device at his feet, he stomped it out with his large foot until it was nothing but broken pieces. Now her alarms went into full alert.
“Don’t be stupid.” Bull stood and watched her hand grip the slim metal door handle.