Chapter Two #2
“Come again, Ms. Barbra?” Crown’s gaze narrowed, his thick brows pulling together, catching her off guard. She hadn’t expected him to remember her name after just one encounter.
But he did.
Crown was the type who never forgot details.
Faces, names, where people stood, and how they spoke.
One meeting was more than enough for him to remember someone.
Even in the darkness that night, he recalled everything.
The old Taurus parked in her driveway, the brick of her house and its faded color, the cane she leaned on when she stood, and even the way Nivéa addressed her.
His mind filed away details automatically, whether they mattered in the moment or not.
“Well, she said he was her child’s father and that they were going out for breakfast—”
Ms. Barbra grew quiet, realizing that Nivéa had already introduced Crown to her, which meant it wouldn’t be another reason to do so.
The little old woman also realized she had not only stepped into business that wasn’t hers but that it might even be dangerous.
She replayed the moment in her head. She knew she’d seen Nivéa come out with the baby.
Knew there was a man with her, too. At the time, she’d assumed it was the same one she’d seen standing in the driveway that night.
Crown. Hell, she was old. Faces started to blur after a while.
But standing there now, really looking at him, she realized she’d been wrong.
They shared the same complexion and were both tall, and she thought Nivéa clearly had a type.
Still, the differences were obvious up close.
This man stood at least four inches taller.
Broader through the shoulders. Fresh haircut, cleaner…
sharper in a way the other hadn’t been. There was no mistaking it now.
“Did she seem fine?” Crown asked.
“Yes, she seemed just fine. Moving a little slow from what seemed like exhaustion, but good.”
“You mentioned they were with her baby daddy. Are you sure that’s what she said?” He pressed.
Ms. Barbra cleared her throat and stood up abruptly, like she needed distance from the conversation. She didn’t know anything was wrong earlier. Nivéa hadn’t looked frantic at all. Just tired, the kind of tired that comes with having a newborn. She’d spoken normally, even offered a small smile.
In Barbra’s mind, this was young folks’ business.
Niggas running in and out of a young girl’s home.
And while she could be nosy, this felt like the kind of trouble that came with heat attached.
Drama she wanted no parts of. Crown was standing there asking questions like he was the gotdamn FBI, and she hadn’t missed the aggressive edge in his body language the moment she mentioned another man.
Ms. Barbra shook her head and decided right then she wasn’t getting tangled up in Nivéa’s games.
“Alrighty,” she said with a smile, brushing her robe down. “I got bacon in the stove, baby. Don’t need that burning. You should try calling her. Have a nice day.” She shuffled back inside, her old bones aching and all.
Crown kept his expression neutral until Ms. Barbra was fully inside and the door shut behind her.
Then his face hardened. He pulled out his phone and tried Nivéa again.
But he didn’t have any luck that time either.
His grip tightened around the phone as frustration crept up his spine.
He didn’t know what the hell to think anymore.
Had her baby daddy gotten out of jail, and she’d taken him back?
The thought pissed him off. Nivéa had sounded so sure she was done with that part of her life, so confident.
But then there was the silent alarm being triggered.
That part weighed heavily on him, refusing to let his mind rest.
As Crown walked onto Nivéa’s porch and lowered himself into a chair, the sound of multiple Harleys cut through the air. He already knew who it was. Smoky pulled up in front of Nivéa’s home, parking behind him along with a few others, but only he dismounted.
“You tracked my location,” Crown said.
“Fuckin’ right. Where’s your lady? Everything good here?” Smoky questioned.
“I’m about to find out.”
Crown opened an app on his phone to a tracker Nivéa had no idea existed.
He hadn’t told her about it, not a word.
He’d slipped it onto her car quietly back when they made things official.
How the hell could he explain something like that without sounding crazy or revealing just how dangerous his life really was?
He’d already crossed a line by breaking into her home.
Telling her about the tracker would have been too much. He knew that.
Once Crown locked in with her, he went all out. He needed to know where she was at all times. Not to control her, but because his lifestyle didn’t allow blind spots. A man like him did his best to stay two steps ahead, always assuming someone would try to use what he cared about as leverage.
∞∞∞
Only about fifteen miles from her home, Nivéa sat in the passenger seat, trembling so violently she could barely steady her breathing.
Fear wrapped tightly around her more than ever, constricting her thoughts.
She felt she’d played the only card she had, and that move had damn near gotten her killed.
Whatever fight she had left was slowly leaving, burned out by terror.
She hadn’t even dared to hint to her neighbor earlier that something was wrong.
Not when Boe had been loading Nyla’s carrier into the car with a gun on him.
She wasn’t about to risk her baby’s life or Ms. Barbra’s by pulling her into it.
Staying quiet felt like the only way to keep them all safe.
Nivéa stared out the window with heavy, hopeless eyes, watching a few shoppers move in and out of the supermarket parking lot, living their lives normally.
None of them had a clue she was trapped just feet away.
She shouldn’t be there. At this time, she’d typically have Nyla dropped off at daycare, happily heading to her shop to enjoy her iced coffee while getting her day started. Life was so good without Boe in it.
But now he sat beside her like a dark cloud.
One hand gripped the steering wheel while the other rested on the gun low in his lap.
It was a cruel reminder of their reality before they headed inside the supermarket to grab money from the ATM and buy a new breast pump.
Nivéa claimed the one she’d been using had broken recently and that she needed a replacement before they relocated.
But that was a lie. She was merely trying to buy herself time…
time to build her courage again and find another way to escape.
“Aye, we gon’ go in, get what we need, and get the fuck out. You saw what happened the last time you tried me. That’s all I’mma say.” Boe said, breaking the silence as his finger curled around the trigger.
Nivéa swallowed hard as her eyes watered. When she didn’t respond, he reached over and gripped her chin, forcing her face toward him. “You hear me talkin’ to you?”
“Yes, I heard you.” She answered quietly, though her insides were screaming.
“Bet.”
Boe leaned back in the seat, scanning the parking lot.
He counted faces, ensuring there weren’t too many people around in case she tried him anyway.
He needed to know exactly what he was up against if he had to regulate and put her back in her place.
Luckily, the traffic had thinned even more.
Just a few cars were scattered across the lot. That was perfect for him.
Boe planned to drain her account piece by piece, day by day, until it was emptied.
He needed the money in hand in case something went wrong between them.
But he wasn’t foolish enough to drag Nivéa inside a bank after what had happened back at the house.
Too many eyes, too many variables. Security guards, cameras, and tellers trained to spot fear.
And hers would’ve been written all over her face. He had traumatized her.
An ATM wasn’t ideal for Boe. It would take far too long to withdraw all the money due to daily limits.
But it was the safest move for him. That’s why he stopped early at the supermarket.
He knew once the day got underway, the lots would fill up.
More people, more attention. If he waited until they reached their destination, it would be pushing afternoon.
Like the typical street nigga, Boe didn’t like moving with eyes on him.
He wished he had a bank he could just transfer the money to, but he had never believed in letting another muthafucka have access to his funds.
He glanced back at Nivéa, and for a brief second, guilt tugged at his chest. He hated that things had gone this far.
He didn’t want to be this version of himself with her.
They used to be in love…crazy in love. And all he wanted was for things to go back to how they were while he figured his shit out.
“Look, I love the fuck outta you. I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but I’m tryna do what’s best for us.
If forcing you to come with me makes me the villain in your story, then fuck it.
I’ll wear that just so nothing happens to you and my baby.
” He lied, hoping she bought it. “We gon’ get through this shit like we've gotten through everything else.”