Chapter 47
Fresh haircut, fresh suit, and the sight of his woman in nothing but her underwear stuffing the duffle bag with money Svyn dropped off earlier made him feel like a king, even though the clouds of grief hung over him.
“This is one million and a half. How much was his cut for the first shipment?” Reign asked, feeling his presence.
“Sixty. The rest is stashed around the city. It’s too fucking much to keep in one spot,” Markus shared.
She looked over her shoulder and examined him. “You got to get some more equity.”
Markus smirked, walked up behind her, and kissed her shoulder. “I’m supposed to be grieving, not amazed by that beautiful mind of yours. You were just going to keep that hidden away from me?”
“You came in high, semi-aggressive, and carrying three guns. I wasn’t saying shit to you about shit,” Reign spoke, laughing. “You’ve grown, though.”
“Got you to thank for that. I have a request.”
“Anything.”
“Find me some equity, I’ll make sure I’ll unload this.”
She turned to fix his tie. “I will because this time next month it’s going to be all you. You ready for that?”
“You staying?”
“You won’t let me leave,” she joked.
“Then I’m ready. It’s all good?” Markus asked in reference to the bag.
“It’s all good. I’ll see you.”
With one last parting kiss and a tap to her ass, Markus grumbled. “I’ll see you.”
True to their program, Svyn and Markus rode together to the drop spot.
There were shooters from all the crews Markus acquired tucked away around the building.
Fuego was in the car ahead of them, and Bullet was in the car behind.
As Svyn maneuvered through the city, Markus loaded and reloaded his gun. Nerves at an all-time high.
Svyn knew. He understood. His palms were clammy. This meet-up wasn’t about Javier or any of the shooters he had. It was about Brantley and the betrayal. The weight Markus wore and the fight of not slipping into who he used to be for the sake of major inconvenience.
After the fifth reload, Markus checked the safety, groaned, and closed his eyes.
“If it were anyone else, it wouldn’t fuck with me like this.
This nigga been my nigga since I was knee high.
Our blood is the same. But there’s just some shit I can’t overlook.
I won’t overlook. Moving forward, grace ain’t given freely. ”
“Understood. Everyone is in position. I got a shooter tailing Javier. He’s with B and two other men.”
Markus nodded. “After the count B drops first. Javier second. All their men, I want them dropped, too. No one goes back to The Port with a story.”
“You giving Javier a clean shot?”
“Fuck no. I’m going to pull that nigga apart layer by layer. Speechless needs that closure. All those years of abuse, that muhfucka got to suffer.”
“Got it.”
Arriving at the warehouse, Markus was escorted into the building by the men he entrusted his life with.
If they wanted to flip and take him out of the game, right now would be the time.
However, Markus was surrounded by men who trusted him.
Who watched him come up in the game and respected every move he made.
They were going to cover him with their lives because they knew one thing about Money.
He was going to take care of his people.
In the middle of the dusty warehouse, Javier stood in the center, B to his right, and another man not worth the commitment to memory to the left.
Brantley wasn’t worth the acknowledgment.
The duffle bags of money were dropped between the two groups of men, a tension filling the space.
Everyone on edge and waiting for the other to make the first move, but the temperature was controlled by Markus.
“You got my money.” Javier was the first to speak before looking around. “Where is my bitch?”
“Your bitch?” Markus questioned, tilting his head to make sure he heard correctly.
“That’s what he said. Unless you want me to go get her,” Brantley spoke, flicking the tip of his nose and sniffling.
Markus smirked. “Yeah, you go do that. She’s outside.”
Markus’ poker face was unmatched. He thought Reign was back at the house, getting ready to go to the shop. What he didn’t know was that she was parked behind the warehouse, anxious to ensure Javier was approaching his expiration date.
Brantley looked at Javier for permission to go retrieve her.
Once Javier gave him the nod of approval, Brantley turned to walk away.
What everyone failed to remember was that Markus was a quick draw.
Brantley’s arrogance was rewarded with one quick bullet in the back of his head, dropping his cocaine and unprotected sex body to the dirty ground.
The sound of the gun resounding was all the cue Markus’s men needed.
Bullets rained down on Javier’s men, dropping them left and right.
Javier, being the coward he was, ran towards the back.
Without thought, Markus and Svyn ran after him while Fuego and Bullet took the money back to the designated cars.
The plan had gone off without a hitch, but what Markus wasn’t expecting was Reign to fire a bullet an inch shy of Javier’s lungs.
“You fuckin’ useless bitch,” Javier grunted, holding his side and reaching for his gun.
Svyn fired a shot through Javier’s hand, making it impossible for him to grab it. Markus, knowing Reign needed this and Javier was neutralized, allowed her just a moment to close out the final chapter before stepping fully into who she was designed to be.
“I want you to feel everything you did to me. I want you to know what it feels like when the life leaves your body.” She spat on him and then looked up at Markus.
Without question, she knew he was going to have a fit about this when he got home, but right now, he gave his love a head nod of approval.
“Good shot, Speechless. Take this and go home. Lock up.” Markus handed his suit jacket to her and nudged her to her car. “Go.”
Reign walked away, and Markus turned his attention back to his men waiting for their next set of orders.
“Bring this fat muhfucka back in here. Put him in a chair.” Markus moved back into the building and rolled his sleeves up. Brantley needed to go immediately for the sake of keeping his composure. But Javier could take every ounce of aggression out on him and return to Reign to be restored.
Now that Javier was tied to the chair, cursing through his pain and embarrassment over his fall.
“You’re a pussy whipped ass bitch. You think that she’s not going to hop to another muhfucka higher up than you? She’s a whore. A whore you’re making a housewife. Fuckin’ fool,” Javier gnashed, spitting at Markus and missing him by a millimeter.
Markus’ eyes went dark as he glared at Brantley’s lifeless body. He held his hand out for the crowbar Svyn kept in his trunk for times like these. “Tell me the numbers. How many times did you parade her around and then treat her like a dog?”
“Too many to fuckin’ count,” Javier, too far in his arrogance, laughed. The laugh turned into a bloodcurdling scream when Markus drove the crowbar through his thigh.
“You better start counting muhfucka!” Markus urged.
Javier breathed hard, still maintaining his cockiness. “Too many to count. It took a long time to break that bitch.”
Markus yanked the crowbar from one thigh and pierced it through another. Every whimper in her sleep, every scar on her body, every second she went, afraid of the wind blowing, he was going to feel it. On top of that, every act of betrayal would all be left with Javier and the corpse around him.
Markus yanked the bloodied bar out and began to beat his body with it.
Every body, Markus had to drop for the threat of touching Reign, taking her from him, or anything else, Javier felt the assault.
His laughing turned into pleas for him to stop.
There was no stopping. If anything, Markus was thinking of more to do.
Because he didn’t have the heart to make his blood suffer.
The final act was the crowbar driving through Javier’s crotch. “So you won’t get the idea of fuckin’ your way through the afterlife. You’re going to die slow. You have all the time to count.”
Markus stepped away and looked at the men who had watched his brute. A silent warning to never betray him. Respect was gold, and fear was the currency to keep it circulating. “Light this bitch up.”