Chapter 9 #2
I walked around the island and pulled Love into my arms. “I’m sorry, baby,” I said honestly. “I thought I could fix it before it got worse. I didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t want shit with him disrupting our life. I just wanted to try to end it.”
Love grabbed my face. “Mamas…you meeting with him made that nigga think he still had a chance with you.”
That made my stomach drop because once again, I knew he was right.
Love pulled me closer and kissed me. “But it’s okay, because I’ma end this shit tonight.”
Love let go of me and pulled his phone out before I could even ask what he was about to do.
“Aye,” he said into his phone. “Send me that nigga location, now.”
Love hung up the phone, and a second later, he was getting a ding with the address. He looked at his phone, then up at me.
“Come on, ride with me.”
Love walked up the hallway to our room and was in there for a few minutes before he walked back down.
“Amir, stay in your room, baby boy. We will be back in a hot second.”
Love grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the house and to the elevator. I looked at him on the ride down, and I guess for the first time, I was meeting the side of him that he wanted to keep away.
We walked out to his car. He opened the door for me, hopped in, then pulled off fast. On the drive, I kept glancing over at him, waiting for him to say something to me, but he didn’t. Love kept his eyes on the road the whole time as he sped through traffic.
And after about twenty minutes, we pulled into a hotel parking lot. He parked, cut the car off, and finally looked at me.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
I nodded quickly.
“Then don’t judge me after this shit.”
I felt my eyes widen, but I didn’t say shit. He opened his car door, walked around, and opened mine.
Love held me close as we walked in, nodding to some people he seemed to know, then continuing to the elevator. We rode it to the fifth floor and walked to room 514, then after that, all hell broke loose.
Love kicked in the door.
The door slammed against the wall so hard that it echoed through the hallway.
Gio jumped off the bed instantly while Bully looked over from the chair near the window.
Before anybody could say shit, Love was on Gio’s ass. His fist cracked across Gio’s face so hard it turned his whole damn body sideways.
“LOVE!” I screamed, jumping back toward the hallway in shock.
But Love wasn’t hearing shit.
He grabbed Gio by his shirt and hit him again, and again, and again.
The room exploded into chaos instantly.
Lamp crashing, furniture sliding, Gio trying to swing back while stumbling over himself.
Bully finally got up, “Aye! Aye,” he yelled, but he ain’t dare to touch Love.
Love slammed Gio into the wall so hard a picture frame fell and shattered.
“You thought I was playin’ with you?” Love barked. “Why the fuck you stayin’ around for, thinkin’ she gonna come back to you?”
Gio was pissed. He swung and caught Love in the jaw, but that shit only made it worse for him.
Love rushed him harder, tackling him into a table by the TV.
Everything flipped. My heart was beating so hard I felt sick, never seeing no shit like this. Any fight in Cali that Gio was in, that nigga won.
But Love.
Love had no emotions like Gio had. He wasn’t sloppy like Gio looked. He was in control. Every punch he threw looked planned, like he already knew how it was gonna end.
Gio was still fucked up from before, so it didn’t take long before Love completely overpowered him.
Blood covered Gio’s mouth while he tried to breathe through swollen lips.
Love stopped for a second while Gio tried to get up off the ground, and a smile came over Love’s face.
Love grabbed Gio by his shirt, pulled him to the door, and threw him out into the hallway. Gio laid down on the floor, and Love sat him up, cocking his Glock in his face.
That sound alone made my stomach drop.
“You got five minutes,” Love said coldly. “Grab your shit and get the fuck outta my city.”
Gio looked up slow, breathing hard, blood still running down his face.
But his eyes weren’t on Love.
They were locked on me. I could feel my chest tighten again.
Like he was trying to talk me without words.
Love noticed that shit too, and stepped in front of me immediately and slapped that nigga across his face with his Glock one time.
“Your eyes don’t even need to look in her direction anymore. You need to look at me, nigga.”
The hallway was dead silent. Even Bully looked serious.
“You got it,” Bully said. “I’ma take him home. This shit is done.”
“It better be,” Love said as I walked over, wrapping my arm around his. “Because next time, nigga, I promise I’ma put you under the hotel.”
Love stared at Gio for another second while Bully helped him up, then he placed his Glock in the front of his pants before we headed to the elevator.
We hopped in, and Love yelled out, “Five fuckin’ minutes.” As the doors closed.
The ride downstairs was silent. My heart still hadn’t calmed down, neither had his.
Once we got back in the car, Love shut the door hard and leaned back against the seat, gripping the steering wheel.
Neither of us spoke at first, then he finally looked over at me.
“Do you look at me different now?” he asked low.
I shook my head instantly. “No, baby.”
Love studied my face for a second like he was trying to see if I was lying.
“I told you I was gonna handle it,” he muttered.
“And you did,” I said softly. “And from now on, if you say you got something, I’ma let you handle it.”
That tension in his shoulders eased a lil’ after that. We sat there quietly for a few more minutes, watching the hotel entrance.
Then, right before the five minutes hit, Bully came out, helping Gio walk.
“That’s fuckin’ right!” I yelled suddenly, pointing toward them. “Get the fuck on!”
Love looked over at me and laughed unexpectedly.
I laughed too. The adrenaline finally left my body while we watched Bully shove Gio into the passenger seat.
A second later, the car pulled off.
The nigga was GONE.
I leaned back in my seat and exhaled harder than I had in days. For the first time since Gio fucked up Love's store, I finally felt free.
“The city is yours, mamas,” Love said low. “It’s time to live it up.”