Chapter 8
Five days after the wedding…
My fist connected with the man’s jaw, sending him sprawling across the concrete floor.
The satisfying crack echoed through the warehouse, but it did nothing to ease the frustration burning in my chest. Five days of this shit.
Five days of reminding niggas why they needed to respect the chain of command, why they couldn’t just decide the new boss was soft because I wasn’t my father.
What made it worse was that I’d had to leave her right when I was ready to tell her I was on what she was on. That’s what had me ready to tear St. Louis apart with my bare hands. It was that I’d had to leave Coco. Right when we were finally getting somewhere.
Since I’d taken over, every small-time dealer and wannabe kingpin thought they could test me, see how far they could push before I pushed back.
The Castellanos had been the worst of them—moving product through territory that had been ours for fifteen years, acting like the change in leadership meant the boundaries had shifted.
They were learning the hard way that I wasn’t Legend, I was twice as ruthless when crossed. The problem was, my heart wasn’t fully in the lesson I was teaching. My mind kept drifting to cream silk pajamas and night gowns and the way she’d looked at me when I kissed her cheek at Taiwan’s wedding.
That moment had been playing on repeat in my head for days, torturing me while I handled business that required my full attention.
“I’m not a toy to share. Jealousy doesn’t suit you.”
“I’m jealous of anyone who gets your attention when I’m not around,” I’d whispered against her ear, meaning every word. “Even harmless old niggas. But you got a light in you, Coco. I wouldn’t dare snuff it out. Shine, baby.”
And I'd meant that shit. Every word. She walked into rooms and people turned toward her without knowing why. The last thing I wanted to do was dim that by keeping her locked away from the world.
But fuck, I wanted to be the one she shone the brightest for.
I sent another fist through his jaw, bone cracking from the power behind it. I loved a gun like anybody else, but flesh-to-flesh? That shit reminded a man exactly who he was dealing with. Reminded him to respect my hands, my work, my name. Niggas had me fucked up. I couldn’t get over that.
“I asked you straight, who was moving weight in territory they had no business in, and you looked me dead in my face, talking about the streets was quiet.”
“Man, Grim—”
“Shut the fuck up. Imagine my surprise when I find out you weren’t even man enough to claim your shit. Got your wife put in the dirt behind your lies. Tsk tsk.”
“I was just trying to make some extra cash.”
“A pussy like you could never be one of mine. I told Tommy not to vouch for your old ass. But here we are. Now fuck all that—I don’t want excuses. I want a name.”
I pulled the gun from behind my back and pressed it to his temple. Patience gone. Every second he stalled, I felt Coco slipping further away from trusting me.
“Name, nigga.”
He swallowed hard. “Look, look—Tommy been running his mouth about how you're doing business. About her. I'll tell you everything he said, just give me a chance to make it right.”
I looked at him for a second. Filed it.
“That can't save your life. I need a name.”
“Bones. It was Bones. Bones asked me and I—”
Two shots cut him off. His body hit the floor, plea dying with him.
I didn’t give a fuck about the reason for his betrayal.
My shipments had been getting hit left and right, outsiders moving product in my backyard, and all of it tied back to men like him—weak links who thought they could eat off my table without paying the price.
“Clean this up,” I told Taiwan, stepping over the body.
“Already on it,” he said, motioning to the crew.
Outside, I lit a blunt, the smoke curling while I tried to center myself.
This St. Louis run was supposed to be simple—remind these niggas who ran shit, handle the disrespect, get back to Coupeville by the weekend.
Instead, I was standing here distracted, thinking about my wife and how long she’d wait before the silence started eating at her.
I dialed Pops.
“Yeah?”
“Business is almost wrapped. But before I leave, Tommy and I need a conversation. Since when the fuck did Bones start getting permission to move weight in my territory?”
“I can be there by dawn. Don’t jump to conclusions, Grim.”
“I’m not. But Raylin is dead, and Bones is next. And if Tommy’s fingerprints are anywhere on this, I’m burning that bridge. I ain’t showing no love. I aint showing no mercy either.”
“Son, what else is eating at you? I can hear it in your voice.”
I exhaled smoke. “I want to do something for Coco. A real wedding this time. Ceremony, honeymoon, the whole nine. Fly her people in, make it right.”
There was a pause. “You sure about this girl, son? Sounds like you’re moving fast.”
“Nah. I ain’t moving fast enough. She deserves more than signing papers in a restaurant. I want her to know she’s mine. All the way.”
“Alright. Where were you thinking?”
“Turks. I’ll handle the details and let you know.”
“And Karyn?”
“She can come. But if she so much as breathes wrong in Coco’s direction, she’ll find her own way the fuck home.”
We said our goodbyes and disconnected. I called Malice. I hadn’t spoken to Colecion since I left the wedding and felt fucked up about it, but I’d been trying to handle business and get my head straight about what I was feeling. Still, I made time to check on her every day.
“Boss,” his voice came through clear and professional.
“How’s she doing?” I asked without preamble.
There was a pause, and I could hear him choosing his words carefully. “Pissed. But she’s keeping busy. Real busy. Working a lot.”
“Working how?”
“She’s converted the spare room into an office. She had me help her move furniture yesterday.” He said it with a weight I wasn’t expecting from him. “It’s impressive as hell, boss. She’s smart, about her business. Been running me ragged.”
An office. She’d made herself a permanent workspace in our home.
The thought made me feel like I could come out of my spiral a little.
Here I was acting like a coward, avoiding her.
But the truth was that I wanted to be done with this.
I wanted to find out who had been on some snake shit, and now that I had an idea, I was one step closer to learning who my woman was and hoping I could do a good enough job that she’d want to stay.
“I know. She gon’ leave me?” I asked with an incredulous chuckle.
I had my fucking nerve, she’d asked me for some simple shit, be home or at least communicate, and I hadn’t.
I’d been a lot of things, but someone’s man wasn’t one of them.
A bitch couldn’t do nothing but blow me down.
And now my soft ass was worried about a woman leaving me.
If she did, it would be cool because I’d stop at nothing to find her and bring her back, but I didn’t want to do all that.
“Nah, but you fucking up, and I can say that considering I’m tasked to take care of her. She got her own shit, boss. You want her to stay; she needs your presence and for someone to believe in her dreams. Not a bunch of gifts and shit.”
“Aye, nigga aight. Sound like you getting too fuckin close to my woman,” I said, cutting him off. I didn’t like that he was getting a chance to learn her, and I wasn’t.
“You a trip, nigga.”
“Whatever, I got a few more things to handle. I’ll hit you tomorrow.”
What Malice didn’t mention was the three additional security teams I’d positioned around her, teams the family didn’t know about. Let them think I’d left her unprotected. They’d learn differently if they tried anything.
I hung up and leaned against the car door, the St. Louis air thick with humidity and my own frustration.
The warehouse behind us was already catching fire, smoke beginning to curl into the night sky.
Taiwan walked out, wiping blood from his knuckles with a white rag, his wedding ring catching the streetlight.
“This shit got that fat bitch Bones written all over it,” he said, and I nodded.
“Exactly, but his time is coming to an end.” I watched the flames grow, thinking about how my uncle’s poor judgment had cost us time, money, and nearly my freedom, yet he was on my nuts about Coco. “I’m heading back soon. But I got some official shit to handle. Go home.”
I looked at him, my cousin who’d been riding with me since we were teenagers, running small jobs for my pops.
We’d left his wedding reception for this bullshit, and he’d been in the doghouse with Alicyn ever since.
His wife was familiar with this life, but that didn’t make abandoning their celebration any easier on her.
“Message is sent. They understand Grimson money ain’t to be fucked with, and a nigga can’t be my soldier yapping to police, offering my territory. Stay loyal or take a permanent nap.”
“What about Bones?”
“Go to your wife,” I said. “I got Bones, and I got Tommy.”
“This about your wife?” he asked, reading me the way he always could.
I didn’t answer, but Taiwan knew me well enough to read the silence. He’d seen how my whole demeanor changed whenever Malice called with updates, how I’d step away from shit to take his reports about her safety, her mood, what she’d been eating for dinner.
“Grim, you been different since she came around. Checking your phone and shit, calling Malice three times a day. That woman got you twisted. You want this shit a little bit.”
“She got me right,” I corrected, pushing off the car.
Twisted would mean she’d forced her way into my heart.
And if anything, I’d let her ass walk in while holding the door open for her.
Images of her flashed through my mind, the way she moved through that penthouse like a fairy sprinkling pieces of herself throughout.