Chapter 23 Honor Gravehart
Honor Gravehart
I pulled into the circular driveway and cut the engine.
Other than my car, one was parked in plain view, another was tucked just before the turn onto Lucian's property.
The car in plain view belonged to Talon.
His being here really wasn't an issue for me as long as Lucian didn't force my hand.
Whoever sat watching shit posed a problem.
I stepped out with my gun already in my hand.
I screwed on the suppressor and checked the magazine.
I moved toward the back of the property and cut through the rear gate.
I circled around until I came back around to the front.
Slow. Controlled. Eyes up.
The car sat idle in the tuck. I approached from the blind side, stopping just short of the driver's door. I tapped the barrel of my gun against the window. The window rolled down, and I raised my gun the moment there was room.
"The fuck you doing out here?" I grumbled, seeing it was Kage.
"Doing a favor for Choyce," he answered, his eyes hard with disdain.
I let out a humorless chuckle.
"I said some funny?" he snarled.
"It's funny you call orders a favor." I smirked. "Choyce is your boss, nigga. You do what she says whether you want to or not."
"That might be how you move with Lucian," he calmly shot back, "but I ain't ever been nobody's bitch."
"Fuck you say?" I growled, shifting the gun to his temple.
"You heard me." He smirked.
"I did. So, what's stopping me from murkin' you right here?"
"Family business," he tossed out casually. "You're here 'cause of that shit that went down with Navy, right?"
"How the fuck you know about that?"
Choyce flashed through my mind. Maybe Navy was right.
"I make myself invisible, so niggas talk freely," he drawled, shrugging like it was nothing.
"Tell me what you know," I pressed, stepping closer.
"I know as much as you." Kage lifted his chin, the challenge silent but loud to a nigga like me.
"Nah," I chuckled low, "something tells me you know more. Get the fuck out and don't make me say it twice."
Kage stepped out as cool as ever, closing the door behind him before leaning against it like death wasn't seconds from being his reality.
"Speak," I ordered.
"On one condition."
"Nigga, you think you're in any position to negotiate with me?"
"Death doesn't scare me," he responded evenly. "And if you were gon' kill me, you would've done that shit already."
I laughed inwardly, appreciating the nerve it took to say that to my face.
"What's the condition?"
"Leave Choyce alone."
My brows pulled tight. "That's you?"
"Choyce is like my little sister. We got a mutual respect."
"Cool," I flatly responded. "But I can't leave someone alone I'm not fucking with."
"But she likes you… loves you even—"
"I ain't give her shit to like or love." I cut in, seeing where this was headed. "I don't want Choyce. I got who I want at home. Speak to her 'bout all this other dumb shit and tell me what I need to know."
Kage glared at me like he didn't want to accept my answer.
"She got blinders on right now 'cause of how she feels for you. That means I gotta be her eyes. To do that, I need to know whatever she feels is one-sided. The fall out gon' be —"
"It's one side," I gritted. "I love Navy. She's the reason I'm here," I told him.
"Ight." Kage nodded. "The niggas Lucian fucks with talk too much."
"The Italians he deals with don't say shit," I corrected him.
"It wasn't the Italians who shot at Navy," Kage replied. "Lucian couldn't go to his own with that job. Them pasta-loving muthafuckas care too much about family to green light one of their own."
"Then who?"
"Lucian reached out to someone in Crimson Falls."
"You got a name?"
"Nah, but Mitch and Troy are the niggas who took the shots."
"Good looks," I said, tucking my gun behind my back.
"If you want, I can find them for you," Kage offered.
I laughed.
"I'm not looking for them. They gon' come to me." I paused. "You helped me, so I'll return the favor. What did Choyce ask you to do?"
"Watch Talon. He's got Cherish with him."
"Ight. Wait five minutes, then pull into the driveway. He'll bring Cherish out to you."
"Bet."
Moving around Kage, I headed back toward Lucian's house. I knocked twice, then stepped back.
"Good evening, Hon—"
The door opened, and before the rest of his greeting could leave his mouth, he dropped.
His body hit the polished floor with a dull finality.
I stepped inside, nudged his feet aside, and moved down the foyer.
Small footsteps hurried toward me. I slipped my hand behind my back just as Cherish appeared.
"Honor!" she beamed.
"Wassup, how you?" I asked, shifting so her eyes wouldn't land on what laid behind me.
"Good. Me and Earl were icing the cupcakes we made."
"Oh, yeah?" I smiled down at her.
"Yup. Mommy was sad when Auntie Navy came over, and Daddy took me. Cupcakes are her favorite, so we made her some."
The fuck Navy go see Choyce for?
"Where's your dad and Nonno?" I asked.
"In his office," she said, then frowned. "Where's Earl?"
"He had to use the bathroom," I smoothly replied. "He told me to tell you to finish decorating the cupcakes, and he'd be right back."
"Okay." Cherish smiled and turned on her heels.
We walked into the kitchen together. I made sure she was settled, then headed upstairs. Lucian's office door was cracked. I pressed my back to the wall and listened.
"I know it's you." Talon's voice trembled. "I know you're trying to fucking kill me."
"I've told you more times than I'm comfortable with," Lucian calmly responded, yet his tone was still menacing. "No one who works for me is watching you."
"Then you outsourced," Talon snapped. "But I'm not dumb."
"That's where you're wrong. You are the least intelligent of all my children."
"All?" Talon scoffed. "You only have two."
"I like to think I have three." Lucian paused, then called out. "Come in, Honor."
I smirked and stepped into the room like I owned the bitch.
Talon huffed and rolled his eyes just like a bitch.
"Fuck you gon' do?" I snarled, easing my hand from behind my back. I aimed it at Talon but kept my eyes on Lucian. For a second, excitement lit his gaze, then it settled.
"Well," Lucian teased, knowing his son had no answer.
"I'm leaving," Talon spat, rising to his full height.
"Kage is out front waiting for you to bring him Cherish," I told him.
"Cherish is staying with—"
"Nigga!" I gritted, tapping the gun against his jaw. "Cherish is leaving this property with Kage. You got an issue? We can Russian Roulette this bitch. But I'm warning you, my shit is loaded and doesn't jam."
Talon's lips twitched.
"Give Cherish to Kage Talon," Lucian said mildly, "unless you'd like to take Honor up on his offer."
Talon's eyes snapped toward Lucian.
"You'd like that, huh?" Then he turned to me. "You might be his favorite, but he doesn't love anyone other than himself."
"That's the difference between you and me. I never looked to him for love," I paused, letting it sink in. "Now go get Cherish. Help her finish decorating those cupcakes. Wrap 'em up, then leave out the back. I left Lucian a gift that Cherish doesn't need to see at the front."
I turned away from Talon, eyes fixed on the window behind Lucian. Talon sucked his teeth and left the room.
"It still amazes me," Lucian mused, "how much of a woman he acts like. I tried everything to correct it. I even tried forcing him to kill, but still nothing. I thought he'd want to save his mother's life, but unfortunately, he let Navy save her."
I didn't flinch or move. He wanted a reaction and to see how much I knew about the woman I loved. He wanted to catch me off guard.
"Did you hear—"
"I heard you," I grunted, licking my lips. "The past isn't why I'm here. Whatever Navy did is done. I'm here to correct what you did."
"And what exactly did I do?"
Lucian's smugness curled into a cruel smile.
"We're better than this game you're trying to play."
"We are," Lucian smoothly agreed, leaning back in his chair. "I'll cut to the chase. I asked you to do something for me. You declined. In the spirit of retaliation, I sent a gentle warning."
"An ask gives the person an option to say no."
His smile thinned.
"Correct. But I know how you feel about demands. Now, how do you wish to move forward?"
"Move forward?" I lifted the gun. "You see this? This is the only way we're moving forward."
"Kill me, Honor. I know you want to." He leaned in just enough. "You thought about it while you watched your mother die, dreamt about it every night you slept in my basement. I could name a dozen moments where the idea crossed your mind, but we both know you'll never pull the trigger."
"I won't?" I growled, lunging across the desk and gripping his shirt. The barrel brushed his lips.
"When it's time for you to die, trust me, I'll be the nigga sending you straight to hell."
"When it's time?" Lucian laughed, crude and certain. "Do it now."
His eyes gleamed. "Send me to the hell you think I deserve, and everyone you love gets slaughtered…
your brothers, Gigi, the precious fetus that four-eyed bitch is carrying.
All of them." His voice dropped, satisfied.
"Don't worry, you'll live long enough for the suffocation to set in.
Your family, the people you love, are oxygen to you.
Without them, you can't breathe or function. "
Lucian paused, just long enough for the play to reveal itself. Four men stepped in, guns aimed, synchronized. Licking my lips, I loosened my grip. Lucian fell back into his chair, calm as a man who'd already won the move.
"I saw it," he uttered. "The first time was with your mom. No hesitation, no thought for self. Just instinct."
His fingers tapped once against the arm of his chair.
"Then I saw it again with Navy. It was the same thing. You didn't ask questions. You didn't weigh outcomes. You reacted." He smiled faintly. "That's when I understood you."