Epilogue
Malachai
I sat in the dark of Cooly’s secret high-rise apartment like I owned it. Nobody was supposed to know this place existed. Not even his father. But secrets don’t stay buried when I want them dug up.
Indigo was in Jamaica with Maya and the kids.
Perfect timing.
The second he stepped through the door, the red dot from my Glock’s laser sight settled right between his eyes.
Cooly froze.
Then the crazy bastard started laughing—low, unhinged, the same kind of madness that lived in my own chest.
“Bang,” I said quietly. “You’re dead.”
He shook his head, locs shifting over his shoulders, and grinned with those gold fangs.
“Malachai. The boogeyman himself.” He chuckled. “Breaking into a secured high-rise? Even I couldn’t pull that off when my father had me doing jobs. What do I owe this visit to? You here to kill me?”
I lowered the gun. The red dot disappeared.
“No. I’m not going to kill you.” My voice stayed flat. “The minute you stop calling my wife, she’ll know something’s wrong. And I refuse to let her mourn you.”
I stepped closer.
“But after you threatened me on my wedding day and said you’d make a better father for my daughter, I have this obsession with knocking those gold teeth out of your mouth.”
Cooly’s grin widened. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders.
“Then come get it.”
We crashed into each other like two devils who’d been waiting years for blood.
He was faster than I expected. A heavy hook to my ribs made pain explode through my side. I answered with an elbow to his jaw, then drove my knee into his stomach. The coffee table shattered beneath us. Glass and blood sprayed across the marble floor.
We tore into each other—blow for brutal blow. He laughed through a split lip. I slammed his head into the wall. He caught me with an uppercut that made my vision spark white.
I finally got him on the ground, my forearm crushing his throat, blood dripping from both of us onto his expensive rug.
Cooly wheezed, still smiling like a madman even as his face started turning purple.
I pressed harder.
For one perfect second, I considered ending it. Ending him. But I couldn't be selfish.
I let go.
I stood up slowly, breathing hard, blood running down my chin. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked down at him.
“I’m still going to kill you eventually,” I said.
“Yeah?” He coughed, grinning through bloodstained teeth. “If I don’t kill you first.”
I turned to leave.
“See you at Gioia’s first birthday party,” he called after me.
I stopped at the door.
Of course Indigo invited him.
Of course she did.
“I already got the invitation from Midnight,” he added, his voice smug even while bleeding.
I hated when he called her that.
Cooly noticed. His bloody smile stretched wider.
“Oh… you really hate that shit.”
I didn’t answer.
“Tell Midnight I said happy birthday to the little monster,” he rasped.
I opened the door.
“Call her Indigo,” I said coldly, without looking back.
Then I walked out into the New York night, leaving him bleeding on his own floor.
Some wars don’t end.
They just wait.