Chapter Seventeen.
After being questioned for what felt like hours, Crown and his employees were finally given the go-ahead to leave the scene. However, the authorities had made it clear that his firm was still an active crime scene and would remain under investigation.
Crown wasn’t particularly worried about being arrested down the line.
With witnesses backing him, the shooters had come onto his property and opened fire first, and he and his security team had responded to an armed attack.
What bothered him was the fact his face was already known to law enforcement as the president of the Knights, and now his legitimate business had been caught in a shootout.
The lines between Ahmad Knight the businessman and Crown Knight the president were getting harder to separate. Even if it appeared he’d done nothing wrong now, Crown knew the cops were going to look closer at him. And that was the last thing he needed.
Crown drove straight home, notified Nivéa about Caresha, and they headed out.
He drove at a respectable speed considering Nyla was in the car, but he still managed to get them to the hospital quickly.
Nivéa had been hysterical the entire ride, repeatedly asking if Caresha was going to be okay and even trying to call her.
Crown and Kerri had no real answers. All Crown could do was hold her hand and offer comfort with his words.
As soon as they entered the waiting room, Nivéa rushed to the front desk, tears streaming down her face. “Hi, I’m Nivéa Knight. I’m here to see my sister, Caresha Johnson. She was brought in from a car accident.” She said, her voice trembling.
The receptionist asked a few questions before providing directions. Nivéa turned and handed Nyla to Kerri. “Hold my baby, please.”
Without hesitation, Kerri took Nyla in her arms. “I got her, baby. Go.”
Nivéa hurried toward the hallway the receptionist had pointed to, her heart throbbing.
As soon as she entered the double doors, Crown’s eyes found Danger.
He was sitting alone in one of the chairs near the wall, elbows on his knees, hands covering his face, head hanging low.
Crown walked over and took a seat next to him, keeping his voice low.
“Bro, what the fuck going on? What are they saying? Is she gon’ be alright?”
Danger slowly lifted his head and glanced toward the double doors Nivéa had just disappeared through before lowering his gaze again.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since the scene. She was stable…hurt, but stable. They won’t let me back there to find out more.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Ree won’t allow it.”
“What the fuck did you do to make her not want you near her?”
“I fucked up. We had a disagreement, and she wanted to talk about it. I didn’t. Then she wanted to go home, but it was late. I said I’d take her tomorrow.”
“Nigga, I warned you. Disagreement about what?”
Danger hesitated, knowing he couldn’t say much. Caresha had made it clear she didn’t want anyone to know her business yet.
“Bro, that shit ain’t important right now. I don’t feel like talking about all that.”
“And that’s exactly what got us in this position. Your silence. You better say something. Why the fuck did you let her leave in your whip knowing what’s going on with Preach?”
“I didn’t let her do shit. I was sleep. She didn’t tell me. She just took my shit and left.”
Crown nodded, his blood boiling. Danger being asleep didn’t ease his frustration. Crown knew his brother had a history of drama with women. He had warned him, and deep down, he assumed Danger had gotten caught doing some foul shit.
“Had you handled your business and talked to her, she wouldn’t have taken the car, and we wouldn’t be here. This some bullshit.”
“Say, shut the fuck up talking to me. I ain’t in the mood for all that preaching, dawg.”
“You got me fucked up. You think you the only one who ain’t in the mood? Neither am I. My wife is shaken and crying. I’ll knock yo’ hoe ass out that fuckin’ seat, nigga.”
“I wanna see you try that. I ain’t high today. Wassup, bitch?”
Just as Crown went to stand, Kerri quickly approached with Nyla in her arms. Their voices had risen, pissing her off. On top of that, she’d peeped the nurse calling security.
“Both of y’all shut up.” She whispered harshly.
They looked up at her, momentarily silenced.
“This is a hospital. Watch your mouths, especially around this baby. This isn’t the time or the place for y’all to go back and forth.”
Danger looked away first, dropping his head.
Crown exhaled deeply through his nose, rose from his chair, and went to see if he could join Nivéa.
But the nurse told him that, due to the COVID restrictions still being enforced, only two people could go back at a time.
Caresha’s mother had already been contacted and was there, too.
When Crown turned away from the desk, security was standing behind him, ready to approach. Crown’s large frame walked right past him, his broad shoulder bumping into his. He didn’t even give the man a chance to speak.
“Fuck outta my face, nigga, or you gon’ have a real problem fasho.”
∞∞∞
Nivéa’s leg shook beneath the chair, and her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap that she thought she might break a nail.
Caresha had just finished telling her how she’d been sitting at a red light when someone opened fire on Danger’s car.
She managed to drive off, but they chased her, shooting until she lost control.
Caresha also confided in Nivéa what she had left out during the police questioning…
that she believed she had been followed.
Whoever did this had probably mistaken her for Danger when she pulled out of his garage.
Caresha knew that the tint on his Hellcat was so dark that there was no way the shooters could’ve seen who was behind the wheel.
That scared the hell out of Nivéa. Almost as much as seeing the bruises, cuts, scrapes, and gashes covering her best friend’s face and arms. The physical injuries were only part of it.
She could also tell her girl was mentally shaken as well, and she didn’t blame her.
She understood that being trapped inside that car while bullets flew would haunt her long after the wounds healed.
“Sis,” Nivéa called softly, taking a deep breath. “I am so sorry this happened to you. I’m glad you made it. If I would’ve lost you, girl…my life would’ve been over.”
Caresha nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“It’s okay. I…I’m okay, sis. Scared as hell. Hurt, even. But I’m okay.”
Nivéa stared into Caresha’s face, fighting back another wave of tears as she reached over and gripped her hand.
“Why did you leave in his car? What was going on?”
“We got into it. I wanted to go home, but he wouldn’t take me then. So, I just took his car myself.”
A tear slipped from Nivéa’s eye. “You should’ve called me. You know I would’ve come.”
“I didn’t want to involve you since it was so late, especially with everything going on.
But that… everything… should’ve stopped me from taking his damn car, too.
I sat up all night thinking about how I didn’t want to be there and eventually just said fuck it.
But I could’ve waited a few more hours. I’d already waited that long.
My God, that was stupid of me. You know how I get when I’m mad, though. ”
More tears fell from Nivéa’s eyes.
“It’s not stupid. I get it. But why were y’all mad at one another? I had just spoken with you, and y’all were good. I don’t get it.”
Caresha bit down on her bottom lip and looked down at her hands, slowly twisting her fingers together.
After a moment, she glanced toward her mama sitting quietly in the corner, listening with a sympathetic but concerned expression.
Carla hadn’t said much since Nivéa arrived, but she hadn’t missed a thing either.
Nivéa caught the look and understood. “Well, never mind that,” she said softly. “That doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that you’re okay.”
“Now, wait a minute. Let’s not let what’s important get lost in the conversation.” Carla stood and walked over, gently caressing Caresha’s scalp. The worry in her eyes was potent.
“This was crazy, baby. Of course you shouldn’t just take somebody’s car without their permission. I do not agree with that at all. However, you should be able to ride in or drive your man’s car without the risk of getting shot at. You could’ve died.”
“Mama—”
“No, I’m still talking. Whatever is going on between you and him, I hope it’s over with.
The police questioning you, asking if you knew whether he had enemies who would want to hurt you or him, is a damn red flag.
You need to let this be an eye-opener, baby.
I know you’re grown and will make your own decisions.
But being grown doesn’t mean I stop worrying about you. ”
Caresha’s lips trembled as she nodded. “I…I hear you, mama.”
Carla rubbed her shoulder as she focused on Nivéa.
“And Nivéa, baby, I know Crown is your husband now. But you need to be very careful as well. Your mama would freak out and tell you the same damn thing if she were here. But she’s not, so I have to be the one to say it.
I know you love him, and I thought he was a fine young man when I met him at your reception.
But now...I just don’t know. I was young once, too.
Hanging out in these streets. And I know how things go down in that bike world.
Can’t nobody tell me this didn’t happen because of them.
I love you and Reesh very much and want nothing but the best for y’all. Please...be careful.”
“I will, Mama. But my husband is a fine man…a very good man. Don’t let what happened today confuse you about his character.” Nivéa replied, her devotion to Crown evident even in the midst of her distress.
Without knowing every detail of how this all started, she could understand why Carla felt the way she did. However, she was going to stand up for her husband in public, though she was worried deep down, too.
If Nivéa was being honest with herself, she was more frightened now.
What happened to Caresha could have very well happened to her…
or could happen to her. She had a husband whose life came with danger.
For the second time, the reality of that settled heavily in her chest. She had a four-month-old daughter asleep in Kerri’s arms and another child on the way.
She understood that all of this had started because of Boe, but what about the crime she had witnessed at the Knights’ clubhouse?
Crown had killed another club member. That had nothing to do with Boe.
When they decided to pick up where they had left off, Nivéa had convinced herself that what Crown did in the streets didn’t matter.
What mattered was how Ahmad treated her, how he loved her, how he protected her, how he was with their family.
She had separated the man she loved from the life he lived, telling herself that as long as that life didn’t spill over into theirs, she could live with it. But it had.
Sitting beside Caresha’s hospital bed, watching her covered in cuts and bruises, Nivéa was back to being honest with herself…being honest like she had been when she’d walked away from Crown the first time.
Had she walked away from one chaotic situation only to step into another? The question settled heavily in her mind as she gripped her best friend’s hand. But on the outside, she stood strong, holding Crown down.
Carla lifted her hands in the air as if to say, fine. She walked away. There was nothing more she could say. At the end of the day, Nivéa wasn’t her child.