11. Fontaine Jackson
I braced myself against the sink, heart still pounding like I’d just run a hundred-meter dash.
“I love you.”
I hadn’t meant to say it, but I was so caught up—so drunk off her—that it just slipped.
“Nigga, what the hell are you doing?” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. This was a royal fuck up. Even if she called herself feeling safe with me, Nairobi didn’t believe in soft landings. Deep down, she thought every good thing that came her way had an expiration date.
Saying those three words wasn’t part of the plan—hell, I didn’t have one—but I knew this could send her running again once this mess with her pops was over.
I exhaled hard, pushed off the sink, and headed back into the bedroom. She was already curled up on her side of the bed in one of my t-shirts. She didn’t look over at me or say anything when I came in. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not.
I got into bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She didn’t tense up like I expected her to, just moved closer like she needed physical contact as much as I did. I kissed the back of her neck, but I wasn’t about to bring up what I’d said.
“So you gonna tell me how the meeting went?” I asked.
She sighed and rolled onto her back. “Sterling offered me to them as collateral. They want me to work for them in exchange for putting the money back into the accounts. It was never about the debt. It was about getting me.”
“Shit.”
“These people know everything, Bear. They had pictures of you, your sister, your nephew. Of Cash and ‘em too.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, “They let me know they knew I was watching.”
She turned her head toward me. “I know.”
I frowned, propping myself up on my elbow. “What you mean, you know?”
“My contact mentioned something about you sniffing around. Figured that meant you were close by. How’d you find out about the meeting? They switched the location last minute.”
“I didn’t,” I admitted. “I went to Sanctum and posted up in the commuter lot across the street.” I paused, clearing my throat. “I had my nephew with me.”
Her eyes widened. “You what?”
“Drea was stuck at work, and Gunnar’s daycare closed early. I had to pick him up. I brought him some McDonald’s, he was chillin’. We weren’t gonna stay but a minute, but they let off a warning shot.”
“How could you be so reckless?” She sat up and shoved me in the chest. “He’s six, Fontaine. That’s your sister’s baby!”
“I know how to take care of mine, Nai,” I shot back. “The truck’s bulletproof, I wouldn’t have had him with me if I thought there was a legit threat.”
“But there was! They shot at you.”
“If they wanted to kill me, they would’ve, whether Gunnar was in the car or not. I got the message and got the fuck out of there. He didn’t even hear it—too busy eating nuggets and watching cartoons on his tablet.”
She glared at me, breathing heavily. “You should’ve left it alone. I would’ve called you at some point. Or you’d pull your stalker shit and pop up like you always do. But don’t drag your family into this. You know better.”
I saw the guilt and fear swirling in her eyes.
“I know it looks bad?—”
“It is bad,” she snapped, cutting me off.
“This isn’t some local crew shit, Fontaine.
They switched the location because they knew you’ve been tracking me.
These people don’t fuck around—they’re methodical.
And if they know who you are, they know what you can do, which means they’re already ahead of you. ”
I nodded, rubbing my jaw. She was right. It was a stupid move. I was running off emotions, which was never a good look.
“I fucked up,” I said. “I’ll take that shit on the chin. But I needed to know you were good.”
She stared at me for a long minute. I could see the wheels turning in her head like she wanted to keep arguing but her eyes told a different story. The storm behind them had settled some.
“You’re a dumbass,” she muttered.
I huffed, sinking back into the pillows, and looped my arm around her again.
“Wasn’t about to have you walk in the building with no one looking out for you,” I murmured. “If I wasn’t dealing with Gunnar, I would’ve figured out about the location switch up.”
“You’re gonna do what you want, no matter what I say. But don’t ever bring your nephew into this again. I mean it,” she said, pinching me. “I’ll shoot you and you’ll have to explain to your sister how you’re the moron that put her son in danger.”
I chuckled and ran my hand up her thigh. “You already know how I’m coming behind you, mama.”
She didn’t answer, just hummed and nuzzled against me. She wasn’t pushing me away—I wasn’t sure if that meant we were finally turning a corner or she was baiting me before she bailed again.
“We got a problem,” I said as I stepped into the farmhouse.
Cash glanced up while rolling up his sleeves. “Bigger than this dickhead?” He nodded toward the man tied to the chair in the middle of the room.
I leaned against a crate near Slim and glanced at Bruno Conklin.
His spray-tanned face was busted up—one eye swollen shut, blood crusted on his chin.
He was breathing shallowly through his nose with a dirty rag stuffed in his mouth.
This shit should’ve been handled weeks ago, but Cash had been too caught up in shopping for the baby with Jasmine to finish the job.
Jelani offered to take care of it, but Cash gave Bruno one last opportunity to run him his money.
White men like him always thought they were bigger than the program. But now he was about to pull Money Banks out of retirement.
“The Order knows who we are.”
Jelani punched Bruno in the ribs. “Nigga, that’s not news. We got hella motion in the city—everybody knows who we are.”
Bruno let out a muffled whine through the gag, twisting in pain in the chair.
“This is different,” I said, shaking my head. “They’ve been watching. They got pictures of you and Monica. Slim. My sister, my nephew. Jasmine. Cash—everybody.”
That made Cash pause. His jaw ticked as he walked over to a table and picked up a pair of latex gloves. He put them on like a surgeon getting ready to operate.
“When’d you find this out?”
“Nai told me last night.” I skipped the part about having Gunnar with me—didn’t need another lecture about that. “They want her to work for them and pay off her pops’ debts. They’re holding her relationships with us over her head to keep her compliant.”
Bruno started thrashing in the chair like he was about to piss himself.
Cash cut his eyes at him. “I think this man wanna say something.”
Slim stepped over and yanked the gag down.
“I can help—” Bruno gasped. “I have some connections in the Order.”
I crossed my arms. “How’s that supposed to help us?”
“I’ve been setting up dummy orgs for them for years,” he wheezed. You boys don’t know how deep this shit goes.”
I exchanged a look with Cash, Jelani, then Slim.
“The Order has their hand in everything—gambling, drugs, trafficking. What if I can get you names?” Bruno said shakily, sweat beaded on his forehead.
Cash rubbed his jaw. “Nuh uh. I want the four hundred bands you owe me. Matter fact—make it five. I want interest on my shit. Baby girl gon’ need a college fund.”
Slim snorted. “This nigga.”
“Yes, yes, I can get it,” Bruno said, nodding like a bobble head. “The money, names, whatever you want, Cash. I just need?—”
“Time,” Cash finished for him. “Always fucking time with you, Bruno.”
He turned to Jelani. “Get the sledgehammer.”
“Wait—wait!” Bruno’s eyes went wide. “I’m trying to help!”
“Oh, we lettin’ you help,” Jelani grinned, eyes wild as he grabbed the hammer off the table. “But you still gotta pay for being a disrespectful, scammin’ motherfucker.”
CRACK.
Jelani brought that thing down like he was wielding Thor’s hammer, snapping Bruno’s arm like a drumstick. His whole body seized against the ropes and his face turned a deep beet red as he let out an ugly, gut-wrenching scream.
Cash crouched down with a bored look on his face, while Bruno sobbed through clenched teeth.
“Consider that your last warning,” he said coolly. “Three days, Bruno. I want names and my fucking money. You stall or try and run?” he patted Bruno’s tear-streaked face. “You’ll wish I just put a bullet in your head.”
Bruno whimpered and stared down at the mangled mess of his arm.
Cash stood. “Tick tock, bitch.”
Cash had Slim dump Bruno at Peachtree Memorial and told one of the young boys to keep eyes on him for the time being.
We were too wired to go home, so we headed to the Emerald Lounge.
“How worried I need to be?” he asked as his foot tapped.
“These folks different, bruh,” I said. “This is bigger than anything we’ve ever dealt with.”
We’d been doing this street shit for almost twenty years. We’ve handled the petty street wars, even some cartel shit, but the Order was a different beast entirely. This was an organization with international reach. As much as I had confidence in BC, this wasn’t some shit we could face on our own.
He let out a breath. “I can’t keep Jas locked in the crib. She already hates having a security detail. I gotta protect her, but how the fuck you fight a ghost?”
“I don’t even think it’s like that. Not yet at least. My gut says this is about control—they’re just using us as leverage to make sure she cooperates.”
“I was tryna do this shit the right way,” he muttered. “Got my wife, bowed out, handed the reins to Jelani. Finally got the family I wanted with baby girl on the way, and now your woman shows up with a pile of bullshit.”
I took a long sip of my drink and didn’t say anything at first. I understood where he was coming from. You try to find peace, and something always crawls out from the shadows to test you.
“She didn't ask for this,” I said finally. “Her weak-ass father threw her to the wolves instead of having his shit in order. That’s not her fault.”
Cash shook his head and swirled the ice in his glass. “Really can’t stand a nigga who leaves a woman to clean up the mess he made.”
“And you know Nai gon’ try and carry all this shit on her back, even if it breaks her.” I ran a hand over my head. “I’m not gonna let her stubborn ass do it alone.”
“So how you finna handle it?”
“I’ma start with what Bruno gives me. If it’s legit, I’m gonna follow the money and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. There’s gotta be some shit in there they don’t want getting out.”
“You tryna blackmail them niggas?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I gave him a wry smile. “I’m tryna find their weakness. Something that’ll either make ‘em ease up or let her work for them on her own terms.”
He stared at me. “You think you can pull that off?”
“You forgot I hacked the DoD in undergrad for fun. It’s been a minute since I had a real challenge.” I rolled my neck and cracked my knuckles.
Cash chuckled dryly. “Ol’ hacker-ass nigga.”