Chapter 18
Shadow knocked on Kemi’s hotel door. He had been home for three days. He’d purposely made her wait because he told her not to leave. A few seconds later, the door swung open.
“Daddy!” Lil Sawyer beamed.
“Wassup, son! Daddy missed you!” He scooped him up, stepping inside their suite.
“I missed you, too!”
“Where yo’ momma?” Shadow asked, placing him on his feet.
“She in the room. She just got out the shower. You hungry? We just ordered food.” He pulled Shadow towards the couch. A few minutes later, Kemi walked out in a white cloth robe.
“Hey.”
“Wassup?” He dryly spoke back.
She walked towards the food, grabbing her plate.
She ate at the table while Shadow and Lil Sawyer watched TV and ate.
A hour later, Kemi was cleaning up around the room while Shadow tucked their son in.
Shadow stayed with him until he was sleeping.
He walked into the living room, pulling the door closed.
“Why did you wait so long to come back?”
“Because I had to be sure Worth wasn’t watching you.”
“I want him to live with me. I feel like he’ll be safer with me.”
“That’s fine, Shadow. I ain’t trying to argue.”
“Why is that because you kept him from me for five years?” He scoffed.
“Yes, plus he’s safe now.”
“I thought you wanted his plug.”
“Nah, I don’t. I couldn’t tell you, you had a son and—”
“Kemiya, that’s exactly what you should have told me. I would have protected y’all. Thank you for making sure he knows me but you wrong.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Can I have him Friday through Sunday?” She bargained.
Shadow looked at her, wondering what she was up to. “Why are you being nice?”
“Because I don’t want problems with you. I was wrong but I did what I had to do to keep my son safe. I’m sorry you missed five years but I’m not sorry for what I did.”
“I was mad at you but I didn’t press the issue ‘cause I moved on. Then when I found out about my son, I wanted to kill you. I understand you were scared but as your husband, it’s my job to protect y’all and you didn’t believe in me.”
“I did, Sawyer, I always have. Why do you think I’m here? Like you said, I could have gotten anybody to take care of it but I only fully trust you, still to this day.”
He loved Kemi. He always would but there was no picking up where they left off. She made her choice, and they were dealing with the consequences of her actions.
“When you have him, I want to know where y’all will be. Your job isn’t safe. I’d prefer if you did your weekends here.”
“That’s cool with me. I’ll start looking for a house.”
“Okay, when are you bringing him back?”
“I don’t know, Shadow. I’ll be here… at least give me a week. I just got back.” She frowned. Shadow walked into the room to check on his mini me once more.
“I’m out. Put the bolt on the door.” He headed to the door. He left with his future on his mind. He had two families to juggle. He had two wives and two sons. He hoped that they wouldn’t be the death of them.
Nautica was at his mom’s home. Niamh was staying with Ayla until he got back. Carter was stuck out of town so he was taking the jet to get her. His daughter was too young to board a jet just yet. His phone rang with a call from a number he didn’t recognize.
“Who is this?” He answered.
“I got our baby mama, nigga. Well, she’s your wife.” The caller laughed, making Nautica rush out to his car.
“You ain’t got shit to say, nigga?” The caller seethed.
“Nah. You make sure by the time I get to y’all, it ain’t a scratch on her.” Nautica hung up as he sped to the clear port. He parked his car. He hopped out to greet his pilot. He pulled out his phone, dialing Ben.
“Yo?” Ben answered.
“Nigga, your friend got Carter,” Nautica accused.
“Who, Koen? Fuck you mean he got her?”
“He was trying to make her get a DNA test. I told her dead that shit.”
“We ain’t friends. He straight or he was. I’m about to make some calls. Where was she?”
“She went back to our old crib in Vegas. Hold on, I can pull up her exact location. I put a tracker in her necklace.”
“Nigga, do my sister know you be tracking her?”
“Mind yo’ business. What me and your sister got going on is between us. I just sent you her lo.” He hung up the phone.
They were in the air in no time. He hoped by the time he landed that her brothers found her.
He took a shot to calm his nerves. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Carter to ignore Koen ‘cause it looked like it backfired. Koen was a kingpin with pull. He didn’t have his pull, but some kind of way, he had his wife.
He felt sick to the stomach. He couldn’t do nothing he was a sitting duck until his plane landed.
Four long, excruciating hours later, Nautica’s driver sped away from the clear port. His phone rang with a call from Will.”
“What you got?”
“I just found his old lady’s address.”
“Aight send it.”
“Already did.”
“Thanks.” Nautica hung up. He pulled up his app to track Carter.
He rattled off the address to his driver.
They arrived outside of the abandoned house twenty minutes later.
There were no cars outside, making him instantly fear the worst. They circled the house, parking in the alley.
Nautica pulled his ski mask down. He got out with his Glock in hand.
Thanks to his driver, he had everything he needed.
He crept through the backyard. He reached the door.
He checked the door to see if the door was unlocked.
Surprisingly, it was. He stepped inside, seeing a man standing guard with his back to him.
Nautica walked up, putting him in a headlock until he snapped his neck.
He continued through the house. A man rounded the corner.
Nautica squeezed the trigger three times, riddling his chest with bullets.
He looked behind him, pulling the trigger twice more, laying the gunman down that tried to creep up from behind.
He checked the rooms and there was no Carter.
His breathing hitched as he snatched up her necklace.
“Fuck!” He turned around after hearing the floorboards creek behind him. He aimed his gun, pulling the trigger and shot the man in the shoulder. With his gun trained on him, he walked towards him. He stomped on his face.
“Where is she?” Nautica yelled. The man laughed with a bloodied nose. Nautica crashed his gun into his skull.
“Turn over.” Nautica aimed his gun at him. The man flipped on his stomach. Nautica zip tied his arms behind his back. Then he searched him, retrieving his phone and weapons.
“Get up and walk to the back door,” Nautica demanded.
The man struggled to get up but once he was on his feet, he followed instructions.
They walked outside. Nautica’s driver popped the trunk.
Nautica forced the man inside. He hit him with the gun once more, knocking him unconscious.
He got in the car and sent Will a text. His driver pulled off as if Nautica hadn’t just forced a man in his trunk. Nautica dialed Will back.
“I just sent you the address where I found her necklace. Check the street cams and see if you can track them down,” he demanded.
“That’ll take hours.”
“Well, get started.” He hung up, squeezing his phone for dear life.