Chapter 32
Shadow, Nyke, Nautica, and Amari were seated across from Ryan Grandberry and his goons.
“Why you following my wife and son like you got a death wish?” Nyke grilled him. He could have done without the sit down. He didn’t plan on keeping the peace. He didn’t care what nobody had to say about it.
“Shid, ‘cause I wanted too. What you gon’ do about it?” Ryan spat.
Nautica grabbed Nyke who snatched away from him.
“Nigga what you thought we came to talk to y’all niggas?” Nyke spat.
They had met on mutual turf but it was an ambush.
Ryan looked at his cousins, who were to the right and left of them.
Nyke stood with his gun in hand. He pulled the trigger, putting a bullet in between Ryan’s eyes.
BJ, one of his men, took off towards the door since they were weaponless.
Nyke put a bullet in the back of his head while Shadow got Enrique who was to the right of him.
Shadow’s phone rang with a call from Kemi.
“I’m in the middle of something, Kemi, wassup?” Shadow answered.
“They shot me and took Akio,” she weakly spoke into the phone.
“Who did?” Shadow stood to his feet, running out the door.
“Hiroshi. I’m dying, Shadow. I’m sorry for everything. Tell my sons I love them.” The line went dead.
“Fuck!” Shadow panicked. He dialed Zaki. After giving Zaki the run down, he faced his brother-in-laws who had walked outside behind him.
“What’s up?”
“Hiroshi shot Kemi. I don’t know how bad it is but she said she’s dying. He took his son. I sent Zaki to get her. We got to go,” Shadow explained.
Once the cleaners removed the bodies, they climbed in their black trucks where they followed each other to the jet. They boarded the plane and were up in the air in no time.
Kemi laid on the floor, gasping for air.
She had been shot in the chest, thigh, and arm.
She was getting weaker and weaker. Her phone rang with a call from Promise.
She watched the phone ring. She couldn’t move any more dialing Shadow took everything out of her.
Her phone rang again. She mustered up as much strength as she could.
She hit the green button. Promise’s voice filled her ears.
“I’m about to pull up, Kemi, you better be ready. The kids are with my momma.” Promise hung up. They were supposed to be planning Shadow’s surprise birthday party together. A few minutes later, Promise walked in.
“Kemi!” She yelled after looking around at the state of the cabin. The sound of sirens could be heard approaching, giving Kemi hope. Promise rounded the corner and the look of horror washed over her face. She rushed towards Kemi.
“Oh my God, Kemi what happened?”
“Get to the kids. Make sure they’re safe.”
“Why wouldn’t they be? Who did this to you?” Promise cradled her head.
“He said if… if I didn’t kill ..” She coughed, choking on her blood.
“Just be quiet, please!” Promise demanded.
“Listen.” Kemi grabbed Promise’s hand.
“He’s going to come for the boys because I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. Go!” Everything went black. Kemi had surrendered to death.
Promise was at Kemi’s side. They had become cordial over the years. The last thing Promise wanted to see was her fighting for her life. Promise’s phone rang with a call from Shadow. She stepped into the hall to answer for him.
“Hey, baby.”
“What’s up, Wifey? I miss you. Why you sitting in there with her and she chose a nigga over our kids?” She heard the frown in his voice.
“I miss you too. She’s family, Shadow, a extension of you and your junior. I’m not turning my back on her. I can’t believe that you are, all because she told me about the boys instead of you. Maybe she forgot when she was laying on the floor bleeding out!” She yelled.
“Calm down, P. I’m not turning my back on her.
I’m pissed that she painted a target on their backs.
She knew the deal before she got in bed with that nigga.
” Promise sighed because he was right, but they were past that.
They couldn’t dwell on the what-ifs; Kemi was hurt.
Their children would want answers, so what were they supposed to say?
“Baby, I get it but we are so past that. If they are coming for my sons, they gon’ have to fucking bring it.”
“I hear you, baby. I’m almost there. I can’t believe she ain’t woke up yet. Meet me at the door in five minutes.” He hung up.
Promise sighed as she stepped back into the room. They were inside Promise and Shadow’s home. Promise needed her to awake in case someone tried to attack their home. She wouldn’t go underground without her and expect to look Lil Sawyer and Pryce in the face every day.
Her security system let her know someone was at the door.
She walked to the top of the staircase, waiting for Shadow to come in but there was a knock at the door.
She walked down the stairs to the front door.
She opened it, coming face to face with Akio.
She had never met him but Shadow had told her about him.
“Hi. I’m Akio. I want to check on Kemi and my baby.”
“Baby? She’s pregnant?” Promise smiled.
Akio didn’t respond, he peered at her.
“She told me that your father threatened that if she didn’t kill you he would kill our sons.”
“I assure you my father will no longer be a problem to anyone.”
“You sure about that?”
“I’m positive. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t certain. Kemi is a piece of work but I love her. I wouldn’t come here knowing my problems would follow me. Your family is safe.”
“If you love Kemi like I think you do, we’re your family too.
Come on.” Promise turned, allowing him to enter.
She locked the door behind him. She led him to the guest room where Kemi was.
He sighed at the sight of her. Promise stood back, watching as he scanned her with his eyes.
The muscles in his face flexed, letting her know he was upset.
“I’ll be back.” Promise pulled the door up. Shadow startled her as he bumped into her.
“Come on.” She led him to Lil Sawyer’s room. She peeped in to make sure him and Pryce were asleep before pulling Shadow in the room with her.
“Why the fuck you let that nigga in my house?”
“He loves her, Shadow. She’s pregnant with their child. He seemed like he was genuinely worried about her. I’m sorry but I couldn’t turn him away. He told me we don’t have to worry about his father anymore.”
“You believe that?”
“You go talk to him. Kemi is your wife but she’s moved on. Are you okay with that?”
“She’s not my wife so why you even saying that shit? Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”
“She is… she’s basically our wife, at this point. She’s bound to you and on most days, that pisses me off but she needs us.”
“Okay, P.” Shadow knew it was pointless to argue with her so he just agreed. He would deal with the fallout later.