Chapter 2 Yale #2
“What do you mean, none?” I asked, then laughed humorlessly. “You’re telling me that payment is due now?”
“Payment was due the second the race ended,” he said. “I’ve been taking calls for the last thirty minutes.”
“I don’t have ten million dollars.” My debt may have been five of that ten, but I wasn’t about to let this fall on Amethyst. I was the driver; I should’ve been paying attention.
I knew the roads were slick, and I knew the car wasn’t handling how it was supposed to.
I hit the black car, which set off a chain reaction. This shit was my fault, not theirs.
“Then you’re a dead woman,” Quincy shrugged.
My eyes went to the Kilmore brothers, taking them in, knowing that this shit was on me and trying to figure out how to get out of it. I would sacrifice my life for Amethyst. I may love Grant, but my passion for Amethyst went beyond friendship. He was the love of my life.
“Who do I owe?” I asked as I squared my shoulders. I would walk into a room full of killers and lay down my life with my head held high.
“The Franklins,” Quincy answered, and my heart dropped into my ass. Of course, he was dealing with the Franklins. There was bad, then there were the Franklins. Owing them meant my death for sure.
“Fuck!” I yelled and threw my hands in the air. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I turned my rage to Quincy, who only looked amused. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He had faith in your skills,” Quincy said, chuckling. He lazily shrugged, then gave his brother a look before turning his attention back to me. “Y’all are good as dead now, though, so the answers don’t matter.”
“Geeh, fucking thanks for the support,” I said.
I mugged the brothers, then turned and walked away. I had to find Amethyst and tell him what the fuck was going on before the Franklins did.
“We can fix all this shit, you know,” Quincy taunted me. I turned around and looked at him, confused. “We can pay the debt.” He shrugged.
“But you won’t, will you?” I asked as I crossed my arms. “Because I already know the answer to that, just like you do. You wouldn’t let fifteen million go on good faith because your brother did some fucked up shit.”
“Oh, nah,” Quincy said, shaking his head. He picked up his cup from the table, drank some, then set it down. “You’ll go under our protection if you agree to marry Grant. No one will touch you if your last name is Kilmore.”
“What?” I laughed. “Are you crazy?” Grant and I had never discussed marriage, and I didn’t know if it was in our future together.
“Nah,” he said, then set forward. “Lil bro planned to propose after the race, but you see how that shit went.” Quincy shrugged and smirked. “When he asks, you agree to marry Grant.” He pointed to the door Grant had gone through. “And we will cover your debt.”
I wanted to laugh in his face, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was serious as fuck. Marrying Grant would stop the Franklins from coming after me, but that wouldn’t stop them from coming after Amethyst.
“What about Amethyst?” I asked as I crossed my arms and stared him down.
“Not my concern,” Quincy said, shaking his head. “His debt is his to pay, and if he can’t, then that’s his family’s lives until whichever Franklin is bored with killing them.”
Amethyst could go to his brother for the money, even though I knew he wouldn’t like it.
He was determined to prove to them that he could do it on his own.
I thought about going to them, but I instantly shook my head.
If Amethyst ever found out I went to his brothers for money, he’d never forgive me.
It wouldn’t matter if our lives were at risk.
“I’ll take on his debt too,” I quickly said. “I’ll marry Grant and work off the full ten million. Once I’ve paid y’all back the money, then that’s it.”
“Nah, it’s not,” Quincy countered with a smirk. “If you’re asking us to drop ten million, then you are locked in for life.”
I stared him down, hating everything about him, then turned my attention to his bitch ass brothers. They all watched us go back and forth like this shit was the best TV show they’d ever seen. All this could’ve been avoided if he’d told us the truth from the start.
My phone rang, and I looked down to see Amethyst’s number on the screen. My heart slammed against my chest as I flipped the phone open and pressed the green button to accept his call.
“Sunshine!” he yelled in a panic. “Where are you? Are you safe? Are you hurt? Tell me where you are!”
My eyes filled with tears at hearing his voice. “Am-”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to you? Fuck!” The sound of him hitting something echoed through the speaker. “Look, I don’t know what the fuck happened, but get somewhere safe if you aren’t already. I’ll find you. I swear! You hear me, Sunshine? I’ll fucking find you!”
“I’m okay, Am,” I sighed. “I’m just happy to hear your voice. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, Sunshine,” he replied. “Tell me where you are, man, I ain’t gonna be able to relax until I see you.”
“I’m at the Kilmores’,” I answered.
“I’m on the way,” he said. “I’m not too far.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Stay on the phone with me, Sunshine,” he said. “Don’t get off this fucking phone. I don’t give a fuck about shit else but getting to you.”
“I’m not hanging up.”
“Three minutes,” he said. I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Three minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Amethyst is three minutes out,” I said to Quincy. His face twisted as if he were annoyed, then he schooled his features.
Quincy nodded at me, and I lifted my brow in question, and he pointed at my phone. I pulled the phone from my ear and put it on mute.
“You have until he gets here to make your decision. The Franklins are on the way,” Quincy said.
I stepped away from the Kilmore brothers and leaned against the wall. They shared a look before all of them got up and left me in the living room by myself. The next three minutes felt like an eternity.
“I’m outside,” he announced, and I pushed off the wall and made my way to the back door. The second I saw Amethyst, those same tears from earlier came back tenfold. I pulled the door open and fell into his arms. “Aye, I got you.”
“I thought something happened to you,” I said into his chest. His arms went around my waist, and he kissed the top of my head. “I fucked up, Am.”
“Nah, man, that was me,” he said as he pulled me back to look down at me. “That shit won’t happen again.” He pulled me back to him and kissed my forehead. “That was your last drive. It ain’t happening again.”
The sound of cars approaching made Amethyst pull away from me and pushed me behind him.
I stepped to the side to see Joshua Franklin getting out of a car.
He looked around, as if unimpressed with his surroundings, before his eyes landed on us.
He barely gave Amethyst a second glance before his eyes went to me.
He licked his plump lips, smirked, then turned to say something to the man beside him.
The door opened behind us, and I watched Quincy and his brother step out of the house. My eyes met Quincy’s, and I gave him a single nod; he smiled before turning to Grant, who stepped back into the house and returned with three duffel bags. I couldn’t let anything happen to Amethyst.
“You made the right decision,” he said, low enough for only me to hear as he passed me. “Say goodbye to that nigga and be back here in the morning.”
“The fuck is going on?” Amethyst asked as he watched Quincy and Joshua talk.
“Business,” I answered softly. Amethyst turned to look at me and lifted his brow in question.
“It was already set up before all this happened.” I was lying, but it didn’t matter.
Amethyst didn’t need to know what was going on as long as he was safe.
I’d deal with the Kilmores for the rest of my life.
I already had love for Grant; being stuck in a marriage to him wouldn’t be too bad.