Chapter 35 Amethyst #3
I hated that Tulane had given in to Yale and let her move as freely as she was, but I also knew she was doing everything in her power to gain some control over her life.
She tore up his house the day after I dropped off her work case to the point that Tulane had called me, going off.
I laughed, not surprised by her reaction but also prepared.
I had the money deposited into his account for the repairs before we got off the phone.
For the next few weeks, she drove him crazy to the point that he spent as much time away from home as he could.
During the time he was away, she and her sisters dove into work, and that seemed to chill them out.
Now she was using my plane, car, and debit card that I’d put in her purse the last time I was at Tulane’s house to travel for work.
And I wasn’t even mad at her for it. I kept an eye on her, made sure she was safe, and she regained her passion.
“Pop, Tulane, Xayne,” I greeted them when I walked into Xayne’s office. Berkeley sat in the corner in a chair, legs crossed and a smirk on her face. “Berkeley.” I nodded at her, and she returned the gesture.
“Took you long enough to get here.” Pop stood, dapped me up, then stepped to the side so I could shake Tulane and Xayne’s hand. “How long are you here for?”
“A few days,” I answered as I sat next to him. “I’m glad y’all are here, though. I need to talk to y’all about something.”
“What’s up?” Xayne asked and sat back.
“What do y’all know about Robert Strong and his connection to the Kilmores?” I asked, looking between the three of them.
“Who told you that name?” Xayne sat forward with a mug on his face. I don’t know who put a battery in his back, but I wasn’t feeling the way he was questioning me or talking to me.
“Doesn’t matter how I know it,” I said, shaking my head. “I just need to know his connection.”
“It matters,” Xayne replied. “And no one is going to answer your question without you answering mine first.”
I looked over at Pop, whose face was twisted just like Xayne’s. They knew who this nigga was. “Pop?”
“Answer the question, Amethyst,” Pop said, shaking his head. “Who told you that name?”
“He may be the one who’s running the Kilmores,” I answered him. Pop chuckled and shook his head. “December is going to confirm it and get back to me.”
“Why do you think he’s connected to the Kilmores?” Pop asked. “And how did you even learn his name?”
I took out my phone, pulled up my emails, and showed them the picture of Robert.
“This is him, right?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“Well, he was at Grant’s funeral. When Cross realized it, she immediately got to work.
Called December, who was on the same vibe she was, and now I’m sitting here trying to figure out who this nigga is and why he’s such a fucking big deal, yet I never heard his name until today. ” I sat back and shook my head.
“If Robert is involved, then it makes sense as to how Quincy has disappeared, and no one can find him,” Xayne said. “Listen, Amethyst, if he’s involved, we need you to step back.”
“I already told Cross that I would,” I nodded. “I want Quincy, though, no questions asked. That nigga owes down, and big time. I need to bring him out of hiding.”
“Go after what’s important to him,” Berkeley suggested. I turned in my seat to look at her. “His family, money, something that will make him come out. You have to find out what it is and exploit it.”
“Nah, that nigga doesn’t care about shit,” I chuckled and shook my head. “He doesn’t give a fuck about family. Shit, his wife is dead, and he doesn’t even know it yet. And the seed his wife carried that isn’t his?” I turned around and grilled Xayne. “Where is Xaire?”
“He’s safe,” Xayne replied, mugging me. “We made sure of that.”
“Pop, did Xayne tell you that he had lunch at Citrine’s hotel the afternoon everything went down?” I asked my father as I returned Xayne’s glare. “He was having lunch with Ta’lon, Gerold, and Bentley?”
“Yeah,” my Pop answered, and I cut my eyes to him. “I knew because I set it up.”
“Why?”
“Business,” he answered. “Conversations needed to happen, shit needed to be understood.”
“Which was?”
“Not your business, Am,” he answered.
“Nah, see that’s where you’re wrong, Pop,” I said, shaking my head. “This shit is my business because it involves Yale.” I pointed to Tulane. “She might be his daughter, but she’s mine to protect.”
“You made a deal eight years ago that fucked up a lot of shit you knew nothing about, Am,” Pop said, grilling me.
“I told you back then to let me do the talking. I wasn’t saying it because I wanted to run shit.
I said it because other shit was already in motion that you knew nothing about.
The second you agreed to work for Luther, you fucked shit up. ”
“Like what?” I said, watching him closely.
“Huh? Because not one of y’all can sit here and tell me y’all wouldn’t have done the same thing if it came to protecting the woman you love.
” I sat forward and chuckled as I shook my head.
“Pop, I’ve seen how you get down behind mama.
Xayne, I’ve seen you move for Xia. Did y’all expect me to sit there like a fucking kid while y’all worked out a deal on my behalf for some shit I fucked up?
” I shook my head. “That wasn’t going to happen. ”
“I didn’t expect you to sit there and shut up.
I expected you to stand there and fucking learn,” Pop replied.
“I expected you to trust that I knew what the fuck I was doing. You were sitting in Luther’s pocket for almost eight years because you moved too fucking fast, Amethyst!
I told you that then, and I’m still standing on it now.
You moved too fast, and you fucked up shit to the point that we are just getting out of it. ”
“What shit, Pop?” I stood, ready to get this fucking secret that they were trying to bury out in the fucking open so we could move on. “Huh? What is so damn important that it’s taking so fucking long to handle?”
“The truth behind the DeCortes’ deaths,” Tulane finally said, and I looked at him like he was crazy. The DeCortes he was referring to were Krude, Judge, Mercy, Corinthians, and Psalms’ parents. The situation with Ex’s parents had happened years prior, and Cross’s parents happened years after.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I reared back, confused as hell. “The DeCortes’ deaths? The DeCortes died in a car accident years ago. Shit was random as hell.”
“That’s what the reports say, but that’s not what happened,” Tulane said, shaking his head.
“Yes, it was,” I chuckled. “All of them died but Cross’s parents. It’s why their grandparents raised them.”
“It’s not,” Tulane replied. “It’s the story Mary and Gabriel came up with. We helped pull some strings and make the story be what it was, but that’s not what happened.”
“What happened then?”
“We don’t know for sure,” Pop spoke up. “We just know it has something to do with the Kilmores and Franklins. We had shit moving and were getting close, then the accident involving you and Yale happened, and shit got out of hand with you trying to protect Yale. We decided to step back, let them think we were focused on that while we worked in the background.”
“The DeCortes died years before the shit with Luther happened. Why wait so long?”
“Mary and Gabriel asked us to, but then shit started happening, and we couldn’t wait,” Pop answered. He chuckled, then rubbed his hands over his face.
“Madea and Granddaddy asked y’all to wait?” I looked at him, and he nodded. “How? You met them through us.”
“Amethyst, I’ve known Mary and Gabriel since I was a young nigga in the streets. Same with Tulane and Xayne. We have a history that surpasses y’all. We all ran in the same circle as Luther. We were boys, made money together, had each other’s back, or so we thought.”
“What happened?” I sat down and watched my Pop closely.
“We don’t know, that’s what we were trying to find out. But every time we get close, someone dies,” Pop answered.
“And how does this tie in with Robert Strong?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out, and then Xavier disappeared,” Xayne sighed. “She was--”
“Please don’t tell me you sent your niece to your enemy’s doorstep to find out what happened to your friends,” I cut him off.
“No,” Xayne denied, but there was a part of me that didn’t believe him, especially since I knew the shit Xoey had gone through. “She was already sneaking over there, and I didn’t stop her. Xavier did what she wanted, just like Xiera.”
“Sounds like you’re blaming Xavier for her death,” I chuckled and shook my head. “Xayne, I respect you too much to think that shit right now, so please tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, and I nodded. “But I need to find out what happened to my niece and to what happened to the DeCortes.”
“And what about your sister? Xiera has been missing for some time, right? Is there a chance she had something to do with it?”
“No,” Xayne answered.
“How can you answer that with certainty?”
“Because she was the first person Xoey ever killed,” Xayne answered.