Chapter 11
—AZANI
Two weeks had passed since I took Devyn to our house.
Shit wasn’t back to how it used to be, but she let me see her.
She was timing our dates. Was I happy about it?
Nah. But I understood. I didn’t push her; I let her move at her own pace.
It got harder every time I saw her. She would dress sexier, touch me more, and kiss me when she knew how bad I wanted her.
She was outside with Savannah’s wild ass, dancing on tables and shit. Giggling in niggas’ faces, but she wasn’t tryna leave with them and didn’t let them touch her. She was living like she was single for real.
Devyn was caving my fuckin’ chest in, and she knew it.
Today, I was taking her to a museum. That’s the date she chose, so I was with it.
I put all my architecture projects on hold, and Duke and Reaper were splitting my duties as Chairman for Sector II.
If Devyn gave a time and a place, I was there.
No questions asked. The time limit for today’s date was three hours.
I found parking around the corner from the museum and walked back to wait for Devyn. That Shadow shit still had me on edge. The nigga infiltrated one of our training facilities in Amsterdam and executed four trainees and three instructors. It didn’t take us long to figure out it was an inside job.
It made me beef up Dev’s security. I didn’t let her take domestic flights; private only. I didn’t trust a soul. She was frustrated, but she knew I wasn’t bullshittin’. A few more minutes passed, and Vic’s truck pulled up. I stepped off the curb and opened the back door to let Devyn out.
When I opened it, her scent was the first thing to hit me.
Then, her pretty ass face. Her bob was back, no makeup today, but she had her lips glossed.
She had on the sunglasses I bought her while we were in Dubai and the earrings I got her for Christmas.
This short fur coat was something new, but the bag she wore was the Birkin I got her, too.
My baby sexy as shit.
And she knew it, just by the way she looked at me. We stared at each other for a few more seconds, then she smiled at me, putting her hand in mine.
“Hey, Zani,” she said softly, stepping out.
Vic chuckled, and I glanced at him, giving him that look that said, ‘Mind your business, nigga.’ He threw his hands up, still laughing.
I focused back on her, dragging my eyes all over her body. Dev was getting thicker. I didn’t know if it was because I hadn’t touched her in a minute, but she looked good as fuck.
“Hey, baby.”
Before I could say anything else, she pressed her lips against mine, wrapped her arms around me, and pulled me closer. I took a risk and slid my hands from her waist right down to her ass, then squeezed it. That mothafucka was soft and heavy in my hands. She didn’t even stop me.
When she pulled back, I didn’t let her go. She smiled all shy and shit, rubbing her gloss off my lips while I rubbed her ass. Here we were, right on the sidewalk, like nobody was around but us. She was still mine… I just hoped that I was still hers.
“I missed you,” she whispered. “I got something for you, too.”
I tilted my head, staring at her. “For me? What is it?”
“Let’s go inside and get out of the cold first,” she said, grabbing my hand and holding it tight.
I followed her up the stairs, but I watched everything and everyone around us. There was enough security, but I didn’t trust anybody more than myself. When we stepped inside, Dev pulled me closer, leaning into me.
“Can you bring your gun in here?” she whispered, looking up at me, all nervous.
I chuckled, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “I can bring whatever I want in here, baby. We not going through no metal detectors.”
Right then, the director came out. “Mr. Stone, come right this way.”
Devyn looked up at me but let me lead her right into the museum.
“Let us know if there’s anything we can do for you and Ms. Van Blair while you’re here,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand.
“I appreciate it. Thanks.”
He stepped off, leaving us alone. Dev pulled me behind her, staring up at the different paintings.
She slid her sunglasses off her face, then turned to me, smiling. “I like this one. The house… it’s gonna need some art. Do you think we can go to some shows to buy some?
“Our house?” I said, pulling her closer.
My heart was beating so fast I thought I might pass the fuck out. She really wanted to make our house a home. I ain’t know where Dev’s head was when it came to us, but now that I did, I knew I had to keep my shit together.
“Yes, our house,” she said, running her fingers through my locs.
Don’t get too cocky and don’t get ahead of yourself, nigga. Stay the course.
“Whatever you want, baby,” I murmured, kissing her forehead.
“Okay,” she whispered and stepped out of my arms.
Every part of my body was stiff. If I fucked up this time, she’d never let me back in.
But I was focused on getting her back and keeping her.
I didn’t say much the whole time we walked around the museum.
I watched her, though. How excited she got when she saw something she really liked.
How her body reacted to being around me.
Every time she leaned into me or touched me the way she used to.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling my attention away from obsessing over Dev. It was Slum. This nigga knew I was on leave, and all concerns went through Duke first, then Reaper. But when I opened the message, my heart hit the floor.
It was a picture of Devyn at one of her dance studios. The picture was taken from afar, but someone had the audacity to watch her. And the shit was recent. I dropped Dev’s hand and texted him back.
Me: Where did this shit come from?
Slum: It was sent to the headquarters. Pictures of my wife, Tallie’s, and Devyn. We gotta get a handle on this shit. Meet Tallie and me in New York in two days—4 a.m.
Me: Copy that.
My hands shook as I slid my phone back in my pocket. Not from fear, but from how bad I wanted to kill Shadow with my bare hands. I tried to control my breathing, but this shit had me hot.
“Zani… you okay?” Devyn whispered, stepping closer to me.
I couldn’t tell her no shit like this. She’d walk around every day, scared as fuck.
“Yeah, baby. It’s work,” I said, brushing my lips across hers. “Let’s keep going.”
She knew I was on edge. I could tell by the way she held my hand. But I stayed in the moment with her. Listening to her talk. Seeing her smile was the only thing to keep me calm. When we made it back to the entrance, I looked at my watch. I still had an hour left to spend with Devyn.
“We got an hour left. You wanna do something else? Or you ready to go?” I asked, pulling her into my arms.
“Ice cream.” She grinned, looking the happiest she’d been in almost two months.
“Aight, let’s go.”
When we stepped outside, Vic was already there. I brought Trey and Jamal back, and I could see them up the street. Vic’s crew was placed along the sidewalk like regular people. I wasn’t playing about Devyn’s safety. She glanced at me as we walked down the stairs but didn’t say anything.
As we walked down the sidewalk, I watched our surroundings, paranoid as fuck. If the nigga got close enough to take a picture of Dev, I knew either he was watching or he had somebody watching for him.
Once we made it to my truck, I hit the locks from afar, just in case somebody planted a bomb or any other kind of explosive.
My grip tightened on Devyn’s hand as we walked across the street.
I opened the passenger side door, and she slid inside.
Before I could walk away, she grabbed my hand, pulling me toward her, and she kissed me.
Not soft and slow, but how she usually would when she missed me.
She pecked my lips a few more times, then pulled back, staring up into my eyes.
“You’re not okay, Azani… I can feel it.”
I let out a breath and kissed her one more time. “I will be. Let me take you to get some ice cream. I’m running out of time.”
She looked at me for a few more seconds, then nodded. As we drove, she held my hand, glancing at me every few seconds because I was quiet. My mind wasn’t, though. When I finally got my hands on that nigga Shadow, I was killing that bitch.
He was a horrible ass nigga. Trafficking women.
Forced all his wives into marriage. Married his daughters off before they were sixteen.
Killing innocent fuckin’ people just because he could.
The nigga was ruthless. But I was a different animal.
Back then, I was a robot. Complete a mission, then on to the next.
Now, I had something to live and die for.
If this shit touched Devyn in any way, he had to know how dirty I would do them.
Slum and Tallie’s wives were a different breed. Just as ruthless as any man, and they could run a whole operation, wipe out a whole mob, and be back home to have dinner with their families. This wasn’t Devyn’s life. She wasn’t built for combat and missions. Whatever I had to do, I would.
When we pulled up outside the ice cream shop, I turned to Devyn, and she looked up at me with a worried expression on her face.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I said, gripping her hand. “I wasn’t supposed to let work spill over into our time.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go inside. I want some pistachio ice cream.”
Inside the ice cream parlor, Devyn sat at a table, smiling at me from across the room. Vic, Trey, and Jamal were parked outside. I guess she was finally getting used to having all of them around because she never even looked their way.
I grabbed our ice cream and sat across from her. I knew we were getting somewhere; I just didn’t want to push so much that I fucked up our progress.
“The expansion on the distillery is coming along great. The contractor you sent is amazing. He sends me regular updates. Open with communication. Where did you find him?” she asked, damn near bouncing in her seat.