Trading In A Broken Heart (The Saint-Mercier Family Saga #7)

Prologue

Two Years Ago

I stood there watching as they placed Ricky’s casket into the ground.

Zayden was nowhere to be found, and this was his favorite cousin.

When I found out Ricky had been killed, I broke my neck to show the family my condolences.

Ricky and I weren’t close or anything, but he was the best man at our wedding, and he always showed up to anything that Zayden and I hosted.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I told Sarah and hugged her. Sarah was Ricky’s sister.

“Thank you.”

My eyes scanned my surroundings, using the instincts my brothers taught me. No one looked out of place. Normally, the killer would show up to the funeral, but this time, I didn’t think that was the case.

I followed the trail back up to the parking lot of the cemetery. “Hey, have you seen Zayden?” I questioned Carlos, Zayden’s other cousin.

“No. He hasn’t been around. I thought that was strange of him. Maybe it just hurts too bad.”

I bet.

“Okay, thanks.”

I hopped into my car and headed to Zayden’s hotel to see what the hell was going on with him.

When I got there, I went inside to the front desk to get a key to his room.

Zayden missed that funeral for a reason.

He might be up there stinking in the room and nobody noticed.

I wasn’t even gon’ lie; I just might be happy if he was dead.

That way I wouldn’t have to worry about him signing the divorce papers.

At the rate he was going, I was gon’ have to take his ass to court.

“Hey, I need to get a key to my husband’s room. Room 913.” I reached into my wallet and pulled out my ID and handed it over to her. She typed on the computer for a bit and then looked at my ID.

“Yes, ma’am,” she replied and handed the ID back to me. I stood there, looking over my shoulder as I waited for her to give me a key. “Here you go.” She flashed me a smile, and I took the key.

Taking the elevator up to his floor, I got off and pressed my ear to the door of his room.

The television was playing. I swiped the key, the door turned green, and I pushed it in.

Zayden’s room had dirty clothes all over the place.

Empty pizza boxes sat on the table and floor.

I stepped over an empty bottle of Maniac Noir and strutted toward the bedroom, just to find it empty.

The bathroom’s light was off, so I knew he wasn’t in there.

“Fucking bum,” left my lips as I stepped over to his nightstand and opened the drawer.

I found a gun lying in there. Pulling it out, I saw it matched the bullets that were removed from Wicked.

“A lot of people have these guns. Don’t overreact, Solei.

” I slid the drawer back closed, then turned around to see a mask hanging from the chair.

I closed in on it and noticed it was the exact mask the gunman used when he shot up our family dinner. “I know this bitch didn’t.”

Removing my phone from my purse, I started to call and tell Wicked the news I’d just found out, but this was something that I needed to handle on my own. I brought this fuck nigga into our lives, and I was gon’ have to be the one to remove him, no matter how much it hurt.

We brought him into our family and treated him like family.

We opened doors for so many opportunities for this nigga, just so that he could turn around and betray us.

Honestly, I didn’t even think everyone was wrong for how they treated me, because, technically, I was the snake.

If it wasn’t for me falling for a bum-ass nigga, he wouldn’t have ever been in the same rooms as us to even make the moves he was making.

Tears filled the brims of my eyes. I loved this nigga. I gave him my fucking all. I never thought he’d do something like that, but I should’ve known better. If he was willing to continue cheating on me when he knew it was hurting me, there were no lengths that he’d go to, to hurt me.

My brother, though? He was fucking with the wrong one now.

I politely sat my ass down on that bed, with my purse close to me, and waited for that fuck nigga to come back. I didn’t give a damn how long it took. I wasn’t leaving this room ’til I got my revenge.

* * *

I had dozed off waiting for Zayden to come back. I heard the door to the room shut, which woke me from my sleep. Sitting straight up in bed, I reached my hand into my purse and waited for him to enter the room.

Zayden’s face appeared, and he froze in his tracks.

“What are you doing in here?” he asked me.

“Ricky’s funeral was today.”

“I know.”

“How come you weren’t there?”

“It was too hard. I couldn’t do it.”

“I call bullshit,” I said and lifted to my feet.

Stepping to him, I pulled the gun from my purse and smacked him across the face with it. “What the hell, Solei! A nigga grieving and you in here acting a fool.” He wiped the corners of his mouth with his fingertips.

“Nigga, my arm in a sling because of you.”

His brows snapped together. “I’on know what you’re talking about.”

Pow!

I shot his ass right in the thigh, dropping him to the floor. “Please don’t insult my fucking intelligence.” I stepped over him as he held his leg.

“You shot me. You fucking shot me.”

“Damn right, I did, and I’m about to do that shit again.

” My hand tightened around the handle of the gun.

“You tried to kill my mufucking brother. You shot at my family. You could’ve killed my damn daddy.

” My body rocked as I glared down at him.

Sorry piece of shit. Pathetic excuse for a man.

“For what? Because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants?

All this shit on you. You said ’til death, right? ”

“Solei, no.”

I aimed my barrel at his forehead and released a single bullet. My body stumbled ’til my legs hit the bed, and I eased down on it. Grabbing my phone, I shot Grim a text.

Me: 911. Millionaire Suites room 913.

My body sat there in that exact spot for I didn’t know how long.

I snapped from my thoughts when I heard a knock at the door.

Getting up, I stepped over Zayden’s body and made my way to the door.

When I pulled it open, I saw Grim standing there with his locs falling onto his face.

He brushed them back, and I fell straight into his embrace.

“It was Zayden. It was all Zayden,” was the only thing I could muster.