Chapter 39 HEIR
HEIR
After Maja opened her gifts, I decided that it was time for me to skedaddle.
The highlight of the night was witnessing Von propose to Maja.
Since, Kody had been on my mind heavily.
I carried his baby now, and his little boy or girl wasn’t playing fair.
My bladder was screaming and so were my feet.
I’d partied until my voice was nearly gone, and all to celebrate my sister and best friend.
She caught me sneaking off, blew me a kiss, then waved.
Her ring nearly blinded me. Beaming as bright as she was, I blew her a kiss and waved back.
“Leaving?” Shyah questioned.
“And if she is? You ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Lewis told Shyah. She glared hard at him, but that didn’t faze him. “That look is gon’ get you fucked up.” He leaned in to kiss her neck. Just like that, Shyah giggled and blushed.
Chuckling, I kissed my girl’s forehead and told her, “Stop giving Lewis a hard time.”
She was back to glaring, this time at me. “My ring finger is bare, boo.”
Lewis mugged her. “‘Cause you said you wasn’t ready for all that.”
It was my turn to glare at Shyah. “What?”
Sheepishly, she rolled her eyes.
“Shyah!” I hissed.
“Okay, okay! Damn, y’all ain’t gotta gang up on me,” she stated.
“Nah, Heir is gon’ beat yo’ ass if you don’t stop actin’ like I’m not the one for you,” Lewis warned her.
Shyah and I burst out laughing. She tugged his beard and brought him closer for a kiss. “You are the one for me, Lewis,” she told him.
“Aww.” I could shed a tear for them, but they both looked at me like I was interrupting their moment.
“Okay… Bye, then!” I waved at them and switched off to make my exit.
Security followed me outside and got me safely to the luxury sedan waiting for me.
Dex opened the door for me, then closed it behind me.
I buckled my seat belt, then retrieved my phone from my clutch.
Hopefully, Kody wasn’t still handling business.
I missed him like crazy and wanted to hear his voice.
The ease with which I called him now compared to when we first started talking should be studied.
That man had me wrapped around his fingers.
“‘Sup, my love?” Kody answered.
“Hey, baby.” I smiled and blushed like I wasn’t used to him talking to me this way. “I’m leaving the party and headed home.”
“Aight. I’m hoppin’ on the plane now. I’ll be to you, shortly.”
Giddy, I said, “Okay. Can’t wait to hug you.”
He chuckled. “That’s it? I thought you’d be ready for me to stare at you or some shit.”
“That too.”
“‘Cause you know I love doin’ that, right?”
“Right.” My smile grew some more. It was crazy how much I missed my man.
“I miss you. You miss me?” he questioned.
“Yes,” I assured him. “I miss you like crazy.”
“I miss you too fuckin’ much, Heir,” he reiterated.
I snickered and said, “Show me how much when you get here.”
“Bet,” he replied. “I’ll call you when I land.”
“Okay, bye.” Hanging up, I wanted to squeal in delight.
To think, falling in love wasn’t something I thought would be in the cards for me.
In the months since meeting Kody, I’d learned that I couldn’t make everyone pay for my father and brother’s mistakes.
I hated how my mom carried the guilt of her husband and son being traitors, and yet, I carried some of the guilt too.
My phone rang, briefly shattering the gleeful mood I was in. Seeing Cooley’s name, I chuckled.
“Hey, Poppa,” I answered with a singing tone. Music blasted in the background, letting me know that Maja’s party hadn’t slowed down in the least.
“You left early, and I noticed you didn’t have a single drop of liquor tonight. You good, baby?” he questioned. I had to laugh. He noticed every damn thing.
“If you must know,” I dragged out, “I’m pregnant.
” Saying those words should’ve caused me to stroke out.
Instead, I felt…free. Maja was the only one who knew that I was pregnant.
I couldn’t wait for Kody to return home so that we could celebrate the news.
The rest of my family had to wait until he found out first.
“Wait,” Cooley stated, “you can’t just throw that shit at me, lil’ baby.” He chuckled nervously, and I joined him.
“I know, I know. The woman who swore off having children, is pregnant. Crazy, right?” Amused, I shook my head at the way my life had taken such a sharp turn.
“Actually, it’s not crazy. I love this for you and even Kody. Does he know?”
“No,” I informed him. “No one knows except Maja. Which means you better keep it a secret.”
Cooley blew out a deep breath, then nervously laughed. “That’s a heavy request, but I got you. I’m proud of you, baby.”
This… This was what a father was supposed to be like. Just like Cooley. I noticed things he did for me that my own father never did. Cooley walked it like he talked it.
“Get some rest. We should be leaving here soon,” he said.
“Okay. Don’t let Mama go too crazy.”
He chuckled. “I like it when she’s like that.”
“Eww!” I joked in disgust.
He laughed harder. “Mind ya business then.”
Cackling, I hung up with Poppa and shook my head. He was so crazy about my mama, and I loved that for them.
“Don’t you repeat my secret either,” I told Dex.
He threw his hand up, and I saw the smile on his face. “Of course, not,” he stated.
I rested my head against the headrest and rested my eyes until Dex got me home. My life was finally in a place where I felt at peace.
Dex’s phone rang, causing my ears to perk up.
“Dex,” he answered, then was silent. My eyes popped open because he was too silent. His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and I instantly knew that something was wrong. “I got two on me.”
My heartbeat raced in my ears as Dex began giving the caller a description of two vehicles that were in his rearview mirror. I whipped around to see if I could make out the vehicles. Sure enough, there were two large black SUVs on our tail.
“Yes, sir,” Dex added, then disconnected the call. He met my fear-filled eyes again.
“I’ma die before I let anything happen to you, aight,” he said.
Fear sliced through me. “Dex?”
In the next breath I took, the car seemed to explode.
Screaming was futile as my heart was in my throat.
The sedan swerved and flipped. My hair whipped around my face along with glass that shattered from the windows.
The sedan came to rest on its hood. Dizzy, I fought the roaring in my ears.
Dex’s groans made it to my ears just as the sound of bullets did.
Heartrate skyrocketing, I burst into tears. Get out of the car! My brain shouted for me to do one thing, but my body couldn’t move. The bullets came closer. That was when I realized that someone was shooting at the car.
Somehow, Dex managed to get himself out of his seatbelt.
He kicked the passenger side door out, then climbed out of the car.
All this while gunshots rained around us.
Dex fired back, and his bullets were so loud that my ears screamed in protest. Seconds later, Dex grunted as his body was hit by a bullet.
Still, he kept firing. Then, his body hit the ground.
Gasping in fear, I hated that I didn’t have the energy to move a muscle. Faintly, I heard my phone ringing, and I couldn’t even reach for it. Then, someone pried my door open. Someone, larger than I’d ever seen anyone, dragged me out.
“Please,” I cried, trying to focus on the man’s face. He said nothing and dragged me like a rag doll. Seconds later, I was tossed into the back of a vehicle whose interior was dark. The smell of cologne and a cigar alerted me that I wasn’t alone.
Laying across the seat, I didn’t even have the strength to sit up and fight my way out of here.
As the vehicle started moving, I moaned in agony.
This wasn’t how I was supposed to end my night.
This wasn’t the turn my life was supposed to take.
I panicked just as a light flickered on, illuminating the interior just a little.
A man I’d never seen before sat on the opposite side of me. His stoic expression wasn’t welcoming, and neither was it readable. However, his face stopped the breath in my chest.
This man appeared to be more ruthless than anyone I knew.
The air surrounding him was devious, heavy, and nearly suffocated me from its toxicity.
Thicker tears welled up in my eyes at the pure blankness on his face.
Nothing was behind his eyes and that was even scarier than the first time I witnessed Adir killing someone.
“Heir Bell… It’s nice to finally meet you.” His thick accent-filled voice was ripped from someone already amongst the dead. It had to be. It was too gravely and…flat. “I’m Kane McAroy. I think you know my brother, Kody, very well.”
My heart stopped.
His lips twitched in what I could only imagine was an attempt at a smile.
“I can see you’re confused, so I’ll oblige.
A man fucked a woman, she gave birth to me and left me to be raised by her brothers.
” Although his countenance never changed, he chuckled lowly.
“To think… I’ve always wanted to come to the States.
Who knew it would be under these circumstances? ”
I gulped and forced the tears to slow down some. If I didn’t get my mind together, I’d never escape this man. The look in his dark eyes told me that he was going to lose his life before he let me escape him.