by Kiki Leach
"No, it won't."
"Are you betting on me backing down?"
"No, but you just did, and not by choice." I reached for the gun in a flash and dropped it inside of Loco's hand.
"Fuck, Cheyenne!" His eyes bugged as they lowered to the grip. "What the fuck?!"
"It was never loaded," I told him.
"What the fuck?! How can you be so goddamn sure of that shit?! Bitch coulda blown your goddamn head off before your hand even went up!"
"Check the engraving beneath the grip. That pistol is the one you gave me when I turned fifteen; it can't be loaded because I filled the chamber and receiver with cement glue before taking off for school." As I turned back to Deborah, she puffed her chest like a wild bird and snarled. "You must have found it in Snake's office at some point when he was out."
"How the hell could you have seen that gun being yours from across the room?!"
"The same way I managed to see your loony ass screeching out of the parking lot in my car. Thanks for driving on the rims after getting a flat at some point between the club and here, by the way -- great to know you don't have enough money to pay for it to get fixed."
"Just how the hell do you know that?"
"Holy fuckin' shit." Loco and I spun around to see Nikko step inside the office. He looked at Chino, who began removing the duct tape from his arms and legs, then turned to each of us and shook his head. "What the fuck--?"
"Where the fuck has your ass been?!" snapped Chino.
"Rikers..." Nikko moved next to me as Loco slid my pistol into his pocket and stepped back. "I was taking care of some shit."
"With who?" asked Benny. "Her old man?!"
Nikko eyed him and scrunched his nose. "Where the fuck are your goddamn pants?"
"That Marleena bitch out there stole 'em," he said.
"Yeah? She plan to use the legs to strangle your ass for having her shot?"
Benny grumbled. "Cheyenne told you that shit?"
"Why the fuck wouldn't she have said a goddamn thing about it? What was the goddamn reason for it?"
"I'll explain that later," I told him, "but..." I tossed my hand toward Deborah and Chino as he stood from the couch. "This is the real problem over here."
"We've got no problems over here, Cheyenne," she said.
"You have plenty to choose from, but that's beside the point right now. Why the hell did you come here with Marleena in knowing that this would end in something similar to what we're now dealing with?" I asked her. "Your being drunk is no excuse to continue being so damn stupid on top of it."
She lunged in an attempt to reach for me again, but was stopped as Loco bounded forward and shoved her straight back into Chino's arms. They fell to the couch with her landing on top of his lap as he hit the cushions.
Loco chuckled. "Shit reminds me of back in the goddamn day with you two. Almost every other motherfuckin' weekend after we'd close shop, like goddamn clockwork."
My brows arched as I smirked. "Oh really."
Nikko cleared his throat and leaned his head aside while recapturing Chino's gaze; he bit back a grin. "Not just another pussy on your cock, old man?"
Chino shoved Deborah aside and jumped back to his feet. He fixed his shirt and pants and looked to Benny. "You hired that mute bitch out there to take pictures of who and what, asshole?"
"Clients, motherfucker," he replied. "For cases. What the fuck do you think?"
"Was I one of 'em?"
He gradually rattled his head as sweat fell from the tip of his nose to the top of his lip. "No."
Chino's eyes narrowed as he stepped to Benny's desk and opened the first drawer on the right side. "You sure about that shit?"
"Fuckin' positive. There's no goddamn lying from me to you about anything."
"The way she looked at my ass rolling in here said otherwise."
"Maybe 'cause you were fuckin' her at some point too?!"
Chino nodded. "Maybe. Or there's some other shit." He pulled a fully loaded .45 from beneath a set of files and shoved the barrel into Benny's mouth, cracking teeth as Benny pleaded for his life through a sudden flood of tears and blood pouring down the length of steel.
"PHUCKIN' SHIT!" he spat.
"Can't fuckin' hear your ass now, motherfucker -- What the fuck was that shit again?!"
"PLEASE, MOTHERFUCK--"
Chino pulled the trigger before Benny could finish, clicking until the magazine was empty, leaving bullets to shatter through his skull and the window behind his head.
"Oh my God!" I hollered out with a shriek as the sound nearly jolted me from place.
"JESUS!" Deborah jumped from the couch and grabbed her face as blood, brains and teeth splattered across her cheeks and clothes. She let out a harsh, bloodcurdling scream before dropping straight to the floor in a faint with a hard thud.
"FUCKIN' CHRIST, OLD MAN!" Nikko raced toward his father and snatched the gun; he shoved him back onto the couch and balled his free hand into a fist, ready for a punch. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS SHIT?!"
Chino dragged the sleeve of his arm across his blood splattered forehead and released a sharp, satisfying exhale. "Asshole was a goddamn liar."
"YOU SHOT THIS MOTHERFUCKER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMN DAY -- WHAT THE FUCK?! We're in the fuckin' city with people still inside this goddamn building -- You don't think they're coming up here after hearing this shit?! You're the same son of a bitch who rode my ass like a motherfucker for going off at fuckin' Rikers?!"
"That shit was different--"
"Yeah, I was fighting for my motherfuckin' life inside, asshole. You killed this son of a bitch over bullshit."
"I told you he was a goddamn liar," he said. "And now it's one less motherfucker looking to be paid."
"Christ." Nikko turned back to me as I eyed Chino with a glare. "Baby," he said.
"I'm fine." I reached for the collar of my shirt to remain steady and sucked back potential tears before nodding toward Deborah. "But I doubt she will be any time soon after this."
"Nope!" Loco shook his head. "And I ain't taking a lick of responsibility for what the fuck comes after her ass wakes up." He walked over and picked her up from the floor, cradled her in his arms and moved toward the door. "What the fuck are we gonna do about this shit?"
"Green is still downstairs," said Nikko. "I'll call him up here -- He's the only motherfucker close enough that's willing to be discreet about this shit with how it's gone down."
"Alright."
He peeked at Deborah, then looked to the hallway and pointed near a stairwell. "Three floors down, there's a private elevator that'll take you to a garage out back where Benny parks -- the code is 9640; hit 'G' on the pad. If Brandi can pull your truck around, you should be able to get the fuck outta here without being seen."
"What about the cameras picking up all this shit?"
"I'll have Green take care of 'em too, along with that prick's car." Nikko glanced at me and nodded toward Loco. "You should go with 'em, baby."
"No," I said. "Loco can get Deborah, Brandi and Marleena out of here -- I'm staying with you to help fix your father's mess."
Chino whipped his head in my direction and sneered. "My goddamn mess?!"
"Yes!" I hissed, shuffling around Nikko and stepping in front of him. I bent forward and scowled. "You went trigger happy and now your own damn attorney is dead while a drunk loudmouth just saw it all go down. There's no guarantee she'll keep quiet after this either -- even for you."
"The fuck she won't." He dragged his eyes from mine and refocused on the shattered window.
I shook my head and returned to Nikko. "I'll call Green." He nodded as I grabbed my phone, then crossed to Loco and mumbled something to him that was too low to hear. Loco bobbed his head in response before heading out and down the stairwell with Deborah. I cleared my throat after hanging up from Green and looked down at the traffic moving through the streets. "He's on his way up," I said. "And he mentioned NYPD getting a few calls of some disturbance happening in the building,
but they're not sending anyone out just yet."
"Good." Chino sauntered back to Benny's desk and dusted his hands. "Means my connects let him know what was up before they could dispatch. Let's get this worthless fuck rolled up in something solid."
Nikko slid the gun into his waistband and reached for my hand. "You can still head out with Loco if you want, baby. I've got this shit."
"I could, but won't. I'm helping you."
"What would fuckin' help is you finally picking out a goddamn date for this fuckin' wedding." Chino untied Benny's hands from the chair and yanked his lifeless body to the floor, dropping him like a stone. His head bounced against the carpet, forcing what was left of his skull to shatter between coiled pieces of fabric like a raw egg. "'Til then, this shit--"
"10 days," I interjected. He straightened his back and lifted his brow as a lack of convention crossed his face. "I will have a venue booked, I will have a dress, I will have a member of the club officiate -- or at the very least, someone I know and trust that will make sure it's legal. Your son will have his tux, and we will have our wedding." I glanced at Nikko as he nodded in agreement. "10 days should not only give you enough time to fill the chairs for your side but to have the papers ready for me to sign as soon as it's made official; at least from what you keep telling me it should be."
He bobbed his head and turned back to Benny, then dropped to a squat and sighed. "10 goddamn days. Looks like I'll be searching for another motherfucker to rep me during that time too."
Nikko leaned into my ear while keeping eyes on his father, and lowered his voice. "I need to talk to you about some shit on the way back home, baby."
I rested my hand on top of his shoulder before grabbing onto the rug in front of Benny's desk and dropping it near his feet.
Chino peeked at me while wrapping the rug around Benny's head to neutralize the bleeding, and chuckled. "You've done some shit like this before with the club?"
"Not in the least," I said. "But the rug is thick enough and I'm guessing after what I just saw that you're an expert?"
"No more than anyone else."
I grimaced. "What the hell is 'anyone else' when it comes to popping a cap between someone's teeth?"
"The asshole needed to go," he shot back. "Fuckin' money grubber looking for more than he knew he deserved for this shit as it was."
"That's not why you offed him," said Nikko. "The shit with Deborah, how the fuck long has it been going on?"
Chino's shoulders dropped as he shook his head. "Doesn't fuckin' matter when it's over. Least not as much as it matters that your ass zipped back out to Rikers. You fuckin' miss it that goddamn much?" He rose to his feet and turned on his heel to face his son again; he glowered. "Who the fuck were you seeing out there? Rox? He tell you some shit that's got you coming for me like some kinda asshole?"
"I don't need a motherfucker telling me shit to come after you like an asshole--"
"Then what the fuck?"
"The old man is not good with me marrying Cheyenne like I knew he wouldn't be. Said he doesn't give a fuck about the why, he's not a fan of it happening."
"He's got no goddamn choice in that shit. The Gambiano's have already made sure of it." Chino mumbled the words before turning his attention back to Benny. "He's mistaken as fuck if he keeps thinking and voicing otherwise."
Green stepped inside not a second later and stood alongside Nikko while eyeing the blood pouring from Benny's head. "Christ." His face flushed as he turned to us and dipped his head toward the door. "You two should go while we clean up here. I had Cheyenne's car picked up and taken out to get fixed; you can take mine. We'll head out with Benny's and have it compacted in the yard."
"You're sure?" asked Nikko.
He dropped his keys inside Nikko's hand and pat his shoulder before rolling his sleeves to his elbows and reaching for Benny's ankles. "You should get her home," he said again.
Nikko took one last look at Chino, who remained oblivious to our impending departure, then dropped his hand to my back and walked us out of the office.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Mark It Red
Hours later, amidst silence, we were home.
After hanging up with Loco, I collapsed on top of Nikko's bed and threw my hands above my head. He bent forward to remove my cell and placed it on the dresser as I stared into the eyes of our ceiling, and swallowed hard enough to loosen the heel of my own tongue.
He sucked in a sharp breath while turning back to me and cleared his throat. "Outside of talking to Loco, you've been quiet as hell since we left downtown."
"I don't think I have much to say after what you told me," I replied. "Lena is actually Deborah, Rox could die for spilling the truth about Snake and Chino -- Taz continues to aid his mother in a mess he learned but chose not to tell... All of this in addition to what Deborah may or may not still have going on with a clueless Ronaldo, though we cant be too sure about that now either, since he and his brother still want Rox dead for something Snake has done." I pressed my lips together and choked back the start of a sob. "How the hell do we get out of something so monstrously created by other people, Nikko? A batch of Frankenstein's and what are we together but the result of it all?"
"We're the only good goddamn thing that's managed to come from this shit, baby."
"Are we?" I sat up and stared into the warmth of his face. "I was certain after coming back to the city that I'd be chasing nothing but a ghost until the end, and now it's come back to haunt me before the bitch is even dead. Because aside from being sure that Benny snitched to Marleena about you and the Gambiano's, we have no idea what else he told her after today; and she's not talking anymore beyond the reasons why she can't physically speak thanks to knowing what happened with him."
"We're gonna handle this shit, baby--"
"How? You're going to have to explain this to me like I'm five years old because I've managed to lose faith in how the hell we get through any of it since that crazy bitch attacked me at the club."
He shut his eyes in mild frustration and rattled his head. "I'm still not clear on how the fuck that shit happened to begin with, Cheyenne." He leaned against the dresser and crossed his arms. "Her going at you was more than Taz seeing us together and her being high and drunk."
"That's obvious, but she'll never bother telling me 'why'," I said. "The same as going after Benny today -- What the hell were they thinking? Even if it was Deborah's idea to 'take matters into their own hands', Marleena was foolish to go along with it. Now your attorney is dead and God only knows if Chino will actually bother finding someone else like he claims."
He grinded his teeth. "With your old man confessing that mine wants the money for himself, I'm not too fuckin' sure he'll bother with tryna keep this shit even looking legit the closer we get to our wedding."
"Dammit." I stood up from the bed and walked to the window, pushing his mother's curtains aside and staring into the darkness as it washed across the sidewalks and street. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and exhaled, then reopened them and gulped to keep from releasing that impending sob. "You believed Rox telling you about Chino and the money?"
"He's got no reason to lie about some shit like that; wouldn't benefit his ass in the long run... much like snitching on Deborah."
"That bitch." I yanked my hand from the window. "Rox snitching that she's 'Lena' goes to show how far both Chino and Snake have pushed him to this point -- he wouldn't have run his mouth against her otherwise."
"Even knowing he could be taken out for it?"
"No. He's always had a soft spot for her because she's always been stupid enough to buy whatever lie he was selling at the time to get his dick sucked. I guess this time around wasn't worth it."
"He said he hadn't been with her since she's come back to the city."
"Oh?" I peeked at Nikko and glared. "It took him not getting laid to finally see the light -- that makes more sense than the other, I guess." I rolled my eyes back to the window and shook my head. "If Snak
e set this up from the beginning, there's no way of proving it without her -- or Taz. Even if he came in at the last minute, he's just as much a part of this mess as the two of them... Which leads me to wonder if Chino knows that Rox threatening to snitch is the true reason he's behind bars instead of dead. Because we still don't know what he was told in order to go along with this despite Deborah running her mouth; it's clear that Rox only knows so much with Snake, who has no problem lying to everyone in order to keep his own mess in check."
"A pile of goddamn mess that's starting to unravel by the fuckin' second."
"And yet that is still not fast enough for me." I spun around to him as he stepped into my space and stared directly into my eyes. Lost in them, I became instantly mesmerized before turning my attention elsewhere to refocus my purpose. "We know that Chino will not confess anymore than what he has about being with Deborah and now that he knows Benny had pictures taken with Marleena being the one behind the camera, there's a chance he will go beyond hounding her to get his hands on whatever he's certain she has."
"He'd cap her in a goddamn heartbeat if he knew he could get away with that shit, baby, which is why I said she needed to be around your brothers tonight -- at least 'til we can get her ass the fuck outta here."
"If she goes, your father is going to come looking for you right after he makes a visit to Snake, who will have questions of his own -- especially after what I spewed in Benny's office about Snake knowing he was behind her attempted hit, despite it not being the truth. Trying to scare him into confession might've bitten us in the ass with Chino still around to hear me and if he knows that you did it, he'll also know why."
"Shit." He turned from me and snaked his fingers through his hair. "When are you planning to go shopping for the wedding dress with Brandi?"
"We agreed for next Wednesday. Something simple, nothing over the top or too fancy."
"Alright." He whirled back around and arched his brow. "You need to make sure Deborah is still on board with tagging along despite all the shit from today; you said it yourself, there's no way of proving a single goddamn part of this shit without her."
