Intensity

by Eden Fortae

  "Scary human side of you?"

  "Exactly."

  She sighed through her nose, looking Jermaine over with uncertainty. Too many people in your business always made for a messy situation eventually. Talking to someone you're not sure you can trust, provides the same outcome. With Karrina having big news that was at the happy end of the scale, Kya did not want to bother her with the latest spat between her and Antonio. To be perfectly honest, she did not want to be bothered with it either, but the size of the issue kept flashing before her eyes like a dead-end sign. In her mind, she was stuck and unsure of if she should turn around or see if there was a way around that sign.

  "We had a talk about the future. We don't want the same thing, and according to him, there is no compromising."

  Jermaine nodded, rolling his tongue over his teeth, "He told you he doesn't want kids."

  "I guess that was only news to me." She bit, suddenly bitter that his lack of interest in being a parent was something he shared with everyone, but her until he thought she was pregnant.

  "Information like that is something you come by when you've been around for a while. I met him when my father started dating Christian's mother. We were about fourteen or fifteen, and it still took us about five years to get to the point where he was as open as he is now. You share the same bed so, I doubt it will take as much time for you to breach the wall he keeps up."

  "That's if I'm around much longer." Kya finished her inventory check, and with nothing left to do, she leaned back against the bar.

  "You planning on going somewhere?"

  "Not planning. Not just yet."

  "Yet?"

  "I have the strangest feeling that all of this is going to get back to him. Not that I care, but my spidey senses are tingling."

  Jermaine's chest jerked with what she thought was laughter; however, all he did was smirk, "I just told you that's my brother. I'm going to help him out any way I can."

  "And you think by telling him what we discuss, you're helping him?"

  "Maybe."

  Now, it was Kya's turn to laugh. Only, when she did it, it was genuine.

  "Antonio has it set in his mind that he won't have kids. The only way you'd be helping him is by telling him how much that bothers me and to enjoy me while he has me. If that's your intent, by all means. I love the time I spend with him. I love that during those times, he makes me forget about my pain. However, I don't know if I can continue to waste my time with someone I don't have a future with. Essentially, that's what it is. Us wasting time. You can tell him. It's probably best he knows where I stand anyway."

  Easing around the bar, Kya quickly excused herself. It had taken all she had not to become emotional during that mini-rant, and if she did not get to the bathroom or step outside, she was going to erupt into a fit of tears. Everything she said was true. By merely being, Antonio brought her so much more than he probably knew. The idea of letting go of that and everything that came along with him—a family and lack of loneliness—hurt like hell. Then again, being with a man that was not willing to give her the one thing she wanted most, would eventually destroy her more.

  Kya ‘s absence when he got home and the ignored calls were a bad sign. His little sister not knowing where Kya was and not hearing from her was even worse. A quick look in her closet revealed that she had not taken much, muting his fear just a little. Antonio remembered that Kya was going to work that night and decided to call Jermaine. It helped him relax knowing she was there, but her decision to leave so early detailed just how upset she was.

  Unsure of what to do, Antonio counted down the hours. When it came to the last two, he drove to the club to wait for her. When he entered, the music was blasting so loudly that it shook the crowded floor. Mentally, he made a note to check the foundation of the DJ's Booth once he started remodeling. Parting the throngs of people, he made it to the bar just in time to see Kya pouring a drink for a guy wearing a ridiculously large smile. She gave him his drink and rather than the fucker walking away like he should have, he seemed to make himself comfortable on a stool and continued conversation. It pissed him off to see another man near his woman. It bothered him more to see her so engaged.

  Swallowing his anger, Antonio approached the bar with a stone face. Kya looked up at him for a hot second then went back to the patron as if he were more important. Fingers curled into a tight fist, he bit back his anger once again. He had to remember that any animosity between them had been his doing and until he repaired the path to her, he had to walk on the broken ground.

  The next hour and a half dragged. By closing time, Kya still had not said a single word to him or even acknowledged him. He waited until everyone else was gone and again, she lacked interest. On the way to his truck, he opened the door for her as he usually did and she said nothing. The silence became too much after a while, and he found himself asking a stupid and very much generic question.

  "How are you, Kya?"

  She looked over at him, annoyed, then went back to gazing out the window, "I'm hungry, tired, and I have cramps."

  Antonio pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling more like a dick. All evening he had been contemplating what to do to make things up to her, and the flowers wilting on the floor behind her wouldn’t suffice.

  The first open store he spotted, he went to. He kept the contents of the bags hidden from Kya's eyes until they stepped through the front door and she seemed hell-bent on putting distance between them.

  Before she could get too far, he took her by the hand and led her to the bathroom. From the only bag still in his possession, he pulled out a bottle of peach scented bubble bath and filled the tub. Without a word, he left her to undress and soak, only to return a little while later with a plate of the food and a steaming hot mug.

  "It's ginger tea. It works faster to get rid of cramps than pills." She looked up at him curiously as she accepted his offerings. "When you grow up in a house full of women you tend to learn a few things. That shit is as strong as it smells so I would take gulps rather than sipping. I sweetened it as much as I could, but still."

  On his way out of the bathroom, he heard her thank him, and he left with a smile. He was not expecting that but was grateful for it. Even if he couldn’t make up for what was said, at least he could make her feel better physically.

  From his drawer, Antonio grabbed a pair of sweatpants for them both, getting one of her own shirts for her to sleep in. When Kya came out of the bathroom, he had the sheets pulled back ready for her. As she was settling in, he ran down to the kitchen and came back with a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and a single spoon. Joining her in bed with it resulted in a kiss to the cheek that threw him off. He could not resist the urge and moved in for a kiss on her lips. Again, he was grateful. She allowed his lips to linger and he hoped that in that kiss she could gather how much he truly wanted things to work.

  "Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?”

  Kya breathed in so deeply that her shoulders visibly dropped, “If there is no change in the way either of us feels, there is no reason to revisit it. Let’s just enjoy now.”

  Wanting to feed him ice cream and not talk about it was a way to sweep it under the rug, a temporary fix and they both knew it. Yet, Kya was saying she did not care to try and fix it, because she, too, knew there was no way. Instead, she wanted to just be happy together and in that moment. They could cross that bridge when they reached it. In the pit of his stomach, he knew things could not be avoided for much longer, but when it came to letting her go today and choosing to be selfish for a little while longer, happiness and guilt made him choose the latter.

  She fell asleep during their movie. On her own, she pressed herself into his body and snuggled in his arms. With her there, he could safely close his eyes and not worry about losing her. With her there, he was able to sleep soundly until his phone started buzzing on the nightstand. Of all people calling him, the number displaying itself on the screen caused his entire body to tens
e. Antonio watched the screen until the ringing stopped. Two seconds later, it was ringing again with the same number staring him in the face.

  Turning as best he could, he placed Kya’s head onto the pillow. By the time he made it out of bed and out of the room, he missed the call two more times, and it was ringing again.

  “What do you want?” He answered harshly. After the way things had gone between them, there was absolutely no reason why Kash should have been calling at four in the morning.

  “Tony, I need your help. Please.” The attempt to sound calm was feeble.

  “Need my help? You got this shit, remember? You have Art thinking you can do my job, so do it.”

  “No! Tony, please don’t hang up! I fucked up! I need you! Please come to the old hangout.”

  There was no chance to decline or dig deeper. Antonio pulled the phone away from his ear and quickly called Donny. He shouldn’t have given a single fuck about Kash and whatever trouble he was in, but the tone of his voice put Antonio on high alert. As much as he did not want to care, the years of watching the man’s back and seeing him as family kept him from just hanging up. Arturo was right. Although he had been stabbed in the back, he could not turn his.

  TWENTY FIVE

  Antonio sat perfectly still with his main phone in his right hand and the burner in his pocket. At any minute, one of them was going to go off, and when it did, he would get to the bottom of things.

  Before deciding to see if he was being set up, he went back to his bedroom and watched Kya as she slept. The peace surrounding her was out of this world. Never had he ever encountered someone that could warm his cold blood with just one look. It was because of Kya, that visual of her in his bed, that led him to where he was, waiting as he watched the night sky slowly transition to morning.

  “What’s going on, Donny?”

  After the last frantic call, Antonio reluctantly called the others. Upon learning that Kash had not reached out to them, his suspicion grew. What was it that only he could provide? The answer didn’t really matter. Not really.

  Kash was plotting and playing on his loyalty so he could hit him with some dirty underhanded shit. With that in mind, Antonio called upon Jermaine and Chris to watch over Kya while Donny insisted on being at his side. In fact, his cousin refused to do anything other than suit up and prepare to hide a body or two. When he arrived, his bag was stuff with everything from night vision goggles to long-range weapons, and binds, just in case. Along with those things, his cousin carried a stone-cold expression.

  “Talking. That’s all they’re doing.”

  “You got a good view of Kash?”

  “Yeah. He keeps looking at Garren like he’s ready to shit himself.”

  No sooner than he said that, the burner in Antonio’s pocket began vibrating. He slid the slim black device free and picked up immediately.

  “Yeah?”

  “Long time no speak, el comandante.”

  Antonio gritted his teeth. When he answered the phone, he fully expected it to be Rummy, the young boy he’d taken under his wing. Instead, he was greeted by Arturo’s little snitch. The snarky bastard was in charge of Art’s affairs when he was out of town. The position he held was titled, Collector, for his role was to basically put the call in when a new shipment was needed. On the flip side, he made sure the totals were accurate and reached the proper hands. His placement in the ranks, however, was still beneath Antonio. Apparently, his attempts at being a runner failed so miserably that no one took him seriously. Therefore, he never advanced. Being Arturo’s little brother was his only leg to stand on, and it was not a very strong one. Everyone knew it. Garren knew it, himself. For that reason, he did everything he could to get under Antonio’s skin.

  “Care to explain why I have to talk to you through a phone held by one of your men when your presence was requested? Or why you're suddenly careless with their lives?”

  Antonio unlocked his jaw, but not enough to speak without his teeth being clenched, “I don’t run into blind situations. To do so would have been a rookie mistake, but you’d know nothing about that since you never even made it to rookie status. As for my men, they are all safe and accounted for, I assure you.”

  Menacing laughter rippled through the phone, “Not the two in front of me.”

  A single look was the signal, and with that, one silent shot was fired into the crumbling concrete wall a few inches from Garren’s head. Everyone ducked except for his young boy.

  “No, Rummy’s covered, just as I said.”

  Beside him, Donny chuckled, watching them look around and not know where the shot came from.

  “If my memory serves me, Kash is one of your best.”

  “Your unimportance is showing Garren. Arturo should have told you weeks ago that Kash is operating his own ship now. What he does and how he does it no longer concerns me.”

  “Tony—”

  “Quiet, dickhead!” Antonio heard a thud and from where he sat, saw Kash hit the ground. Through the other man’s pausing and then increased breathing, Antonio could tell he was getting mad, and it satisfied him.

  “Arturo did not tell me because you’re lying and trying to fuck him over. I should kill your little friend right now.”

  “Pistol, right hip,” Donny whispered.

  “Kill Kash if it will make you feel better. He’s on his own. However, Rummy is going to walk away unharmed, and your business with Kash will resume. Clear? Good. You enjoy the rest of your morning, Garren.”

  As he was about to end the call, he and Donny heard something that made his blood run cold. As if the lack of response required it, Garren repeated himself.

  “Life matters so little to you unless it’s that of a beautiful woman. Two that look similar to you or maybe one that looks like she tastes of honey. You enjoy the rest of your morning, too, Antonio. We can meet back here, same time tomorrow with one of them to discuss consequences.”

  There was no reasoning with him, and Donny didn’t try. Antonio pushed out of the sleek, matte, black, sports car, souped-up by Christian to blend into the night for moments like this. To protect his cousin, he walked several feet away from the vehicle and then toward the abandoned train station. Gun in hand, he approached with eyes narrowed solely on Garren, and as soon as he was within reasonable distance, he took aim.

  “We must have had a bad connection. What was that you said about my family?”

  Fear was as visible with each struggling breath the short, stocky version of Arturo took. All his life the bastard had been safeguarded, protected by Art and his reign solely because of blood, but Antonio could not and did not give a single shit about the backlash shooting the fucker would cause. His finger was on the trigger regardless of Garren’s flunky pointing his own gun at him. The very moment the other man drew on Antonio, Rummy pulled his weapon and aimed it. However, Antonio was too pissed to be proud of his young runner.

  “It seems you heard me correctly, el comandante. Shame it took for me to bring them into this for you to come and speak to me man to man. All I wanted was to discuss how your boy is short on the shipment, and when and where I can expect the full payment.”

  Antonio flipped off the safety. Clicks from the others following suit echoed around him. “I came to discuss that threats you made toward my sisters and my woman.” At the conclusion of his sentence, he spared a glance at Kash. No doubt that fucker still had loose lips and had to have told Garren about Kya. He could not see Art doing it. Not with the bond they had.

  Garren laughed lightly, shaking his head, “You can’t take a joke, I see.”

  Raising one finger on his free hand resulted in another phantom shot from a different direction that caused Garren and the man with him to duck, yet again. When he rose, he was looking around frantically.

  “You called me like you’re top dog around this motherfucker when you’ve been nothing more than a discarded puppy. I’ve refrained from putting your bloated ass on ice for the sake of Art, but when it comes to my sisters
and my woman, I will go to war with the man that practically raised me. For my sisters and my woman, I would happily hang you by your feet and skin you alive with a hot blade. So, again, I ask, what were you saying about my family?”

  Garren swallowed hard, still trying to put on a brave face, “Your man was short. He was given fifty grand worth of coke. We should have gotten one-hundred back, at least. We got a little more than half.”

  “You hard of hearing? Not my problem.”

  “Until Art tells me otherwise, it is.” Bold as fuck, that sniveling little snot really had balls today. He truly believed he was invincible. He genuinely thought he was safe from harm and did not know Antonio as well as he thought.

  Without flinching or a warning, Antonio quickly took aim and shot the man standing behind Garren. Clean and in the center of his forehead, dropping him where he stood.

  “And while you wait for his return, remember who the fuck I am.”

  Just as bold, Antonio gave Kash a look that was nothing short of a warning. The motherfucker had one more time to cross him, and it was lights out. Fuck his heart and the part of him that still saw him as a brother. As cruel as it sounded, fuck Kash’s mother and all those that would mourn him. That made twice now that he potentially put Kya in harm’s way and that shit was not going to fly.

  He faded into the darkness with Rummy walking backward behind him. He found himself feeling pride for the kid, yet again. For just being nineteen, he carried himself better than a lot of men over him and the way he watched Antonio’s back spoke volumes. Only when they were a good enough distance away did he lead Rummy to the car where Donny was waiting.

  “Arturo is going to be mad as hell when he finds out you killed one of his brother’s bitches.”

  “Probably.” Immediately he locked the doors. From the hidden compartment inside the center console, he retrieved four stacks and handed them to the boy in the back.