Guard the Throne

by Nisa Santiago

  Citi then thought that if Maino knew her father had murdered Alonzo for his stash, then it was likely that he’d murdered her father for that same stash. Finally, the pieces were coming together. She remembered the look on her father’s face when he saw the jewels she and Cane were sporting. Then there was the lengthy speech that came from him right before his murder. Maino was the only one who could have gotten close enough to her father and strike him down. And then he became the boss. He had blown up financially and didn’t have the decency to pay for the whole funeral.

  “I just came to warn you,” Maino said. “I still care for you, Citi, and I love your family.”

  Citi became enraged that she’d fucked him—the man who’d killed her father. The rage inside her exploded, and she rose up and spat in Maino’s face. “You son of a bitch!” she screamed. “It was you! You killed him!”

  “What?”

  Suddenly, gunshots rang out, and before Citi knew it, one of Maino’s goons was dead, and Derrick and an accomplice were aiming for Maino, who barely escaped with his life.

  “Citi, you okay?” Derrick asked.

  Citi was in too much shock to answer. For a long time, she had been sleeping with the enemy. She wanted to throw up. She felt like she had betrayed her father.

  How didn’t I see it? The evidence was directly in my face.

  31

  It seemed like the world was against the Byrnes, and everywhere they turned, there was some enemy trying to gun them down and take away everything the family had built.

  The word on the streets was, Curtis had murdered Alonzo and Juliette, and now Citi and her brothers had to pay for their father’s actions. Juliette’s brothers from the Bronx wanted to tear her apart, Emanuel wanted to decapitate her, and Maino wanted to skin her alive. The pressure against her was building, and building fast. Citi tried keeping a cool head, but the odds were stacked against her to continue to run her business and go to war with three different drug crews.

  Citi and L rode in the backseat of the SUV in silence. The killings were becoming extensive, and Emanuel Martinez made it clear that he was headhunting for Citi and her family. He’d put a bounty on Citi’s head: one million dollars to anyone who killed that bitch and her man. So Citi made it her business to pay Emanuel a personal visit. She wanted to see the face of the enemy up close and look into his eyes. She wanted to have a few words with him. L was against it. He tried to persuade her to stay away from the man, but Citi was adamant about walking into the lion’s den.

  “Citi, you sure you wanna do this? Think about it. He got a bounty on your head. It’s crazy to just walk into the man’s business like that. It’s just fuckin’ crazy.”

  “I guess I’m a crazy bitch then. But ain’t no man gonna scare me out what is mine and what I got goin’ on. I can swing my dick too. Fuck Emanuel. He wants war, and he wanna come at me, then I’m gonna see the face of the man I’m fighting.”

  L sighed. No matter what happened, he was always going to have her back. He loved her, and had always proved it with his actions. He had killed for her, and would continue to do so.

  They drove to Emanuel’s establishment in Harlem two trucks deep with armed thugs ready for anything. The Escalade came to a stop in front of Emanuel’s restaurant on Convent Avenue, a quaint spot well known for harboring gangsters and drug dealers. Emanuel had owned it for years. Citi had gotten wind of his location through L’s sources in Harlem.

  Citi stepped out the Escalade looking like the baddest bitch in the game, clad in tight jeans, a leather jacket, and leather boots. L was by her side, and four goons, armed like soldiers in Iraq, were behind the couple.

  She burst into the eatery, surprising Emanuel and his goons. “You were lookin’ for me, muthafucka?” she shouted. “Here I am.”

  Guns quickly came out, both sides ready to react.

  Emanuel was seated at a table having dinner with a friend. “Bitch, who the fuck you think you are coming into my place of business like that?” he shouted.

  “I’m in ya fuckin’ face, you bitch,” she retorted. “You put a bounty on my head. Fuck you!”

  “Watch how you talk to me, little girl. I’ll rip your tits off and feed them to my dogs.”

  “I’m not scared of you. My father wasn’t, and I’m not.”

  Emanuel was dressed in Armani and looked more like a Wall Street tycoon than a gangster.

  “This is a grown man’s game, little girl, far out of your league. I warn you, by week’s end, I’ll have your head and tits in two separate boxes,” he said through clenched teeth. “What your father did to my brother, you and your family will pay dearly with slow and agonizing deaths.”

  Citi didn’t flinch. She stared at him. “Fuck you! I’m gonna finish what my father started wit’ ya fuckin’ family.”

  “You will die, Citi.”

  L stepped forward, ready to defend his woman’s honor. “Fuck you, nigga! We got guns too!”

  Emanuel laughed. “My men missed once, but I’ll guarantee that they will not disappoint me again.”

  “And we won’t miss either,” L spat back.

  “Let me shoot this puta!” Hector shouted, raising his weapon at L and Citi.

  There was a deep chill in the room. One word, and the men were ready to wipe each other out.

  But Emanuel didn’t want any bloodshed in his eatery. He said to Hector, “Not in here! This is my grandmother’s place, and no blood will be spilled in here.”

  Hector lowered his weapon.

  “Leave here, you little bitch! But we will see each other again.”

  “You look at me. I’m my father, so remember that, Emanuel, when I cut ya dick off. Because I will kill you.”

  Citi and L started to make their exit.

  “You got balls, bitch, coming up in here like that,” Emanuel shouted. “The bogeyman is coming for you, bitch. This is a man’s world, and pussy is meant to be fucked. And before you die, I’m going to fuck you till your pussy falls off and then tear you and your friend apart bit by bit.”

  Citi didn’t reply. The crew walked out, and she hopped back into the backseat of the truck with L by her side, and they took off.

  L sighed with relief. He looked at Citi and said, “They ain’t gonna stop coming.”

  “I know.”

  “We gotta definitely arm ourselves heavily.” L was trying to come up with a game plan to get at all their enemies, but it was like a village going against Rome.

  “I’m gonna kill ’em in my father’s name. I just gotta find a way.”

  Citi got quiet. She had a lot on her mind. She refused to be bullied, no matter how powerful Emanuel was. She had her goons, but between Maino, Juliette’s brothers in the Bronx, and Emanuel, the odds of surviving the war were stacked against them. But she refused to let her enemies see her worry and sweat. She was a Byrne, and a Byrne always found a way to stay on top and survive.

  32

  Miami, Florida

  Cane watched the group of men leaving the notorious King of Diamonds nighclub. It was four in the morning as the crowd began to disperse with laughter and loud chatter. Cane was dressed in all black and waiting for the right opportunity to strike at his targets as he sat in a black Lexus, smoking a cigarette and holding on to the .50 Desert Eagle, his favorite toy. Once it hit a man, he wasn’t getting back up.

  The four men got into a white Range Rover and sped away, and Cane followed them. The Range Rover jumped on I-95 and headed south. They traveled for a few miles, and were in North Miami.

  When the Range Rover came to a stop at a red light on a desolate street, Cane decided it was the perfect time to attack. He leaped from his car with the gun in his hand and trotted toward the driver’s side. The driver had his window down completely and was downing a flask filled with liquor, music playing loudly. Before the dri
ver could react, Cane leaped like a predator out of the dark and opened fired into the truck.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The muzzle flash lit up the night, and the bullets tore into soft flesh. Cane made sure to kill everyone in the truck. He smiled at his handiwork and then retreated back to his car, leaving Miami-Dade to clean up his mess once again.

  ****

  Miami had been Cane’s home for a few months, and he had fully recuperated and was back to his old ways. He missed New York, but he had built a strong family in Miami. He missed his brother and sister, but unbeknownst to them, he had linked up with Ashanti, and they’d reconciled their differences.

  Ashanti had become a major figure in Miami when she started to date Marcus Dashwood, AKA Black Mamba. He ran Miami. His empire had an estimated worth of two hundred million. Black Mamba had connections throughout the world, from war tyrants in Africa, to drug cartels in Mexico, to the Senate in D.C., to the shot-callers on Wall Street. Soon, the two got married, and Ashanti was by her husband’s side helping him run and control all of Miami. Being with Curtis for so many years, she proved useful to a man like Marcus, who was dazzled by not just her beauty, but her brains too.

  Cane had inadvertently reconnected with his mother when he and a friend of his got into an altercation at one of Black Mamba’s nightclubs. There was an argument, and a fight ensued. Cane smashed a champagne bottle over the head of one of the thugs. Gunfire erupted. Cane shot one goon in the stomach, crippling him.

  It so happened that the thug Cane shot was connected to Black Mamba, and there was a bounty on his head. When Ashanti saw that it was her son they were about to kill, she quickly intervened and persuaded her husband not to take her son’s life. For the love of his wife, Marcus spared Cane, but with stipulations. He had to prove his worth in Miami, and Cane did so. He started to kill for his stepfather, and he did it so well, Marcus made him a lieutenant in his organization.

  Cane and Ashanti had South Beach on lockdown. Miami became Cane’s playground. He had money, cars, women, and power. But the one thing Cane didn’t have was his brother and sister. He was worried about them. Word had gotten to him about Citi’s troubles in New York, and he was dying to go up there and wipe all her enemies out. It hurt Cane to be apart from his family, even though he was with his mother.

  ****

  Cane went to have a talk with Ashanti. He wanted to go back to New York and protect his baby sister. He had the killer crew that could paint the streets of New York red with blood.

  Ashanti was ready to help her son with his wishes. Despite being out of her children’s lives for so many years, she loved them and was ready to do whatever she needed to protect them. She’d never disclosed to Cane what motivated Curtis to kill his best friend Alonzo. She knew she was the one that caused that ripple between their friendship, and she felt guilty about her actions. She planned to take that secret to her grave. She knew her children would never forgive her and would probably attempt to kill her if they knew the truth, especially Citi and Cane. All the same, the guilt of Curtis’ murder made her want to be a better mother and protect her kids.

  Ashanti stared at her son. “I loved your father very much, Cane. He was my world. When I look at you, I see him in you.”

  Cane nodded as he listened.

  “Your father’s death was tragic, but I promise to make things right with my children. I’m sorry for my long absence from the family, but from this day forward, I’m here for every one of y’all.”

  “Then get Black Mamba to destroy Emanuel, ’cuz he’s tryin’ to destroy my sister. I can handle those bitch-ass brothers from the Bronx and Maino. I plan to finish what I started wit’ that snake muthafucka.”

  With a man like Black Mamba in his corner, Cane knew even a powerful man like Emanuel Martinez was as good as dead. Emanuel was nothing compared to Marcus Dashwood; it was like a tomcat trying to go against a lion. Emanuel was a gangster with money, but Marcus was an entity with influences all throughout the world.

  Ashanti went to her husband and persuaded him to help her children win a war in New York, and out of respect for his wife and her son, he sanctioned the hit on Emanuel Martinez. The man was already dead; he just didn’t know it yet.

  Epilogue

  The reunion was bittersweet. Citi and Ashanti in the same room together could prove disastrous, but Cane was there to smooth things over between mother and daughter. The two arrived in New York via Learjet and immediately went to see Citi at her undisclosed location in New Jersey.

  Citi was ecstatic to see her brother again, but when Ashanti emerged from behind Cane, she had a few harsh words to say to her mother.

  Ashanti apologized to her daughter for her absence, but Citi didn’t want to hear anything her mother had to say.

  “Where were you when we needed you? When I needed you? When I needed my mother to hold me and comfort me?” Tears streamed down her face. “I just wanted you around at one time in my life.”

  It was painful for Ashanti to hear, but she stood there and took the berating. “I know, baby, but I wasn’t the woman I am today. I admit, I was selfish, left y’all with Curtis to raise, but I knew he would do a wonderful job with y’all. And I stand by my decision today. But I promise you, I’m here for my little girl now.”

  “I’m not a little girl anymore, Ashanti.”

  “I know. You have grown to become such a beautiful woman—smart and feisty. You did very well for yourself, Citi. I’m proud of you, and I know he would be too. His children are guarding the throne. He did so well with y’all.”

  Citi wiped the tears from her eyes. The unkind words to her mother needed to be said. She needed to release the pain she’d been feeling all those years.

  L, standing next to his woman’s side, was astounded by the resemblance between Citi and her mother. They were both stunning.

  “We a family again. Fuck that,” Cane said.

  Ashanti and Citi stared at each other for a moment. Then, out of the blue, Citi, tears trickling down her cheeks, ran into her mother’s arms.

  Ashanti embraced her daughter lovingly. “I’m here for you, Citi. We gonna make things right. Not a soul will harm my little girl. I promise.”

  Cane watched the reunion between them silently. He was ready to put in work. He had a few scores to settle. He had missed New York, but now with all of them together, the Byrne family was untouchable, except for Chris, who had received a mandatory fifteen years in prison.

  ****

  Cane and his Miami crew gunned down Juliette’s two brothers in cold blood in front of a popular nightclub in the South Bronx, leaving their blood-splattered and bullet-riddled bodies in a gruesome display as a warning.

  Maino was next on their hit list. Cane had caught him slipping at his bitch’s crib in Mt. Vernon, New York. Maino had become weak with the feds investigating him, and his empire had crumbled. He had been moving from borough to borough and state to state, trying to remain incognito, but with enough money spread around for information, his own men turned against him and snitched him out.

  Cane crept into the dark room and stared down at Maino asleep and hugged up with some light-skinned bitch. He and his partner, a young thug named Kong, smirked at the sight. It was a golden moment for him. Maino had killed his father. Now he had the chance to extract revenge. It was making his dick hard.

  He walked over to Maino and knocked him across the head with the butt of his pistol. “Wake ya bitch ass up, muthafucka!”

  The light-skinned bitch screamed when she awoke and saw two armed men in her in the bedroom. Kong had her at gunpoint.

  “What the fuck!” Maino screamed, holding his bleeding head. His eyes widened with fear when he saw Cane towering over him. “Cane, what the fuck is ya problem?”

  “You my problem, bitch!”

  “Yo, we can work
somethin’ out.”

  Cane barked, “Work somethin’ out? Nigga, you must be out ya fuckin’ mind. You killed my father, fucked my sister, and then tried to kill me. It’s too fuckin’ late to work somethin’ out.”

  “It wasn’t me, man. I ain’t had shit to do wit’ Curtis’ death or you. I was family to you, Cane. I loved all y’all. Don’t do this to me.”

  “Nigga, save all that pleading shit until you meet the devil soon, ’cuz I ain’t hearin’ shit ya sayin’ right now.” Cane pointed the pistol at Maino’s head.

  “Cane, don’t do this.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Cane fired his pistol into Maino’s face at point-blank range, and the hot shells tore his flesh apart. It was ugly. Kong followed suit and killed the woman Maino was lying with. The bed became soaked in their blood. Cane smiled. Killing Maino was like busting a nut. He felt relieved, having avenged his father’s death.

  Cane and his vicious Miami crew put a hurting on New York City like it hadn’t seen since the crack era of the ’80s. They had bodies dropping everywhere. Cane and Citi was showing the underworld that a new force was reigning supreme in the city’s criminal world, and they had the money, the muscle, and the influence to become number one. Now, the Byrne throne was stronger than ever.

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