by B. Love
Her hands covered her face as her head shook. When she lowered her hands, her eyes were watery, but that didn’t sway Eira in the least.
“I don’t know what you’re…”
“Deacon!” The bass and volume in his voice made her jump. And before he could stop himself, his hand was gripping her throat and pushing her body into her car. “And what you got going with Xi? If you’re honest, you have the chance to live. But if you lie or bullshit me, I’ll put a bullet in your head right now.”
Eira didn’t realize how tight of a grip he had on her neck until she tried to speak and nothing would come out. He released her and put more space between them. Holding her throat, Sienna coughed as she leaned forward, clutching her stomach with her free hand.
“You need to speak, Sienna. Now.”
Standing up straight, she licked her lips and swallowed after dropping her hands from her body.
“Deacon is my ex. We were together when you and I first met. I fell for you instantly and cheated on him. When I got pregnant, I chose the best man, which was you. I was prepared to spend my life with you and let you believe Brensen was your son even though I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. I didn’t find out until today that he’s Deacon’s.”
“Why did you reach out to him to begin with?”
She squeezed the back of her neck and leaned against her car. “Because, I felt like my plan with Xi wasn’t going to work and you were going to cut me off. I needed a backup. If we were able to leave Memphis without Xi telling Eiryx the truth, I was going to take Brensen and make sure Deacon never saw him so we could continue with our family and plans for marriage. But if Xi told Eiryx, Deacon was my backup plan. He says he doesn’t want to be with me, but I was going to try my hardest to change his mind so he could take care of me and Brensen.”
Eira scratched under his bottom lip as his nostrils flared. It was one thing for her to fuck with him, but the moment she mentioned not one but two of his sisters and their men… that took his anger to another level. Taking a second step back, Eira massaged his temples.
“What does Eiryx have to do with this?”
“Xi wanted to be with her – for real. He… asked me if I could put in the good word for him. I knew that Eiryx wouldn’t give him a chance because of the family, so I set something up that would make him look really good in her eyes. But it kind of backfired because instead of that proving to him that I was loyal enough to be on his team, he said it was a shiesty move and that he wanted nothing to do with me. She’s basically been walking on eggshells with him because of me, so he said he was going to tell her the truth and let her choose her next move. I came over here to try and stop him one last time, but I assume he’s trying to find her now to tell her. So I was going to head to my mom’s place to grab Brensen and leave before any of you found me.”
All Eira could see… all he wanted to do… was bash her head into the windshield. Covering his face and shutting his eyes, he gave his mind time to wrap around what she’d said. It was a lot… but he had to ask…
“Did you set me up? Are you the reason twelve was able to pull up during that deal?”
He lowered his hands, needing to look into her eyes when she answered. “Yes. You were talking about how you wanted to leave the game, and I didn’t want to risk my money drying up. I figured if you caught a charge, the family would put me in your spot and pay me well and take care of us because you took one for the team.”
“And that’s why you started acting funny when they brought Kameron in. And when I took that deal.” She nodded softly. “Ai’s place being trashed… was that you too?”
“Yes. I needed a distraction from Eiryx and Xi. If they challenged their relationship, he would tell the truth. I knew if something happened with Ai, that would become their main focus.”
Eira’s stomach began to boil as his heart raced. It was cool outside, yet he began to sweat.
“You need to leave,” he warned, turning his back to her. “Now.”
“Eira, please let me…”
“Now, Sienna. I swore I would never harm a woman but you a few seconds away from making me change that.”
Feeling his body grow weak, Eira squatted as his ears began to ring. The sound of her car speeding off only made it worse. Covering his ears, he inhaled a deep breath until the ringing stopped. As his heartbeat began to settle, he stood and looked around.
Caf’s car was gone too.
Eira pulled out his phone and dialed Caf’s number.
“Yea?”
“You still on her?” Eira asked, starting Diem’s car.
“Yea. You want me to fall back?”
Clenching his teeth, Eira considered Caf’s request.
“Nah. Stay on her. Don’t let her make it to her mother’s house. You feel me?”
“Yea. I’ll have Loco to give you a call on my behalf when it’s done.”
“Good. Make sure you have this number and phone cleared too.”
“On it.”
Eira disconnected the call, and the moment he did, tears began to blur his eyes. He couldn’t even allow sadness and heartbreak to fill him because of the anger that was shooting through his core. As the tears began to fall, he repeatedly punched the window until it had shattered completely. Transferring that pain to the glass was the only safe way to get him out of his head temporarily. Diem would give him hell about it, but he’d leave a few stacks with her to take care of it before he left Memphis and the bitter memories of Sienna and her lies behind for good.
Chapter 33
Eiryx wasn’t expecting to see Xi parked in her driveway when she got home. A part of her wanted to leave, but the other part of her was curious about what he had to say. She already knew Eira was about to handle Sienna, and if she needed to, she would handle Xi too. As she cut her car off, her phone vibrated with a text from Martino. Instead of bothering to look at it right away, she looked to the left to find Xi already staring at her.
Her body already began to grow weak as she opened the door and got out. As she closed her door, Xi was opening his. His hands were up in surrender as he walked over to her.
“I’m not here to start any shit; I just want you to know the truth.”
Eiryx had been waiting for that for so long that she’d grown numb. All she could do was nod her head once and lead him to her front door. This was the moment she’d been waiting for, yet her spirit grew heavier and heavier. There was no part of her that wanted to hear what Xi had to say, and she had to keep herself from asking him to leave.
Stepping out of her shoes at the front door, Eiryx sighed as she leaned against the wall.
“I don’t even want to tell you to come in.” She chuckled softly and hung her head. “Just tell me the truth here. Now. Get it over with.”
“First, I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. I genuinely cared about and wanted to be with you.” Eiryx scoffed and shook her head at his disclaimer. “The only thing I did wrong was choose Sienna for help, when I should have just approached you on my own.”
Eiryx looked over at him finally, and he told her everything from the beginning.
He started by telling her that he’d been knowing Sienna for years. Sienna had always been a hood nigga delicacy. She knew everything happening with everyone because she was the kind of woman to always stay in the loop. It didn’t surprise Eiryx that she knew Deacon and Xi, but Sienna had never mentioned either of them before. And in a sense, Eiryx understood that. One rule of survival in the hood was to never let another person know all the cards you held in your hand.
When Eira began to express his desire to leave the business, Sienna tried her hardest to get him to stay. In her mind, it was fast and quick money. But their son was getting older. He was at that age where he started questioning things. And Eira didn’t want him to be a part of that life or the business. He made up in his mind to go legit and start his own financial institution, and that set Sienna’s plan into motion.
Xi didn’t know what she had in store for
him. She came to his club one day, and when they ran into each other, Xi asked Sienna to put in the good word for him with Eiryx. Sienna stressed that Eiryx was loyal to the family and would never be with someone who was their competition… unless he stood out in a major way and gave her a reason to. Sienna agreed to set them up if Xi would find a place for her in his organization. He thought it was odd seeing as she was Eira’s woman, but he agreed because he assumed that would be the only way he could get a true shot with Eiryx.
The night of the incident, Xi had been watching their every move. He was waiting for Sienna to give him the okay to approach but it never came. Still, he watched and waited, and that’s why he saw when Gray tried to violate her.
Xi had no idea that Sienna had set that up until the night she came over while Eiryx was there. She stopped by, livid, because Eira had called her and mentioned taking a deal to get out of jail. If he did and they started to really look into who had set him up, she knew all fingers would eventually point to her. When Xi found out about the foul shit she had done, he made it clear to her that he wanted nothing else to do with her, but she tried to blackmail him into still giving her a place in his business by telling him that she would make Eiryx believe Xi set Eira up and tried to take Sienna from him in the process.
At that point, he felt as if he had no choice but to play along. But eventually, it was more important to him that Eiryx know the truth and the type of snake they had in their family.
“Do you have proof of this?”
Xi nodded as he pulled his phone out. He’d recorded the conversation he had with Sienna that day she popped up. He had sent her away, but after Eiryx left, he went after her. Eiryx listened intently as Sienna confessed to everything – setting Eira up to take the fall to stand in his place within the family, setting Eiryx up to be raped, forcing Eira to father a baby that she wasn’t sure really belonged to him, having Ai’s apartment trashed, and trying to set Xi up for snitching if he didn’t give her one hundred thousand dollars and a spot in his business.
Eiryx’s body weakened, causing her to slide down the wall. Xi asked if it was okay to sit next to her, and she nodded while remaining silent.
“I’m sorry, Ree. It was never my intention to hurt you. All I’ve ever wanted was the chance to be with you. I should have stepped to you myself, but I trusted Sienna and knew you did too. She had her hands in so much shit, but I never thought she would do any of this. I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry.”
A lump had seemed to form in her throat. Holding it, Eiryx nodded.
“I know you probably still won’t want to have anything to do with me, but I had to tell you the truth. If you need anything from me, I’m here.”
She nodded again, fighting back her tears. Not sad tears, but angry tears. Out of her whole life, there were only two men she’d ever really wanted – Martino and Xi. And while she was trying to make something shake with Martino, it was hard because of her mistrust of Xi. Now… she knew that Xi had been innocent all along. If anything, he was played like the rest of them thinking Sienna was a good person. But she’d ruined any chance they had of ever being together, because there was no way Eiryx could see herself trusting Xi still.
No matter how good and faithful he’d be, this situation would always be in the back of her head. And he didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be punished for her wrongdoing. It was best if they ended things now, before deeper feelings were involved.
“Thank you for telling me the truth,” she managed to get out as he stood.
Looking up at him, Eiryx forced a smile.
“Be easy, Eiryx. And again, I’m here for anything if you need me.”
Eiryx nodded softly, resting her head against the wall as her eyes closed. The sound of the door closing felt like the closing of her heart as well. She wanted to send a bullet straight through Sienna’s skull for putting her in this position. As the thought crossed her mind, Eiryx’s phone began to vibrate. She pulled it out and smiled softly at the sight of Martino’s name and picture.
“Hey.”
“You good?”
“I am,” she lied, but her voice cracked as her eyes watered.
“No, you ain’t. Drop your location. I’m ‘bout to pull up.”
“Martino I’m fi–”
He hung up in her face, and as frustrated as she was, she laughed too. She should have known Martino wouldn’t take her sounding sad lightly. That had always been his heart. His care. His spirit. After sending him her address, Eiryx put her phone next to her and got lost in her thoughts.
She hadn’t realized how long she’d been sitting there lost in her thoughts until her doorbell rang. Checking the time, Eiryx smiled. Martino had gotten to her in ten minutes. Standing, she took a deep breath and tried to put up a façade. One that wouldn’t show she felt as silly as she did. But as soon as she opened the door and let him in, he took her into his arms, and all of that tough girl shit flew out of the window.
Martino carried her to her room, helped her undressed, then held her in the middle of her bed. He didn’t ask questions; he simply gave her his presence and the space to talk or not talk – whichever she needed in that moment. And as Eiryx held him tightly, she wished this would have been enough. But in the back of her mind… all she could think about was her growing desire for Xi.
Chapter 34
He kept trying, but Ai didn’t want to say anything to Duke the entire drive home. She’d been staying at his place even though her apartment was cleaned up after being trashed. Up until tonight, she hadn’t been in a rush to leave. Waking up and going to sleep next to Duke had been a dream. Except, tonight, it felt more like a nightmare.
Tears kept falling. Every time she thought about James being the reason her father was dead. More tears came.
Duke opened the garage, and as he pulled inside, Ai quickly wiped her tears. Her car was parked in the garage, next to his, as if it belonged there. As if she belonged here. Smiling softly, she opened her door and got out, ignoring his attitude over her not waiting for him to help her out.
Ai made her way through the kitchen and to the bedroom they’d begun to share. She grabbed her suitcases and backpack from the closet, avoiding his eyes as he watched her every move.
“You’re leaving? This isn’t something we can talk and work out?”
Putting the bags on the bed, Ai sat on the side of it and looked at him as he leaned against the dresser.
“You’ve known all along. I can’t believe you would keep something like this from me.”
“I didn’t feel like it was my place. This was a family issue. Trust me, I wanted to get to James myself, but I had to play my role. That had nothing to do with how I feel about you, though. Or your father. I truly cared about him, and I’m starting to fall in love with you.”
While Ai believed the words coming out of his mouth, they weren’t enough to stop the aching within her heart. With a curt nod, she turned her back to him and continued to open her bags. When she turned to head for the dresser, Duke was gone. She was happy that he had left yet sad at the same time. Ai packed as quickly as she could, then headed towards the living room and sound of the TV.
She found Duke sitting in his recliner with a glass of brown liquor swirling around in his hand.
He stood and tried to take one of her bags, but she declined his offer.
“I believe that you didn’t keep this from me out of malice. And we can still be together, I just need a little time to wrap my mind around all this. It’s going to take some work to separate James’ betrayal from you, so I think we should take a break until I am able to.”
His head dropped. Shoulders slumped. Breath came out slow and heavy.
“I understand.” Duke’s head lifted as he added, “I’ll wait for you. No matter how long it takes, I’ll wait for you.”
Duke placed a soft kiss to her forehead, then stepped to the side so she could leave.
Ai had no idea how long it would take for her to
get over James’ taking her father away from her.
Or how long it would take her to not think about Duke negatively every time she thought about her father being gone now.
But there was one thing she knew for sure, and it was that her father was a good man who saw something just as good in Duke. And there was no doubt in her mind that they would cross paths soon and be able to start all over again.
The beginning of the end…
Chapter 35
Saying goodbye to Brensen was the second hardest thing Eira ever had to do. The first – ordering Sienna’s death. Though Eira wanted to take Brensen with him, he felt as if he no longer had claim to his son. Well, to the young giant in training that he thought was his son. Eira would always love Brensen, and he’d probably be sick over not being in his life anymore for quite some time. But it didn’t seem fair to take him with him knowing Deacon had just learned of his existence.
On his way to the FBI local headquarter, Eira stopped by Sienna’s mother’s house. It hurt his heart like hell to tell her that he didn’t know where Sienna was. In a sense, he didn’t, because Caf and Loco had taken care of her body. Eira told her that last night, Sienna told him that Deacon was Brensen’s real father, and that she’d planned to run away to avoid the consequences of her actions and truth. He gave her Deacon’s number and told her to expect a call from him.
It would take some time and be a long process, but eventually, Deacon was going to get full custody of his son. For now, though, he made it clear that he was okay with Brensen staying with his grandmother and continuing to see Eira’s family as his own. While he wasn’t supposed to come back to Memphis ever again, Eira agreed to coming back the day Deacon and Sienna’s mother, Melinda, decided to tell Brensen who his real father was.
By then, Sienna would have long since been classified as a missing person.
It hurt like hell for Brensen to be caught in the crossfire, but there was no way Eira could allow Sienna to live after all she’d done and planned to do. He refused to allow her to take Brensen and not allow him to see Eira or his real father again.
