by J. L Rose
“Nothing, I’m good,” Dante answered, staring straight ahead as he drove.
Wanting to push him into telling her what was wrong with him but decided against it, Alinna figured he would tell her if he wanted her to know but instead said, “Guess what? You remember I told you about the friend I know that supposed to introduce me to Geovani guy?”
“Yeah I remember, what about him?”
“He wants to meet now.”
Looking over to Alinna, seeing her smile Dante looked away and asked, “Where at?”
“Starbucks off of 82nd and 21st,” Alinna told him. “You gonna go with me now, right?”
Glancing over back to Alinna, Dante said, “Fuck it,” in his head deciding Alinna over Angela, turning the Lexus truck around heading back in the other direction, and catching the smile Alinna shot him.
* * *
Pulling inside the Starbucks parking lot fifteen minutes later, Dante found an open parking spot, and then both he and Alinna climbed out of the truck.
Heading towards the front entrance just as the door swung open, Alinna saw Miguel walk out of the Starbucks with a huge smile on his face as he headed directly at her.
“My sweetie…”
Upon seeing Dante when he stepped over the front of her just as Miguel walked directly into him, Alinna never had the chance to say anything and never would have. Dante kicked out Miguel’s left leg as he grabbed and twisted his left arm behind his back as Miguel dropped to his left knee.
“What the fuck!” Miguel yelled in pain, reaching for his right side arm at his only to feel the barrel of a gun pressed to the side of his head.
“Dante, it’s alright,” Alinna spoke up with a small smile on her lips. “This the friend I told you about.”
Dante released Alinna’s heavyset Spanish friend who slowly stood to his feet and rubbed his arm while staring at him. Dante stuck his burner back inside the front of his jeans as Miguel spoke directly to Alinna. “You called this guy, Dante? As in the same Dante who got half the drug dealers in the city scared shitless?”
Nodding her head still smiling, Alinna introduced the two. “Sergeant Miguel Ruiz, meet my boyfriend Dante.”
“Your boy…” Miguel stated, looking from Alinna to Dante then back to Alinna. “But you sell drugs and he’s a jack boy. How can …”
“Aren’t we here to meet someone about business or were there other reasons we drove way out here?” Dante asked, cutting Miguel off.
Staring at Dante briefly and slowly shaking his head, Miguel looked over to Alinna and shook his head again as he turned and began walking back towards the coffee shop entrance.
“Your boyfriend, huh?” Dante asked, looking over to Alinna as they followed behind Miguel.
“Don’t read too much into it,” Alinna told him, smirking at Dante as she stepped inside the Starbucks behind Miguel with Dante following behind her.
Following Miguel over to the table at the back corner of the Starbucks where a young Spanish man sat talking on a cell phone, Alinna stood beside Miguel in front of the guy’s table noticing Miguel walking around with a confused look upon his face.
“You must be Rodriguez?” the guy spoke up, laying his cell phone down onto the tables standing up.
“And you are?” Alinna asked, taking the guy’s hand and shaking it.
“Mario Sanchez, meet Alinna Rodriguez,” Miguel introduced, finally getting into the conversation.
“You’re not what I expected,” Mario told her, pulling out a chair for her as he slowly looked her over with a small smile.
“I’m not sure what you were expecting,” Alinna replied as she sat down in the seat that was offered to her. Ignoring the way Sanchez was looking her.
“I’m just really surprised at how beautiful you are.”
“Sanchez, look kid,” Miguel interrupted getting Mario’s attention. “Let’s just stick to business. You really don’t want to go there with Alinna, trust my words on that.”
Looking back to Alinna and seeing the small smile on her sexy pouty full lips, Mario decided to wait his time out changing the subject by saying, “So you’re looking to connect with Mr. Geovani are you?”
“I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Rodriguez; this type of business isn’t really a business for a woman. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you’re not able to handle yourself, but what I am saying is that Mr. Geovani is very … how can I put this? Mr. Geovani does not trust his time or his business with just any and every one.”
“So basically what you’re telling me is that me doing some begging for you for Mr. Geovani to even consider having a sit down with you,” Mario explained and then gave a smirk while adding, “However, I am willing to do what I must for your Ms. Rodriguez. But what am I to receive for my hard work and time?”
“Sanchez don’t …”
“What exactly are you looking for in return?” Dante asked, as he appeared next to Mario at the table.
“What the hell?” Mario asked, hopping up from this seat only to have Dante forcefully shove him back down in the seat. “Who the fuck is this guy? What the hell is going on?”
“I tried to warn you kid,” Miguel said, shaking his head at Mario with a look on his face. “This is the reason why I told you to stick to business, kid.”
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Mario asked again looking up at the guy that was standing over him.
“Mario allow me to introduce you to my business partner and boyfriend, Dante Blackwell,” Alinna smiled at seeing the expression on Mario face.
Pulling a chair over from the table next to them Dante turned the seat backwards sitting down, he asked, “So can we get business done or not? Straight answer - yes or no?”
“I’m not sure …”
“Yes or no?” Dante interrupted staring hard at Mario.
Slowly nodding his head while staring back at Dante, Mario answered, “Yeah, yes I can get the meeting set up.”
“Good,” Alinna spoke up, smiling from across the table at Mario.
* * *
“How the hell did you get mixed up with this guy, Alinna? What the hell?” Miguel said as they stood outside the Starbucks parking lot follow their meeting with Mario.
“Miguel, I’m not about to explain to you who I’m dealing with – business or personally, just make sure you stay on Mario and this meeting,” Alinna told Miguel before turning to leave only for Miguel to grab her arm stopping her.
Quickly releasing her after realizing what the hell he was doing, Miguel looked up only to see what he expected and reaching for his side arm a few seconds to late. Dante’s two Glocks seemed to fly from his waistband and into his hands just as Dante walked up behind Alinna.
“Miguel, just handle what I asked you to handle please,” Alinna told him. Staring at Miguel a moment but then turned away saying as she walked around Dante. “Dante, let’s go.”
Sliding both of his burners back into his waist of his jeans and staring hard at Miguel, Dante turned his back and followed Alinna back to the Lexus truck.
Back behind the wheel after letting Alinna inside, Dante started the truck and backed out of the parking spot, asking, “How the hell you hooked up with that dude?”
“It’s a long story,” Alinna answered but added don’t pay Miguel any attention.
“I don’t like or trust that dude.”
“You don’t like or trust anyone, Dante.”
“I trust you,” Dante replied looking from the road over to Alinna.
Meeting his eyes, Alinna stared until Dante focused back on the road, she asked, “What do you think of the meeting with Mario?”
“I don’t trust him.”
Smiling a devious smile as he cut his eyes over to Alinna, Dante asked, “So you’re letting me and Dre at this dude?”
“That was our agreement right?” Alinna said smiling back at Dante winking her eye at him.
Nodding his head and smiling harder, Dante focused back on the road already thinking ahead about what
they may come up with from this Geovani hit.
* * *
Making it to Alinna townhouse ten minutes later after stopping at the gas station, picking up gas, and Alinna buying a box of blunt wrap’s for herself and a box of Vanilla and Mild’s, Dante parked the truck besides Dre’s Avalanche then he and Alinna climbed from the truck.
Heading up to the front door, Alinna unlocked and opened it. She led Dante inside the townhouse just in time to see Vanessa. A few minutes later, Dre stumbled down the stairs behind each other.
Seeing Vanessa’s hair messed up and her jeans opened in front while Dre’s shirt was half on and his jeans also open in the front, Alinna looked back at Dante smiling at Dante who was also smirking.
“You want something to drink, Dante?” Alinna asked him, smiling still as she headed for the kitchen.
“What you got shorty?” Dante asked, shaking his head at Dre and Vanessa again as he followed behind Alinna.
“Yo fam, let me holla at you,” Dre called out following Dante from behind.
“Alinna, I can explain,” Vanessa told her girl as she grabbed two bottles of Corona from the refrigerator.
Taking the beer from Alinna, Dante looked to Dre and asked, “What came back from the hit, braw?”
“That’s if you two got around to checking it,” Alinna added jokingly.
Laughing at seeing the look on both Dre and Vanessa’s faces as he and Alinna headed to the den, Dante said, “Braw, just get the stuff and bring it to the den.”
Looking to Vanessa as she looked at him, Dante asked, “So what now?”
“Just come on Andre,” Vanessa told him, grabbing the front of Dre shirt leading him back upstairs.
Once both Dre and Vanessa got the three backpacks and met them in the den, Dante and Alinna went through the bags together.
“I called both Amber and Harmony. They should be here soon,” Vanessa spoke up from beside Dre.
Hearing Vanessa but not responding, Alinna looked at Dre seeing him counting small bills from one of the three backpacks. “It’s about two bricks of coke and a pound of weed, but one of the bricks is already broken down in ounces and twenty’s even ten’s and five dollar stacks.”
Nodding his head in understanding but continuing to count the money, Dante paid no attention to the knocking at the front door.
“What’s up y’all?” Amber said a few minutes later after Vanessa went to answer the front door, walking into the den with the others.
“Where’s Harmony?” Alinna asked Amber, looking from Dante.
“I don’t know, she called me and said she was taking care of something. She should be here soon I guess,” Amber answered, looking at the weed and coke on the glass coffee table, plus the money Dante was counting.
“Y’all did the hit?”
“There’s $11,000 and some change here,” Dante told the group as soon as he finish counting.
Nodding her head, Alinna said, “Alright y’all. I’ll tell Harmony later. Y’all listen up, Dante and I just met with the Geovani guy. A meeting is being set up with Geovani and us.”
Chapter 7
After the first meeting with Geovani that was made possible by Mario, Vanessa and Alinna met up with the middle aged, well-groomed Spanish coke and weed dealer.
Agreeing on four and a half bricks and five pounds of weed after the three-hour meeting, Alinna and Vanessa shook hands with Geovani, and then shook hands with Mario.
Once inside Alinna’s Lexus I.S. 350, with Vanessa behind the wheel driving away from the agreed meeting spot in Atlanta, Alinna called Dante phone. “Yeah shorty.”
“Where are you?”
“Look to your left.”
Doing as she was told, she looked towards Vanessa, but focused on the driver’s side window just as the rental Ford Explorer drove up beside them, seeing Dante inside the passenger seat next to Dre who was driving.
“How everything go?” Dante asked, staring across at Alinna, speaking into the cell phone.
“Everything went good,” Alinna said into the cell watching the Explorer pull off from beside the Lexus. “The buy is set for the day after tomorrow.”
“Big security?”
“Six guy’s with him, but two more that stood outside the restaurant with the limo that Geovani pulled up in.”
“Alright, we’ll talk back at the hotel,” Dante told her, hanging up the phone.
“What’d he say?” Vanessa asked as soon as she saw Alinna lowered the phone from her ear.
“You know how Dante is. He didn’t say too much of nothing,” Alinna told Vanessa, shaking her head, as she was staring at the Ford Explorer.
“You think they will really be able to pull this off, Alinna?” Vanessa asked. “I mean it’s just the two of them and we didn’t even bring Amber and Harmony for back up for them.”
“I don’t know why but I think they’ll be okay. Dante actually looks like he’s enjoying all this,”
“But this is not one of those small time dudes like back in Miami. This dude Geovani seems like he’s about his issues, Alinna.”
Looking over to Vanessa, Alinna gave a small smile saying, “Don’t let me find out that you’re actually getting soft on me, Vanessa, or is it that you’re worried about your new man Dre – or should I say Andre as you call him?”
Rolling her eyes at Alinna causing her girl to bust out laughing, Vanessa waited until Alinna stopped laughing then said, “I was just asking because whether you remember or not we’re putting everything on these two and if they fuck up we fucked up to Alinna.”
Growing serious, Alinna looked to Vanessa and said, “I’m fully aware what’s being put up with Dante and Dre coming through for us but I can’t explain it. I trust Dante, and Dre is his boy so I trust him too. We’ll be straight.”
Looking to Alinna and seeing the expression on her girls face, Vanessa started to say something, but decided against it. She simply smiled as she turned her focus back to the road.
* * *
Once back at the hotel, the four of them headed to Vanessa and Alinna’s room. Dante positioned himself against the wall next to the dresser in front of the bed smoking a Black, while Dre sat on the hotel room couch with Vanessa sitting on his lap while Alinna sat on the hotel room’s queen-sized bed, telling both Dante and Dre about the meeting with Geovani. Vanessa added in helping Alinna out.
“So this Geovani guy wasn’t acting nervous or worried through the whole meeting?” Dante asked Alinna once she finished talking.
“He did at first,” Vanessa answered. “When he first showed up he was watchful, carefully inspecting everything. But after he saw that it was just two females by themselves he relaxed and actually laughed a little.”
“When is the buy supposed to go down?” Dante asked, even though Alinna had told him once before.
“He wants to have it done the day after tomorrow,” Alinna answered staring at Dante watching him as he leaned against the wall deep in though.
“Alright,” Dante finally spoke up after a moment.
“Where’s the pick up going to be? Same place or someplace different?”
“We got him to agree to set up the buy and pick up at a rest stop off I-95,” Alinna told him smiling a small smirk.
Dante said, “I think I’m falling in love with you, shorty.”
* * *
“So what’s your plan?” Alinna asked Dante as he was walking out of the bathroom, seeing him stretched out on the couch. She noticed both Vanessa and Dre were missing.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Dante answered as Alinna walked over to the couch, pushing his feet off of the couch arm so she could sit down beside him.
“Where’s Nessa and Dre?” Alinna asked him.
“You really want to know?” Dante asked smiling a small smirk and cutting his eyes back over to Alinna.
“Not really,” Alinna answered as she smiled at Dre but really just noticing how cut he was. “You should smile more. It really make you look cuter.”
&nbs
p; “Cuter, huh?”
Ignoring the way Dante was staring at her, she asked him, “I’ve never see you with girls even though I see them trying to get your attention. Do you have a girl, Dante?”
“You asking because …” Dante asked staring at Alinna.
“Why can’t you ever answer a question without asking one first?”
“You ever just get straight to the point without asking 20 questions?”
Sucking her teeth, she pushed Dante’s leg as she jumped up from the beside of him on the couch, Alinna stomped off only to stop when she felt herself lifted off her feet, screaming as she began twisting and turning, fighting to get out of Dante arm’s. “Put me the fuck down, Dante!”
Ignoring Alinna as he walked over to the queen-sized bed and tossing Alinna onto the bed causing her to bounce, Dante snatched off his shirt then began undoing his jeans while kicking off his Timbs.
“What the hell you think you doing?” Alinna asked, looking over to the night table where Dante was sitting both .40’s.
“Take that shit off or I’ma take it off for you,” Dante instructed Alinna, as he stepped out of his jeans.
“Fuck you!” Alinna told him, but hurried off the bed when Dante grabbed the back of her jeans. “Aaahhh!”
Ignoring Alinna’s screaming and scraping at him, and the blow’s she threw at him, Dante simply ripped the shirt she was wearing off her back, and then began to undo her jeans as she fought him the entire time he worked.
Fighting Dante in her thong and a Gucci shirt that he ripped open, Alinna punched and scratched at him but stop dead in mid-swing with her eyes and mouth wide open after feeling the size of him as he slowly slid in her.
Feeling exactly when Alinna stopped fighting, Dante smiled as he lifted up above her, meeting her eyes while slowly moving in and out of her.
“Now tell me now the reason why you were questioning me about having a girl.”
Opening her mouth to speak but unable to form words, Alinna simply released a deep moan as she reached for Dante.
