“Aren’t they supposed to vote me prom queen?” she said, pointing at the crowd of people.
“Ain’t no competition,” Arrik said, not taking his eyes off of her. He couldn’t believe how good she looked in the dress he had picked out. “Plus, even if there were, my vote is the only one that matters. This is your prom. You are the only one who matters tonight. Now, come on. I have some people I want you to meet. Once you are back fully functioning, they are who you’ll be working with.”
“The sisters? Ra Ra and Ashley?” She couldn’t hide the smug expression on her face.
“Put the claws away,” Arrik said, running his fingers gently on her scar. “You have more in common with them than you think. But, no, we will save them for another day. I had somebody else in mind.”
Robin looked to her brother and reached out for his hand to walk in with them. But surprisingly, he shook his head no and winked at her.
“You don’t need me for this one. This is your fairytale. Plus, you only have two hands, and it looks someone else wants that one. I love you, Robin Hood.”
She didn’t know what he meant until she turned around and saw the prettiest little girl standing at her feet. She had smooth mocha skin, and she was the spitting image of Arrik. Her hair was even braided the same. Robin didn’t have to ask to know that she was Arrik’s daughter, Naomi. She was looking curiously up into Robin’s face, and her wide, innocent eyes fell on the scar. Robin prepared herself for the little girl to ask her about the scar, but instead, she smiled and batted her long, pretty eyelashes.
“You’re pretty. Will you hold my hand? My daddy won’t pick me up, and I’m scared of the loud music.”
Robin’s heart instantly melted at Naomi’s cute little voice. She glanced at Arrik to gain his approval first, and when he nodded, she looked back to Naomi.
“Of course I will, baby girl,” she said, taking Naomi’s soft, tiny hand in hers.
Clutching on to Arrik’s arm, she allowed him to lead the way into the prom he had put together for her. She didn’t know where this thing with them would go, but as happy as he made her heart feel, she was willing to go as far as he took her.
Once on the dance floor, Naomi let go of Robin’s hand and ran into the arms of her nanny, a stout caramel woman. Arrik and Robin were left to slow dance to Case’s “Happily Ever After,” holding each other close. The two of them were the center of attention, and Robin was loving every second of it.
“It feels so . . .”
“Perfect?” Arrik tried to finish for her.
“No.” She shook her head right before standing on her tiptoes. “Magical.”
They didn’t know it yet, but soon the love between them would grow so strong and fierce that only death would tear them apart. The kiss they shared at that moment sealed the deal for them to live happily ever after.
The End
Coming Soon:
The Last Kings 3
From the Mind of C. N. Phillips
Prologue
Don’t compare me to none of these fuckin’ liars
I’m fuckin’ flyer, I’m fuckin’ realer
Play wit’ me, I’ll be a fuckin’ killer
I drove as casually as I could through the streets of Detroit: my streets. Everybody who recognized my car waved a hand, but I was too focused on the road to wave back. Nipsey Hussle’s voice blessed the inside of my vehicle, and I was alone, lost in my own thoughts, trying to get free. The tinted windows to my all-white AMG S65 Coupe were cracked, and I exhaled the last cloud of Granddaddy Purp before throwing the roach out. My heart was beating fast, and when I saw the dozen squad cars racing past in the opposite direction, I held my breath. Instinctively my hand went to the pistol resting in my lap. My fingers wrapped around the butt and the trigger knowing that if they stopped me, I wouldn’t be able to explain the bloodstains on my white Alexander McQueen strapless dress. Even in a dress and heels, I was prepared to go out with a fight.
Looking in my rearview mirror, I saw that they were heading in the direction of the massacre that I’d just left. I released the air that was in my chest, but I still did not relax. The weed was failing to calm my racing nerves as I replayed the last thirty minutes in my head.
“Sadie, what are you doing?” I asked myself. “What the fuck are you doing?” I pressed my foot on the gas until my speedometer read almost sixty miles per hour. I needed answers, and I needed them fast.
When I had gotten to Lexington Matthew’s house, we were supposed to put forth a notion that would unite not only our two empires, but the empires of every drug operation in the states surrounding Detroit. We both had things in our possession that would change the drug game as we all knew it, like the two missing pieces of the puzzle. However, as with all things, there were some powerful players holding major cards, and they didn’t care much for unity. Not even with the Last Kings. They wanted to solely rule the underground drug ring, and what we had in mind wasn’t in their plans.
We were ambushed, and if Lexington hadn’t been murdered in the process, I would have assumed that I had been set up. Before we could fully explain in detail the levels of changes that were about to be implemented, Lexington got an array of bullets to the chest. His last words were to me, and they were what had me so confused.
I knew I had to get to my house as soon as possible to get the answers I needed. Tyler was out of the country while Adrianna and Devynn were in Miami handling business. I knew I’d be alone.
I sped the rest of the way until I reached the gate of my home. Ray taught me to always keep my land gated. That way if somebody tried to run in on me, they would be slowed down, and I’d get a warning. In that case, I almost went through my own gate. The security there looked at my car approaching and had their guns out, locked and ready to unload. When I got closer, they recognized my vehicle in the night and lowered their weapons.
“Ma’am, we—” one of the men tried to say, but I cut him short.
“Shut up and open the fucking gate, Sisco!”
He saw the bloodstains on my dress and on my hands; then he looked at my face. Without another word, he hit a button, and soon after, I heard the faint hum of the gate parting. I didn’t wait for it to fully open to drive through.
The long, curved road led to the house that Ray had built for me. Once I was within reach, I hit the button on my sun visor to open the four-car garage in the back of the house that belonged to Tyler and me. I pulled in and came to a hard stop.
When the garage door shut behind me, I gripped the steering wheel and let out a frustrated sigh. Letting go of the wheel, I opened the door to get out of the car, taking notice of an oil stain on the concrete floor. I mentally made a note to have somebody look under my hood.
The lights in the garage stayed on for ten minutes by themselves whenever somebody returned if you didn’t flick them on manually. I wouldn’t need that much time. I grabbed the pistol out of my lap and popped my trunk. Stepping out of my vehicle, I stalked slowly to the back of my car with the sound of my heels echoing in the garage. I wasted no time when I got there. I aimed my gun and lifted the trunk all the way up until I saw the body cowering there.
The young girl also had on a dress covered in blood. She was beautiful, too beautiful to be in the trunk of anybody’s car. She would either be an important asset to me or be the reason that a target was on my back. Either way, I needed answers.
“This is the part where you talk, or I put one in your head and two in your chest.”
Hood Tales, Volume 1 Page 18
