by Brick
“Since you thought it would be fun to come in here and stir shit up, you just dug your boyfriend into a deeper hole,” Deebo said as he eyed my braless chest.
Uncle Phil smiled like the Cheshire cat. “Ha-ha,” he taunted. “We’re going to make it so you have to testify against the son of a bitch. So thank you for coming in here and signing his life over to the federal penitentiary.”
I didn’t flinch or recoil when both of them stood on either side of me and taunted me with threats of me testifying against Enzo and him going to prison. Deebo slammed his hand down on the table in front of me. “I bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?”
“You really think Special Agent Tems didn’t think this far ahead? And who do you think a judge is going to believe? A detective with over ten years of service under his belt or a two-bit junky whore?” Uncle Phil blasted as he sprayed the right side of my face with a flurry of spittle.
“You know, I’m going to need all of you to come up with a better way of insulting me than calling me a whore. I know what I used to be and I own it because I did what I had to do to survive.” I spoke in a state of calm.
I sat regally, back straightened, arms under the table on my lap, and eyes straight ahead. Uncle Phil reacted like a viper, striking out to snatch me by my throat and forcing me to look up at him. His eagerness was short-lived.
“I’m going to need you to take your hands off my client.” I didn’t need to see the face to know who the voice belonged to.
Mirror slammed the door behind him and I heard the lock click. Deebo backed away and Uncle Phil slowly let my neck go.
“She isn’t being charged with anything, so why the lawyer?” Deebo asked.
“We were just trying to refrain the potential witness from harming herself,” Uncle Phil lied.
“Bullshit,” Mirror damn near growled low in his throat. “Please leave me so that I may have a moment with my client,” he demanded.
“I see the mighty Enzo sent in reinforcements for the little lady,” Uncle Phil continued as Deebo sized Mirror up.
Mirror didn’t break a sweat; in fact, he seemed a bit bored.
Deebo spoke up. “Let him know Little Red Riding Whore over here is going to be his downfall when the DA puts her on the stand.”
Mirror set his leather briefcase down and folded his muscled arms over his broad chest. “On the stand for what?” he asked.
“I’m sure when the charges are brought against him the state will subpoena her to take the stand. That’s how it goes in the States, my man.”
Uncle Phil chuckled. “I’m sure they do the same thing in the UK, no?” he asked, putting on a fake accent.
Mirror wasn’t amused. “Good luck with that,” he told them.
“Oh, there will be no luck needed on our parts.”
“Sure there will. You can’t force a woman to testify against her husband,” he informed them.
Then and only then did I turn my eyes on each of the men in the room. A slow smile crept onto my face.
Deebo’s head jerked back as if he had been slapped. “Wait, what?”
“You heard me. You can’t force this woman to testify against her husband. In criminal cases, a husband and wife can’t be compelled to be called as a witness against the other, in cases such as the one you’re threatening Mr. Banks with. Now, if you will excuse me, I need a moment with my client.”
The looks on both of their faces were incredulous to say the least. I chuckled to myself thinking of how Shy would leave no stone unturned. She told me from the moment she thought of the idea that she was going to go by any means necessary to make sure her sons were safe. She carefully thought of every angle that Micah would try. She covered every base. Enzo wasn’t too keen on marrying me at all and especially not for the sake of his freedom. But me, I had something to prove so, after careful consideration, I agreed with little to no fight.
Whether I wanted to admit it or not, there was no blood relation between me and Shy and although I knew her to be a woman of her word, I knew that if push came to shove, I would be the oddball out. I wasn’t an African Queen. Hadn’t established myself to be anything other than a girl who happened to be brought into the mess Micah had made. Had Micah not brought Enzo and me back together, we probably wouldn’t have ever made an attempt to even be caught in the same room together. I would have been okay with that.
But after all that had happened, I needed to build my place somewhere in the world. I needed to build a strong foundation. Thinking of how my grandmother had actually searched for me in her last days still had my eyes watery, but my work had been done. After ensuring I wasn’t being brought up on any charges, Mirror walked me out of the police precinct and back to the meeting place. I could hear Enzo’s voice down the hall. I knew Caltrone was there judging by the deep rumble of his voice. I walked into the room of the venue for Shy’s safe house and changed clothes. I pulled off the tattered sundress and worn shoes. Traded them in for my signature skinny jeans, wedge sneakers, a thin polo-style shirt, and a hoodie.
I looked up when the door opened to see Shy walk in. She held her arms out to me. Once I walked over to her embrace, she placed a kiss on the center of my forehead.
“You did well,” she told me. “Thank you.”
“No thanks needed.”
“Oh, trust me, there is. You didn’t have to do any of what I asked of you and, at the risk of your own freedom, you did it without thought. I know Shawn fought like hell for you two not to be legally married, but it had to be done.”
I chuckled, kind of bashfully. “No worries. I’m sure after Micah is in the grave Enzo will rectify all of that and the marriage will be annulled in no time.”
“You think so?”
I shrugged. “If I’ve learned anything about Shawn it’s that he doesn’t like to have his hand forced at anything, even if it is by you.”
Shy laughed lightly. “I would say you know him well.”
“Just a li’l bit,” I said.
She hugged me and kissed my forehead again before we walked out of the room together. We talked a bit as we walked down the hall. She told me the story of Br’er Rabbit and I had to laugh at how close Enzo and Micah’s story was to the legend. When we walked into the room, all eyes turned to us. Enzo was sitting near who I’d come to know as his cousin Fuego. Lilith sat on the left of Caltrone.
“I see you were able to do that simple task, Angel, is it?” Lilith spoke up.
That bitch always had something snide to say and it was starting to work my nerves. Caltrone openly studied me and then grunted as he puffed on his cigar. I ignored him as I took a seat next to Enzo, wondering why I was in the room. I could feel Enzo looking me over. My face still bore some of the scrapes and bruises from my escapade with Gina’s mom and Dominique.
“You good?” he asked me.
I nodded once. “I’m great.”
“So, Gramps, we’re here,” Fuego stated. “What’s on your mind?” he asked his grandfather.
Before Caltrone could even start to talk, I stood to leave. Lilith jumped up and blocked my path. “How rude of you to have the audacity to walk out when the king is about to talk,” she snapped.
I could tell she wanted a fight. Was itching to start one with me since she was really pissed at Caltrone’s infatuation with Shy. But she knew if she even looked at Shy the wrong way Caltrone would end her, so I was her next best choice. Even Enzo had tilted his head as he watched me.
“And how rude of you to sit around while grown folk are talking,” I countered.
Enzo stood. “Yo, Angel, what’s up? You breaking out on me.”
I turned to look the young man who I’d grown to love in his eyes. I could see the storm cloud brewing behind them. I said to him, “If I don’t know shit, I can’t say shit.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shy smile. There was no need for me to be in that room for whatever it was they were about to discuss. Enzo had taught me well. The less I knew, the safer I was. The
less I knew, the less I would have to tell. It would be just my luck that that sneaky bitch Lilith would leak some shit just to have the finger pointed at me because I was the oddball out. I shoved her out of my way and left the room.
Chapter 15
Micah
My ears perked up when I looked at the door leading to my home office. By rote, I stuck my hand into the drawer that held my badge, but realized Enzo had taken it with him and I no longer had a badge. I’d been suspended from the agency pending investigation. Just that quick, my life had become something I hadn’t expected. I’d been accused of being one of the criminals I’d pursued. True enough, I’d done some shady shit in my time as an undercover officer, but it was all in the name of justice.
Nothing I’d done hadn’t been to avenge my family in the long run. The list I had on Enzo was long. Even had footage of him torturing people in the basement. What? Thought I would just be undercover and not keep recording what went down while in Dame’s employment? Fuck outta here. I was still an agent before I was anything else. I wasn’t the fucking criminal. I was the victim, the avenger of . . .
My thoughts escaped me as I thought back over all the years of my hard work. On my desk was a picture of Caltrone Orlando walking the streets of Atlanta. He stood there in his tailored suit, one hand in his pocket and another up to his mouth puffing on the illegal cigar in plain sight. The anger that festered in me reared its ugly head again. Countless men and women I’d put behind bars in the name of the Orlandos. Lu Orlando had been my first big fish from the Orlandos. Had put his ass away and then the nigga got offed in prison. He’d ruined that part of my satisfaction of having that nigga locked away.
“Special Agent Tems,” someone called out to me as they opened the door to my apartment, the only thing Enzo hadn’t burned to the ground.
The son of a bitch was proficient, I could say that.
I knew the man without even having to see his face. I knew I’d be having a conversation with him sooner or later. I just didn’t know how close he was to the situation. He was my superior, one at the very top of the FBI food chain.
The man took a seat in front of my desk. He crossed his ankle over his thigh as he watched me closely. “How did we find ourselves here, Special Agent Tems? How did the man I specifically put on the job of taking the Orlandos down end up in the same position he was supposed to put them in? What happened, Micah? How did we end up here?”
I shrugged. “Sir, to be honest, I don’t even know why I’m here. All I’ve ever done was what you asked me to do. I got in. I got in deep.”
The man’s cold gaze took me in as he spoke nonchalantly. “Yet, Damien and Dante Orlando rest in hell instead of rotting in prison.”
“There were variables there that I didn’t see coming, sir.”
“Obviously. I thought when I picked you for the job, you’d keep a level head, Tems. Was I wrong?”
“No, sir.”
“Bullshit.”
“I can still do the job, sir.”
“You fucked up.”
“It can be fixed.”
“You fucked up, Micah. You fucked up and went after the wrong kid.”
“He’s an Orlando.”
“Do you know just how many other Orlandos you could have gone after, Tems? Do you know how many men and women in the Orlando organization you could have gone after and taken down?”
“Yeah, but this kid, this kid is Lu Orlando’s son. I see in him what we saw in Caltrone Orlando. The kid has potential to take over DOA and take it to the next level. I was trying to prevent that. Trying to prevent another reign of terror,” I explained.
“You sit here, brought up on the same charges you accuse him of, slurring your words, being accused of the most heinous crimes, and you talk about preventing another reign of terror?” my superior asked me.
He sat straight up, spine stiff as he talked to me man to man. There was no direct indication of what was to come by the tone of his voice. I respected the man sitting in front of me. Years of training under his wing got me to the level in the agency I was at. One day I hoped to be at the level he was. My superior was so high in the FBI food chain that some people didn’t even know he existed.
He pulled the folder from underneath his arm. “All this time and I thought the Orlandos were the criminals. This shit in this folder, Tems, I can’t pull you back from it. I’ve got power, but not that much power. Bianca Smith, what she’s accused you of alone is enough to bury you in the federal prison system. The raid on your apartment this morning, all the evidence to support what she has accused you of pretty much put the last nail in your coffin. I put you on this case, not to go after a boy who had no idea who he was before you came along. Now that he knows who he is, I do say you’ve created a monster.” My superior stood and then casually slid his hands into his pockets. “And now, now, I have to take down my grandson because you just had to wake a sleeping giant.”
What he’d just said hit me like a ton of bricks. I jumped up from the desk chair. “Wait, what the fuck? What?”
“You should have left him alone, Micah. You forced my hand before it was time.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t understand.”
“Now, because of your actions, I have to ask not what if I have to take my grandson down, but when. Good day, Tems. I came to hand you your official termination papers,” he said as he strolled out of my office.
I stumbled behind my desk, fell, and then pulled myself up to run behind him.
“Sir, I don’t get . . . I’m not understanding what you’re saying to me right now,” I yelled behind him.
He turned to me as he walked out of the door. Looked at me with something akin to annoyance in his eyes. “What’s understood needs no understanding. Half a truth is often a great lie, Tems. You’ll realize that too late.”
Chapter 16
Enzo
I hadn’t expected to also get married. Shit was so unexpected that I’d almost blacked out on Shy for even suggesting it. Shit had me seeing red, ready to go to prison for killing Micah and just say fuck all the rest of this shit. I mean the bullshit had me . . . accepting what I had to do and becoming a married man. Fuck my life.
I knew I had to shoulder some shit, but I wasn’t expecting it. I was twenty-one and a married man. Fuck that nigga Micah for real. I really didn’t know what to do with a wife. I knew the shit was for show but it was still real nonetheless.
Shit, yeah, an annulment could go down, but I bet if the impromptu wedding helped me like Mirror and my mom explained that it would, then the DA would still be looking to see if this shit was legit. So, I really couldn’t annul a damn thing. Like B and I had to be in this for a minute until the dust settled and what the fuck did I do with that? What the fuck did she do with it?
My gaze locked on the thin red cord on my wrist, symbolizing Bianca’s quickie marriage to me. A quiet ache attacked my stomach in the moment. I felt like I was trapping her and ruining her life. Felt like we were taking each other’s freedom away, all to save my ass, and save my family. A dull ache started in the back of my head. I noticed Angel getting up to leave and her and that broad Lilith going at it.
I wasn’t sure why I did it but I pushed back and shouted at her, as that ache in my mind spread and I felt that creeping blackness overtaking me. Maybe I was feeling possessive because I didn’t want her to get hurt again, I really didn’t know. But, if she was going to be down for this family then she fucking needed to be here and be by my side, fuck the rest. She really had to start coming into her fold and taking on some boss bitch shit, because I could not have a chick at my side who wasn’t as strong as me. It would make everything cave in for me and have the old demon coming at me funky.
However, when she spit that code at me I let her go do her and sat back down. I knew I was tripping. My mind was feeling fractured. I was feeling tired and feeling like Atlas with the weight of the world on my shoulders.
All my plans for me were to just get in the NF
L and make that money to provide for my family. Since the year of Dame’s death, my life went from being contracted to the devil to turning into a spiral of other shit that I could not control. I felt like I was grasping at straws, trying to make shit fit to protect my family as I scrambled around and cut niggas’ throats. The streets were flowing with blood by my hands and I sat listening as Caltrone offered me a throne surrounded in a sea of that shit.
Stress had me fisting my hands. I swore I could see that nigga Dame with our sperm donor watching me with a smile. I didn’t want any of this shit, but I had to play the eager prince. Had to get in deep to secure the safety of everyone at the sacrifice of myself. This life wasn’t how I wanted it, and I wished I could have been some normal cat, doing normal shit, but . . . whatever. It was what it was. The world’s tiniest violin could stop now, because I had to play this game for the ultimate revenge.
So my gaze focused on my mother who sat regally, daintily sipping a cup of tea while looking over the edge of it with an amused smirk and secret sidelong stare. It was as if she was not only casting shade but also absorbing everything being said in the room. When, honestly, I knew she was. Taking her cue to me, I then focused on the door that Angel exited from and a wicked smile flashed across my face.
“Hey, yo, thought I’d interrupt but, yeah, when a bitch got too much bark, or she starts running foul, then it’s time for that bitch to be brought down. I don’t trust rabid bitches with my dick, let alone my Glock. Might be wise to snuff that shit out before she starts trying to take over what is mine.”
I tapped the end of my blunt on the table as I spoke that understanding to my grandfather. My gaze stayed locked on that Lilith bitch. She knew not to ever cut her eyes at me, or mumble a thing, or it would be the end of her. That was why I slid back in my chair with a wide, cocky smile.
