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“I thought he didn’t want brothers killing brothers.”
He stared at me. “Did you kill him, or were you aware that I was going to kill him?”
I sighed heavily.
“It had to be done. I’ve known for three years that Brocco poisoned your father because he was ready to be Don. Unbeknownst to him, your father had the last laugh. You were named the Don because that was decreed in his will. Brocco was a cancer to the DeLuca name,” Big Tony called as I walked away to the edge of the concrete, staring into the East River. Soon, my brother’s body would be at the bottom with countless souls. I wondered how much time I really had in this life that generations of men before me chose, leaving me no choice.
Chapter 19
Storm
I don’t know how long I looked out the window of the auto shop. Sunny D. had long walked away to tend to business at his shop. I wanted to call Gavin, but I needed space based on what he told me this morning. Space to process everything, including finally understanding why Gavin had been unapologetic about killing Cain.
Holding myself, I thought back to that night over seven years ago. Gavin and I had finished making love, and we were cuddled up together watching The Exorcist. He kept holding my hands so I couldn’t cover my face during the scary parts, which was pretty much the whole movie. I got hungry and begged him to go get my favorite Baskin Robbin ice cream and cherry vanilla cheesecake on a waffle cone. He told me I owed him a blow job for making him get out of bed on a cold night for something that only made me colder. I smiled and promised him a blow job and more since I would be cold and needed him to warm me.
After an hour had passed, and there was no Gavin, I grew worried, and he called me. “Baby, I need you to come now.”
“Where are you?”
“In an alley near Baskin Robbins.” He sounded distant and cold. Something was deadly wrong.
What I saw made my stomach roil. Gavin stood over a prone figure, breathing hard. I assumed he’d been robbed and he handled the robber, or maybe someone fell and was assisting. Never thought it would be my cousin, Cain, who’d been a brother to me. Gavin saw my stricken face and tried to explain. “He came after me. Told me I wouldn’t hurt you anymore. I had to...I had to kill him.”
I hated him then, but I knew the power of his name. As much as it pained me, we left Cain there and returned to my place. We broke up that night, though I hid it from my brothers so they wouldn’t suspect he had anything to do with Cain’s death.
I walked to Sunny D’s office, where he spoke to someone on the phone. I leaned against the door jamb. “Hey...Sunny, I’m about to go...” The voice. I would recognize the voice anywhere.
Sunny D looked up and slowly smiled. “Someone wants to speak to you.”
“Baby Girl...heard you a boss now? Slicing men and shit.” Xavier chuckled.
My heart raced, and I gripped the nearby desk to support my trembling legs. “How are you speaking to me? Did you set me up? What the fuck?”
“Shh...shh...listen...listen...I’m lying low. I was hit, too. Pierre came in blasting, shot me twice, and abruptly left because he heard my men running through the shop already shooting. He assumed that I was dead. I was conscious long enough to tell Sunny D who shot me. Otherwise, no one would’ve known it was Pierre.”
Sunny D rubbed his locs. “I called our guy on the force and asked him to wheel him away as if he was dead and pretend that they kept his body for investigation.”
“Can I see you?” I traced the screen.
“Yeah, Baby Girl.” He then Facetimed me. I couldn’t stop crying when I saw his handsome face. My big brother. He smiled wide, and tears ran down his face. He had a jagged scar on the side of his head.
“Did he shoot you in the head?”
He sobered. “Lucky for me, he’s never been a good shot. The bullet grazed me.”
“I can’t believe he would ever do that. It’s Pierre.”
Xavier nodded. “If he didn’t shoot me himself, I wouldn’t thought he was capable of it. I understood Cain’s death because Pierre didn’t kill him with his own hands. I guess when I confronted him about Cain and stealing from the business, he assumed I would kill him. He should’ve known that if I was going to drop him, I would’ve done it then. Never thought my own brother was a threat.” He looked away, overcome with emotions, and I pressed my fist against my mouth.
I finally asked, “What will you do about Pierre?”
“I don’t know. I still see the hatred in his eyes as he pulled the trigger. Unlike him, I can’t kill my brother. But his days are numbered with the St James crew.”
I looked between Sunny D and Xavier. “Why didn’t you warn me about Pierre?”
Sunny D deferred to Xavier, and his eyes softened as he explained, “Figured Gavin would protect you, and we thought he fled the country. Honestly, I still wanted to believe that he wouldn’t hurt you. You and he were closer. I was a threat and stood in the way of his ambition, but not you.”
“Where are you now?”
