“What about you?”
“My good was locked away from me… I find ways to pass my time and smile temporarily.”
Media news: Son of George Fallaghan, of Fallaghan and associates was found murdered in his car.
She quickly stabbed the cigarette out and stared down at her phone. “I fucking told her… she cannot take on that fucking case.”
I stared at the alert on my phone. “Who the fuck is homie?”
“On the defense team for Preston Vance’s upcoming trial… I fucking warned her.” Kora said, as she snatched her cigarette case from the bar.
Her phone was to her ear. “Maverick, I need to head back. Check your phone… I will get her disbarred if she goes against my word.” Kora spoke calmly into the phone.
This was the second person that had fucking died and was released to the news. Zoya was fucking dolphins if she thought she was going to represent that nigga.
Media news: Red Hook killer has resurfaced.
Fuck.
The lump in my throat felt like it was about to suffocate me. Inez being missing and now this nigga wanted to remerge.
Menace: The food is almost cooled… you bout to eat.
Menace’s text message came in, and I shoved my phone in my pocket and went to the gym.
I was used to shooting a nigga for looking at me crazy or running in my trap house. All this undercover corrupt shit wasn’t up my alley.
I happened to be in love with a woman who came from a family that was wrapped in so much shit that I had no choice but to be involved.
CHAPTER 25
ZOYA
It feltgood to be home.
I hadn’t been into the office because I just wanted to settle into being back home. Not to mention, everything was in an uproar. Teddy had been murdered, and George was beside himself. As much as Teddy got on my nerves, I didn’t want him to be killed. I decided it was best for me to remain home while everything with this Preston case was being sorted out. Goo had been busy with everything he had going on, so he hadn’t been across the hall. He made sure he called me and made sure that I was fine.
I did miss him though.
I understood that his life didn’t revolve around me, and I needed to get my own shit together. This was the reason I hated to let someone in. All I wanted to do was spend time with him, and we both had a life and shit that needed to be done.
We stayed in Aspen for a few days and came back with Menace, Stevie, and Dennis. My nephew was a welcomed distraction from everything. As siblings, we were used to brushing things under the rug and moving forward.
It didn’t matter how big the mountain under that rug was, we ignored it and moved on. Life continued, no matter if something of that nature had been dropped onto you. What I appreciated about my brother was that he didn’t bombard you with questions. He didn’t even ask me how I felt, because he knew I didn’t want to talk about it.
I pulled up on Goo’s mama’s block, and climbed out, getting Bando out the back. He sat perfectly while I grabbed the bottle of wine I brought for her. Kora had taught me to never show up to someone’s house without a gift for them.
This visit was unexpected.
One minute, I was sitting in my home office staring out at the view; the next, I was slipping on some clothes and grabbing Bando’s leash. Gerald was special to me, and getting to know his family was getting to know another side to him.
Before I headed to her building, I walked down the block to the corner store to grab something to snack on, and to allow Bando to relieve his bladder before going into this woman’s house. I prayed she wasn’t scared of dogs or allergic to them.
I snatched a bag of nacho cheese Doritos, a Pepsi zero and Linden cookies. Putting it up on the counter, I dug into my purse to grab some cash.
“Do you take American Express?” I questioned, once I realized all I had was two dollars.
He pushed a card reader out and nodded his head. “Yes.”
