Moolah shook his head with a grin. “You know money always came to me. Ain’t nothin’ changed.”
Truth be told, Moolah was at the top of the hood pyramid. He had worked his way up past kingpin status. Now, he simply collected money. He had plenty of legitimate businesses, but even those were delegated to others, so he didn’t need to do shit but sit back and collect funds. He traveled so much for pleasure. That was the point of this trip. What was meant to be a day and night in California so he could visit one of his favorite restaurants and relax on the beach was about to turn into a whole weekend so he could keep Iskyiah to himself. Plans had changed, and she didn’t even know it yet.
She stared at him for so long, Jake had come and dropped off her water and fruit and disappeared before she finally spoke. “Why are you doing this, Lah?”
Her voice was so quiet, and hearing her call him by his old nickname cracked him wide open.
Leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees and grinned. “You know you fucked up, right?”
“Huh?”
He could tell him avoiding her questions threw her for a loop, but she would get used to being around him again. It was only a matter of time.
“You named my daughter Brooke. Now her name gonna be Brooke Brooks, and people gonna make fun of her. You know what I’ma do when that happens?”
“She isn’t yours?—”
“I’ma have to fuck some lil kids up, Sky. Now, tell me.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Why would you put me in that position?”
Her mouth hung open, and damn if he didn’t want to put something in it. For now, he would be good and play shit cool. Iskyiah Nathans was the one thing he had been missing from his life. The fact that she just landed in his lap was a sign to him. It was game on now. If she thought he would let up on her, baby girl was sadly mistaken. Her life was about to change drastically, and she had no idea.
The way Iskyiah’s mind was so gone should have been studied. She stared out the tinted window of the black truck as they sped down the highway toward an unknown destination.
During the rest of the plane ride, Moolah took turns staring straight into her damn soul and saying off-the-wall shit. He’d always been intense, even when they were kids, but time had definitely made it worse.
The problem was, Iskyiah didn’t know how to respond to him anymore. His intensity never bothered her when they were younger. She was never intimidated by him and would stand toe-to-toe with him, even on his worst days. Now, all she wanted to do was run.
Guilt plagued her as she watched Jake run the flight by himself. When Moolah wasn’t looking, Jake kept cutting his eyes at her. She knew as soon as they landed, he would contact the company, and her job was as good as gone.
The ten thousand dollars in her account was a small consolation. She glanced over at Moolah, who tapped away on his phone. His beard, although short, looked full—real grown-man like. Those pink lips she used to love looking at looked juicier than ever. Her eyes traveled down to his arms. He wore a simple navy T-shirt that somehow looked more expensive than her entire outfit alone. His muscles stretched the fabric, and tattoos ran all up and down his arms.
Iskyiah swallowed as she took him in. He was grown-man fine now, and more demanding than ever. He’d insisted that she come with him instead of the hotel the company she worked for blocked off for her. One thing that hadn’t changed and would never change about Moolah was that when he wanted something, he got it. No questions asked.
Truthfully, a huge part of Iskyiah wanted to go with him anyway.
Her eyes traveled down his long, muscular legs and then back up again. She jumped slightly when she noticed Moolah looking at her. Heat warmed her cheeks as she quickly looked away from him and out the window.
“Why you stopped talkin’ to me, Sky?”
Her brows pulled in angrily as she cut her eyes at him. “Istopped talking to you?”
“Yeah.” He stared at her as if he waited for her to explain herself.
Iskyiah scoffed. “Are you delusional?”
Moolah blinked. “Depends on who you’re askin’.”
“You aren’t funny, Moolah. You left Desmore and fell off the face of the earth. I didn’t stop talking to you. You stopped talking to me.”
She watched as Moolah ran a hand down his face and took a deep breath before he spoke. Her face was still screwed up as she listened to him. It was the audacity for her.
“I got caught up pretty much as soon as I got there. Spent two years in prison. I hit you up soon as I got out.”
“How the hell you get caught up on a damn farm, Moolah?” She glared at him. Iskyiah knew Moolah wasn’t a liar, but what he said didn’t make sense to her.
“I had some weed left over from when me and Tey was hittin’ the streets out here. Just a little. I wasn’t gonna sell it, just smoke it. My dumb ass thought it was okay to travel with. They let me leave the bay, but they had the cops waiting on me as soon as I touched down in Montana.”
Iskyiah stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Finally, she spoke. “I know you ain’t that dumb.”
