About an hour later, I’m still in the kitchen. After Emma’s comment about Honey, I decided to wait for her to get up and see for myself what’s going on with her. My phone rings. I look down at the phone and see it is Michael.
Another hour goes by, andHoney still hasn’t gotten up yet. I decide to give it up. I’ve got shit to do. I’ll check on her later. The late sleeping has me concerned, and I’m more convinced than ever that she’s using again.
One month later…
“Hey,” I say into the phone. It’s Michael.
“You and Ice make it home all right?” he asks. We were on a protection run last night. He called while we were on the road, and I told him I couldn’t talk and I would call him back this morning. He beat me to it.
“Yeah, we got in around three this morning. Haven’t been to sleep yet, still wired. You know how I get.”
“Yeah, I do. Ice with you?”
“Naw, he went out just a little bit ago. Should be back in about an hour or so.”
“Oh, shit… I’ve got some news.”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe it will be better to call you both back.” He hesitates. “Or do you want me to tell you and you can relay everything to him?”
“Not sure what you got, but I’m sure he’ll be fine if you tell me.”
“Well, Romeo changed his plan on us at the last minute.”
“What?” I ask.
“Got a call earlier tonight from Gio. Romeo was never in Mexico. He was in New York and on his way to kill me. I got everyone on high alert and got the family out of the house. I didn’t want any blowback on them.”
“Holy shit, Michael.”
“Yeah, we waited two hours for him and then he finally showed up. The fucker has balls. He pulled up to the gate like he was welcome. Thank God for Gio giving us the heads-up. We were prepared.”
“That was smart getting Gio to pretend he was on his side.”
“Yeah, something told me it was the thing to do. He walked into my office so smug and basically told me the games were over. You all had already gotten Marina and Katie, and he was pissed. But frankly, I think he was more mad about the money than his wife and niece.”
“The way those girls are broken and bruised, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“He had the audacity to tell me that Zaira was treated like a queen. That fucker. Then he threw in the backing of the CIA and FBI. Did he really think I cared about that shit?”
“Fuck!”
“To make a long story short, I agreed to his terms. I gave him a bogus address where he could find his belongings. He promised to go away as long as I returned his family and money. Mind you, the whole time he was in my office, Benny was planting a bomb on his car. Ricco got the confirmation right before Romeo left. Benny texted me a few hours ago to confirm Romeo is dead and his boys are taking care of the cleanup.”
“Fuck, Mikey, that’s fast thinking.”
“Yeah, man, that’s why I get paid the big bucks,” I reply.
“Don’t fucking remind me,” Sainte says dryly.
“So let Ice know the deed is done, and hopefully the next time I see him, it will be for much happier occasions.”
“I sure will.”
“And, Sainte, you enjoy your time with the MC, and don’t forget to talk to Emma. The longer you lie to her or keep what you know hidden, it will make the strain on your relationship that much worse. Trust me on this. I’m living proof of it.”
“Yeah, but you got your woman back.”
