“I’ll work off my debt,” her son replied, bringing himself to his feet.
“Bet.” Mozzi grinned and pulled himself from the water.
It was nearly midnight, but he was wired. He knew Coast was more than likely showering and climbing in bed with their baby girl. He planned to join them after beating Dane, but him and Moose sat up smoking until the wee hours while everyone else ducked off. Audiemar went to bed, Dane’s friends were taken home, and he and Inari decided to crash after showering in the pool house. Moose got quiet, though, so Mozzi knew he had some shit on his mind.
“How you feeling about that shit with Jane?” His brother intruded on his thoughts.
“Why you asking me that shit?” Moose licked his blunt closed that he’d just rolled and grabbed his lighter from beside the pool.
“Nigga, ’cause I want to know.”
“Trying to let that shit go, Mozzi.” Moose sparked his lighter and used it to carefully dry the blunt.
“How the fuck we supposed to let this shit go when the muhfuckas who did that shit still breathing?”
“Kong said he was handling some shit.”
“Yeah, but we both know Kong likes to play the long game,” Mozzi reminded him.
“You want to do something, find some shit on Donahue and Riddle that we can use, so we can move this shit along. I’m tired, bro. Tired of war and always looking over my shoulder. Worried about who’s coming for us next.” Moose listed off.
“That shit ain’t ever gon’ change,” Mozzi mumbled.
“Maybe not, but that don’t mean we can’t tighten up and do everything we can to prevent any type of bullshit from ever touching our fucking family again.”
“True,” Mozzi agreed.
“They’re done,” Kong announced after getting Kyro and Kara tucked in.
The car ride from the estate to Ayla’s condo put them right to sleep, and neither of them budged when he picked them up to carry them inside. A day in the sun filled with food and swimming had them damn near comatose. Ayla kicked off her sandals and stood, putting the food away in the kitchen that Desiree insisted they take with them. Her phone buzzed against the counter as Kong slid up behind her and kissed her bare shoulder.
“Wow,” Ayla said after picking up her phone and screening the notification.
“What’s up?”
“Sarah just sent me a link. Our podcast is live.”
“That’s what’s up. Let’s watch that shit.” Kong pulled back as her doorbell rang.
“You expecting someone?” she asked, watching him move toward her front door.
“Yeah. Just real quick, though,” he assured her.
Clue waited patiently on the other side of the door when Kong pulled it open. He nodded to him, professional, dark eyes skimming Kong carefully. Clue was sharp. He didn’t do much talking. He felt like the only time you should talk is if you had something to say. Kong had never known him to be the kind of nigga who did small talk. He went into his pocket to retrieve the items he’d secured in plastic bags, all separated.
“I need you to run this. Privately. Don’t tell nobody about this and put a rush on it.”
He took the items securely in his hands and gave Kong a nod before turning to walk away. There were few that he trusted for anything, but Clue had been solid since they were teenagers. He closed and locked the door to Ayla’s pad, and when he turned, she was standing there with a bottle of water in her hand and curiosity on her face.
“What was that about?”
“Just some shit I’m working on. Come on. Let’s go take a shower. I’m glad you made the kids do that before we left. That probably helped put them to sleep.” He kissed along her neck and rested his arms around her waist.
Ayla’s gaze moved past him, but he wasn’t sure what she was looking at as he hugged her closer.
“Aye, what’s wrong?”
“I just can’t stop thinking about Darcy.”
