Page 56 of About the Green

“Well, what do you mean, man? I can't really tell you anythin’, dude. They'll kill me.”

“No, I'm actually going to kill you,” Nina says with a quiet voice. “After all, you're my kill, my find.”

“W-what?” he stammers out, looking between the two of us.

“Yea. I mean, you're kind of a piece of shit. The fact that you're even still alive is only thanks to this man. So, I think you should be thanking him.”

“T-thank you,” he stutters again. “Look, I don't know—”

Nina leans against the opposite side of the truck, bored or just wanting to seem that way. “Yea, you know something. So, what's going on?”

“What are we talkin’ about here? You mean the Griffiths?”

I repeat the name without adding anything else, because there is no recognition in that title at all, not for me, anyway.

I look to Nina, and she shrugs, not knowing who these people are either.

“And that's the group that Colton is leading?”

“No, no.” He chuckles despite still being tied up in the back of his own truck with no one on their way to help him. When neither of us joins in with him, he clears his throat and continues, “Colton is not leadin’ it, per se. It's kind of like some… partnership. He brought a lot of Dupont guys in after Blue was making a big stink about that bitch.”

“Nina,” I try to stop her, but Nina is quick to saunter back over, smacking the guy in the face. At least, I think she’s smacked him. The thin line of red begins to spill crimson down his cheek to his neck.

“Do not talk about my Queen that way,” she bites out, now holding him by his hair to look up at her. “Restraint on my part is not a strong suit, you and your guys have already done enough. Don’t test me.”

“You're right, you're right,” he stammers. “I was just... I was just friends with him, dude. I've been friends with him for a long time.”

“Friends with who?” I ask.

His tongue pokes against his cheek where Nina hit him. “William and his son. Hell, they were around when Senior still had a grip on things. We all thought Will would come next. He did, that’s for damn sure.”

“And when he didn’t, he did his own thing?” I piece together.

“Look, it was a slap in the face when Senior brought Junior in. Will was better suited even while he was number one. Blue would know that. He had a plan for where Fayes were goin’ and then all that shit went down and Junior got popped…” Remo looks between the two of us again. “Wouldn’t it just make more sense to go with the man you know that ain’t never killed your men than a stranger who has? Loyalty shouldn’t be able to be given so easily. A lot of us worked under Will closely prior and see no reason to stop doin’ that.”

“You got that Redd?” I ask into my ear bud. Nina and Remo both look shocked, I never mentioned that I’d let him know what I was doing. My guy can get anything recorded through your phone, voluntarily or not.

Redd responds in the ear bud instead of the speaker. “Yea. I’ll take it to Blue. Get him to set up a meetin’—in exchange for his life.”

“Heard,” I say before the click of him ending our conversation sparks a new one. Walking over to where Remo still huddled tied up, “I wanna sit down with your boss. Make it happen this week or I’ll let Nina have her way with ya.”

Chapter 20

We’re totally partners.

Chapter 21

This is the moment that everything that we've worked towards has started to make its way through the families. This is the moment to prove what we found is truly valuable information, or if it just keeps us in the same place we've always been.

Our leaders are on a red-eye to have this meeting as soon as possible because meeting on their turf is an act of good faith.

It's not in my wheelhouse to say one way or the other, but after having so much time looking for something like a solution, I can't help but be nervous that everything is for naught.

The entire court is here, plus Racquelle has all of the people in her inner circle, as well. Liezel, who I've only seen a few times, is here, much to Nina's satisfaction. If there's anything I've learned, it's that she looks up to this woman like a role model, and though I won't lie in saying that Liezel is a beautiful woman, I can't see the pieces of her that make up Nina.

Nina is beautiful in a different way that could not be compared to the kind of beauty that Liezel has.

And with all these powerful people in one room, I get nervous that it'll turn bad—and quickly. Any time there's been a large gathering of the families, it amounts to violence.