Page 72 of Love At Close Range

“I love you, son and ain’t a muthafucka breathing gone get in the way of that again. If I gotta turn this whole planet upside… I’ll always come get you. You understand that?” I asked him. He nodded. “I’ll always protect you, Lennyn and your mama with everything in me… aight?”

“Even Lennyn’s mama?” He asked with a smirk.

“Yeah… even Lennyn’s mama,” I chuckled before I kissed the top of his head and got up.

“Goodnight, Dad,” he uttered.

“Goodnight, son.” I gave him one last look before leaving his door cracked and heading downstairs.

Rook was still waiting for me when I made it back downstairs. Once I hit the bottom of the stairs, I grabbed my keys and looked over at him. “Let’s go,” was all I had to say for him to follow suit.

I had my family back and safe, now it was time to teach muthafuckas what happens when you fuck with shit that don’t belong to them… especially if the shit they touched belonged to me.

***

When we pulled up to the warehouse, Dorian’s truck was parked outside along with a few others. Once we parked and got out, we headed to the door that led inside. There were a couple of niggas inside, but none one of them lasted long enough to warn anybody we were there. By the time we reached the office, Mello and Dorian were still talking like they had all the time in the world.

“We need to move the rest tonight and shut this spot down,” Mello said from the other side of the door.

I pushed the door open before either one of them could say anything else. Mello looked over first, and whatever he saw on our faces had him reaching for his gun. He wasn’t quick enough though, because Rook put him down beside the desk before him or Dorian could even react. Dorian went for the gun sitting nearby, but I caught him in the shoulder before he could get to it. The shot knocked him back against the desk, causing him to grab his arm.

“What the fuck?” Dorian grit as he looked from Mello’s body to me. “Lennox, what the fuck you on?” He asked trying to sound tough.

“Reiana and Rhyse got snatched earlier today,” I said to him while walking further into the office with my gun still trained on him.

His whole expression changed when I revealed that. “What the fuck you mean they got snatched?” he asked. “By who?”

“Just what the fuck I said and by Cyrus’s men,” I answered. “They grabbed them after she picked Rhyse up from camp because they were looking for your bitch ass,” I snarled.

“I didn’t know he was going to do that shit,” he said quickly. “I kept Ree away from everything I had going on.” He shook his head like he couldn’t believe the shit had happened.

“Apparently not good enough,” I countered. “But you did make one thing easier for me.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” He asked with his brows bunched together.

“It means I’on have a reason to keep putting off the shit I came here to handle,” I answered.

Dorian’s eyes dropped to the gun in my hand before coming back to my face. “What shit?” he asked, still clutching his arm. “The fuck are you talking about?” He questioned.

“The contract on your head.” I shrugged. “Somebody paid me to kill your ass before I ever knew you had anything to do with Reiana,” I revealed.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He asked again like the shit was gone change.

“I kill niggas for money,” I told him flatly. “You just happened to be one of them.” I smirked as I watched the blood drain from his face.

“Who hired you?” he asked, keeping his eyes on mine.

“It doesn’t matter. You were living on borrowed time before tonight, but with Reiana and Rhyse getting snatched made me stop giving a fuck about the timing.”

“I told you I didn’t know Cyrus was going to touch them,” Dorian argued. “I would’ve never let that shit happen to Ree or Rhyse!”

“I believe you,” I told him. “I just don’t give a fuck. Your bullshit is what put them close enough for Cyrus to use them,” I countered.

“So you’re killing me over something he did?” He asked, glancing over at Mello’s lifeless body.

“Nah,” I replied. “I’m killing you because somebody already paid me to. Tonight just made it personal.” I taunted.

He stared at me, but there wasn’t anything else he could say that mattered. I had taken contracts on niggas I knew less about and slept perfectly fine afterward. The only difference with Dorian was that killing him meant more now than the money ever could.