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The sound of tires screeching brought me out of the trance I was in.

“Aye, get the fuck away from her!” The familiar voice shouted, and he tackled the attacker. The two of them tussled on the ground while I lay there in shock. When I gained enough strength to sit up, I saw Antonio coming towards me. I glanced back to where the two of them were and saw the masked man running down the street.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” He squatted down to my level and handed me my bag.

“I-I don’t know. It all happened so fast.” I whispered. My body was wrecked with pain, and I was still in shock. Antonio helped me up and led me back to the shop door.

“I came back this way because there’s a pizza place I wanted to try down this street. I had no idea you would even be here this late. Maybe we should call the police?” he suggested once I put in the code and we stepped inside.

I thought about it for a second, but I knew my family wouldn’t have approved. They preferred to handle certain situations on their own. Which reminded me that I needed to call them.

I opened my bag to search for my phone, and Antonio must have noticed the panicked expression on my face because he stepped closer and dug into his back pocket.

“I almost forgot, you must have dropped this on the gr⁠—”

He was interrupted by Free and Oh’Shun bursting through the door with their guns out.

“What the fuck happened? Are you okay, Nes?” Free called out as he stepped in front of Antonio and pulled me into his arms. He pulled back when I winced in pain. Fire danced in his eyes as he observed me, and I knew things were about to hit the fan and there was no way around it.

* * *

“Somebody better tell me something before I tweak out,” Messiah huffed as he paced the floor of his living room.

After Free thanked Antonio for being there for me, he picked me up, carried me to his car, and drove me straight to my brother’s house. Most of the men in my family were gathered together in the living room as they waited for me to explain what happened.

I gulped as all eyes landed on me. “It all happened so fast. I was on the phone with Free as I locked up the boutique. I placed my stuff in the backseat, and when I got ready to open the driver's side door, a man grabbed my purse strap as he tackled me to the ground. I thought he was there to steal my purse, but he started punching me. He wore a mask, so I couldn’t see much, but I know it was a black man, and he was close to Messiah’s height.” I told them.

“Jett, do you think you can pick up anything helpful from the surveillance? Would it be possible to get footage from the surrounding businesses? We need to see what direction he went in and how he got there. I want that mothafucka’s head on a platter. Whoever is it messed with the wrong one.”

Messiah’s anger was unmistakable; meanwhile, Solomon stood with his back against the hallway wall, a stone-cold expression on his face.

“I’m already on it. I can get up in the morning and pay a couple of the places a visit, but I should be able to get some footage without all of that. The area isn’t known for pickpocketing, so I'd guess it was an isolated event, and Honesty may have been targeted on purpose.

I gulped again, and I felt the heat of Freedom’s glare.

“You need to tell them, or I will. I told you to tell your brothers or Solomon weeks ago,” he uttered.

“Tell us what? Do you know who did this to you?” Messiah roared. The veins in his forehead pulsated, and it scared me for a moment. Everyone stared at me as they waited for me to answer the question. I groaned internally because they were about to get on my ass, and it was all my fault.

“Someone has been harassing me online. I-I thought it was just someone who was bored, but then they started sending stuff to the house and to my boutique. I thought if I ignored them, they would go away, but then those old articles and blogs resurfaced all over social media, and I’m assuming they were behind it. When the man was hitting me, he said Long live Rondell. I⁠—”

“Why the fuck is this the first time we’re hearing about this? Are you fucking serious right now!” Messiah’s loud voice caused me to flinch because I wasn’t used to being the one he directed his anger towards.

“Baby girl, why would you wait so long to tell us what was going on? We could have put an end to this a long time ago. Whoever attacked you could have killed you tonight,” Uncle Truth spoke in a soft but concerned tone as he walked over to me. Since I no longer had my daddy around, he stepped into the role with ease. I burst into tears the moment he pulled me into his arms. My brother, on the other hand, was not in the mood to coddle me or my feelings.

“Naw, she doesn’t need a damn hug. She needs to tell us how long this shit has been going on and why we were left in the dark. We’re a family, Honeycombs. They could have fucking killed you! This doesn't just affect you; it could have put others in danger, too. Look at your face, Honesty!” Messiah clenched his fists as he paced the room.

“I didn’t want to get y’all caught up in my mess again. Yes, we’re family, but it’s not your job to come to my rescue every time something goes wrong in my life.”

“Yes, the fuck it is! I’m your big brother, Honesty. It’s in my job description to protect you and keep you safe. I’ve been doing it my whole mothafuckin’ life, so I don’t even understand why your duck ass would try to keep this from me.”

The more he talked, the angrier Messiah seemed to get.

“Alright, Siah. You have every reason to be upset, but yelling at her isn’t gonna bring us any closer to an answer. Jett, can you hack into her phone and see if you can get some information on who may be behind the fake accounts? Maybe we can get an IP address or something,” my cousin, Justice, suggested.

Uncle Truth kept his arm wrapped around me as I rested my head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I can. I don’t necessarily have to take her phone. All I need is her iCloud information and the logins for her social media accounts.” Jett replied.