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KAI
Akio: Can we talk?
Akio: It’s important.
I stared at my phone, still in disbelief that Akio had texted me while I helped Landon clean his house with Ana, and placed my bike helmet on my motorcycle. There hadn’t been a chance in the world that I would willingly meet with him, but the next message was what had gotten my ass up and out of that house quicker than anything.
Akio: It’s about Imani and my parents.
Akio: Please.
Sighing, I shoved my phone into my pants pocket and walked into the empty warehouse where Poison did business. I had told Akio to meet me here, not only because I didn’t want to be seen with that fucker in public, but also because I wanted to show him where I would kill him if he ever touched Imani.
I unlocked the warehouse back door and stepped into the large and empty room, turning on one of the lights and finding a seat on the concrete floor while I waited for Akio to show the fuck up. Part of me couldn’t believe that he had the fucking audacity to message me.
Like a fucking idiot, twenty minutes later, Akio knocked on the warehouse door. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the door, snatching the handle and pulling it open. He stood at the door and immediately broke eye contact with me, his right eye black and swollen.
“I can’t believe that you’re fucking here,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Me neither.”
“Get in before someone sees you.”
Akio warily walked into the warehouse and stomped his snowy shoes off at the door. With his hands shoved into his pockets, he walked around the empty warehouse and stopped where there was still a small puddle of Principal Vaughn’s blood.
“This is where it went down, huh?” Akio asked, mostly to himself. “Where you killed him.”
Careful not to say anything aloud, in case he had a fucking wire on him, I pressed my lips together and walked over to him, searching him for any wires or cameras that he might have on him. I didn’t trust him or his parents.
After I searched and found nothing, I stepped back and nodded. “It’s where I’ll kill you one day if I find out that you’ve touched Imani. One wrong move, one fucking finger on her body, and I’ll make sure your death is far worse than Vaughn’s.”
Face paling, Akio nodded and swallowed hard. “I know.”
“Let’s get one thing straight.” I stepped toward him, arms crossed over my chest, and clenched my jaw. “I’m only here this one time because you saved Imani the other day. If it wasn’t for you, she’d be dead.”
“She would be.”
I clenched my jaw. “What do you want?”
Akio paced back and forth in front of me and rubbed his palms together. “You shouldn’t have recorded killing Principal Vaughn. People know that you guys did it. They know, and they’re going to target you.”
“They would’ve known anyway,” I said. “Nobody has the balls to do shit like that.”
“You don’t understand,” Akio said, pushing up his glasses. “People are going to target you. And by you, I mean that they won’t target you, but the people you all care about. Who does that leave?”
“Imani.”
“Yes, Imani, and I—”
“Who is targeting her?” I asked.
He clenched his jaw and gave me one look. That one look told me everything. It wasn’t just anyone who was targeting Imani, but his mother and father, the bosses of the Redwood mob, which must’ve been why he had that nasty bruise.
“Your parents gave you that,” I said, nodding to his eye. “Didn’t they?”
After a couple moments, Akio sighed. “Listen … you can’t tell anyone that I told you. They were talking about getting rid of her and her family, if things get much worse. They know you have shit on them, and they don’t want to risk anything with the Feds.”
Anger rushing through me, I grabbed him by the collar. “If you find out that they plan on killing her, you tell me. I don’t care how the fuck you do it. You make sure that I’m the first fucking person to find out. Do you understand me? You get me anything you can on them.”
