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“Think about it, who benefits from dissension between the clubs, gangs, whatever you want to call it?” he asked, hands up. “Whose interest is it in to start a war between two of them? And not recklessly, calculated, ’cause it can’t be between the two most powerful, that might be too obvious. But if you pit them against each other, one by one, and make it personal… Not turf wars, but something way deeper than that…”He pushed his hands in front of him, implying that the rest was an obvious conclusion.
I didn’t disagree.
I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.
”Keep talking,” I said, crossing my arms like it was going to help me think.
Onyx shrugged. “I don’t think theMaraudersare tough enough,smartenough, to start a fight like this. They might hate our Black asses, but thePredatorsare twice their size, we’re allies with the people who supply their recreational and financial lifelines… Really, we could take them out by having theRenegadoscut them off. But, because it’s personal, doing that would be too easy. You look like a bitch if you don’t shut it down. So it’s blood for blood—”
“Because it has to be,” I finished for him. “It’s blood for blood ’cause if it’s not, somebody else is going to try us. And whentheytry us, they’re probably going to come harder.”
“Exactly,” Onyx agreed. “And the motherfuckers that try you—”
“Will be theRenegados,” I murmured, shaking my head.
His eyebrow went up. “So you already know?”
“It would be idiotic not to.”
“I’m glad you know,” he said. “What do we do about it?”
“We move forward as usual,” I said, peering past him into the dark as a light rain started up. “We keep doing what we’re doing. We get the intel; we prepare for war. With the right person.”
Before either of us could say anything else, Blue was back at the door, and for some reason, so was my mom.
“Hey baby, Brandon said y’all were about to all head out, so I want to give you this, and one for this handsome young man too,” she said, holding up two overfilled paper shopping bags of food.
One for me, one for him.
I rolled my eyes.
“Thank you ma’am, they were working me like a dog. Nobody ever wants to feed me right,” Onyx said, immediately turning on the freaking charm for my mother.
I rolled my eyes at that too and got myself pinched on the inner elbow for it.
Hard.
“Ouch, mama!” I whined, pouting at her.
She raised a finger at me, shaking it in my direction as she spoke. “Don’t you be rude… I know your daddy taught you, you always make sure your people are taken care of.”
“Yeah, Tati, I want to be taken care of,” Onyx said and Brandon started cackling like a fucking hyena.
”I’m going home,” I said, giving my mother a quick, salty peck on the cheek because there was no way I was leaving without kissing my mama. “Tell Ms. Randy I said goodbye, whenever she comes up from your garden for air.”
“I will, baby. You go on and get home,” she told me. “It already started raining, and it’s supposed to storm bad. I don’t like all that flash flooding. You call me as soon as you get settled, you hear me?”
“Yes ma’am, I will call you like I always do,” I told her, ducking back in the house just long enough to grab my keys and purse. “I’ll see you later,” I told Brandon.
I said nothing to Onyx, although as soon as I was in my car I regretted it, because that made itso obvioushe was under my skin.
Why is he so freaking under my skin?
I shook it off.
It was late and had been a long day. I needed to go ahead and get myself home.
At my house, I locked my doors behind me and got my alarm set, then poured myself a big ass glass of wine to drink while I got the food she’d sent with me stowed away. I was just getting wrapped up – and pouring a second glass of wine – when my doorbell rang.
