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“Look, all I need you to do is put in the good word for me. I need her number so we can connect.”
“I’m not comfortable giving you her number. Plus, if she knows I’m talking to you, she’s not going to want to. You might just have to take this loss, Tussi.”
“Nah, ain’t no L’s. She’s way too beneficial to me for me to just let Londen have her. Plus, he fucked up when he snuck me. His ass gots ta pay.”
“I understand, but… I just don’t know how you think you’re going to make that happen.”
Yandi didn’t want to say what she was thinking—that Lei would be out her damn mind to entertain him while she had Londen—because that would further piss Tussi off. Between his tone and the frown on his bruised face, he looked like he had no room for jokes or unwanted truths.
“You tryna say I can’t take ’er?”
“No. I’m just saying you need a damn good plan to do so. Look…” She paused, considering how honest she wanted to be with Tussi. Anything they could have had romantically was over now that she knew how little power and money he had. Tussi wasn’t broke, but he had no source of income in or out of his cell. There weren’t any men working on his behalf to keep his cash flowing while he was sat down. What money he had would have to be stretched to keep him comfortable during his sentence. On the bright side, he never asked her for anything, but for a woman like Yandi, his independence wasn’t enough. “I can’t lie, I would love to be with Londen, but I know that’s not going to happen as long as he’s stuck on Lei. Trust me, you need more than a conversation to make her leave him alone.”
“If I come up with a good plan, can I trust you to help me execute it?”
“If the plan ends not just with you getting Lei but me getting Londen… yes. But it has to be good, Tussi. I’m not shining in the most favorable light with Londen right now because I told him about the bet.”
“I got you. I’ll call you when I got something in mind.”
After Yandi ended the call, she called her girls on a group FaceTime to see if they wanted to get into anything that evening. Until she secured her next sponsor, Yandi had nothing but time on her hands.
twenty-eight
One MonthLater
February
In that moment,all Lei wanted was Londen. Times like this, she hated not being able to see him whenever she wanted. Even with the privilege Londen was granted, Lei hesitated to take full advantage. If she had it her way, she’d demand to see him, but she knew it was wisest to wait until their scheduled visit tomorrow. With the way she was feeling, Lei wanted to get a hotel suite and head to Memphis tonight.
“Lei,” Cade called, voice low and stern.
She ignored him, as she’d been doing since they left out of the courthouse. This wasn’t the first time she and Cade were on opposite sides of the judge, but this was the first time she’d ever been so disgusted by her brother’s tactics. The low blows he landed during his opening statement were an indication of just how low Cade intended to go, and Lei wasn’t looking forward to this war at all.
“Lei.”
Cade jogged forward and grabbed her arm. Yanking away from him, Lei turned to face him.
“What, Cade?”
“Are you upset with me?”
“Obviously so.”
“Why?”
“Because you painted Garrett out to be a monster when youknowthat’s not true.” Cade’s shoulders caved and he exhaled a hard breath as he looked toward the sky. “You know that man did not kill his wife and children. You’re looking for someone to blame, I get it, but hasn’t he lostenough? You’re going to punish a grieving man just because the police were too lazy to look for the real killer?”
“Look.” Gritting his teeth, Cade rubbed his palms together and closed the space between them. He lowered his voice when he said, “We agreed we’d never take what happens in the courtroom personally.”
“I’m not. You were wrong.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Can you honestly look me in my eyes and tell me you believe Garrett isn’t innocent?”
Cade chuckled. He squeezed the back of his neck and shook his head. “It’s not my job to convince you he’s innocent, sis. That’s your job. It’s my job to convince that jury that he’s guilty, and that’s what I intend to do.”
He started to walk away, but that didn’t stop Lei from saying, “You don’t care about Garrett’s guilt. You just want someone to pay. Even at the expense of sending an innocent man to prison?”
