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PROLOGUE
VEGAS
TWO YEARS AGO…
It had been a minute since I’d stepped foot in Puerto Rico. I was shocked the Berottes had invited me on their family trip. When Jungle first told me, my eyebrows had lifted. While they’d always treated me like family whenever I came around, I didn’t feel like I was close enough to them to be included. Watchful Eyes was a different story. I was cool with Chad and Shy, along with Ali, Jericho, and Seneca, but that was it.
However, when I talked to Jungle about the trip, when it had gotten closer to the time we were supposed to leave, that nigga told me he and Chelsea would be getting married. The only ones he’d told ahead of time, besides me, were Jericho, Ms. Marcellus, Whitney, Kaysyn, and of course, his family. He wanted me to be his best man. I was honored.
We’d grown up together, but I assumed he would ask his brother-in-law, Lark, to be his best man. There would be five of us in the wedding: Lark aka Law, Seth aka Smoke, Jericho, Ali, and me. On Chelsea’s side would be Whitney, Fawn, Amiko, Sandrene, and Kaysyn. Chelsea said it had been difficult to leave some of the women out. She’d gotten close to all of them through Watchful Eyes and Sunday dinners at the Berottes, so she’d chosen the ones she’d known the longest, along with Kaysyn, for obvious reasons.
We were chilling on the beach today. Our attire for the wedding tomorrow was already set, so there wasn’t much to prepare for. Kids were every-fucking-where. I didn’t realize how much the Berottes had grown until now. There had to be at least twenty kids running around this beach, most of them running from Chad. That nigga was a grown ass kid at times, and the children appreciated that, along with their parents. It gave the parents a much-needed break.
I took a puff of my Cuban as I stared out at the water. This shit was so peaceful. Thankfully, our lives had been peaceful for a few months now. After Jungle dismantled the Patterson empire, he made sure I was good. He always did that anyway, but he really broke me off for all my years of dedication and loyalty to him and his family. They were pretty much the only family I had.
My pops used to work for Jungle’s father, Ice Patterson. He got killed in a drive-by at one of the trap houses over twenty years ago. I’d just graduated from high school. My mother was never in the picture. According to Pops, she was in the wind when I was three months old. Jungle’s mama took care of me until he felt I was old enough to run the streets with him. I was about five years old when he started teaching me the game. That hustling shit was all I knew… besides boxing. I’d been doing both for over thirty years.
At thirty-nine years old, I was a mass of unfulfilled potential. I’d never followed my dreams of becoming a boxer, and now it was too late. I just knew I would be in Vegas by now, enjoying those nights on the strip and a fulfilling career as a professional boxer. I talked about that shit so much, niggas abandoned my given name of Joel and started calling me Vegas. Jungle was actually the one to give me the nickname. It was crazy as hell that it fit the way it did. My last name was Knight. It seemed that was the closest I’d ever get to those Vegas nights.
“What’chu over here in deep thought about?”
I looked up to see Jungle standing over me. “Shit, nothing. Just enjoying the peace, man.”
He nodded reflectively as he stared out at the water for a moment. He sat next to me then slid his hand over his face. I knew something was on his mind too. It was rare we verbalized our feelings and shit, but it was always known. I knew, at this moment, he was probably thinking about his family. Ice would be proud as shit right now. His brother, Mega, would be proud too.
Mega wasn’t nearly as gung-ho about being in the family business as Jungle was, but he wanted to follow Jungle, while Jungle wanted to follow Ice. They were so close as a family. Fawn was the princess, and we all protected her with our lives. When the shit hit the fan, I had to step up to take care of her. So many people got killed. I just knew that I would be next. When they took out Ice and Mega, it was like the world stood still for months.
With Jungle being on lock, the Patterson organization was vulnerable for the first time. When Fawn stepped up and Law stepped in, I was nervous as fuck. I thought the shit would fold then. I was surprised when she took charge, handling shit. She never wanted this shit for her family, but she refused to let anyone else destroy what her father had built.
“I just wish Ice and Mega were here. That’s all.”
I glanced over at him, surprised he’d even said anything. “Yeah, me too, fam. If I weren’t here, I wouldn’t even believe this shit myself. The uncivilized nigga tryna act like he got a lil sense now.”
He chuckled. It was always a given that he and I would be single until we died. He had no intent of leaving the game behind, and as long as he was still running shit, I would be right there with him. Neither of us really wanted to bring a woman into that shit. His mama, Mrs. Elaine, had affected us more than she even knew. Seeing her worried and crying over Ice was a horrible thing to witness for us. We all loved her so much and hated when she cried.
Ice did his best to assure her all would be well, but it didn’t stop her from worrying about him. Turned out, she ended up dying before him and leaving a beautiful parting gift… Fawn. “Love caught my ass by surprise. I’m not mad about it though. With Chelsea being pregnant… I don’t know. I just wanna do this right. Nothing else matters to me now. If she ain’t straight, then what the fuck am I here for?”
I nodded, repeatedly, mulling over what he said. I’d never felt that strongly for anybody. My heart was for the streets. The only woman I was ever loyal to was that white bitch fiends were snorting up their noses. She’d finally seen her last days too. “That’s some real shit, man.”
“Hell yeah. So, what’s on your agenda when you get back, since me and Chelsea staying a little longer?”
“I’on know. I might hit up Travis or Smoke to see what they got going on. You know I don’t really fuck with people like that. If I ain’t around y’all, I’m at the gym or at home. Can’t trust these muthafuckas. The moment they think you done let your guard down?—”
I stopped mid-sentence when she walked in front of me. She was fine as fuck. All that dark chocolate skin, shimmering and shit in this Puerto Rican sun, had stolen my train of thought and my fucking next breath. “Fuck,” I voiced.
She heard me, because she turned to me and gave me a smirk then flipped her braids over her shoulder and kept walking. Her ass was eating that thong up, and I was willing to bet her pussy was doing the same. This was the kind of action I’d been waiting for. I stood from my chair and glanced at Jungle. “She fine as fuck.”
“Hell yeah. You goin’ after her?”
I frowned at Jungle as he lifted his hands in a surrendering manner. He already knew the answer to that shit. There was no way I would let her ass get away from me. “If all goes well, I’ll meet y’all at 7eight7 for the turnup.”
“Mm hmm,” Jungle said as I walked off.
She’d stopped at a cabana to probably get a drink. It was hot as fuck. I needed a drink my damn self. A nigga was parched, especially after losing all the moisture in my mouth from scanning all her chocolate, sick ass curves. She had a nigga straight drooling. When I approached, she turned to me like she knew I would be pursuing her. I supposed I didn’t hide my attraction to her. I would have been a fool not to shoot my shot.
I did a quick scan from her head to her toes then made my way back up to her slanted eyes. I swore she looked like a fucking Barbie doll… a thick ass Barbie doll. “How you doin’, baby?”
She gave me a slight smile. “I’m well. How about you?”
