“Oh my God, Ren,” I whispered.
“Babe, Vito… he’s got a bark and he’s got a bite. With me, he won’t bite. Me and Dom are the only sons he has and there’s no mistaking I’m a favorite. That said, it gets down to it, he’s also the only father I’ve had, and he knows that means something to me. He’s savin’ face. It’s bluster. He’ll think on this, give me shit, then he’ll back off and one of two things will happen. The Zanos will go legit, or we’ll go our separate ways. Either way, I’ll be the f**k out.”
“Well, I hope you go legit because I like it that your offices are across from mine.”
This was true.
It also meant I would have many opportunities to get creative and f**k up Dawn’s day.
Repeatedly.
I heard Ren’s soft laughter in my ear before he said, “Gotta say, honey, since I signed that lease, I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“We could carpool to work,” I suggested and got more soft laughter.
Really.
Totally.
This together togetherness was super easy.
The door to the house I was watching opened and my back went straight.
The garages were in the back but I couldn’t stakeout back there without being seen. Therefore, I knew, unless I could find a vantage point to the garage not in my car, I would be lucky if I saw anything since coming and going activity would all happen at the back.
I was tenacious and this had to do with Darius, so I tried it anyway.
But now I was seeing something.
And I couldn’t f**king believe my eyes.
A very handsome African American boy-man, maybe sixteen, was walking out of the house. He was tall, his hair cut close to his head, very well-muscled, and he had a basketball held loosely under his arm.
But it wasn’t just him that had my attention.
Coming out behind him but stopping on the front step was Malia Clark. She was wearing attractive business-style clothes, but her feet were bare like she’d kicked off her heels when she got home. Her thick, black, straightened hair was long and had soft curls at the ends but the front was tucked behind her ear in a casual sexy way that worked great with her oval face and big eyes.
She was smiling at the boy as he walked away and they were talking to each other. I knew this since her mouth was moving and he kept looking over his shoulder.
Malia Clark had been Darius’s girlfriend in high school. I hadn’t seen her since his father’s funeral.
She backed into the house and closed the door.
My eyes went to the boy and my heart thumped.
“Holy f**king shit,” I whispered, completely forgetting I was on the phone with Ren.
“What?” he asked.
“Holy f**king shit,” I repeated, staring at the kid.
“Ally, what? Are you okay?” Ren clipped in my ear.
“Zano,” I said quietly because I was too shocked to get my voice to go louder. “Right now, I’m staring at Darius Tucker’s teenage son.”
Silence.
Then, “Wherever you are, get the f**k out of there, Ally. Now.”
An order. A firm one.
And a surprising one.
I tore my eyes away from Darius’s son, stared at the steering wheel and focused all my attention on the phone.
“Why?” I asked.
“Just do it.”
“Why, Ren?” I pushed.
“I got shit to do. Can’t get away. Come to the office.”
“Why, Ren?” I snapped.
“Baby, I’m askin’ you, just do it.”
I lifted my head and looked down the street. Well down it, Darius’s son was now jogging and dribbling the ball.
Fuck.
Shit.
Fuck.
“I’ll come to your office,” I told Ren.
“See you soon, honey.”
“Later,” I replied, disconnected and started up my car
I gave one more look to the fast disappearing boy-man and one last look at the front door to Malia Clark’s house.
Then I drove to Ren’s office.
* * * * *
“Hey, Ally,” Dawn greeted me with such sugar-sweet fakeness, my teeth hurt.
“Hey, Dawn,” I replied, otherwise ignoring her.
Instead, I was taking in the fact that Ren’s offices were sah-weet. Lots of dark wood. Lots of glass art. Just like Ren, total class.
I kept walking toward the inner hall when Dawn called, “Ren likes guests to be announced.”
“Don’t worry. He knows I’m coming,” I told her as I disappeared in the hall.
I turned into the opened door to my right and the minute I entered Ren’s office I saw him coming my way, nearly at the door.
“Thought I heard you,” he murmured, making it to me.
“I’m here,” I noted the obvious.
He leaned in to give me a distracted touch on the lips then moved beyond me to close the door.
Oh man.
Here we go.
I took that moment to look around his office to see it was more of the same from outside. The difference being that his desk was a mess.
My man worked. That was obvious.
I liked that.
What was better was that Indy had told me that Lee allowed Dawn to come into his office and keep his desk tidy.
Clearly, Ren did not allow the same thing.
This almost made me smile, but I didn’t do it when I felt Ren’s hand at my back and I looked up to see he looked distracted but serious.
He led us around his desk, then, with a hand in my belly, he gently pushed me so I sat on the papers on the top. He sat in his chair, turned it my way and looked up at me.
“What I’m gonna tell you, Ally, you do not ever repeat.”
That was not a good start.
“Zano, you’re freaking me out,” I whispered.
“Good. Then you’ll take me seriously.”
Oh my God.
I braced, and it was good thing.
A very good thing.
“In my world, everybody knows everything they can know. You know it so you know how others operate. That way you can make educated guesses at their plays. You also know it so you know what’s important.” He paused and his eyes grew even more intense. “And what lines not to cross.”
“Oh God.” I was still whispering.
This wasn’t getting any better.
He went on.
“Seven years ago, Shirleen and Tucker had a falling out with one of their crew. A smartass, he had more confidence than brains. He also had a big mouth. When they got shot of him, he had big words to say pretty much everywhere about how he was gonna make them pay and take over their business. Fortunately, he didn’t share widely about exactly how he was gonna do that, and what I mean by that was his chosen tool at how to exact vengeance. Unfortunately for him, he was the kind of man who would carry through with his plans.