Page 21 of Merc

“Ain’t shit to talk about,” Gatlin said.

“You right about that.” At the sound of my voice, Gatlin turned, and I sent three bullets into his chest. I walked over to him and put two more into his skull for good measure.

The screams of a woman on the couch didn’t faze me. Steven shielded Neo, but she pushed him off her as she yelled, “Get off me! I hate you! I can’t believe you would do this to me!”

Steven scoffed as I sent Bully a numbered code via text, requesting a cleanup crew.

“This man just killed someone in front of us, and you’re standing up here yelling about me cheating?”

“You cheated on her?” I asked before chuckling. “Fuckin’ fool.”

“I need to get the hell up out of here!” ol’ girl yelled as she tried to make a run for it, but I grabbed her and pushed her toward Steven.

“Neither one of y’all are going anywhere. Not yet anyway.”

My eyes shifted in Neo’s direction, and she was shaking in anger. I didn’t see an ounce of sadness in her face or eyes; this was all rage. The dried-up blood on Steven’s nose and lips I assumed was her doing. I needed her to focus, so I pulled her to my side.

“I have a cleanup crew coming, but I have to finish this tonight. You need to go back to Rey’s until I do.” When her eyes went back to them, I gripped her chin and forced her to look at me. “Whatever you got going on with him don’t matter right now. Focus on me.” Her eyes closed, and she inhaled a deep breath. With a nod, she gave me her eyes. “If I don’t get rid of Bart tonight, this shit is going to be even worse. Bully is going to stay with you and Rey until this is over.”

“What about you? Who’s going with you?”

Her concern made me smile. “I’ll pick up Toe, but please, don’t worry about me. I’ll be good.”

Tears filled her eyes as they fluttered. With a nod, she wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back before placing a kiss to her forehead. After telling Steven and ol’ girl to sit down and not make a move, I went outside to see if her Uber driver had left. I wasn’t worried about her neighbors hearing the shooting, because I’d used a silencer. Since he was still here, I sent her back with him and told her to text me when she made it back to Rey. We hugged again, and I watched her go to the car in case Gatlin had come with someone who was waiting outside.

I made my way back to Gatlin’s lifeless body and used his thumb to open his phone. After sending his father a text, letting him know I had Neo, I waited for his response. Like I figured he would, Bart told him to bring her to him. Since I didn’t know where he was, I checked his contact information and hoped they shared their locations. Thankfully, they did.

Once Bully and the cleanup crew pulled up, I let Beethoven know I was on my way to him.

I didn’t think Steven would snitch, knowing this man was going to kill Neo, but just to be safe, Bully had been given the pleasurable task of making sure they understood what would happen if word about what happened here spread. There was no doubt in my mind that the promise of them having the same fate as Gatlin would keep them quiet. And if it didn’t, I’d gladly put a bullet between Steven’s bitch ass eyes just because he broke Neo’s heart.

Chapter

Twelve

Neo

Two Weeks Later

“You don’t have to be in a rush to leave,” Rey said as I put my bags in the back of the town car he requested to take me home.

The night Gatlin was killed and I became aware of Steven’s cheating, Merc handled Bart. I wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but the following day, news of his and Gatlin’s disappearance had made the news. When Merc came to let Rey know the job was completed, he quit and left soon after I thanked him for yet again saving my life.

Even though I could have gone home, I stayed with Rey. It was crazy how I’d gone from being anxious to return to my normal life to wanting to avoid it because of Steven’s infidelity. Here I was feeling consumed by guilt over a kiss, while he’d been carrying on a relationship for God only knows how long with his baby mama. I didn’t even have the stomach to go through their profiles to put together a timeframe based on their videos.

When Rey heard about what happened, he told me I didn’t have to be in a rush to leave, which I appreciated. It made me smile knowing that two weeks later, he shared the same sentiment. I’d meant it when I said he was becoming like a second father to me, but it was time for me to stop running from my failed relationship and get back to my life.

“I’ll be back to visit.”

“You promise?”

“Of course. I’m going to keep my keyboard here, so that way you know I’ll be back.”

He gave me a warm hug and stuffed something in my bag, telling me, “Don’t let anything he says keep you in that house. Leave, Neo, no matter what.”

“I will.” I assured him with a nod.

We embraced again before I got in the town car. I checked my bag, and a smile lifted the corners of my lips when I saw the stacks of money he put inside. I sent my parents a text in our group chat, letting them know I was finally on my way back home, and they reminded me that I could come there as soon as I was done packing a few things. Daddy had already told me he had a moving company on standby to take my things to storage when I was ready. I didn’t feel any tugs in my heart that wanted to stay with Steven and try and work things out.

---