Page 152 of Tainted

I tried clenching my jaw to fight the urge to speak, but I lost, “Coming from the man who didn’t even want to do business with us, I think we earned a little time to consider.”

“Time. That’s exactly what we don’t have. So, what is it going to take to close the deal? How can I be of service?”

The room seemed to close in a little, watching the exchange. Kross held his own, but Javier wasn’t buying the stalling act.

“We understand time is of the essence. We’ll get you an answer soon.”

Javier glanced over at me. “And you, Keyes? You seem a little quieter than usual. Trouble in paradise withourfriend?”

His question created a panic in Kross because he knew that was a trigger. The one button that could blow this whole shit up.

“Today isn’t the day. Watch it.”

Javier leaned back again, folding his arms. “I don’t care about your personal issues. I care about results. You have until the end of the week. After that, I’ll be forced to explore my options and possibly take my business elsewhere.”

I knew Kross was counting on me, but my gut was screaming that the life I was trying to build with Zara wasn’t compatible with the one Javier was offering.

“We’ll let you know,” Kross said, his voice tight.

Javier’s eyes stayed on me as he nodded. “You better.”

Kross waited until we were back in my car to express his frustration. “Give it to me straight, Keyes. Where’s your head right now?”

“I don’t know if I want to continue business with a nigga I have to second guess and question.”

“Javier gave us a hard time at first, but once he saw we could handle ourselves, he chilled out.”

“I’m talking about you. This shit is already dangerous enough. I don’t have time to worry about you having my back if I have a family at home. That’s a distraction I don’t need.”

“If?” Was the only word Kross seemed to catch in my response.

I could feel him staring, but I wasn’t in the mood to elaborate.

“The pain of losing something you wanted more than waking up in the morning hurts like a motherfucka. Seeing my hardheaded baby brother go through that.” his sentence broke off, shaking his head like he didn’t have the words to describe it. “The idea of losing another baby has you seeing red, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you in that position, or Zara.”

I slouched down, the anger I’d been holding onto slowly unraveling. He was there through every dark moment after Sydney’s miscarriage. He understood more than anyone what that pain had done to me. I did the same for him after Maliah passed away. We’d always had each other’s backs, and that’s what pissed me off the most.

“I guess you’re not your daddy’s son after all.”

“Fuck you, nigga,” he chuckled.

“I’m not the little boy you have to shield anymore. I’ve seen the darkest side this world has to offer. I can handle shit, and if you don't trust that, we’ll end up right back here.”

“I know.”

“Do you nigga? You almost broke your mother’s heart trying to handle shit on your own. It’s supposed to be us against the world, and you almost ended your own life being stupid.”

“You’re a man now, and I have to treat you like one. At least when it comes to this shit, so what is it, Keyes? Are you in or out? Javier isn’t going to wait much longer.”

“Give me until tomorrow night,” I groaned, massaging my temple.

“Aite, I’m holding you to that.” His voice cracked slightly, and he looked over at me, his eyes reflecting the weight of what he was saying. “A part of being a man is having difficultconversations. You need to have one with Zara because you can’t make a decision about this without knowing hers.”

31

Zara

Arriving at Sip & Scramble, you could hear the music blasting as we trekked across the parking lot. Every pair of eyes we passed seemed to be enthralled. Jewel ate up the attention while Brandy ignored it. W

---