Page 82 of Maceo

“Fuck, man,” I mumbled, kneeling over his body.

“We are gonna get these muthafuckas, bruh,” Deuce assured me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

I shook my head. I wasn’t a heartless man. It was fucking me up that minus Shar and me, my whole team was dead, and their blood was on my hands. True, they knew what dangers we were up against, and they could have said no to joining me, but I recruited them. I knew what kind of people they were, and now they were dead because of me.

All of a sudden, I heard ringing coming from beneath the jacket. My brows furrowed as I lifted it and pulled out what I knew was a burner phone. A blocked number flashed across the screen. I looked from the phone to my brother.

“Answer it,” he said.

I pressed the answer button and placed it on speakerphone. For a moment, the line was quiet before the sound of giggling came through the other end of the line.

“Did you like my gift, handsome?”

“Charity?”

“Awww, you recognize my voice. How sweet. You know, you looked so damn good in that suit. I hated to have to bloody it up.”

“You’re a dead bitch. When I get my hands on you, I’m gonna make what you did to Zeno look like slight work.”

She laughed. “Oooo… that made my pussy wet. Don’t tempt me with a good time, love. I knew there was an animal inside you.”

“Why don’t you tell me where you are so you can see just how much of an animal I really am?”

“Mmmm… nah. I don’t think so. Not just yet. I haven’t had my fun playing with you just yet. I mean, your team is gone, so that just leaves you and Shar. I have special plans for that loudmouthed bitch. You can watch if you want. I love an audience.”

“Just tell me. Where do you fit into all of this?”

She laughed again. “You’ll find out soon enough. Bye, darling. Oh, and if you don’t want to join your little friends, I suggest you back away from the body.”

The phone line went dead, and immediately following, I heard beeping coming from Zeno.

“Yo, we gotta fucking move,” Deuce said, snatching me up. He damn near dragged me away while yelling for everybody to follow suit. No sooner had we made it to a safe distance wasthere a loud explosion followed by screams and people fleeing the scene.

“Was that a fucking bomb!” Smoke yelled. “They put a fucking bomb in a body!”

I looked back at the scene as I tried to catch my breath. The impact looked like some shit straight from a movie. I’d seen a lot, but I’d never seen some shit like this. For the first time, I felt like we might be in a little over our heads.

EARLIER

“I can’t believemy baby is getting married today!” my mother exclaimed.

I’d spent the night over here so my mom could help me get ready. My aunt Lauren was doing my hair, and my cousin Tamela was doing my makeup. The girls had gotten here about thirty minutes ago and were currently getting dressed.

“That man is gonna cry when he sees you,” Aunt Lauren said, pinning the last of my curls up. “If he doesn’t, turn around and make him try it again.”

Tamela rolled her eyes. “Ma, don’t tell her that. Just because you made Daddy do that doesn’t mean she should.”

“Whatever. Your father needed to act like I was the best thing to ever happen to him that day.”

“He’s been married to you for twenty-five years,” my mother reminded her. “I think he knows.”

“He better!” Aunt Lauren snapped her fingers. “I love me some him. I know you love you some Maceo, too, niece. I knew that man was gonna be your husband when he put that block party together for your birthday.”

I smiled at the memory.

I couldn’t believe that I was getting married today. The whole wedding was kind of rushed, given it had only been two weeks since Maceo proposed, but there was no need for us to wait. With everything going on, we just wanted a little bit of happiness in the midst of the storm brewing.

“You know,” Aunt Lauren said, moving to admire her work on my hair. “I thought for a second that you might be pregnant with how fast you two planned this wedding.”

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