Page 108 of Maceo

He chuckled. “Still feisty, I see.”

“And very much impatient. What do you want?”

“I’m sorry to hear about your father and your brother.”

“We’re not doing that. Get to the reason you called me. I hate repeating myself, so I’m not gonna ask you again.”

He sighed. “Fine. There is no easy way to say this. Quame asked me to visit him after you came to see him.”

“Okay, and?”

“We had a long talk, and he felt like you have been being reckless over the last year. Under you and Blane, he lost a lot of money with shipments being detained before pickup. Clients have lost all faith in you two as his suppliers and threatened to look elsewhere. After your little temper tantrum at the prison, he was sure you would seek to remove Blane as the middleman and take his company for yourself. Seeing as Blane isn’t here, I can only assume the worst for his fate.”

“Indigo… you know as well as I do that all of this should have been mine. I’ve been doing this shit since I was fifteen. It’s because of me that he was even touching the kind of money he was making. It was me that made sure he was living comfortably behind bars. I did that.”

“I won’t take that from you, but this is what he wanted.”

“What he wanted? The fuck are you talking about?”

“You’re done. The clients have agreed to cut all ties with you.”

I sat there staring at him, unblinking. What did he just say? I could feel the blood rushing through my veins. All of a sudden, I felt heat spread throughout my body. That son of a bitch! After everything I’d done for him, this was how he repaid me! By cutting me off?

“In addition, I will be taking over,” Indigo added.

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

He pulled out an envelope and slid it across the table to me. I looked from it to him before picking it up. Opening the flap, I pulled out a handwritten letter from my father.

Quinn,

I know you’re probably livid, but I did what was best for business. With the way things have been going, I can’t risk losing more money than I already have. If I leave itto you, I’ll have nothing to come home to. You and Blane have been moving recklessly. I gave you all the tools to move underground, as safely as possible, yet you somehow managed to get caught. Before it’s all said and done, one or both of you are going to end up in jail or dead. Changes have been made. Since I’m sure you will follow through on your threat to take things from Blane, Indigo is taking over. That’s an order, not a request.

Quame

I readthe letter at least five times before I looked up at Indigo. Balling the paper up, I threw it at him.

“This is bullshit. You’re smoking hot crack if you think I’m handing over the business I helped build, to you. Quame is dead. Quinton is dead. Blane is dead. This is mine, so fuck you. Fuck this letter, and fuck whatever my father was talking about contracts being ended.”

Indigo chuckled. “I was sure you were going to say that.” He stood from his seat and circled the table to stand behind me. “Here’s the thing, Quinn. I had to cash in a lot of favors to make this work in my favor.”

I sprang from the table to my feet. “Favors for what?”

He laughed then abruptly stopped. When he snapped his fingers, I felt the hands of Snake, his security, grab me. He twisted my arms behind my back and pushed me face first onto the table.

“Let me let you in on a little secret, Quinn,” Indigo said, leaning against the table. He gently stroked my face.

“Get your fucking hands off me,” I demanded.

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hurt you… yet. I want you to be aware of something though. It was Quinton who came up with the idea to get you out of the game.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Yeah. Baby boy was tired of being a lapdog. I mean, imagine running the whole operation from a technical standpoint and getting bird fed. You can’t fuck over people that are smarter than you, Quinn. Quinton was very connected to the underground world. Some, thanks to your father, but mostly on his own. The little fucker was into some deep, dark shit. I’m talking sick and twisted shit, but hey. We all have our vices.”

“You’re lying. Quinton would never have turned on me.”

He chuckled as he grabbed a handful of my hair and wrapped it around his hand.

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