Page 122 of Maceo

Instead of a response, his hand came around my neck, gripping it tightly.

“You gonna kiss me or what?” I choked out.

He chuckled. “The only kiss I have for you is the kiss of death.”

I felt a syringe being jabbed into my arm. It didn’t take long for my body to feel the effects of whatever he’d given me. I felt myself go limp before he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

“I have plans for you,” he said as he carried me out through a door I hadn’t noticed before. “Big plans.”

THREE DAYS LATER

“Baby,are you sure you’re okay?” I asked as Shar stood in the bathroom mirror, brushing her teeth.

The cuts she sustained from the broken glass were beginning to heal. She still looked as beautiful as ever in my eyes, but I could tell she was feeling a way about them. Every night since her rescue, I’d tended to her wounds and rubbed her down with coconut oil to help minimize the scars as they healed.

“I’m fine, Maceo,” she said softly.

I stood there watching her. She appeared to be okay, but I wasn’t completely convinced. I thought back to how we’d gotten her out of the house. When we’d gotten close to the property, I’d parked off in a thick brush as not to alert Charity of our arrival. I was sure she thought it would take us a few days to find her, butthat was her mistake. Again, having Jaeda was a major perk in this line of business.

When I bought the place, I had an underground bunker built and a tunnel dug from the basement to a couple yards behind the house, just in case we had to make a quick exit. I’d also added a second breaker box.

“You really were out here on some secret agent, secret mission type of shit,” Mia joked as we approached the tunnel entrance.

“Pops always said you gotta be one step ahead of your enemy,” I reminded her.

That was the reason my brothers had the place surrounded on all sides, just in case Charity tried to run. I pulled up the opening to the bunker and climbed down first. The solid concrete walls were lined with motion sensor lights that came on as we walked the path. At the end of the tunnel was a door that led to the bunker.

“Wow,” Mia said as we stepped inside the soundproof room.

Three huge monitors were mounted to the wall. Gun safes lined the walls and were fully stocked and ready to go. I turned on the monitor and waited for the cameras I had installed in the house to pick up. There was one in the living room, one in the kitchen, and two in the basement. When the screen flickered and the images populated, we saw that Charity had Shar in the basement tied to a table. They were going back and forth for a second before Charity tried to cut her ring finger off.

“Enough of this shit,” I said, walking over to the breaker box. I cut the lights in the basement. After tucking my gun and grabbing a blade and night vision goggles, I cut the lights in the bunker and opened the discrete entrance. Quietly entering the basement, I could see Charity making her way toward the room with the breaker box.

Slipping on the goggles, I swiftly and quietly tipped over to Shar and covered her mouth with my hand.

“We gotta move fast, love.”

She nodded beneath my hand. I worked at lightning speed to cut the ropes. Once she was free, I picked her up and carried her back through the passageway.

“Get that bitch,” I told Jaeda and Mia.

I didn’t give them time for a meet and greet with Shar before I was sprinting down the tunnel and taking her to safety. Once we were back at the car, I placed her on her feet and checked her over.

“Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. It’s just from the glass from the accident. God, I’m so glad to see you!”

She threw her arms around me in a hug. When she pulled away, she cupped my face and kissed me deeply. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had to get back inside.

“Stay here. Deuce, Smoke, and Steel have the place surrounded.”

“Okay.”

I started back for the house, but she softly called my name.

“Maceo!”

“Yeah?”

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