Page 21 of Draco

“Only if Piper comes too.” Quadir rubbed his hands together. “Her fine ass is running for mayor. She needs a real thoroughbred in her life.”

Aside from disturbing the peace and breaking laws, we prided ourselves on being of service to people in our city. Most didn’t want our help because of our reputation, but when a black woman called, we came running.

“I’ll have Jamie follow up with Piper’s peoples and get back to y’all on that. If you have two or more felonies, you can let go of your secret service dreams.”

“All right. What’s next on the list? I need to go get my ol’ lady from work soon,” someone proclaimed from the crowd.

Any other day, I would have dismissed his comment, but considering I needed to get back to the lady at my house, I wasn’t mad about it.

“Don’t forget, we’re turning up for Bear’s birthday in two weeks, and dues are due! Other than that, we’re all good.” Irubbed my hands together. “Y’all can go. Bear and Sparrow, y’all stay.”

The chairs screeched against the freshly waxed floor. As soon as Rattle caught my eyes, I shook my head.

“Rattle! You stay too!”

His brows bunched in the center of his forehead.

“For what? What’s going on?”

I moved across the room, giving him nowhere to run. Up close, I saw he was shaking like a leaf.

“Meet me in the red room. Now,” I demanded through clenched teeth.

With every step I took toward the room, my vision narrowed. The thought of my fangs piercing flesh made my mouth water. It had been twenty-one days since the last time I tasted blood, but the idea heightened my appetite.

My brothers along with Sparrow, Bear, and Rattle joined me in the bare room. A serious expression tightened everyone’s face. Although no one spoke, we all knew shit was about to get hectic. The only time we used the room was when blood was being shed.

“Have a seat, Rattle!” Bear yelled once the door bolted closed.

Rattle’s beady eyes scattered around the room, pausing on every man until they landed on me.

“Draco, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not sitting down. Did y’all forget I’ve been in this room whenniggastook their last breath? I know what the hell goes on in this muthafucka!”

I stepped forward. “Then why the fuck would you make the mistake of brokering a drug deal with the G-Riderz using The Sons of Eshu name and earn yourself a spot in here!”

Rattle unlatched his lips, but I shook my head, dismissing even the thought of his response.

“I don’t want to hear excuses. I want to hear the creed.”

His fidgeting came to a halt. “Wha-what?”

“Let me hear it!” I shouted, causing the walls to shake. “The mission of The Sons of Eshu is to preserve the integrity of real men. Our vision is to be respected as entrepreneurs while also maintaining a connection…”

Rattle’s shaky voice joined mine. By the time we finished, the snake was snotnose crying like a bitch.

“The deal was only an attempt to push The Sons of Eshu back into the limelight. People think we’re out of the game. We gotta get back in the streets!”

Quadir sucked his teeth. “This ain’t a gang, nigga! This is a brotherhood. You’ve forgotten that. Your fuck up cost us six figures.”

“That doesn’t count the damage it could’ve done to our reputation,” Bear chimed in. “That’s priceless. How the fuck are we going to protect a politician when members of our clubare making deals to sell drugs out of our spot? That shit ain’t hard to understand. You’re breaking the rules!”

Rattle snarled. “Ain’t no rules in the wild!”

“But there’s shit you gotta follow in this kingdom!” I yelled. With every second thatpassed, I felt my fangs sprouting.

“Because we have history, I’m going to let you swing first,” I declared.

Rattle pushed a heavy exhale from his nose before he ran into me like a lineman, though he barely rocked my frame. He cried and cursed as he swung with all the strength he could muster, which was pointless. I wanted to feel sorry for Rattle as he fought for his life, buthe had been warnedin the past about scheming.

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