Page 26 of Smoke After Hours

He was also the owner of Blunt Minded Joint, a cannabis club that was all the rave in Las Vegas. MJ was a visionary and also the first person I ever met to have a whole weed garden in his own backyard. The dice games he hosted were legendary, too. Dice wasn’t my thing, but Volley was great at dice and earned himself the name of Ballerina after always rolling two sets of twos. I used to tease Volley that to be so big and brawny, MJ had given him the most girlish nickname. Yet over the years, Ballerina had become more fitting as Volley did indeed continue to roll two twos the most out of any dice combination. For a few months, Volley even worked security at a club that MJ had opened in New York.

Whenever we were in Vegas, though, I always assumed we’d see MJ, but he still caught me by surprise when he popped up in places.

“Let me guess,” I stated. “You’re co-owner of this place.”

MJ laughed, his well-oiled bald head shining under the light. “Nah, I’m just an investor in The Jesus Joint. These kids are doing some pretty great things.”

“We agree,” Volley stated. “We haven’t gotten the tour yet, but from what we’ve experienced so far, our High Hopper members will be talking about this place long after we’re gone.”

MJ opened his mouth to say something else, but was distracted by his phone ringing. “You know what, let me get this, but y’all enjoy your time here. If you can, stop by Blunt Minded Joint before you head back.”

“Will do,” Volley stated, with me nodding in agreement.

An hour later, a leader of the venue hosted a special step-by-step workshop called Holy High Hub for our members, ensuring that they experienced every stage and did the necessary homework.

Volley and I had opted not to participate, wanting the alone time instead. However, I found myself overthinking more than enjoying his company.

“Your brain is working overtime,” Volley teased, nudging me in my shoulder as we sat in one of the many viewing pods surrounded by red rock caverns. The enclosed and airconditioned six-person max pod offered unobstructed views on the inside, but on the outside, the mirrored exterior made you feel like you were one with the desert and caverns, while offering privacy.

For the last couple nights, we’d barely gotten any sleep. We’d not been checked into either room on our journey to Vegas for longer than ten minutes before we were ripping each other’s clothes off.

“I’m just trying not to think about the fact that you won’t be my personal guard for much longer,” I admitted, leaning my head against his shoulder as we sat on the plush bench.

Before we left Chicago, we spoke to Jackie D, who mentioned that whoever had been following us was operating separate from any connection to my father’s enemies. Volley and I weren’t convinced, but we hadn’t been followed since that night at the movie theater in Michigan.

I would have been elated to hear the news had it not meant that Volley was leaving my side by the end of the month for sure.

“I’ll wrap up both of my assignments as soon as I can.”

“Both?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. He never alluded to how many jobs he was required to fulfill after his with me was over.

Volley nodded. “Yeah, I owe Jackie D three solo missions to repay my debt.”

“What debt?” I asked, tucking one of my legs underneath my butt as I turned to him instead of facing the beautiful view. “Why did you say that one time that you owe him in blood.”

“Because I should have been dead, and Jackie D should have been the one to pull the trigger,” he enlightened, causing my eyes to widen in astonishment. “I was about a year into a security job I took working one of the private rooms of a casino that isn’t operational anymore. I hadn’t known that it was owned by the Bratva, the Russian mafia. All I knew was that the owner was cool as hell, and he was friends with Burke Maverick who I didn’t personally know but had heard about. Jackie D, Hennessy, and their parents, Duchess and Stan, were in attendance for a two-day tech event, but shit went south when the Bratva leader at the time turned on Burke Maverick during an intense meeting. Everything went crazy after that, and we were only told moments before shit went down that security needed to be on high alert. When shots sounded, some at the casino began running while others were so hooked on seeing if their machines or table would prove fruitful, that they weren’t budging. Only ducking.”

“Did one of the Crownes get hurt?” I asked, speculating what they had to do with the meeting.

Volley sighed, gazing out into the distance. “Yeah, someone from their team did. When all hell broke loose, my boss had directed me to check the back door of the basement. When I did, I went to head back up, but a shot rang out, missing my head by an inch. Then another three after that, which I avoided. As I turned a corner, a guy about my age aimed a gun right at my head and I reacted on instinct and shot him as he took his shot. Except, he hadn’t been aiming at me, but right behind me, killing my boss. My boss was a guy from Queens who I used to be cool with, but who clearly was about to shoot me in the head, having snuck up behind me when I wasn’t paying attention after asking me to check the basement.”

“Oh no, Volley.” I gasped, my hands lifting to cover my mouth. “Why did he want to kill you?”

Volley shrugged. “I later found out that a lot of the casino guys I’d gotten cool with were dirty, turning on their own just to make more money from an organization that didn’t give a shit about us.”

“And the man you shot was trying to help you.”

Volley nodded. “Yeah. It didn’t take long for me to figure it out, so I rushed to his side and noticed he had been shot twice more by someone else, but it was the look in his eyes as he gripped my arms, clinging to me with so many questions that I didn’t have answers to. I shouldn’t have been the last face he saw. I wasn’t supposed to be the one to end his life. It could have easily been me in his shoes, but he saved my life and lost his in exchange.”

“I’m so sorry, Volley. I know that rocked your foundation.”

“It destroyed it,” he admitted. “I was still kneeling over his body and apologizing over and over again when the Crownesfound me. The expression on Jackie D’s face when he saw one of his men lying there is a look I’ll never get out of my mind.”

“You couldn’t have known he wasn’t aiming for you,” I indicated.

“But I should have known my boss and co-workers were dirty,” he countered. “The guy I killed was named Joshua, and he was like a nephew to Jackie D who had known Joshua’s father when he was in foster care. Hennessy had to explain to me how close they were after everything went down. The guy from Queens had been working for the Russians, giving them intel on this new online casino game that Maverick Enterprises was weeks from launching that was slated to make them a lot of money. It was heavily AI influenced before virtual reality took the world by storm. The Russians were threatened and wanted the details of the app themselves so that they could turn on Burke Maverick when he least expected it.”

“Did they succeed in getting the information?”

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