Page 18 of Sinful Submission

I sucked my teeth and grunted, glaring at Cruz’s narrowed eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He glanced at Storm. We were back at The Omega House to regroup and come up with a better game plan. But Cruz had a chip on his shoulder that needed to be addressed.

“Why would you go to warehouse forty-nine alone?”

I squinted. “Is that’s what you’re bitching about?”

“Titan, don’t fuck with me, nigga. Now is not the time. You knew that was a trap. We both did. Why would a sane man go running towards a trap? Alone, no less!”

“Who said anything about me being sane?”

He slammed his hand down on the tabletop. “Stop fuckin’ with me!”

I frowned, taking in his dipping brows and deep-set angry mask.

“You know the answer to that.”

“No.” He folded his arms. “Enlighten me, because we were supposed to be tag teaming motherfuckers.”

I laughed, the sound dark and chaotic. “Is that it? You’re mad because you didn’t get to kill anyone?”

“Oh, I killed a few outside but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

“We’re a team, nigga! What if something was to happen to you while you’re inside a burning fuckin’ building?” he screamed. “I can’t find you in darkness and smoke, motherfucker!”

“You weren’t supposed to find me. There’s always a method to my madness.”

“Got damn it, Titan!”

I can’t lie, his anger surprised and confused me.

“What the fuck is this really about?”

He turned in a full circle, planted his hands on his waist, and dropped his head. When he looked back at me, his expression was reminisced of a bull going into battle.

“We. Are. A. Team,” he spat. “You can’t just decide to take on a fight of this magnitude alone! I thought we were passed this?”

“Oh, are you going to get all soft on me and shit?”

His jaw locked and I saw the muscle in his face jump. Laughter bolted from my gut, and I glanced at Storm who hadn’t said a word but stared at me in disbelief.

“You motherfuckers are trippin’ me out. Look,” I reined in my mirth. “We don’t have time for this. We’ve got to come up with another plan to find Santari before the sun rises. Every minute counts.”

“You think we don’t know that?” Cruz’s eyes were daggers on me.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Cruz wanted smoke. But not my kind of smoke. I smirked at the thought.

“You think this is funny, nigga? We just lost a brother! Do you think we want to lose another one?”

I stared at them both as a revelation dawned. It all made sense. I glanced between Storm and Cruz and narrowed my eyes. I wanted to be annoyed as fuck. But instead, I understood the impact that Rev’s death had on us all. They were processing his death differently than me. Where they wanted to make sure we stuck together, I’d rather run into the fire to protect them. After all, we were all together when Rev died weren’t we? So, to me, it was sometimes better to go at it alone and it had nothing to do with not needing them or wanting them there.

But there was another thing driving my decisions…

“You and Storm know me by now. You’ve got to give me grace.”

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