Page 23 of A Virgo's Muse
He exhaled slowly.
“Yes, he was wrong for not telling you about his life. Yes, he should’ve protected you better. But I watched that man take care of you today like you were the most precious thing in the world. And I’ve been dreaming of that… of someone seeing you like that… since the day you were born.”
My heart cracked right down the middle.
“Love ain’t always clean, Desire. Sometimes, it’s born in mess. But if he’s the man I think he is… he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to make this right.”
I cried harder then, because a part of me still wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe that Onyx would fix this. We’d find Sade. My mom would pull through. But right now, everything hurt too much to hold on to hope. So, I let myself fall into my father’s arms, and I cried for my mother. I cried for Sade. I cried for the man who became my muse and the uncertainty that followed.
The secondI walked out of that nursing home, I was heated. This bitch ass, patchy-bearded, slick-mouthed fuck really had the nerve to send Desire a message, a picture of Sade stripped, beaten, and hurt.
I was gonna tell her when the time was right. But now? There wasn’t any more time left. Now, I was on a warpath.
I jumped in my car, gripped the wheel until my knuckles turned white, and dialed up my IT guy. “I need a location on Sade’s phone now.”
Not even ten minutes passed before I got a ping. She was at some crusty address on the edge of Merrburry. That was where Santos fucked up. He turned her phone back on like a dumbass. Should’ve known better.
I sent the location to my crew—Ghost, Trell, Bullet—all killers, all loyal. Then I hit the gas hard. By the time I pulled up, the streetlights were barely hanging on, flickering like they were tired of working. The house itself was damn near falling apart. Paint peeled off the wood siding. The front porch was crooked like it’d collapse under a stiff wind. Windows were covered in black trash bags instead of curtains. A pissy smell carried from the sidewalk. This was the kind of place demons squatted.
I parked on the curb, threw the car into park, and reached into my glove compartment. My piece sat there waiting like it missed me. I didn’t bother tucking it. I wasn’t coming to talk.
I stepped out, and Ghost and Bullet pulled up right behind me, guns in hand, eyes sharp.
“You ready?” Ghost asked.
“I been ready since this punk sent my girl that picture.”
We moved up quietly and swiftly. Trell was already taking the back route as planned. Ghost posted up beside the door, and with one hard boot,bam!
The front door cracked like it was screaming and slammed open against the wall. A cloud of dust blew up like the house tried to fight back.
Inside was worse. The carpet was sticky like it had soaked up everything but cleaning products. Mold crawled up the corners of the walls. Cigarette butts and crusted food containers scattered across the floor. The stench of old sweat, mildew, and something that smelled like rotting meat clung to the air.
We moved through the house room by room. The kitchen was first, but it turned up empty. Roaches scattered under a broken fridge when I turned the light on. Next was the living room. There was busted-up furniture and some crusty blankets balled up in the corner. Then we moved to the upstairs but there was no one there either.
Then Ghost called out, “Basement.”
We regrouped. Guns raised, Ghost kicked that door in too. The hinges screamed, and the darkness below stared back at us like it knew we were coming. We crept down slow… one step… then another until we reached the bottom. We looked around until Ghost motioned for us to turn the corner. As soon as we turned the corner, there he was.
Santos sported an ugly-ass smirk on his face with a gun pressed to Sade’s temple. She looked broken, weak. But when she saw me, her eyes watered in hope. She knew I came for her and knew that I wouldn’t be leaving here without her.
“Look at you,” Santos said, grinning like this was a game. “All this over a bitch that ain’t even yours. You always did move soft when it came to women.”
I aimed my gun. “Put the shit down.”
“Or what? You gon’ shoot me? Right in front of her? You know what she already went through? You wanna add to her trauma?”
I didn’t answer. I just pulled the trigger.Pop!His shoulder exploded in blood, and the gun he held dropped instantly. Sade screamed, but Ghost was already on her, snatching her into his arms and shielding her behind him.
Now it was just me and him. I dropped my gun and walked up slowly, the fury boiling with every step. Santos tried to hold his wound as blood poured between his fingers.
“You… you shot me?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
I grabbed him by the front of his hoodie and slammed his back against the wall. I threw one punch.
“You sent that picture, right?”
