Page 68 of City of Gods

“You’re going to wish you’d never done that, Nai.”

“I’m usually not remorseful about the shit I do. Now, what’s her burner number? Because you know I’ll beat the fuck out of you until you give it up.”

“I don’t have—”

Another brutal slam into her face with my gun. That time she spat blood at my feet, staining her light-colored carpet.

“Kenya, come the fuck on. Are you really protecting her? Still? Knowing that she pitted us against each other for our entire lives?” I pressed my forearm against her throat, restricting her airflow while she pushed against my body with both hands. “Give me the burner number.”

“Fuck you! You know as soon as I get out of this shit, I’m going to shoot you.” Her threat was believable, but I just didn’t give a fuck. She could shoot me if she wanted to. I still planned to get that number from her. I knew she had it.

It was the only thing that made sense. She’d always been Mother’s favorite. She was the one who told her to run despite what Kenya said happened. Mother would want any kind of updates that Ken had and she would give them up easy. I knew she had Mother’s contact information.

I shrugged my shoulders and reared back once more, hitting her with everything I had. I felt the undeniable crunch of a broken bone and then Kenya slouched to the side, her head dangling. I let her fall to the floor then steadied my breathing.

I came out of my coat and dragged my sister by her ankles into the kitchen. I found some duct tape then maneuvered her into a chair. My heart was beating out of my chest after I secured her to the chair. I wasn’t used to doing heavy lifting like that but fuck it. I came here for information and I was going to get it. Once Ken was restrained and taped to the chair, I slid down the wall onto the kitchen floor to catch my breath.

I didn’t rest for long because I had to go around to all of her hiding spots in the house before she woke up and got her guns. I knew where most of them were but none of my siblings knew every hiding place in each other’s homes.

Once I’d gathered all the guns and knives I knew about, I emptied the clips and confiscated every bullet. I made my way back to the kitchen and stared at her. Head lolling over to the side, blood dried on the side of her swollen face. Plum-colored bruises feathering their way across her deep skin tone.

When she woke up, she was going to be in agony. Maybe that would convince her to give me the number like I wanted. The longer I stared at her, the more I wondered what kind of fucked up person I was. I didn’t have any sympathy for Kenya. It wasn’t like I didn’t love my sister because I did, but this wasn’t personal. I just wanted the phone number, and I knew my big sister didn’t do torture. We were all trained to withstand some torture, but she hated it more than anyone else. She loved her pretty face too much. Now, the flip side of that was she would be so pissed off that she would definitely come after me when I was done.

I could handle myself, though. If she tried to kill me, I wouldn’t hesitate to take her out. I knew I’d mourn but…it was a part of the business and nothing came before business.

Kenya groaned in the chair, lifting her head and wincing in pain as consciousness faded back in. She was only able to open one eye because the other was swollen shut and turning a glossy black shade.

“Sanai…you bitch,” she sputtered. She tugged against the layers of tape I wrapped her in then groaned again in agony.

“Your face looks really bad, Kenya.” I pursed my lips together then grabbed a chef’s knife to show her what she looked like in its gleaming reflection. The appalled noise that dropped from her mouth let me know she was appropriately horrified by her appearance.

“Why the fuck would you do this? You’re going against family and you know that’s not how we operate.”

“Fuck all that shit, Ken. I don’t want to hear it. None of this would be happening if you hadn’t gone against the family first. Now, you’re just causing yourself unnecessary pain and disfigurement because you still think your mother cares about you as much as you care about her.” I pulled in a breath and pushed it out slowly, shaking my head. “But I mean, if we have to do this all night, we can.” I picked up my gun from the island and walked over to her, ready to continue the pain but she whined and shook her head.

“Okay, I’ll give you her number,” she panted, tossing a glance between my gun and my eyes. I let my hand fall then I smiled at her.

“See? I knew you could do it. Now, where’s your phone? She won’t answer if I call from mine.” She didn’t speak but her good eye cut over to the counter where her phone was sitting on the charger. I plucked it from the cord and held it up in front of her face to unlock it but I’d fucked her up a little too much for her face to be recognized. So, I held it up again and told her to put her code in.

“Dial the number. If Mother doesn’t answer, I’m going to shoot you and it won’t be a bullet you can recover from, Ken.” My words were icy and real. She knew it, too.

“I see why she never loved you, Sanai. She only tolerated you and honestly, that’s all you deserve.” Her words were broken as they collected around her swollen lips but I understood her just fine. I couldn’t even lie and say hearing her say those things didn’t cut deep. Even though I wasn’t too close to my parents, I still loved my siblings.

I had to put those feelings away now, though.

I blinked away my pain and schooled my expression to read indifference.

Kenya dialed the number with shaky fingers. Once it began to ring, I took it and put the phone to my ear, walking out of the kitchen in case Ken decided to shout.

“Ken, baby, what’s going on?” Hearing the softness in Mother’s voice gave me pause. Was that the version of her that Kenya and Eli got?

It should have made me sad, but I was done being sad. I was done longing for a mother I’d never have. So instead of letting self-pity course through me, I opted for acceptance.

“Hello, Mother,” I sighed into the phone. “You wanna make this easy for me and tell me where you are? Or are we going to play cat and mouse until I find you and kill you?”

“What the fuck have you done to Kenya, Sanai?” There was the cold bitch I was used to. She could switch her tone at the drop of a dime and it was terrifying.

“She’s alive if that’s what you’re worried about. So, like I said, are you going to make this hard or easy?”

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