Page 47 of Smoke

“Yes. All I needed was my Korri Bear and her special hugs.”

She giggled as she rested her head on my chest. “I’m gonna give you all my best hugs.”

“Mommy really needs that. Come on. Let’s get some sleep.”

I kissed her forehead before closing my eyes. If only hugscouldfix our problems.

“Roux fucking Nelson.”

I’d sent her word that I needed to holla at her about something. She was out celebrating her birthday but told me I could pull up on her. It had been a minute since I laid eyes on her because she wasn’t in the mix like that. Since stepping up to the throne, she kept a low profile, but a nigga didn’t have to see her to feel her. Like my uncle, Roux had shit on lock.

She was all about her money, and niggas didn’t like answering to a woman in this game. They had to learn the hard way not to cross Roux. Baby was a cold muthafucka too. Since my uncle and her father were good friends, they had mutual respect for each other after splitting their territories. Uncle Blake agreed to let Roux keep her father’s territory after he got locked up, as long as she agreed to their previously established terms and conditions.

Currently, I was inClub Pressure, an elite strip club. I had to admit, Roux was looking good as hell. She’d always been bad, but since taking over her father’s drug ring, she’d elevated. I smiled as I approached the pretty face devil in a blue dress. She smirked as she stood to greet me.

“Smoke Dillinger.”

We shared an embrace, and when she pulled away, she grabbed my dick.

“You brought me a birthday present?” she asked seductively.

“This is business, baby.”

She kissed her teeth. “You’re no fun.”

Dropping her hand, she reclaimed her seat and crossed her legs, exposing those thick, pretty thighs. I instantly had flashbacks of the way I used to have them wrapped around my waist. We dated for about three years, from age fifteen to eighteen. That was quite a time in my life. We did a lot of reckless shit together.

Even after we broke up, we kept a sexual relationship off and on for years. Both of us were busy with our respective family shit, so we didn’t bother committing. We had a mutual agreement that if we needed each other to come through and get the other right, we would.

I copped a seat, surveying the area in front of me. Stacks of hundred-dollar bills were neatly placed on the table along with bottles of liquor.

“You expecting company?” I asked. “You don’t even fuck with females like that, Roux.”

“I have a few select bitches I run with these days, Smoke. But you didn’t infiltrate my birthday celebration to hear about that. What do you want?”

“Damn, I can’t ask an old friend a simple question?”

“That’s too much like getting in my business, and you know how I feel about that.”

I raised my hands in mock surrender. “My bad, love.”

“Mmmm… you know that still gets my panties wet.”

I chuckled. “You hell, man. Seriously, I wanna talk to you about something.”

She eyed me curiously before snapping her fingers. The three niggas around the section all turned to face her.

“Give us some privacy,” she said, never taking her eyes off me.

They all nodded and left the section. Roux picked up a drink and took a sip.

“What can I do for you, Smoke?”

“I know you have ears and eyes in the street, so I wanted to know if we had a mutual.”

“Mutual? Name?”

“Patrick LaStrange. He one of yours?”

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