Page 19 of Bully

Innvy looked up at me and smiled. She cupped my cheek and lowered my lips to hers. I didn’t think anything could make hearing Innah call my name a more perfect moment, but falling asleep with her fine ass mama in my arms did just that.

* * *

One Week Later

I thoughtI was seeing things, but I couldn’t have been. Me and Innvy had gone out with Neo and Merc, and I was pretty sure I saw the capo of the Nashville mafia Rocco had us move in on. The only reason his face was memorable was because of the scar on his right cheek. He looked at me but his face and body remained relaxed. After what we’d done to them, I expected some kind of reaction. Maybe I was seeing things and that wasn’t really him…

“You good, brotha?” Merc checked, making his way next to me.

“Everything is everything,” I replied, pulling my eyes from the group he was with. If it was him, I’d keep a casual eye on them to make sure he wanted no static. I could admit we embarrassed them and made them look weak as hell before moving in on their territory. If his ego caused him to want to retaliate, I needed to be ready for it. “Just so you’ll be prepared,” I continued, shifting slightly to look at Merc, “I think ol’ boy over there is a part of the Grisham Mafia from Nashville. I can’t say for sure because he’s so far away, but if he is, I walked him and his brother down.”

“So we need to be on alert?” he confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“If it’s him, yeah. Last I heard, his brother was still in the hospital. That ain’t the kind of shit you let go easily.”

“Say less.”

“Eee, I’m so glad we got to spend some time together before your trip,” Neo said, hugging Innvy.

“Trip? What trip?” I asked.

“Oh, well I have a vendor event in Dallas that I have to leave for this weekend.”

“Why you ain’t say nothing about it?”

“It’s been scheduled for like three months now so I didn’t really think about it. My parents already agreed to keep Innah, and my flight and hotel suite are booked.”

“They don’t have to do that. I can keep her.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, sis,” Merc said. “We’ll be on standby if he needs anything.”

My eyes shifted toward the group as I chuckled and he was gone. Maybe it wasn’t him after all.

10

Innvy

Later that Night

“I toldyou not to let her try to feed herself. Now you got a mess to clean up,” I teased, taking pictures of Innah. She was practically covered in the pureed food Bully wassupposedto be feeding her. She kept reaching for the spoon and his ass let her have it. She’d tossed the food all over herself, her chair,andthe floor before he was able to get it out of her strong baby grip.

“It’s cool. Lesson learned. Come help me clean this shit up though.”

“Absolutely not,” I said through my laugh. “I’m about to take a shower and get ready for karaoke live.”

Before Bully could respond, the sound of glass shattering gained our attention. His expression turned serious as he walked hurriedly toward the front door. He told me to stay back with Innah and I did, unsure what the hell was going on. When I heard him curse, I went to see what was going on. Someone had written RIP on his Wagon and tossed a brick through the windshield. I’d never set my camera up outside, but I offered to go and see if Moore’s camera might have caught anything. Unfortunately, Moore wasn’t at home.

What started as a fun evening turned slightly stressful. While he handled his car being towed, I cleaned Innah up. She got a little fussy because she wanted him, but I distracted her with singing and dancing until he was done. Bully’s mood had shifted, and I wanted to question him about what was going on, but I also wanted to see if he’d be forthcoming and transparent about the situation.

To my surprise, once Innah went down, he told me he wanted to talk before I joined the karaoke live on TikTok.

“So…” Bully pulled me onto his lap on the couch. “I don’t want you to be alarmed, but I saw someone that I may have had a run in with while in Nashville earlier. If that was him and he followed us here, you and Innah will need to stay with me until the situation is handled.”

“What kind of run in?”

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