Page 11 of Dreaux: The Corporate Assassin

“This guy has been married two weeks and has already forgotten Bridgette’s name.” Luca crossed his arms and smirked as he eyed my cousin. “You better leave me alone before I ring her up and let her know how you treating a nigga. You know she doesn’t play about me.”

Leaning back in my chair, I listened to the two of them go back and forth. When Jules called me last week and told me he and Bridgette went to Vegas and eloped, I felt excluded. I thought he’d invited everyone except me, but once I found out it was just them, I let it ride. B had been through a lot, but I knew Jules was her safe space. If she was more comfortable with a private ceremony for two, I wasn’t mad at it. I was happy for them both.

“Luca… did you know the highest internal temperature a human can withstand and live is around one hundred and twenty degrees?” Jules asked as he walked over toward me and grabbed a fry from my plate. “Imagine what it will feel like to reach one hundred and fifty—maybe higher.” He turned to face Luca and grinned. “I will roast you like a rotisserie chicken, nigga.”

“Boko, sit your ass down and stop threatening that man.” Rosier chuckled when he entered the room with Nicky and Trench following. “You always wanna put voodoo on somebody.”

“It’s a cleaner kill.” He waved his brother off and took a seat in one of the recliners. “Not everyone wants to get messy like your black ninja of a cousin over here.” He threw his head in my direction before adding, “I’d rather turn a nigga to dust and roll him in my blunt. I smoke my opps, literally and figuratively.”

“Say, Zoo… can you hurry up and get me from around this wannabe YN?” I stood with my food and walked over to the other side of the room. “Talking about smoking opps and shit.” I frowned at him before adding, “You know I don’t like when he gets to talking that shit.”

“Next full moon, I’m turning you into Thackery Binx, Andre.” Jules mugged me.

We all looked around before the room erupted in laughter. Shaking my head, I walked back to my seat, bumping his fist along the way. Although I was serious about hating his indulgence in black magic, I know he knows his limits with me. Witnessing him turn his ex into a bird is the wildest thing I’ve ever seen to date, but I don’t judge him for what he does. From what he told me, he still has her propped up in the corner of his bedroom so she can watch him fuck his girl until the day she dies. I laugh at his foolishness to keep the eerie feelings about it at bay. As my grandfather said, no sin is greater than another.

“All right, y’all. Let’s get started.” Zoo took his seat behind his desk. “I didn’t feel the need to gather with our entire crew because, if changes need to be made with any of the soldiers, Luca and Trench can handle it. Speaking of…” He nodded toward them as they stood against the wall. “Everything good in the streets? I haven’t heard any noise lately.”

“And you won’t.” Luca pushed off the wall and kept his eyes on Zoo. “Those guys know what’s required of them and know not to fuck up. You don’t hear of any problems because we eliminate them as soon as they arise.”

“Exactly,” Trench said while nodding his head. “They know by now that when one eats, they all do. When one fucks up, they’re all punished. We got it under control.”

“Good shit.” Zoo bobbed as he turned his attention to his brother. “Jules, what’s the word?”

“Ehh… another day, another nigga that can’t fuck with me.” We all laughed at his foolishness. “Nah, but Westley’s gambling houses are officially owned by Boudreaux Enterprises. All the legal operations are on the up and up. I spoke with Uno and his lawyer, and he wants to talk to you and Dre about bringing more commerce to Milly Grove.”

“Yeah, he told me.” Zoo dragged his eyes over to me. “So, Dre… I was thinking you could go and set up out there for a little while. You can always handle Boudreaux Enterprises virtually until you come back. Whatever you can’t be here for physically, I’ll handle. I know you try to eliminate the need for me to leave my office, but I can still pull my weight. You good with staying there for a few months to see if there’s more potential business for us in Milly Grove?”

“Is thecompanypaying for my stay?” I asked jokingly as I looked between him and Jules. “I mean… this is a business trip, and it’s only right you guys front the bill.”

“This nigga,” Jules mumbled. “I will get with Uno about getting you a place to stay.”

“I’ll be sure to send my demands.” I chuckled when he gave me the middle finger. “But yeah, bro. I’m good with it. I’m assuming you don’t have any upcoming assignments for me since you’re suggesting this work trip?”

Not only was I a hired assassin for the Boudreaux Mafia, but I serviced our business partners as well. It didn’t matter if it was someone who owed them money, had shown disrespect, or merely was the competition that needed to be eliminated. Granted, I wasn’t thrilled about killing women and kids, but I wasn’t opposed to it. That was another reason I wasn’t in any rush to find love or settle down. I wouldn’t want my family to become a target while I hunted someone else’s.

For as long as I can remember, I have been able to kill easily. Whether it was hunting animals or niggas, my father made sure I was able to adapt to any environment. As time passed, I realized he was only encouraging it, hoping he would be head of the family one day. I never knew how far he would go to make that happen until it was time for him to die.

“Everything is quiet on our end, and no one has mentioned needing anything right now. I will be sure to let you know if that changes.” He eyed me intently before adding, “Has anything changed from our last conversation?”

Leaning back in my seat, I took a few gulps of my fruit punch and cleaned my hands of the wing sauce. I knew once I told Zoo about what was going on with my mother, the guys would also be made aware of her words. Eventually, the conversation was going to come up, so now was as good a time as any to speak on it.

Shaking my head at Zoo, I sat up and addressed the entire room, “As you know, we take loyalty seriously within this organization. With what happened to my father, I know firsthand what happens when you go against the family.” Looking around at the guys, I ensured to keep my tone and voice steady because I didn’t want my words misconstrued since all eyes were on me. “I loved my father as any son would, but my position and loyalty to this organization wouldn’t allow me to turn a blind eye to the shit he’d done. I know I received a few side-eyes within the family because people thought I would retaliate or feel ill will toward Zoo. It will never be anything other than love for him—as well as all of you. We’re family until we’re not.”

“Has something happened?” Luca asked as he looked from me to Zoo. “Is there another threat we need to know about?”

I stood from my seat and walked over to Zoo’s minibar. The stress of my mother was frustrating. “My mother and I’s relationship has suffered tremendously since my father passed. I’ll never say what a person will or won’t do, but my mother has made it clear that she isn’t fucking with me or this family. She’s made accusations about the Family, and she wants to bring it down. Of course, there’s nomafia, right? I’m not sure what her husband has told her, but I don’t take threats of any kind lightly. I brought it to Zoo’s attention to see what he wants to do going forward. Now, I am informing you all so no hidden agenda is speculated.”

I know people may think I’m less of a man for choosing a life of crime over my parents—over my flesh and blood. Truth was, it wasn’t as simple as people thought. I made a vow to serve this organization with my life. My father did the same, and he knew the consequences of going against his brother. Do I want my mother to face the same punishment as him? Not at all. But once you threaten to expose information you may or may not have correctly, you have to be ready to face the repercussions.

“Do you think Auntie Mattie will make good on her threats?” Jules asked from the other side of the room. The stiffness in his posture let me know he was on alert. “You know that even the simplest threat to us has to be taken seriously. I know that’s your mother, but?—”

“Don’t you think I know that? The first thing I did was call Zoo when I left her at my grandparent’s home. I wanted to put a bullet in my mother’s head for the shit she was saying, but instead, I called him. It’s my job to eliminate any and every threat to this organization, and right now, that threat is the person who gave birth to me. If it comes down to it, I’ll be the one that has to push her shit back, right? Doesn’t matter if she’s my mother or not, so you don’t have to remind me of shit.” I snapped at him, shocking myself. I didn’t mean to lose my cool, but I was annoyed and conflicted.

I’m a killer. Taking my emotions out of the equation has never been hard, but I was hurting to know my own mother would be on the other end of the bullet. Whether I was shooting or Zoo found another person to do it, this woman had birthed me. Shit had not been good since my father’s death, but that was not always the case. I still have some memories of having a mother-son relationship with Mattie Boudreaux. Now, I was having to think about her dying by my hands.

“So here’s what I’m going to do…” Rosier leaned up in his chair and folded his hands on his desk. “I’m going to have Auntie trailed twenty-four seven. I will also have Mimi tap into her home security system, as well as her electronics. I already have eyes and ears at the station, so I’ll be the first to know if our names are mentioned. Know that I’m doing this as a courtesy to you, Andre. Anyone else would have been dead before our phone call disconnected.”

“Thank you for the generosity,” I said sarcastically. I was ready for this meeting to be over so I can get the fuck out of here. “There’s never been a time when I couldn’t do my job, and I didn’t think this would be much different. But cool. Do whatever you deem necessary, but no more car accidents—may be too obvious.” Zoo and I engaged in a brief stare-off before I continued, “What are the plans for Milly Grove? I need to go home and get things situated.”

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