Page 56 of Dreaux: The Corporate Assassin

I called him three more times before saying, “Fuck it!” Trashing my food, I slipped on a pair of Crocs, grabbed my keys, and dashed out the door. You give a nigga an inch, and he will take a mile every time. I don’t know what business he had at this time of night, but it shouldn’t have included my child being in the most dangerous part of town.

Thankfully, the roads tonight were clear of drivers and cops because the speed limit was nowhere near my mind. As I dashed through the town under the city lights, I continued to call Bryce and get his voicemail. Cursing profusely, I gripped the steering wheel and kept my eyes on Bri’s location. They were no longer moving, and I was about twenty minutes away. That alone threw me into a panic.

Seeing the sign that told me I was in Sunset Valley, my heart began to beat faster than when I first got on the road. I checked Bri’s location once more and noticed I was approaching where she should be.

“What the fuck is going on?” I asked myself aloud as I parked outside the abandoned building. The location where Bryce held his event looked like a palace compared to this one. This building looked like a haunted bando, and there was no reason for my daughter to be here. Dashing out of my car with my phone in one hand and service gun in the other, I went in search of my daughter.

As the owls hooted above me, I crept to the side of the building in hopes of finding my Briley. She was definitely here because I saw Bryce’s car. Pulling on the boarded doors, I almost thought I was at the wrong place until I spotted a small light coming from the opposite side. Pushing the wood softly, I eased it open and stepped inside. The dimly lit building made it impossible to see. As I fumbled to turn my phone’s flashlight on, there was the faint sound of a gunshot in the distance.

Running in that direction, I thought the worst, and my heart felt like it was going to leap from my chest. Was my baby hurt? Why had Bryce brought her to this rundown shack? Who else was here with them that would shoot a gun? Entering a room with the only light shining, I stopped in my tracks and gasped at the sight before me.

“Bryce!” I placed my hand over my mouth and cried. He lay there, choking on his own blood as he bled from his torso. “Oh my gosh!”

Dragging my eyes from him, they landed on the hooded man with my sleeping daughter in his arms. Tears streamed down my face as I watched in horror at the danger that she was in. With the smoking gun in hand, he slowly rotated his head around until he faced me for a split second before turning around and sending one last shot into Bryce, ending his life. With the gun now back at his side, he turned to face me completely.

“Andre…” I cried in confusion. Seeing Bri stir caused me to panic. “Why do you have my daughter?” Raising my gun to him with a shaky hand, I felt the tears continue to fall from my blurred vision. “You murdered my?—”

Before the words could leave my lips, a cloth was placed across my face. I struggled to break free of the unknown man’s hold on me, but the more I moved, the weaker I became. Hearing the faint sound of my phone dropping, I felt my eyes get heavy.

“Leave him here. Grab Denim, and let’s go,” were the last words I heard from Andre as he stepped past me with my daughter still in his arms.

“Man,do y’all niggas have superpowers or something? How does ‘just the foundation’ look good?” Uno chuckled as we viewed the grounds for the casino. “I know once this place is up and running, it’s going to make the city a lot of money.”

“Facts,” I agreed as we canvased the area. “The revenue that’s coming to the city is going to be nothing you’ve ever seen before. Get ready.”

It’s only been three months, but the grounds for the casino are coming along quite nicely. The new construction team we’d put together has done a great job. I haven’t had to get on anybody’s ass, and that’s a plus to me.

“I don’t want to jump the gun or anything, but I was also thinking about gaming centers, more hotels, and even housing complexes around the city. I have a couple of guys interested in bringing more business here, but since we have contracts together, I wanted to run it by you first. Everybody is cool with it and down for whatever.”

Leaning against my Range, I folded my arms and peered through the lot. I wasn’t opposed to more businesses and knew Rosier wouldn’t be either. We would have to hire more workers to ensure there wouldn’t be any delay in the builds, but that was doable.

“You know I’m with it.” I nodded as I reached over and dapped him. “Let me get with the guys and chop it up with them, and it should be a go.”

We shot the shit for a few more minutes before we decided to leave. It would be dark soon, and the workers were packing up to go. Uno decided to hold a small press conference today with updates on some of the construction around the city, and I tagged along in case questions were asked about the actual construction of the casino. The citizens in this town are one hundred percent for Kenneth Mills. The things he does to improve the quality of life here are commendable, and if I were a resident, I would’ve held the same sentiments. Uno was doing right by these people, and they will always have his full support.

“You know… I can’t believe you really invoiced my brother for three million dollars.” He chuckled once we were back inside my truck. “That nigga ain’t said shit to us since.”

“Hell, he barely talked anyway.” I chuckled as I lit my blunt. It had been a long-ass week, and I needed to get my mind right. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Bitch, please.” He waved me off and mugged me. Pulling out his own perfectly rolled blunt, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m still that nigga.”

As we both became lost in our thoughts, Denim came to my mind. Since getting back in her good graces, I’d been going to sleep and waking up to her, and it’s the most normal I’ve ever felt. Big Bri has me wrapped around her fingers with no sign of letting up. I was playing with dolls, drinking tea, and singing along to princess movies with the pretty six-year-old. I didn’t know what I was doing with them, and I hated it. I’ve prided myself on being ahead of the game and having my shit together. With them, I’m as lost as ever because I knew with them is not where I was supposed to be.

She was scheduled to go back to work a couple of days ago, and I knew then it was time to disappear. Once she found out that we were married, I knew she was going to finally show me the fury that allowed her to join the FBI. When she discovered our nuptials, she started blowing up my phone and hasn’t stopped calling and texting since. I had plans for Denim once I handled her baby daddy. She’d just have to sit tight until I got my bearings to deal with her.

“Did you know Denim was the Feds?” I pulled from the blunt and asked. His choking caused me to take my eyes off the road and glance his way. “I’m going to take that as a no.”

“Fuck no, I didn’t know!” He beat himself on the chest, trying to get himself together. “Granted, I know her dad is a judge. Between us… he’s one of the officials on my roster. He’s a good dude, though. I only use him when I want to get niggas off the streets my way.” I nodded and felt his eyes on me. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Nigga, what are we? Five?” I chuckled as I thought about his childish question. “I do like her—I like her too damn much. It’s an issue I still haven’t figured out how to solve. I married her ass, though, so while it’s not a permanent solution, I have a little more time to sort the shit out.”

With his eyes damn near popping out of his head, I explained to him what took place at the auction he missed. I’d already told him and Skip about their lieutenant governor back at the club a couple of weeks ago. Uno was overly pissed off when he learned about Bryce and his extracurricular activities, but he agreed to let my brothers and I manage it. I think it was a hit to his ego that the sex trafficking had been occurring right under his nose, and he was green to it. After clueing him and Skip in, he made it a habit to check in daily on the progress of taking the lieutenant governor and his accomplices down. I was happy he had jumped on board and didn’t attempt to intervene without us leading. Holmes was my target, and I was the only one killing that muthafucka.

It was important for me to let the Mills brothers know what we were planning to do in Milly Grove. When shit started hitting the fan, I wanted those that mattered to be aware because of the list of elite people involved. I would never come here and show out without giving them a heads-up because if it were my city, I would want the same courtesy I was giving.

“Why trick her into marrying you, though? Why not just stop fuckin’ with her until you know what she’s up to…”

I glanced his way because he was right, and I didn’t have an answer to his question. Saved by the bell, my phone started ringing. Telling him to hold his thought, I noticed Jules was calling me. It was close to the time for us to pick up the girls, and everyone was on edge.

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