Page 168 of The Sweetest Devotion

Dice chuckled, his shoulders shaking as he leaned over and spit blood onto the plastic sheeting on the floor. He wiped at his lip and peered past me. “A little late on the draw there, huh Beans?”

“You had that coming,” Beans said as he kept his distance.

Dice made a face and came back to me. “If it’s any consolation?—”

“Fuck you,” I said loud and clear.

Dice appeared amused by me. I’d never seen him like this and it made me that much more on my toes. “She’s willing to die foryou,” he said, getting serious. “Never take that shit for granted.”

I wouldn’t, not for as long as I lived. Right after I shook some sense into her.

“What now?” I asked, needing confirmation on what Dice was up to.

He shrugged, standing back. “If you break her heart I’ll kill you, Keith. Understood?”

In some sick twisted way, he was giving up, and letting Kennedy go.

We were not about to shake hands and go grab a beer. I wanted him gone, back to wherever the fuck he came from.

“Stay away from her,” I warned.

Dice shook his head. “I’m going to be around. Not all ties will be cut.”

Her father.

Feeling bold, I had to address a rumor I was beginning to believe was true. “Does her father know he was about to marry his daughter off to the biggest coke dealer in the West?”

Slowly, a broad smile stretched across Dice’s face. “No, and I’d appreciate it if that stayed in this room. Matter of fact, I’d like it if you acted like we don’t know each other.”

So, word on the street had been true. He had gone off to become a well-connected coke dealer. I’d once heard this from either Gavin or DreSean in passing when I’d wondered whatever happened to Dice, but I never was too sure. When we were kids, he’d sold a dime bag here and there from what I could remember. Now, he’d apparently graduated to higher endeavors.

Kennedy had dodged a bullet.

I didn’t too much like the idea of keeping the fact that I knew Dice, if barely, from her, but if it meant he’d stay away, I would. There was no going to the police about this. That wasn’t how things worked in Bedford Heights. If he was as high level as I’d heard, he more than likely had a few contacts at the local precinct.

I took a step closer. “How much say do you have in Bedford Heights?”

Dice narrowed his eyes. “Enough.”

“Do me a favor?”

“Because I’m in such a favor-giving mood,” he said sardonically.

“Tell whoever you run, to leave Dominique Ferguson the fuck alone,” I demanded. We’d squared away his debt, but you could never be too sure.

Dice smoothed out the arm of his dress shirt, uninspired to even reply. He walked over to the Honda Civic and grabbed his jacket he’d laid aside. He shrugged into it and once again wiped at his mouth.

Nothing had felt better than punching that fucker in the face.

Dice turned toward Beans. “Let her in.”

I guessed we were done negotiating.

35

I saton the ground in a catatonic state as Vino stood by keeping watch of me.

There had only been one gunshot, but it was probably enough to do the trick. My eyes watered and I made no move to wipe them.

---