Page 22 of Nobody But You

“How in the fuck did that nigga get in here, B?” I returned. The fact that he’d decided to all of a sudden do his damn job wasn’t lost on me.

“I had a little situation at the door,” he said. This was exactly why I had trust issues. I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Once I hit the exit, I slipped down the side of the building, covered in darkness. The street on this side of the building had several carsparked. I quickly headed towards the front. About halfway up, I met Miller and his men coming down. They’d stopped beside two of the parked cars.

“What do you want to do, Boss? Do we need to run up on that bitch in there?” One of them asked.

“She’s not a bitch, and that’s none of your fucking concern. What I told your ass to do was watch him. Not let his ass come and hem me up. I’m going back to New York tonight. What I need your ass to do is stay here and wait for Burks to give you the information on that meetup. You got that? I made the shit simple for you. Don’t fuck it up. I don’t want to have to visit your mother to tell her you went missing,” Miller said before he and his right hand got in the first car and pulled off.

The darkness continued to conceal me as the man stood at his car, pulled out, and lit a cigarette. I snuck up behind him and put him in a chokehold, restricting his airways. The cigarette fell to the ground, slumping him in my arms. Still shrouded in darkness, I searched his pockets for his keys and unlocked the car door, throwing him in the passenger seat before I rounded to get behind the wheel.

Checking the mirrors before I pulled out, I traveled up the six blocks from the hotel where the ball was held to go to my security firm. I took out my phone and opened the gate. Then I hit another button to open one of the service bays and drove inside. I couldn’t risk anyone seeing this car here. So I took out my encrypted phone to text Trigger.

The firm’s garage now!

Trigger

On the way.

I glanced over at my passenger to see that he was waking up.

I can’t have that!

Before he turned his head to look over at me, I pulled back my fist, connecting with the side of his face to knock his ass out again. This garage was where we serviced our vehicles. It looked like the typical auto service center with car lifts, tool chests, and the fresh smell of oil and gas. I rounded the car, picked up whoever this was, and threw him over my shoulder.

The firm’s garage held two offices. One was for my lead mechanic, and the other was mine, where I was taking him. Inside was a bookcase that opened to a stairway leading to my sterile house. I called it a house because it held several rooms for various situations. The house was lit with fluorescent lighting and was completely stainless steel, down to the furniture. It was completely undetectable from the outside and one hundred percent soundproof.

I chose the smallest room, ten by ten feet, and threw him down in the corner of the room on the floor with a thud. After searching him for his wallet, phone, and other shit that may give him hope, I chained him to the hooks on the floor. It was heavyweight and had about three feet of tension. When he woke, he would be in complete darkness; if he screamed, no soul would hear him. Well, not any living ones. I would clone his phone and turn off his location later. The room was also equipped with a toilet. It was essentially a jail cell.

I left the room and headed down the hall to the kitchen. Because I wasn’t a complete fucking savage, I searched around until I found a bottle of water and a half loaf of bread. I went back into the room and sat them down at his feet. I didn’t have time to get the information I needed because I had to return to work. Until then, his ass would be here.

While I waited for Trig, I sat at the desk and quickly pulled up camera footage from the traffic cameras. Then I deleted myself as I drove from the ball. I also checked the hotel footage to see Trig's location, which showed him slipping on his job. As I looked for the time stamp, I found him in the corner arguing with his woman.

This nigga!

Just as I logged out, Trig popped into my office. His look told me he already knew what was up. I locked up, walking out with him behind me.

“I need you to take this car and get rid of it. Tonight! Take me back to the ball first, though,” I said as he nodded.

“My bad, Rock. Jade’s ass popped up tonight, talking about she was trying to see if I was really working. Then she said she was going home and cut out the back of all my pants since I wanted to have my ass all out in the streets. You know her ass will do it, too,” he said in a worried tone.

“Please tell me Jade’s ass didn’t say that,” I said, grabbing the bridge of my nose, trying to stop the laugh from spilling out.

“Rock, I was about to be assed out like Prince, my nigga.” When he said that, the laughter burst through. After I got control, I let his ass have it.

“Trig. You're, my man, one hundred grand, but you have too much shit going on sometimes. If something had happened to my mother tonight, I would have killed your ass,” I said, giving him the sincerest expression.

“I got you, Rock. I understand because I would have told you the same if you let someone run up on my mother. Except... I would have said I would have tried to kill your ass. Key word tried because you be on some other shit. Respect!” He said calmly, holding my gaze before we both laughed. He held out his hand to dap me up and bring me in for a brotherly embrace.

“Let’s get back,” I said, heading to the passenger seat to get in.

“You just gone leave his ass in there?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Shit! For how long? It’s dark as shit in there and quiet as hell. He’s gonna wish he was dead,” Trig said.

“For as long as I feel like it,” I said and shrugged, with Trig shaking his head and laughing.

“See, other shit,” he said, cranking the car and backing out of the bay. This last month has been too noisy. I liked the world around me to be quiet.

CHAPTER 11

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