Page 17 of Sinful Restraint

You have no fuckin’ idea.“Is this your way of telling me to keep my dick in my pants?”

Sinceer snorted. “Hell nah. I’m the one who taught you how to fuck a woman right. Us Crowne men have healthy sexual appetites, so if anything, I think fuckin’ through grief is the perfect remedy for all of you.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “That may be true, but right now, my thoughts are gettin’ too jumbled, which is why I called you.”

“You need some work?” he asked.

“Yeah. Something quick though, and not too complex.”

“Say less. This ain’t Dark Trinity business, but I’ve got a weasel I’ve been tracking for a couple weeks. Just got word he’s in the Miami area, so your timing is perfect. Can you handle it tonight?”

“Bet,” I stated, grinning from ear to ear. Nothing soothed my soul better than torturing someone who deserved it.

Having the same father wasn’t the only thing Sinceer and I had in common. Mentally, we understood each other in ways we didn’t even need to explain to one another. Although Sinceer had three full siblings—Hendrix, Honey, and Lil Stormy—he hadn’t grown up with them much, and instead, had been raised in Black River Falls, South Carolina.

Not only were we both Midwest boys who moved to the South, but Sinceer and I had a bond closer than what I had with Hendrix, Honey, Lil Stormy, or any of my dad’s other kids—Amen, Crux, and Crusade.

With so many siblings to keep track of, Rev, Storm, and Titan had become my constant support, which is why I started calling my younger sister Lil’ Stormy instead of her government name of Storm in order to differentiate the names.

By the end of our call, I made a mental note to catch up with all my siblings before Sinceer’s wedding. I didn’t want to lose any more family without telling them that I at least loved them.

An hour later, I found myself in Overtown, a neighborhood in Miami that was known as the Harlem of the South with my security guy’s Mekhi, Phil, and Tony by my side.

“Do you smell that?” Mekhi asked, sniffing the air around us with a smile on his face.

“Sho’ the fuck do,” Tony stated, tapping his knife against the palm of his hand. “Smells like piss.”

“And blood,” Phil added as we walked deeper into the dark alley.

We’d been in this alley before chasing down someone who had stolen some product from me a few years back. But with me having so many businesses to secure, my top men were split between them. Even when their schedules overlapped like lately with the opening of Club Havana, we didn’t always get to do shit like this together in the streets.

“He’s gotta be close,” I told them, referring to the target. “Let’s get into position and stay alert.”

We were outside the dumpsters of a gambling joint and according to Sinceer, the dude usually stumbled out the back door and into the alley around two in the morning.

My trigger finger twitched against the side of my jacket where my Glock with a silencer already in place was resting. When it reached around two-thirty in the morning, we were getting restless.

“You sure this dude is worth it?” Phil asked. “This shit is takin’ a hot minute.”

“I don’t care if he is, or if he ain’t,” I told him. “I need to kill someone.”

Tony clasped my shoulder. “You just killed that muthafucka Calvin yesterday.”

I smacked my tongue over my teeth. “That was then. This is now.”

Mekhi laughed and shook his head just as the back door opened.

“That’s him,” I stated, when the drunk asshole that matched the photo Sinceer had sent me stumbled into the alley, unaware that he had a surprise waiting for him.

“It’s our lucky day, fellas.” Mekhi nodded to the others exiting after him. “The target has friends.”

I gave a single nod to Phil and Tony, who immediately jumped into action, our target and his friends instantly running in the opposite direction. Mekhi joined them, my three best soldiers eliminating the six other men quickly, before knocking the target to the ground and towering over him.

Even as I walked to the crawling target, I couldn’t stop seeing Santari in my thoughts. Her mouth that was always begging to be kissed. Her inquisitive eyes set in defiance when she was being bratty.

I had taken this job tonight to wipe her from my mind until I could talk with Titan and Storm, but if anything, I was thinking about her even more because of the reason Sinceer needed this asshole dead.

“You gonna stand there and watch him crawl all night?” Mekhi asked, his voice full of amusement. “Or kill his ass like we came here to do?”

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