Page 18 of Sinful Restraint

Cracking my neck, I stepped forward, ignoring Mekhi’s taunting as I looked down at the target.

The man looked up, his eyes wide and panicked when he said, “I didn’t?—”

“I don’t give a shit,” I stated, cutting him off. “Ralph Little, tonight, isnotyour lucky night. You see, my brother tells me that as soon as you got out of prison, you tracked down his soon-to-be wife with the intent on using her to bait him into giving you money.”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, piecing together who my brother was. When I pulled out my Glock, his fearful eyes were glued to the weapon.

“I ain’t mean to do it,” he stuttered. “I didn’t know who he really was.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You knew he was Crowne, yet you didn’t give a damn.”

“D—Don’t kill me,” he begged, stuttering as he got on his knees and clasped his hands together in prayer. “I swear, I just wanted to scare her a bit. I knew he’d pay to get her back. I just thou?—”

The rest of his plea never left his lips as I pulled the trigger, the sound of the bullet slicing through the right side of his chest echoing through the alley. I shot him on his left side next, before placing a final bullet into the middle of his forehead.

Ralph’s blood painted the ground red, the sight one that I never got tired of. Yet still, I felt … nothing. No relief to my impure thoughts abouther.

“Get rid of him,” I told my team, looking down at the body.

“On it,” Phil stated.

Tony pulled out his phone. “Already calling the cleaning crew.”

Usually, the three of them could handle the cleanup, but there were more bodies than we originally planned and I wanted this shit taken care of promptly.

“You good, man?” Mekhi asked.

I looked up at the dark sky like it held all the answers.

“Nah,” I said, releasing a frustrated breath. “But I’ll be fine once I get my way.”

After I was back in my Hellcat, I told Sinceer that the job was done, my mind still on Ri.That conversation with Storm and Titan can’t come soon enough.

Santari wasn’t ours yet …

But she would be.

Otherwise, I guess there was a killing spree in my near future.

&

The next day, Storm was giving me that look again, like he couldn’t figure out if he needed to play my therapist or just enjoy our conversation.

“Bruh, I’m dead ass about this,” I told him. “I ain’t lyin’ to you. The interest was there, no cap.”

“What is he going on about?” Titan asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Santari,” Storm answered, resuming eating his breakfast.

At the mention of her name, Titan closed the refrigerator and leaned against the counter, his jaw tightening with focus. “What’s wrong with her?”

I threw up my hands. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong, man. It ain’t even like that. She’s still at the spa for the facial and massage that I scheduled for her.” I started pacing the room, because sometimes when I was hype about something, I couldn’t stand still. “But a few nights ago, Storm set me up and sent her to my club.”

Titan pinned Storm with a stern look, causing Storm to raise his hands in defeat. “Bruh, I needed to focus on some shit here at the house and she was too distracting. I already had to deal with her at the university. So I figured at the club, Cruz had other people to keep his focus off Santari and on work.”

Titan ground his teeth together. “Storm, you don’t dangle a beautiful carrot in front of a greedy rabbit.”

“Usually, nah,” Storm responded. “But we’ve known Santari for years. Cruz knows he can look but not touch.”

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