Page 170 of Riot

She’d haunted my dreams for years—blood pooling beneath her, eyes wide, lips trembling around my name.

I saw her in every woman I couldn’t love. In every silence I couldn’t sit with.

“You talk like she was innocent,” I said.

“She was pregnant!” Mimi shouted, stepping closer. “With your child. She did what our brothers forced her to do. She loved you. She didn’t have a choice!”

I couldn’t speak. My throat burned. My hand twitched by my side.

She kept going, voice shaking now. “My sister loved you and was excited about being a mom. When you killed her, you killed my whole family. We have never recovered.”

My chest tightened, breath caught somewhere between grief and fury. I actually felt bad because I knew she was right.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, looking her over. I relaxed the gun at my side.

“I want you to apologize.”

“I’m sorry. I loved Malia, and I killed her because my father ordered me to. It was her or me. Actually, he would’ve killed both of us. If I knew she was pregnant, I would’ve done things differently. I swear, Mimi. When I killed her, a part of me died too.”

Her face softened. I ain’t need sympathy, but I did need the killing to cease. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Did you know Silas touched Havoc?”

“Nope. Not until yesterday, right before he put a bullet in my mother’s head. I had no fuckin’ clue. Had I known, I would’ve handled shit differently with him too—before things got this bad.Havoc was dealt a fucked-up hand. We all were, but he got it the worst. And I never knew that. I always thought since he didn’t live with Silas full time, he ain’t receive the same abuse that we did,” I responded.

She swallowed hard and swiped a tear away from her eye.

“Look, Mimi, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you twenty million dollars for you to go away, aight? That’s what Havoc asked for. In return, we can just tell Jasir that Havoc died fighting for the family. And when he’s old enough, he can get whatever he needs from the family. We’ll give him a top position, shares, and always make sure he goes to the best schools. I won’t come for you—but you can’t come for me. And you gotta raise him to know that the Kings got his back,” I offered.

I watched her mull it over, her shoulders relaxing, the tension in her face finally easing.

“Silas ruined so many lives,” she whispered.

“Yeah. And I know money can’t fix everything, but it can start to mend something,” I replied.

“You got a deal,” she said.

“I’ll have that wired to you in three business days. As for now, I’ll put y’all up in a nice hotel and get you out of this slum.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Aye, do you know where Rollo’s body is?” I asked.

“He’s still alive. Havoc actually liked him. He shot him in the shoulder. He’s in the basement of the building where Havoc lived—in a storage facility.”

If a nigga had any more tears to cry, I would’ve shed them for joy. Havoc wasn’t completely cold. He let our nigga live.

“I’ma go get to him right now,” I said as I turned to walk away.

As soon as I did, I heard a gun click.This bitch.

I swear, hoes don’t know when to quit.

I turned around. “Really, bitch?”

“Money cannot bring Havoc back.”

I knew that this was the end for me. This is what the fuck I get for listening to Creed’s ass—telling me to be more compassionate. I should’ve put a bullet right through this bitch’s skull when I walked in. I was trying to be reasonable.

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