Page 22 of Riot

Creed nodded at me, arms folded across his chest. “You talk to Havoc yet?”

I didn’t look up. “No.”

“You need to.”

“He disrespected Ma.”

Creed sighed, stepping closer to the desk. “I know. But you cracked his jaw in front of everybody. He’s still your brother.”

I gave him a look. “He’s been bitter ever since we took Pops out.”

“And Pops was the most toxic part of this family,” Creed snapped. “He’s gone now. We don’t need to keep carrying his poison. We need unity. A stable front. Especially with how much shit we’re juggling.”

I didn’t say anything. Just nodded once. Creed knew how to push the right pressure points, and unfortunately, he was right.

“Aye, when you get a moment, we need to talk about Boaz. That shit that his son told us about?”

“Yeah, let’s set up a meeting about that shit. They haven’t found that body yet?” He asked. We eventually did a clean up and dropped those bodies in the river. We could’ve disappeared them but I wanted Boaz to feel the sting of losing his perverted ass son and nephew. I wanted him to crumble before we finally took him out.

“Nope,” I replied.

“Aight. Well fix that shit with Havoc first and we’ll make a move.”He clapped my shoulder and turned to leave.

He walked out, leaving Abra behind.

She raised an eyebrow. “You gonna fix it?”

I exhaled. “Eventually. Let’s talk about the vineyard.”

That shifted her energy instantly. She pulled her phone out, ready to work. “What’s the plan?”

“I want to do a summer jazz and wine festival. Something clean but fly. High-end restaurants, local chefs, press, maybe even some art installations.”

Abra’s eyes lit up. “That’s a smart move. I’ll start tapping into my contacts. We’ll need wine buyers, PR, a few influencers with clean reputations…”

“Yeah. Let’s start with an open house first. Small, selective. I want buzz, not chaos.”

“I got you,” she said, already typing away.

A second later, her phone buzzed. She smiled at the screen, and I raised an eyebrow.

“What? That from a man?”

She laughed. “No. My friend Irina. She’s throwing a party at The Gilded Cage.”

I looked up. “Irina?”

“She’s dating Rollo.”

I smirked. “I know the type of bitches he bags. Can she read? The last bitch had to sound out strawberry on the menu last time.”

“Shut up. She’s cool. Anyway, she’s doing something for her birthday. It’s lowkey. Want to come?” She laughed.

I leaned back. “Only if there’s bitches there.”

She rolled her eyes. “You been all work since everything went down with Silas. You need to come out and breathe for once.”

I didn’t respond right away.

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