Page 129 of Quasim III: King Inferno

“I’m not scared.”

“And I’m not gonna kill you.”

I looked confused. “You’re not gonna kill me?”

He smirked. “I’m gonna kill the fuck out of you.”

The sound of knives being sharpened caused me to turn toward the bathroom. All the air I had left in my body quickly exited when I laid eyes on the Bajan butcher. He fucking looked familiar to the Delgato twins.

Like he was some kin to them or something.

My chest felt tight, and I looked down and realized I had pissed on myself. King stood up from the chair and walked toward him and then pulled out a pocketknife from his pocket.

“Killing your brother wasn’t personal to me… it was work. Taking your mother and sister were personal because you fucked with my family. I spared you some shit but let me tell you why your brother was murdered.” He twirled the toothpick from one side of his mouth to the next before removing it and putting it in his pocket. “He fucking raped a Valentini and got her pregnant… he deserved fucking death, and I brought it to him. You got your family murdered and yourself over a rapist that took what he wanted.”

My chest became even tighter, and I was sure I was having a heart attack listening to him. Listening to how my brother raped a girl, knowing he had a history of sexual assault, which was the reason I sent his ass out to Ashbourne.

“Fuck.” I said lowly.

“I’ve been in Ashbourne; same place you sent his ass… people talk and the Valentini and Don name is thick in Ashbourne… fucking royalty there. I never knew, nor gave a fuck to get the backstory before taking a life. It’s about money and getting my hands dirty.”

He stood tall, looking at me. “I had a lot of down time since you sat me down… did a lot of damage to my own family, thinking of all the ways I was going to kill you. Aside from that, I found out the reason for the hit on your brother and I’m fucking glad I did the shit. When you go and meet him… cause that’s where you going, ask him why.”

I looked at my hands because they looked like worms, then over at the butcher and he was laying out all kinds of tools. Shit I had never even heard about, and was calm about it, even humming peacefully. “I…I didn’t fucking kno?—”

“Think fast!” He said quickly, and I looked over and saw the knife he was messing with coming at me, striking me between the eyes. I stumbled against the wall, then slid down, while thevision in one of my eyes darkened and then the second one joined.

He tried to play me…

Quasim

I didn’t leaveuntil every piece of Polo was wrapped up in plastic. The minute Keith put his head up, I headed back to the jet to get to my baby. Blair was in the back of my head the entire time.

Kicking myself for hurting her and making her feel like she didn’t have anyone to turn to. I promised myself that I would never do that to her, and ended up doing it anyway. I wasn’t a perfect man, and I got on my own nerves with how hard it was to let someone in.

For years, I sat with this lock over my heart, never allowing anyone in because it wouldn’t be good. Any person that loved me would end up hurt, and then she ended up almost losing her life in a house fire.

There had never been a woman that made me want to hand her the key to my heart. Until Blair came walking into my life, and now I couldn’t see life without her. She was meant for me, and I needed to fix it.

Her heart was important to me, and I had to fix what I broke. Allow her to see that I was still her husband, and I would go to war behind her. Cherish her feelings and let her in, because she was the only one I wanted to talk to.

My duffle bag hung off my shoulders and headphones around my neck as I climbed out the cab. I needed to see my wife.

Smell her.

Feel her.

Soon as I entered the house, Kobe was sitting at the kitchen table eating crab legs with Synthia. “Hey Kang…. Want some crab legs?”

Dropping my bag and pulling my headphones off, I looked at Synthia. “Where’s my wife?”

She cracked the leg of the crab and nodded outside. “She’s sleep outside… be careful. Sleep has been hard for her, and she didn’t sleep at all last night. That prenatal insomnia is a bitch… I just covered her up. You can go settle in and wait until she wakes up, if you want.” It was like she was warning me how to be around my wife.

“Trust us… you might wanna wait.”

I ignored them as Havoc and Blaze filed in behind me. “Well, hello, Hamza.” Synthia continued to suck on a crab leg, and I exited the kitchen.

Like Synthia said, she was asleep on the pool bed outside. The blanket clung to her body and stomach like silk. Her face was clear of makeup, and she looked so angelic laying there. One hand on her stomach, as if she wanted to make sure no one stole it away from her while she slept.

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