Page 40 of Tempt Me

“Why doesn’t he call my bratva?” Ivy said, a baby fussing in the background, her shushing and humming growing louder.

Micah grumbled, getting shushed by his singing wife.

Oh, the circus of parenthood.

I didn’t remember much about Xenia’s toddler age. Hell, she was only a few years old when my world and hers turned into shit. My sister-in-law, Tiffany, got those years and memories of Xeny. Ariah and I didn’t, and with Tiffany’s death, the memories of those times went with her.

“I will text you Lucius’ number, bro. I’ll have my ringer on to bail ya from jail.”

“I love you too, Quinny whinny,” I teased in a baby voice.

He chuckled and got loudly shushed by his wife again.

“Yeah, yeah. Love ya bro. Talk soon.”

I waited in the alley for the text, and after a few minutes, my phone lit up with Micah’s brother-in-law’s number.

I shot a text over, figuring I would be direct. I didn’t know who Lucius was, but I had heard some stories from Quinn back at the prison. Apparently, he made my brothers look like teddy bears, and his girlfriend was even more of a nutball.

Me:

I was told you know how to buy some flowers.

Unknown:

Who the fuck is this.

Well, I guess being direct wasn’t the right call.

I dialed the number and brought the phone up to my ear. It was better explaining it than texting. He answered on the first ring with a dark Russian drawl as threatening as I would have expected from a man with his reputation.

“Listen to me, you annoying fuck. If you call and solicit me with bullshit, I will come to your residence and shove whatever the fuck you are trying to sell me up your ass hole. Understand?”

I laughed. The threat was something my brothers or I would say to whatever ‘Bible Selling Scout’ dumb enough to bug us and came our way.

“I’m a friend of your sister’s and her soft-ass husband,” I said.

Lucius paused on the line. No background noise was heard. It was just silence.

“Ah, okay then. Hey, my Little Shadow. Cancel that hit in Texas by that college. Thanks, baby girl.”

I didn’t know if he was kidding or not, but either way, I cleared my throat. “Anyways, man, I was told by your sister that you knew where to get some weed.”

“Weed?” Lucius’s voice went higher, obvious laughter trying to sound contained.

“Yeah, man.” I sighed. “Weed. Mary J. Marry ja wanna. Flower. D—”

“I know what weed is.” he interrupted with a laugh. “I am curious why my sister, who is a new mother, has a friend she’d send to me to get it, is all.”

I sighed again, raking my hand down my face.

Damn, if it was this hard to score a fucking plant that grows in the dirt on the damn streets, I felt for civilians. The prison had so much grass that it was like fucking Christmas. People ate it like lettuce on their sandwiches, and nobody fucking judged what got you through your time in hell.

“Do you know where I can get fucking marijuana or not?”

Lucius snorted. “Of course.”

I waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, I pressed, “And?”

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