Page 95 of Obsessive Love

I pulled her into a hug and exhaled. Over her head, I saw Morning sitting in the cut. The lights were dim, but I could still see him clearly. He sat leaning forward, his hands tented in front of his mouth. He sat back and smirked, and his diamond-studded K-9s sparkled in the little light around him.

“Ay, Coach, you good?” Vine Carter asked as she approached us.

Diara let me go, wiped her face, nodded, and then turned around. “Yeah, I’m good. Are you ready for your interview after practice?”

“No,” Vine said, shaking her head. “I don’t even want to do this shit.”

“Well, too bad you drew the short straw and are stuck doing the interview.”

“It won't be horrible; Emrick is cool and won't touch on subjects you outlined as no’s,” I said, trying to give her a little hope.

She cut her eyes to me and nodded. “If he does, I’m cutting the interview short. I don’t care about the fines; I’ll pay them.”

“It won't go that far,” I chuckled as I put my hands in my pockets. “Emrick said he would respect your wishes.”

“We’ll see,” Vine said, then walked away.

“She’s going to have to learn to trust the press eventually,” Diara said as we watched Vine walk away. “I hate that she’s the story since he won't talk. He shot and killed that cop, not her.”

“It’s a reason I linked her with Emrick. He’ll tell her story the right way and give her the positive experience she needs.”

“Let’s hope so,” Diara said. “Her brother's trial starts in a few weeks. It's going to be a shit show.”

“I got faith it’ll be alright,” I replied.

I continued watching the ladies practice, and Diara went back to coaching. Another thirty minutes passed before Yamari joined me.

“She’s okay?” I asked her without taking my eyes off the team.

“Yeah,” Yamari answered. “She’s going to be fine.”

“Do I need to do anything?”

“Keep loving her,” she answered with a laugh. I looked over at her and lifted my brow in question. “I said what I said.”

“Any advice?” I inquired. “You know some pointers I could use to show her that I’m obsessed with her?”

“Not fucking one,” she said, shaking her head. “You are going to have to do this the old-school way.”

“What do you mean? Like, go talk to her daddy or something?”

“Or kill him and her brother,” she suggested with a shrug.

“I can do that,” I said as I stood.

“I was just joking, Pyrite!” she yelled as I walked away. “It was a joke.”

“And it was hilarious! Good job!” I responded, but didn’t stop walking. “Come on, we got shit to do before I lose the little bit of time I have left with Fable.”

“Tell me where your Pop is,” I said, walking around Javien Jr. He was still hanging from the ceiling in Xayne’s warehouse. The way Xoey had him was impressive as hell. His arms were tied behind his back, and he hung from the ceiling. There was no doubt that his shoulders were dislocated, and he was in pain. He was skinnier, too, maybe down forty or so pounds; he looked like he was barely hanging on. “You do that, and I’m pretty sure Xoey will put you out of your misery.”

“Don’t speak for me,” Xoey said from her seat in the corner of the room. “He hasn’t given me any of the information I want.”

“What do you want to know?” I looked over at her and asked. “Because I probably know the answer.”

“He said he has a baby on the way,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t like leaving children parentless; that’s my rule, you know it. If I’m going to kill them, I need to know their children will be okay without them.”

“I don’t think he has a kid, Xoe,” I said, shaking my head. “Nobody can find anything.”

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