Page 47 of Love & Vendettas

“Love you, Bay.”

“Love you more, Z.”

“Impossible,” he replies, chuckling before he ends the call.

22 – ZAIRE – PRESS CONFERENCE

Parker and I drove by the Hovel no sooner than I received the phone call from Bayleigh, upset this morning. I’d just been by there last night, and everything was okay. Kenny was still chained, still talking shit, and the Hovel was still in one piece.

I’d beaten him last night with a belt and finally resorted to pouring salt into his wounds. His cries had pierced the quiet night, and before we pulled away from the Hovel, Kenny had passed out from his pain.

Somewhere between the time that we left and a few minutes before noon today, someone had freed him and burned my shit down. I wasn’t worried about him getting to Riley or the ladies and doing anything. His wounds weren’t superficial. They were far too serious for him to be able to execute any plan on his own. Kenny would have to get someone else to hurt her because he was incapable of doing it himself.

My concern was who was working with him and who in my organization would dare cross me up that way. If someone was that low, that untrustworthy, and that fucking bold, I need to execute them immediately, but first I had to find out who it was.

Parker and I sit staring at the computerized whiteboard on the wall before us.

“Janel was watching her sister’s kids last night. She never left home,” he declares, pointing at the security cameras on the outside of Janel’s house that he’s hacked.

I nod as he switches to the next camera, which surrounds Malik’s home. Shaking his head, Parker comments, “He’s stillfucking with that girl. He’s not going to be happy until shit blows up in smoke.”

“She’s not the best choice for Malik, but he knows what he’s doing.”

Malik has been screwing his baby’s mother for the last couple of years since her “fiancé” has been in prison. He’s scheduled to be released soon, too, and everyone worries about what will happen when he learns that the baby in her belly might not have been conceived on one of their conjugal visits.

“So, we’ve accounted for Malik, Janel, Ghalen, Madison, Hakeem, Jamal, Kim, and Aris. That only leaves Noble.”

“And Marisa.”

“Marisa?” Parker asks, staring at me strangely. “What’s she got to do with this? She doesn’t even know where the Hovel is.”

“I trust nothing, Parker.”

“Listen, I get the need for caution, but some shit’s simple, Z. Marisa? Why the fuck would she do something stupid like that? She knows you pay her well and take good care of her. She wouldn’t risk it all on a fuckboy like Kenny,” Parker disputes.

“Women have been known to do more stupid shit in the name of love,” I disagree.

“Wait.” He glances at me sideways before he finishes. “You’re saying that you think Marisa’s been fucking around with Riley’s guy?”

“I’m not saying anything, but I’m also not taking the possibilities off the table. When you start narrowing things down, that’s how you lose sight of what’s important and underestimate your enemies.”

“Maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong.”

“Just get me what I need. Proof that Marisa didn’t have shit to do with anything.”

A knock sounds at my door at that exact moment.

“Come in,” I call out.

Aris opens the door and walks in. “There’s a press conference on TV that I thought you might want to see.”

I watch as she walks to the console, picks up the remote, presses the button to power it on, and then surfs to the channel that she’s looking for.

Aris places the remote back on the TV stand as she walks to stand beside me, crossing her arms and staring at the TV.

I frown at her and say, “What’s the problem?”

The only thing that I see on the TV is an image of City Hall.

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