Page 52 of Love & Vendettas

Regret that I never married her, thinking that would protect her from law enforcement if they ever came after me, not to mention protecting all the material goods by putting them in her name. Not marrying didn’t protect her either.

Murder.

It comes down to that simple word. When I find the dumbasses who took my woman, and I will, there will be no bargaining. There will be no questions because I don’t want or need answers.

It will be murder, pure and simple.

I try dialing Bayleigh’s number again with no success.

When she called me right back after she’d hung up the first time, I didn’t think much of it. We often hang up and call one another back because we forgot to say something.

What I hadn’t expected was to hear another nigga’s voice calling me from my woman’s phone. I didn’t instantly suspect something funny was going on.

I knew.

In my heart and soul, I knew there was some fuck shit going on and that my woman was in danger.

I think back on the call now as I head down to the garage.

“Hey, my love.”

“No. Sorry, this isn’t your love. But I know where she’s at.”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are. But for the simple fact that you’re calling me from her phone, I know you’ve fucked up. When I find you, and trust me, I will, you’ll realize that you’ve fucked with the wrong one.”

“Zaire!”

Her scream rips right through me, and my heart roars to life with murder and vengeance at once.

“I don’t know what you want, and I don’t give a fuck. Let her go, and you can meet with me face to face. We will handle this man-to-man. Let her fucking go now!” I seethe.

“No. You’re not in a position to make demands. I simply wanted a meeting with you. But you were too fucking arrogant to make that happen. Turning down my calling card wasn’t in your best interest, sir.”

And I know. It’s that cat who eyed me at the club a couple of months back when we celebrated Hakeem’s birthday. The one who sent me the bottle of Macallan.

“Don’t let a hair on her head be touched.”

He laughs.

“You really don’t know who you’re fucking with. You want a meeting? Let’s meet right now. We can meet on your turf, Stage 21, and settle this shit once and for all.”

“It’s too late for that. The only thing that I want now is to take you down and take over your empire.”

“Like I said, don’t let a fucking hair on her head be touched.”

The last thing that I hear is Bayleigh screaming my name,“Zaire!”

“Bayleigh! Hey! Hey!” I shout into the phone.

Pulling it away, I see that the call has ended.

“Where to, Bossman?” Ghalen asks when I hop into the passenger seat beside him.

Ignoring his question, I speak into the phone as soon as Aris answers.

“Do you have plates, a location, anything?”

“Not a location yet, sir. I’m working on it, though.”

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