He finally walked over to Miamor and knelt beside the bed. He grabbed her hand and turned it over to see the tattoo on her wrist. “You still my lil’ mama, huh?” he asked as he kissed the tattoo. He knew what the phrase “Murder Mama” meant. It meant that she was his, and she knew it too.
“Always,” she replied as she touched his face, remembering the bond that they had once shared.
“I missed you, Miamor. I thought about you every day while I was on the island,” he said.
She wiped a lone tear away and gave him a half smile. She used to think about Murder all the time, before she met Carter. “I missed you too,” she responded.
Murder looked at her, and the anger inside of him was evident. It radiated off of him, and because she knew him so well, she was able to read him like a book. His presence was exactly as she remembered it. He was still strong and commanding as he had always been. Prison had done him good. He was solid and strong, his swagger still the same… low key and mysterious.
“I didn’t want this for you, Miamor. This wasn’t supposed to be your life,” Murder stated as he kissed her hand.
“This is all I’ve ever known. Every time I find someone that I love, I realize that fate is playing a sick game with me. I can never have someone to call my own. You belonged to Anisa. Carter belongs to The Cartel. I wanted you both, but neither of you were meant for me,” she said miserably, the sorrow of her broken heart affecting her words.
“I came to take you home,” Murder stated.
“Ha!” Miamor laughed obnoxiously as she shook her head. “Home? I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those. I’ve never been in one place long enough to consider it home. I’ve never felt safe enough to be ‘at home',” she said. “Where’s home for me, Murder?”
“With me,” he stated simply.
Miamor knew that because Anisa wasn’t around, things could be different between them. He loved her. He always had, but she wasn’t an eighteen-year-old girl anymore. She was a grown ass woman who had evolved. With her emotions for Carter all over the place, she didn’t know how she felt. When she had come to Miami, she had put Murder out of her mind, but it was obvious to her that he had never forgotten about her. He had come for her after five long years, just as he had promised he would. He never broke his word to her. He would give her the world if he could. Can I offer him the same loyalty in return? she asked herself.
“I don’t know if I can give you what you want from me right now, Murder. I’ve never lied to you, so I do not want to start now. My heart is with someone else,” she admitted sadly. It was something that she did not want to say, but something that he had to hear.
Murder winced and released her hand. He hated Carter for locking down Miamor’s heart. The look in her eye when she spoke of Carter was the same look that used to be reserved for him years ago. “That nigga almost cost you your life, Mia,” he reminded.
“He didn’t know what I was into…”
Murder heard her as she tried to defend him, but he interrupted. “Aw, ma, don’t give me that. The nigga knew what he was into! That’s all that matters. If he’s a boss, then he protects those around him, especially his bitch. You know the game, ma. I know you know, cuz I taught you. You should have murked him, Miamor. Quick, and without a second thought, because that was the job you were paid to do. That was what you signed up for when you picked up that phone years ago. You’re my lil’ mama. You’re Murder’s mama baby, girl. You know what it is between me and you. That’s why you got my name tatted on you.”
Miamor turned up her lips and rolled her eyes as she sneered at him in denial. “We all got the same tattoo,” she defended.
“Yeah, but it was your idea, and it meant the most to you,” he said, knowingly. He smiled and lifted her chin, forcing her to reveal the truth in a smile of her own. After all this time, he still knew her all too well. “Forget about him, Miamor. I’m back now. I cared for your sister, but she’s gone. Everything that stopped us before does not matter now. Nothing is in the way now. I came here for you, and another nigga will never hurt you while I’m around. Get some rest. We are leaving for New York in a couple days.”
Chapter Nineteen
We got to dead these niggas,” Murder whispered as he looked over his shoulder to make sure Miamor was still asleep. He, Robyn and Aries were huddled up, putting their game plan in motion. Murder wanted what was left of The Cartel dead. He planned on killing Carter first, and then making Mecca come to them. He was about to set a trap for The Cartel.
Miamor was dead to the world, as she lightly snored in the bed just a couple of feet away from them. The painkillers that she had been taking had her drowsy, and for the past two days she had done nothing but sleep. She was still recovering from a coma, and also from a broken heart. It pained Murder to see her heartbroken over another man. He felt like Carter had stolen what was his. The Miamor he remembered was feisty and was never pressed over a dude. This Carter guy really has her heart, Murder thought as a small streak of resentment ran through his body. He glanced over at Miamor and admired her beauty. Even with the marks and scars on her face, she was beautiful to him. He focused back on Aries and Robyn and spoke.
“We got to handle this dude,” Murder said as his trigger finger began to itch.
“I know, but I cannot get to the nigga. Miamor is not going to help us murk him. She’s in love with him,” Robyn said, trying to explain to Murder how Miamor had changed.
“It’s okay. We are going to make him come to us,” Murder said as he put his plan together in his mind. He felt obligated to kill Mecca and Carter because of all the pain they had caused the only women who he had ever let into his life, Anisa and Miamor. He took the trespass against them personally, and he wasn’t leaving Miami until all scores were settled.
“Grab Miamor’s phone,” he instructed Aries, as he had it all mapped out. Carter was about to die, and then Mecca soon after. He planned on using Miamor as bait.
Robyn walked over to the night stand and sneakily removed Miamor’s cell phone. She walked back over to Murder and handed the phone to him. Murder quickly went into Miamor’s contact list and began to scroll down, looking for Carter’s name. He located it and quickly began to text him in hopes that Carter would think Miamor was texting him.
“I’ma make this nigga come straight to us,” Murder said as he pushed the send button and began to patiently wait for Carter to take the bait. “Now, we just sit back and wait,” he said just before he got up and walked over to Miamor. He stood over her and bent down to kiss her on her forehead. “I’m taking you back home, Miamor. Everything’s going to be alright,” he whispered in her ear as she slept comfortably. “I love you.” Murder had never said that to anyone, besides Miamor. He had never trusted anyone enough to extend something so great, but as he looked down at her, he knew that he meant every word.
“I love you too Carter,” Miamor whispered back, while still in her sleep. It was obvious that Murder was not the man in her dreams. Hearing those words were like daggers through his heart, but he understood. He was just ready to end The Cartel and move Miamor back to Brooklyn, where she belonged.
Carter watched as the movers moved all of the expensive décor and statues from the Diamond Estate. The immaculate mansion didn’t even look the same now that it was half empty. Carter’s Phoenix venture was all in place. His partners were just waiting on his arrival to get the ball rolling. The Cartel was about to go legit and leave the entire street business behind. Carter possessed all of the business savvy his father once had, but never knew how much he was like him.