Carter removed the girl’s arms from his body.
“You just made this so much easier for me. He’s all yours,” she said as she stormed away, her stilettos stabbing the floor to death with each step before she disappeared through the exit of the club.
The pain that was etched on her face was the last thing that Carter saw before she left. “Fuck,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong, daddy?” the girl asked.
Carter looked down at the girl, and all of a sudden she had become a nuisance. “Look, ma, I need some air,” he said. “I’m not trying to play you or nothing, but ain’t shit poppin’ off tonight, a’ight.” Then he walked away, leaving her dumbfounded in the middle of the dance floor.
Chapter Sixteen
“Just do your job and be my fucking bulletproof. That’s what being a rich, spoiled, dumb little bitch gets you-a mu’fucka like you to take bullets for me.”
– Breeze
“Hi, you’ve reached Miamor. Unfortunately I’m un-available right now. Leave me a message, and I’ll return your call.”
Carter hung up his phone and sighed deeply from frustration. Miamor refused to take any of his calls. Each time he attempted to contact her, she gave him the fuck-you button and sent him straight to voice mail. He knew that his mind needed to be on his paper chase, but the feelings that he had begun to develop for her was unlike anything he’d ever experienced with a woman. He had never found any one who held his interest in the way that she did, and now he was kicking himself for being so stupid. He knew what it must have looked like, but he never intended on taking the girl from the club home with him. She was just someone to entertain him and his boys for the time being. He knew that it didn’t make his actions any less hurtful in Miamor’s eyes, and he hoped that she gave him the chance to make things right with her before she decided to write him off completely.
Carter maneuvered his car in front of Ace and Zyir’s building then called upstairs to let them know he was outside. It was time for him to get focused. With his own team in town, money was sure to flow. The sooner he got paid, the sooner he could avenge his brother’s murder and move on with his life. He was on a three-year hustle plan for Miami. He wanted to flip and re-flip his money into the hundred-million-dollar range, and he knew that it was entirely possible, considering Miami’s lucrative drug trade, and his father’s real estate company, to which he was now the acting CEO.
Ace and Zyir hopped into Carter’s truck, and he pulled away from the curb.
“Yo, fam, what was that shit that happened with you and that chick in the club last night?” Ace asked. He had noticed his friend’s demeanor change drastically, but was too wrapped up in his female acquaintance to address it.
“Man, some ol’ crazy shit. The chick Miamor that Zyir brought over to the table, I been kicking it with her since I’ve been down here. I didn’t know she was in the building. My actions would’ve been a whole lot different, nah mean?” he stated with a smirk.
Zyir laughed from the backseat. “Shorty was tight. I could see that shit all on her face. I ain’t mean to throw salt in your game, fam.”
“It’s all good,” Carter said. “I’m about to introduce the two of you to my family. This is serious, and all jokes aside, whenever they are around, it has to be about protecting them. I’m not trying to see anything else happen to them. They’ve been through enough, and I’m all they have left right now, at least until Mecca comes home.”
Carter pulled up to the gated home and greeted some of the security he had hired to post up around the premises. He parked his truck directly in front of the magnificent house.
“Damn, yo’ people’s paid, fam.” Zyir got out and admired the massive estate.
Carter walked into the house and was immediately greeted by Taryn.
“Carter, it’s so good to see you, sweetheart,” she said as she hugged him. “Have you eaten? I can fix you something if you’d like.”
“No, I’m fine, Taryn. Thanks. I came by to introduce you to my friends from Up Top. They are in town because of everything that’s been going on with this war.”
“Well, if they can help, then I am certainly pleased to meet them.”
Ace stepped up first and held out his hand. “Hello, ma’am. I’m Ace,” he said politely.
Taryn smiled graciously and accepted his hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ace, but please call me Taryn.”
“And this is Zyir,” Carter said, making the introduction for his second partner.
“I’m glad to have you both here,” Taryn said with a grateful smile.
Carter detected the melancholy tone in her voice and knew that she was at her breaking point.
Breeze glided into the room with the accurate style of a supermodel. Her long hair was in its natural curly state and was held back by a silver headband. She wore black leggings with an H & M silver mini dress and silver Hollister flats. Her face lit up when she saw her brother.
“Carter! I didn’t know you were here,” she stated as she ran to hug him.
“Breeze, I want you to meet my best friend, Ace, and my little nigga, Zyir. They are like brothers to me. They are the only people besides me and Polo that are allowed to enter this house. No one else has my permission. They are the only ones I trust with your lives. We have to keep you both safe, okay.” He spoke sternly but gently as he tried to stress the importance of his rule to his hardheaded little sister.
“Okay, I understand. I’m about to go, but I’ll call you later on.”
“Hold up. Where you going?” Carter asked.
“To the beach and out to meet with an event planner. Poppa used to always throw a white party for the Fourth of July, so I’m throwing my own this year, you know, to get my mind off of everything.”
“That’s cool, B, but I want you to do me a favor and take Zyir with you,” he said.
Breeze looked past Carter toward Zyir. His chocolate skin and medium build attracted her slightly. The tattoos that adorned his arms and neck appealed to her. He may not be too bad, she thought.
Carter smirked at his sister’s blatant interest in his friend, but knew that Zyir would never be interested in a girl like Breeze. They were from two different worlds.
“Okay, I’ll take him,” she answered as she walked out of the door.
Zyir didn’t know that he was going to be babysitting, but he agreed just because his man asked him to.
Breeze pulled her two-seater BMW-Z series from the garage and pulled up in front of Zyir.
“You coming or not?” she asked sweetly as she put on oversized Chloe glasses.
As Zyir reached for her door, she pressed her gas slightly, making the car move forward without him.
“You playing, shorty? I ain’t gon’ chase you, ma,” he said, his vernacular smooth and low.
Breeze laughed. “I’m sorry. Come on, get in.”
Zyir shook his head as he entered the car, and they rolled off.
Breeze was silent as she cruised through the Miami streets. She didn’t know what to say to Zyir and felt awkward around him. It was clear to see that they were extremely different, but he was sexy, and she loved his dark skin. His serious demeanor reminded her of her father.
“You don’t talk?” Breeze asked innocently, once she had grown uncomfortable with the silence between them.
Zyir smirked as he let his seat back and sat down low in the car.