“Come in,” she said as she led him to the kitchen table, while Aries walked behind him with her gun still in her hand.
Carter took a seat across from Aries as Robyn went back into the kitchen.
She emerged with two plates of food. “We were about to eat. You might as well join us.” She placed the food in front of Aries and Carter before going to fix her own.
Once they were all comfortable at the table, Aries asked, “How did you find us?”
“If your money is long enough, anybody can be found,” he replied.
“Well, you didn’t come all the way out here for nothing, so what do you want to know?” Robyn asked.
“Was I just another target to Miamor?” Carter asked.
“Miamor wasn’t a dumb girl. She stayed in Miami to be with you, not get at you. She loved you even though we told her she was crossing the line,” Robyn admitted.
“Our target was The Cartel. Mia did not know chu were a part of it until she saw you at your brother’s funeral. We came to shoot up the entire front row, but she called it off when she saw chu. We tried to get she to stop seeing you, Carter, but she wouldn’t,” Aries revealed.
His relief could be felt around the table as he sighed deeply. He had flown three thousand miles just to hear those words.
“She’s dead because of you. If she had come here with us, she would still be alive. Her death is on you. I hope you know that,” Robyn stated sadly.
“I think about it every day,” he admitted.
“Thinking about it don’t bring she back, Carter. What are chu going to do about it?” Aries asked. “We know who did this to she. Chu didn’t know before, but now you can’t play dumb. Chu know everything. Something has to be done.”
Carter sat back in his chair. “He’s my brother,” Carter whispered in turmoil.
“Well, he isn’t ours,” Robyn stated harshly.
“No matter what happens from this point, she isn’t coming back,” Carter stated, heartbroken. “I loved Miamor. I had plans to have her in my life for a long time. I just want the two of you to know that. Nothing about what I felt for her was fake.” Carter stood and Robyn handed him his gun back. “Thank you for telling me what I needed to know,” he said.
“Chu are welcome,” Aries stated.
Robyn walked him to the door and came back to find Aries reaching for Carter’s plate of food.
Out of nowhere, she slapped the fork out of her hand, sending it flying clear across the room.
“Ow, bitch! What the fuck did chu do that for?” Aries asked, looking at Robyn as if she had lost her mind.
“Okay, go ahead and eat it. You know how I get down. I don’t give a fuck if the nigga came over here to pour out his love for Miamor. You know what I put in that. The nigga was just too smart for his own damn good. He didn’t even touch his plate,” Robyn replied with a smirk.
Aries burst out laughing as she pushed the plate away. “Thanks for the heads up.”
Robyn cracked up too and playfully answered, “With your friendly ass. I don’t know what it is about that pretty-ass nigga. All my girls turn to mush around his ass. First Mia, now you! I swear I’m the only fucking professional out of the bunch.”
Chapter Seventeen
“When the Mexicans come, they’ll come with the army of an entire country behind them.”
– Carter
Breeze was finally adjusting to being back home, and although weaning her body off of heroin was an everyday struggle, with the help of Zyir, she finally felt a sense of belonging again.
He was great for her in so many ways. Despite the time that had passed between them, they were able to pick up right where they left off. They were so close that it seemed as if they lived in a world by themselves. They rocked with one another and no one else. He was her best friend, and she loved him for not judging her.
She was still very rough around the edges. The glamour and prestige of the young, spoiled Breeze Diamond no longer existed. Now she was simple, timid, and trying to find her new identity as a young woman who had lived a rough life. She had seen too many bad things to go back to the naïve princess she had once been. Life had grown her up, and now Zyir was helping to stabilize her.
Most of her family was dead. The only people that she had left were her two brothers and Zyir. Those relationships meant everything to her. They were the only normalcy she knew, and everyone else was considered an outsider.
As she lay in bed, Zyir knocked on the door and peeked his head inside.
“You awake, ma?” he asked.
Breeze sat up against the headboard and smiled as she fixed her frazzled ponytail. She patted the bed beside her, motioning for him to sit next to her.
“Yeah, I’m up,” she replied as he crawled into her bed. He kissed her cheek.
“You good?” he asked. “You need anything?”
Breeze shook her head and replied, “Just you, Zyir. You’re so good to me. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You don’t have to think about that, Breeze. You will never have to be without me. I’ma always be here for you,” he whispered.
Breeze shook her head and replied, “How long do you think your little girlfriend is going to let me stick around? She don’t want me here, Zyir. You say you will be here now, but when she makes you choose…”
“I’ma choose you,” he replied. “You know me, ma. I’m not into knockoffs. I need the real thing, and now that you’re back, it’s a wrap for everyone else.”
Breeze blushed as she lowered her chin to her chest. “Compared to Illiana I’m the knockoff. She’s beautiful, Zyir. I can’t compete with that… not anymore.”
Zyir could hear the insecurity in her voice, and it bruised him deeply because no other woman could hold a candle to Breeze. She was in a league all her own. She used to know this, but her self-esteem had been beaten into the ground, and now she felt threatened.
He had already stopped sleeping with Illiana. Out of respect for Breeze, he slept on the couch, but he could see that the better Breeze’s health became, the more she felt second rate to Illiana. Balancing the personalities of the two women was hard for Zyir, and although he wanted to cut Illiana off completely, he knew that he would have to do it slowly. The last thing he wanted to do was create a riff between the Garza Cartel and Carter’s operation, because he had made the mistake of becoming sexual with Illiana.
“You don’t have to compete, Breeze. She doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m only worried about you right now,” he said. “Okay?”
She nodded her head. “Okay.”
“I know what you need, ma. You need to get out of the house. Is shopping still your favorite pastime?” he asked playfully.
“I haven’t been in so long I might not remember how to do it,” she replied with a laugh.
Zyir reached into his pocket and began to pull out a knot of cash, but he stopped himself. He didn’t want to put any money in Breeze’s hand. Although she had shaken off her addiction, her sobriety was important to Zyir, and he did not think she was ready to have cash in her hands.
It might be too much temptation for her, he thought.
“I’m going to arrange for a driver to take you and Illiana shopping today. I’ll leave some money with her, and you can go relax. Enjoy a day out on me. The sky is the limit, so get whatever you want,” he said.
Breeze nodded and closed her eyes as Zyir kissed her forehead before walking out of the room.
The limousine was silent as Illiana and Breeze were escorted to Bal Harbour’s elite shopping boutiques. It was obvious that the girls did not care for one another. Their only connection was Zyir, and each felt like her position in his life was threatened as long as the other was around.
Illiana sipped on champagne as she looked Breeze up and down from behind the tint of her Chanel shades. As the limo pulled curbside, Illiana stepped out of the car and did not wait for Breeze before she strutted into the boutique. Expecting to be catered to, she was taken aback when the salespeople bypassed her to service Breeze. The Diamond family’s legacy was known throughout the city, and as much as Breeze used to frequent the shops, her face had not been forgotten. The salespeople waited on her hand and foot, while Illiana shopped alone, heeated.