Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 717(@200wpm)___ 574(@250wpm)___ 478(@300wpm)
“You wanna tell me why the fuck we’re in your offices?” Javi demanded.
“Because I need you to tell me what went down tonight,” Mace stated calmly. “And then we need to talk about how we’re gonna navigate the future.”
I jumped when Jeff surged out of his chair, and I was about to do the same, but Raye gave my hand a warning squeeze, so I sat still.
Tense and ready to intervene, but still.
However, Jeff just started pacing like Javi had done.
“You got your thing, we got ours,” Javi belatedly answered Mace.
“Your team was nearly halved tonight, Montoya,” Mace said quietly.
A muscle jerked up Javi’s cheek and his gaze intensified on Mace.
I reckoned the first part was emotion at the mention of his lost brothers, the second part was surprise that Mace knew so much about Javi’s crew (safe to say, I was surprised too).
Nearly halved meant it wasn’t a very big crew, news I also found surprising.
Mace was still going quiet when he said, “Please tell me you did not order that raid.”
Raid?
What raid?
“I’m not that fuckin’ stupid,” Javi snarled.
“Then explain what happened,” Mace returned.
“I don’t gotta explain shit to you,” Javi shot back.
“We’re on the same side, brother,” Mace told him.
“You got a couple boys tagging Angel ass, so to keep those asses available, you waded in,” Javi sneered, showing his hand about how much he knew about us, as well as how much he didn’t. “You’re about billing for services. Don’t pretend this is your mission.”
I could feel Eric and Cap’s elevated tenseness, along with that same happening with all the men in the room, just not as much as Eric and Cap.
But Mace was the soul of composure.
“You don’t know me or my men,” he said, still calm and muted. “I understand your loss—”
“You don’t understand shit,” Javi spat.
Mace lost some of his calm.
“My little sister’s head was blown off right in front of me, Montoya, so maybe also don’t tell me what I understand.”
My chest tightened at learning this horrid news about Mace.
Javi scowled, because at learning it, he was not only not afforded a comeback, he had to sit with that horrid news too.
“We can be allies,” Mace stated.
“They went rogue,” Javi bit out.
“What?” Mace asked.
“Joaquim and Jamal, they went rogue,” Javi said.
Crazily, my mind noted that Javi seemed to collect people with J names. It did this in the fraction of a second it took Javi to continue.
“Joaquim has a sister who’s hooked on Fenty. Lil Clown deals to her. Since he does, Joaquim has a serious beef with Clown.” He shut his mouth and shook his head, and my throat got tight when he whispered, “Had. He had a beef.”
Oh, Javi.
I turned my attention to Jeff.
His eyes were locked on Javi, and they, along with his nostrils, were red-rimmed from fighting tears.
“I gave them the intel the Angels discovered tonight,” Javi went on. “Joaquim got jacked up about it. He was sure Clown and his crew were doin’ their fucked-up business with whatever they’re doin’ with the community. He wanted to roll in. I told him we didn’t even have confirmation it was Clown dealing in the community yet, much less his crew bein’ behind that shit. I told him we had to get all the info, confirm it, and plan how we were gonna hit these motherfuckers. Because they’re motherfuckers, they’re strapped, they’re organized, and if we didn’t have our shit tight, they’d obliterate us. And as you can see, I was fuckin’ right.”
He was.
He was fucking right.
“So they went in,” Mace murmured.
Javi nodded before he shook his head. “I thought I’d calmed him down. I was wrong. And Joaquim and Jamal were brothers before they joined the brotherhood. They’d known each other since they were kids. It was pure Jamal to take Joaq’s back, even if he knew Joaq was leadin’ him into a shitstorm. Jamal was not DOA at the hospital. Jamal was gone by the time me and Jeff got to their location. Neck shot he had, he was dead at the fuckin’ scene. Even shot seven times, Joaq still dragged his body out. So that meant Joaq died knowin’ he killed his brother.”
God.
This was such a tragic mess.
“We don’t need the cops on our ass, Mason,” Javi stated.
“You both said nothing while you were questioned, but I’ll tell Alvarez this wasn’t on your order,” Mace assured. “That said, the cops are still gonna be on your asses. Just not about this.”
Javi nodded and muttered, “Gratitude.”
“I hate to ask it, but it’s gotta be asked, did Joaquim share anything that we all need to know about this case?” Mace inquired.
Javi blew out a big breath before he shook his head. “They didn’t get that far.” His body visibly tightened before he added, “They sacrificed everything, for fuckin’ nothin’.”
On that desolate note, the room fell silent, and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.