Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 149338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
And before it registered what I just said. I lifted my gun and shot him.
“NO!” Briggs yelled out, placing her hand over her mouth.
Hearing him groan out in pain was when she realized I shot him in the leg, inches away from his goddamn cock.
“The next time you fuck with what's mine, Esteban, the bullet will go in your fucking head.”
With that, the men turned and left, leaving a trail of his blood on the floor.
“Briggs,” I announced, lost in my thoughts again, staring at her shred of innocence that stained the sheets on the bed.
I walked over to her, every step precise and calculated with the same vicious expression on my face. There was nothing but a hatred, spewing glare in hers. I gripped her chin harshly, forcing her to look up, making her look me dead in the eyes.
Using the same words my father said to me the night my innocence was taken.
I spoke with conviction, “You’re a Martinez now.”
And she was.
“There he is,” I nodded toward the black car pulling up alongside my strip club. “Supply him with the usual,” I added, turning to go back inside. I didn’t need to stick around, Rick was one of my trusted men, he dealt with the exchanges.
I needed to get back into my office, to make a phone call to Briggs. I was sending her to Miami for the next month, to handle some business that just came up. She had been working for me for the last two years, dealing drugs. She dropped out of school a few days after her fifteenth birthday. A birthday I choose to fucking forget. I made the decision to bring her into the family business that night, after I found her with that motherfucker, Esteban. He was lucky he was still alive, working some corporate job upstate.
At least this way I knew what Briggs was doing, and who she was doing. I could keep an eye on her, and by that I mean…
I could still control her.
At the end of the day it kept her safe, and I didn’t give a shit if it was the right thing to do or not. It was my way of making things right for her.
I never sent her on dangerous deliveries. It was mostly college parties and meetings which she only attended in my presence. Meaningless shit like that. Everyone knew she was my niece. If someone fucked with her, they fucked with me. And no one wanted to fuck with me.
“How much does he owe?” Rick asked.
“Thirteen grand.”
“You let him keep half?” he questioned, grabbing my arm to stop me. I looked from my arm to him, and he released his grip, stepping back. Once again peering in front of him.
“He pushes drugs for me at NYU. Supplying all the punk ass kids with their fix, taking Mommy and Daddy’s money. You want to do it?”
He shook his head, smiling. “I would for the pussy. I mean look at that girl, she’s a fucking knockout.”
I spun, looking in the direction of his gaze. “What the fuck?” I breathed out, watching her step out of the backseat of the piece of shit car they pulled up in.
“Don’t like them young, boss?” Rick nudged my shoulder, earning him another ‘touch me again, motherfucker,’ look.
“I don’t like being blindsided,” I gritted out through a clenched jaw, adjusting my suit jacket as I fully turned to face him. “What the fuck is she doing here?” I snapped as soon as they walked up to me.
“Oh… that’s umm… shit… Lexi, I told you to stay in the fucking car,” Luis, my dealer from NYU, shouted at her. Peering back and forth between us, nervous as shit. Anxiously rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s fine, she’s cool,” he contested, shuffling his feet in the dirt below him. Looking everywhere but in my eyes.
“Who the fuck do you think you are, bringing a little girl here?” I stepped toward him, shadowing over his scrawny frame. He stumbled back, catching himself before he fell on his ass.
“I’m not a little girl,” Lexi interrupted, stepping forward. Immediately bringing my attention to her.
She stood in front of Luis with her hip cocked and her hand leaning on it. Not backing down, a challenging glare in her eyes. She was definitely a feisty little one, her demeanor ready to strike back at anything I had to say to her.
No matter what.
“Luis, I would have never pegged you for a pussy. This girl has bigger balls than you do. You must have forgotten to warn her who the fuck she’s dealing with. Oh, wait… she shouldn’t fucking be here in the first place.”
They all stood in the middle of the parking lot, as I paced back and forth, never taking my eyes off Lexi. She shifted her weight from one hip to the other, swinging her hair over her shoulder with nothing but intrigue written all over her face. Studying my predatory stance, wanting to know what I was thinking, what I was feeling.