Phileigh hadn’t even been out of the hospital for twenty-four hours, but the media was already swarming on her story. I had Ma working on getting the security camera footage of the incident taken down. The articles flew in from every direction, and every new headline felt like I was reliving the nightmare over and over again and failing to protect her. I never thought I’d see the day when Hollywood Tea Room had the most respectful headline. I stared down at my phone, shaking my head.
@hollywoodtearoom: Attendees, looks like Kellon’s Barne’s pregnant girlfriend Phileigh Read was attacked in broad daylight. Sources say it was an armed robbery gone bad. Attendees, send your prayers for the couple.
I swiped out of social media and threw my phone onto the passenger seat like it burned. The headlines were everywhere, dissecting Phileigh’s trauma like it was their business with no regard for what she had been through.
My eyes locked on Reggie’s house as we pulled up.
“In and out,” I muttered, cracking my knuckles.
“In and out,” Lolo repeated beside me, greasing her hands with cocoa butter like she was prepping for an old fashioned street fight.
Monte opened the car door for us, giving me a silent nod. This wasn’t his first rodeo helping me handle business. The first time it was that drunk bastard that had ran his eighteen-wheeler into me and Jeronee. We marched up the driveway like we owned it and slipped through the side garage entrance.
Reggie’s housekeepers didn’t so much as blink when they saw us—just pointed upstairs with a glance and stepped aside. I’d paid them good money this morning not to see or hear shit, and they were earning every dime.
I heard Reggie and Natalie before I saw them. Reggie’s laugh echoed down the hall like he didn’t have a damn care in the world, like he hadn’t just tried to have the love of my fucking life killed.
“You had to know I was coming,” I said as I stepped into the room.
My mouth dropped at the sight of Ari laying in his lap in her bra and panties. That was definitely some shit I didn’t see coming.
Reggie stood up slowly. He was smug as hell like he had one up on me. I didn’t give a damn about him fucking Ariel. The only thing I cared about was if her ass had any part in what he had done.
“What’s up, KB!” He grinned. His arms were open like we were boys. “I guess the cat’s out the bag. Tell him how long we’ve been a threesome, Ari.” He laughed.
“Kellon… it’s not like that…” Ari stood from the bed, trying to put on her clothes, but Lolo caught her with a left hook that immediately had her ass laid out on the floor.
Damn! Phileigh never mentioned her bestie being Clarissa Shields.
“Guilty by association. Where’s the other one?” she asked as she slipped past me like a shadow, heading toward the kitchen. Natalie couldn’t be too far.
“You lost your fucking mind?” I growled at Reggie, who was standing there looking confused. I walked up on his bitch ass with my fists clenched. “You thought you were going to get away with putting a hit out on my girl? You that far gone, nigga?”
Reggie’s grin cracked, but he kept up the innocent act that I already knew was bullshit. I’d seen all the evidence and his hitman was singing like a bird for lesser chargers.
“What you talking about, nigga? Don’t put that shit that happened to Phileigh on me.”
I shoved him hard in the chest, making him stumble back. He didn’t even get to say her name.
“You paid someone thirty Gs to make sure Phileigh lost the baby.” I growled. “What? You didn’t want the baby, so you didn’t want me to want the baby either?”
“She playing you, KB,” Reggie snapped, trying to regain control. “That baby ain’t even yours?—”
That was it. My fist cracked him across his jaw before he could finish the sentence. I was done talking to his bitch ass. He stumbled back, crashing into the wall. I followed, landing blow after blow, making sure I left his bitch ass exactly how he planned for the masked man to leave Phileigh.
I landed one last punch to Reggie’s already bloodied face before I backed off, panting and shaking. I stared at his barely conscious body slumped against the floor, laying in a pool of his teeth.
“You ever come near Phileigh or my son again…” I crouched next to him, making sure he heard me. “I won’t leave your stupid ass breathing next time.”
I turned away. My adrenaline surged as I made my way to the kitchen to get Lolo. We needed to get out of here. The police would be here at any minute.
“Talk that hot shit now, bitch!” Lolo’s voice rang out as she pounded Natalie’s face into the kitchen island. “You thought killing my best friend was gonna keep your nigga?” Lolo shouted. She was stomping Natalie’s ass into the ground. I stood there for a minute, allowing her to finish the job I recruited her to do.
“Stupid ho!” she shouted, standing up out of breath and brushing her hands off like it was nothing. “She ain’t gonna be talking slick or setting up shit for a while.”
She walked past me to the entrance. Monte was already pulling the car around as we stepped out the front door.
“Any stops before the landing strip?” Monte asked as we slid into the back of the SUV.
“Naw. I’m ready to get back to NYC,” I told him.
“Me too. I need to check up on my bestie,” Lolo consigned, and Monte wasted no time getting us the hell out of there.
By the time we boarded the plane, Monte’s LAPD connect was calling to let us know they had arrested him, Natalie, and Ariel too. After gaining information from the hitman, the detectives traced everything back to those three—the burner phones brought by Natalie, the payments from a PayPal account owned by Reggie, the license plate numbers on my cars given to them by Ariel.
I looked over at Lolo, who was still hyped but silent. Phileigh had a good friend in that one. She hadn’t thought twice about hopping on this plane and passing out ass whuppings. She was going to make the perfect god mom for Baby J.
“Now that business is handled, I got a few rings I need to show you,” I said, making her mouth drop to the damn floor.
“Oh my God! I want all the details. When? Where? How?” She squealed as we made our way back to Phileigh.