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Cooper’s head shook as he opened the door of the building that was at the top of Saint’s list for In Harmony.
“They killed her. They killed my fucking wife.”
Saint barely had time to process Cooper’s words as he walked further into the empty building. Saint followed behind as his confusion grew. True enough, Cooper’s marriage to Ashley was arranged and based on business, but still, Saint expected him to show some sort of emotion because he wasn’t heartless.
“Fuck you mean they killed your wife?” Saint grabbed Cooper’s arm, stopping his movement. “Who did it, and what we finna do about it?”
Cooper’s head hung as it shook. “We ain’t finna do shit. You legit now, and that ain’t changing because of me.” He pulled in a deep breath and returned his eyes to Saint’s. “They don’t know I know yet. I have to go through my normal day to day routine until after her father finds out. He’s going to think I had something to do with this, and I need to find out who is responsible before he kills me because of it.”
“Wait.” Saint lifted his hands and took a deep breath. “Why would Houston think you killed his daughter?”
“Because I told him I was going to do whatever I had to, to get out of the marriage and our agreement.” Cooper’s voice lowered, and he took a step closer to Saint as he said, “But Ididn’t mean this. I would never put my hands on a woman, and I for damn sure wouldn’t kill one.”
There was no need for Saint to search Cooper’s eyes for the truth. It was already there. Besides, he knew Cooper’s character. When it came to women, he loved them or left them alone. He’d been raised right, with both parents, and had his grandparents too. He wasn’t the kind of man to use his power and strength over women to abuse them in any way.
“Do you have any current enemies that would benefit from getting you out of the way?”
“When don’t we have enemies in this business?” Cooper’s smile was bitter. “I can name a few, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are trying to use her to put me and Houston against each other.”
“So you need to figure out who knew y’all had beef and you wanted out of the marriage. When you figure that out, it’ll lead you to whoever killed her.”
With a hard exhale, Cooper pulled his phone out of his pocket. “This is Houston. Have a look around while I take this.”
Saint nodded his agreement. He took his time walking through the sixteen-thousand square foot building. It was kind of small for what he wanted to do, but Saint liked the intimacy of it. He didn’t want a large space that allowed for seclusion. He wanted everyone communing and on one accord.
As he made his way over to Cooper he asked, “Does he know?”
Cooper’s head shook. “Not yet. I’ve got probably until the end of the day. When he doesn’t hear from her, he’s going to go with his team to the house. I want him to see her first, then tell me when I get there.”
“Are you going to be safe, Cooper?”
Cooper ran his hand down his face. “Yeah, but I gotta buy my time and play my cards right. He’s smart, so he’s not goingto shoot first and ask questions later. If he makes a move on me, it’ll be after the funeral. So I’ve got maybe seven to ten days to figure this out.”
“Let me know if you need anything. Whatever you need, I got you.”
The men shook hands and embraced, and Cooper thanked him before heading out. “Shit.” He turned to face Saint as he neared the exit. “What do you think about the space?”
Saint chuckled. “This is the one, but don’t worry about this right now. Handle ya business, we can take care of this when I get back from my tour.”
“Nah, we can handle it today. Follow me to the office and we can go ahead with the signing.”
8
Nathan
(Mister Teacher)
Life had been good—toogood. A lot had changed in my life over the last couple of months. After the job with Thurston went south and Ahmad killed everyone in the room, I didn’t think Piper would finger me for the murders. She redeemed herself by being honest and telling the law her father pulled the trigger. After the way he used, abused, and whored her out to make his pockets fatter, I was glad she finally put herself first for a change.
I didn’t think she’d want to take over his business while he was on the run, but that’s what we’d been doing. Piper was now the head of his drug organization, and I was her right hand man. Hell, I was her bodyguard and lover too. There was no role she needed that I wasn’t willing to occupy.
The day Piper and I confessed our love for each other, that was also the day her father made it clear he was going to make us both pay. Whether he considered her telling the truth to be snitching or not, I’d vowed to protect her with my life and make sure she was able to live the life she deserved. I couldn’t lie andsay there wasn’t a part of me that wished Piper agreed to leaving the game behind so we could live a normal life.
Since sixteen, this street shit was all I knew. I went from being a homeless teenager who had to steal to survive to working for Ahmad and making more money than I could spend. There was a time I pledged my loyalty to him because he’d saved me, but when it came to him versus Piper, he and anyone else would lose every-fucking-time.
I stared at the ring I planned to propose with tonight. Though I was sure Piper would say yes, I was still nervous. Up until just a few months ago, I didn’t think we’d ever be able to be together. I loved Piper so much I was content with us being best friends for the rest of our lives as long as she was with a man who could treat her well. But thanks to her father’s selfish ways, we were forced to put each other first and admit to our feelings for each other.
We both had been reaping the benefits of those confessions, and my dick and heart competed daily over who was the luckiest.
