Page 18 of Love At Close Range

“What about everything else?” I questioned.

“That’s straight too,” Rook replied. “Chris got his shit with no problems,” he added.

“That’s wassup,” I countered.

“Other than that, ain’t shit going on. Everybody’s doing what the fuck they’re supposed to do.”

“Keep it that way,” I instructed as I rubbed my hand down my face. “I might be here a little longer than I originally planned.”

“What the fuck happened out there?” Rook questioned.

“The nigga that hired me wants me to slow down on Pierce.”

“For fucking what?” Rook asked immediately.

“He claims he got people tracing the money and the rest of the work Pierce stole from him,” I explained as I pushed the laptop away from me. “Said they think some of the money got washed through one of Pierce’s real estate deals, and he wants to see what he can recover before I close the contract.”

“That shit make sense… I guess,” Rook admitted, but I could hear the doubt in his voice. “How much time he asking for?”

“A week,” I answered as I stretched my legs out in front of me. “I told him I’d give him some time, but I’m not sitting around this muthafucka forever. I got a fucking life to live and a fucking family back home. He paid me to handle Pierce, not babysit the nigga.”

“Real shit,” Rook agreed before going quiet for a few seconds. “You trust that nigga?”

“Fuck no,” I answered without hesitation.

I didn’t trust anybody I did business with enough to let my guard down. Cyrus was no different. He came through the right channels and his money checked out, but that only meant he knew how to conduct business. It didn’t mean shit about what type of nigga he was.

“I already knew you was gone say that shit.” Rook chuckled.

“I’on need to trust him to do the job,” I stated as I looked out the hotel window. “All I need him to do is keep the agreement we already made and stay the fuck out my way.”

“And if he don’t?” Rook asked.

“Then I’ll do one job for free if I need to,” I answered calmly.

“That’s exactly how it needs to be,” Rook agreed. “Handle your shit out there… I got everything here under control.”

“Bet,” was all I said before ending the call.

After I got off the phone with Rook, I sat around for another twenty minutes before I got tired of looking at the same four walls. Cyrus wanted a week, and I told the nigga I’d give him that, but that didn’t mean I was about to sit on my ass and wait for his people to figure their shit out. If anything, the extra time gave me a chance to learn more about Pierce and get a better feel for his routine.

I grabbed my laptop from the desk and pulled up the program connected to the tracker I placed underneath one of Pierce’s vehicles earlier. The small blinking dot was stationary, and when I zoomed in on the location, I recognized the area immediately. He was at a lounge called The Blue Room. I had seen the lounge while I was scoping out the area. It’ll definitely be a spot I’d try out when I wasn’t on a mission. Closing the laptop, I grabbed both of my phones, my keys, binoculars, and the small bag I kept the rest of my shit in. I wasn’t going out there to make a move tonight, but I never went anywhere unprepared. Shit could change in a matter of seconds in my line of work, and I wasn’t about to get caught slipping.

***

I killed my headlights but left the truck running while I settled into the seat. The lounge had a steady flow of people coming and going, and I watched every single person who walked in and out of the door. Surveillance was boring as fuck, but patience was part of the job. A lot of niggas got sloppy because they were too anxious to make a move. They wanted everything done fast, and that usually meant they missed something or left something behind. I didn’t operate like that. I could sit on a nigga for hours if that was what the job called for, because I’d rather be bored than careless.

Almost an hour passed before I finally saw Pierce emerge from the building, but he wasn’t alone. A woman walked out beside him, and Pierce immediately placed his hand against the lower part of her back as they headed toward his truck. Watching them together told me enough. Whoever she was, she wasn’t some random bitch Pierce had picked up inside. They moved too comfortably around each other for that. She was his woman. I reached for the binoculars sitting on the passenger seat just as Pierce opened the passenger door for her. The woman turned slightly before getting inside, giving me a better look at the side of her face. My entire body went still before I lowered the binoculars and stared across the street with my own eyes, trying to convince myself I hadn’t seen what the fuck I thought I saw. Bringing the binoculars back up, I focused on her again just as she turned toward Pierce. This time I got a better look at her face that there was no mistaking it.

“What the fuck?” I muttered as I leaned forward in my seat and tightened my grip around the steering wheel.

It’s been eight years, but Reiana still looked the same. Her hair was longer, and her body was no longer that of a twenty-two-year young woman. This was grown woman, Reina, and she still looked good as fuck.

For eight years, I hadn’t seen her anywhere except in my own fucking head. I never looked her up, never asked anybody where she went, and never tried to figure out what she had been doing with her life. As far as I was concerned, she made her choice when she cheated on a nigga then disappeared, and I had made myself live with that shit. I buried every question I had about her right along with every feeling I didn’t want anymore and kept moving. Now she was out here looking comfortable with the same nigga I came to Arbor Point to kill.

All of a sudden, I remembered the way she smelled and how she would climb into my lap whenever she wanted my attention, knowing I was going to give it to her every fucking time. I remembered how easy it was to love her because back then I didn’t have to think about it. Loving Reiana was just something I did until she gave me a reason to stop. As much as I hated to admit it, just the thought of Reiana made my dick swell. Even after all these years and the deception, my body still reacted to her in a way it never did for any other woman.

My eyes stayed on Pierce as he climbed into the driver’s seat. I already knew I didn’t like the nigga because he was my target, but seeing him put his hands on Reiana added a different level of irritation that had nothing to do with Cyrus’s money or the contract. I didn’t like how comfortable she looked beside him. I didn’t like that she smiled at the nigga, and I damn sure didn’t like the way he touched her. That shit pissed me off more than it should’ve.