Page 87 of Vega

“I’m not letting him kill her. She’s innocent.”

Wise cut in. “And Vega wants to wife her.”

Everybody laughed, except for me.

Saint noticed first that I wasn’t laughing and started grinning. “Oh, shit. He’s serious.” Then he shrugged. “I don’t see the problem.”

Legend pointed at him. “Of course you understand. You stole your woman from another nigga and started a war.”

“I rescued her,” Saint corrected.

“You kidnapped her,” Icon said.

“There won’t be a war,” I cut in. “Roman’s already fighting the Bellamys. It would be redundant for us to attack his operation. We need Roman dead. Once he’s gone, Sonnet is safe.”

Legend nodded slowly. “I trust you not to make this sloppy.”

Saint added, “And when it comes to our women, we’ve all been willing to burn the city down. So, I’m not judging shit.”

“If you need anything, ask,” Icon told me. “The Street Kings stepped up when we needed help with the Crown, so we got y’all.” Then his expression hardened. “Just make sure she’s worth whatever comes from moving against Roman. Nothing wrong with risking it for the right woman, but you better know she’s the right one before you fumble everything.”

I held his stare, admitting, “I don’t know her well enough to swear she is. It hasn’t even been a month. I just know she feels like mine. I feel that shit in my bones, and I haven’t even touched her. I’ve never felt anything close to this with another woman.”

The room got quiet, as I looked around, I realized that the Cartier men were feeling what I was saying and my niggas were surprised that I had even said it. But I knew they didn’t feel me because they had never felt these feelings before. The Cartiers had. That’s why they were married men.

“I’m saying that in front of my brothers knowing they’re going to clown me,” I admitted. “That alone should tell you how serious it is.”

Legend smiled first. Then Icon did too.

“Then she’s worth it,” Legend confirmed.

“I’m meeting with him this week. He’s tired of waiting. I’m going to try to take him out then.”

Icon nodded. “Then do what you have to do to protect her.”

16

SONNET ELLISON

Iwas happier than I should’ve been when I heard Vega return. The first few nights after he brought me there, he hadn’t stayed. He appeared with food and left me alone behind the locked bedroom door. Lately, he slept in the house every night, though.

I had started listening for him. His footsteps in the hallway, the low sound of his voice on the phone, or a cabinet closing downstairs made the house feel less empty. Even when a locked door separated us, knowing he was nearby settled me.

Now, the door wasn’t locked. While he’d been gone, I had finally explored the house. It was easily one of the nicest homes I had ever been in. The home was enormous, with dark ceiling beams, leaded-glass windows, wide archways, and an iron staircase that looked like it belonged in an old Chicago mansion. A sitting room near the front had tall arched windows that filled it with natural light, while another room had dark wood-paneled walls, built-in shelves, and a large fireplace that I imagined reading in front of during winter. The kitchen was beautiful too. Natural wood cabinets stretched toward the ceiling, stone covered the counters, and a butler’s pantry connected it to a smaller breakfast room.

Still, the house barely looked lived in. There was furniture, but not enough of it. There were no photographs, mail, blankets tossed over couches, or shoes left near the door. It felt staged, like somebody could put a sign in the yard and host an open house tomorrow.

By the time Vega returned, I had completed another puzzle, DNF’d a book before chapter four, and beat every game on the laptop.

I wandered through the house and found him in the kitchen heating the leftover omelet I had made that morning.

“I was going to cook dinner,” I told him. “Can you wait?”

He looked at the plate, then back at me. “Hell yeah, if it tastes anything like breakfast.”

His answer pleased me more than it should’ve. “Sit down. I’ll have it ready in about an hour.”

I expected him to leave the kitchen, but, instead, he sat at the island.