Page 167 of Buy Back My Love

“I built this shit legit.”

That made him look back at me.

“Legit?”

“Yeah.”

Boone smiled again, and that shit irritated me more than if he had laughed in my face.

“The trucks don’t move nothing but freight,” I told him.

“Everything move freight, Jabari. Depends on what kind.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“You keep saying that like it matter.”

I pushed away from the desk and stood. “We done.”

Boone stayed exactly where he was.

“Sit down.”

I looked at him. “This my office.”

“And?”

The room went quiet, and I stared at him. I hadn’t been some young nigga working under Boone in a long time, and I damn sure wasn’t about to let him walk into my business talking to me like I still was. He must’ve seen that on my face because he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees.

“You think I left you alone all these years because I respected your retirement?”

“I don’t give a fuck why you left me alone.”

“You should.”

Something about the way he said it made me stop.

“I let you lay low because your name was hot,” Boone continued. “Feds hit that nail shop and your girl took the charge. After that, everybody started asking who she was protecting. Ain’t nobody believe that little girl woke up one day and started moving that kind of weight by herself.”

“Leave Lee out of this.”

“I ain’t put her in it.”

“Then don’t bring her up.”

His eyes stayed on mine for a long second. “Still sensitive about that, huh?”

“Watch yourself.”

“Nah. You need to watch yourself.”

Boone never raised his voice, but he didn’t have to. He settled back in the chair and rubbed a hand over his beard. “Lee eating that case bought you time. That’s what you ain’t understanding. Your name was too hot, so I let you sit down. Let things cool off. Let you play businessman for a few years.”

“Play?”

“You heard me.”

I stepped around my desk. “Ain’t nobody playing with shit. This company mine.”