Chapter 13

Beethoven

I wasin the middle of a meeting when I texted Whiskee. Omari and I were meeting up with a connect that was from Rose Valley Hills, which was about three hours away from Memphis. He was open to the idea of supplying us if I detached myself from my father. No one in Memphis would work with me because it meant going against him. Having a supplier in Rose Valley Hills would allow me to be close enough to still supply the city, but far enough to not have to worry about their fear of him fucking up our business.

The other good thing about Ike was that he had an importing and exporting business. So if I didn't want to sell directly to customers, I could buy from him and operate as a supplier anywhere throughout the United States. The options of working with someone new were seeming to be endless. The only hesitation I had was being from under my father's protection. He had Memphis on lock, and that included law enforcement. We were able to get away with practically anything because of the men on his payroll and other political connections.

If I removed myself from his covering, it would truly be up to me and Omari to make sure what we built on our own would be just as impenetrable.

When Whiskee sent me that last text, I immediately knew something was wrong. I called and texted her and she didn't answer. Since I'd told her that I needed to make sure she was safe at all times, I felt like she wouldn't have randomly stopped texting me. For a while, I considered that she'd maybe fallen asleep. But that text really bothered me.

I called Merc and got him to track her location through her phone. From the looks of it, she was heading to Eads, which was just outside of Memphis. I knew from a past conversation with Pops that that was where Robert lived. That didn't fill me with relief. If she was going home, she could have told me. I felt like something was off with her bitch ass brother, and I wouldn't be able to rest until I laid eyes on my wife.

I was grateful Ike met us in Memphis because that three-hour drive back home from Rose Valley Hills would have drove me crazy. It took me about thirty minutes to get to Whiskee's location. I hopped out of my Mustang with the quickness and made my way to the front door, not even bothering to check my surroundings. My intuition told me there was no threat here. Not to me at least.

After I rang the doorbell, it took a while before someone answered. When they did, it was Carlos. His eyes damn near popped out of their sockets at the sight of me.

"Wassup, B—"

"Take me to Whiskee," I ordered, stepping inside the home.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

We went down a series of halls and up the stairs before getting to the room at the end of the hall that was being guarded by two men. A laugh escaped me as I rubbed my palms together.

"Y'all know who I am?" I checked. They looked at each other then nodded. "Good. Get lost."

They wasted no time heading down the hall as Carlos yelled, "Aye!"

Ignoring his disbelief, I knocked on the door. Whiskee answered, looking from me to her brother with a smile.

"The fuck you got her locked in this room for?"

"She's been gone for a week. Your daddy has been on my ass about y'all not making no progress. I figured if she was at home, she would start to take this a bit more seriously."

"Whiskee is not to be guarded like this anymore. She can have guards while she's out after we are married, but if I ever hear about you keeping her trapped somewhere, I'll kill you." I paused to allow my words time to enter his mind. "And I know about that bitch ass shit you did with her phone. I'm the only person she needs to stay in contact with. I don't give a fuck if she goes a week or a year not talking to yo' ass, you come to me with any issues you have with my wife. Not her. Do you fuckin' understand me?"

His jaw clenched and eyes lowered, but he didn't buck. Instead, he nodded his agreement.

Directing my attention to Whiskee, I asked her, "Do you want to stay here?"

"No," she answered quickly, turning slightly away from her brother.

"Then grab your necessities so we can go."

Her head bobbed and she did as I asked. I waited at the door to make sure her brother didn't try no shit. Pops was right about this mane. He wasn't built to be a leader, and he for damn sure wasn't built to be a boss. At first, I hesitated with the order of killing him. Now, I couldn't wait to put a bullet in his ass.