kind to me.”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“Will I be happy with you?” she countered with raised eyebrows. She wanted him to reassure her, to convince her that she would be, but it was something that Mecca could not guarantee.
He lowered his gaze.
“Exactly. I didn’t think so,” she said sadly as she walked back into his penthouse.
Mecca listened as the shower ran in his master bathroom, and he sat down on his bed with his face in his hands. He was trying. He was doing all that he could to redeem himself, but he wasn’t completely sure that he could purge himself of all the evil that lived inside of him. He wanted Leena. She held the key to his future, but he did not want to hurt her again.
As she emerged from his bathroom fully dressed, he knew that she was ready to walk out of his life.
“Leena…”
She paused mid-step and turned to him, revealing a tear-streaked face.
“Leave him. Come away with me,” he said.
“My son,” she protested.
“He has my blood in his veins, Leena. Let me raise him. I’ll take care of you,” he replied.
Leena wanted to say no because she knew that it was the right answer, but her heart would not listen to reason. She ran toward Mecca and kissed him passionately.
“Okay… okay, Mecca. Just let me do this on my own terms. I’ll leave him, I swear.”
“Leena, I’m leaving with or without you, but you would make my life so much better if you come,” he admitted.
“Just tell me when and where to be. I’ll be there. I’ll leave with you,” she said as she walked out the door.
Mecca watched her leave, but he was confident that she would soon be back. The game was getting old for him, and at that moment, all he wanted was to leave his old life behind so that he could start anew with Leena. She was slowly becoming his only priority-and even Estes could not keep him away from her.
Emilio Estes sat behind the dark tint of the Lincoln truck and held his great grandson in his arms as he watched Leena leave Mecca’s building. Disappointment filled him as he kissed Monroe Jr.’s chubby cheeks. “I can’t let your mother make this mistake,” Estes said, more to himself than to the baby in his arms. “I told him to stay away.”
He shook his head in disgust as he thought of how he would have to press the button on Mecca. He was a liability. As long as he was around, Leena would be drawn to him, and Estes was not giving her up, especially to his crooked grandson. Mecca was a ticking time bomb, and before he could explode again, Estes would kill him. This time, there would be no mercy. Mecca had to go.
Chapter Fourteen
“I stay strapped.”
Murder had been patiently waiting to see Mecca again. Murder had staked out Monroe’s grave all Sunday morning, hoping to see Mecca there again, just as he had done one week before.
He looked across the cemetery and saw a tinted truck and knew that Robyn and Aries were waiting inside, strapped. He had a plan, and if everything went as expected, he would be in a better position by the end of the day.
Just as expected, Mecca’s car rolled up slowly and parked. Mecca stepped out of the car, scanned the area, and checked his surroundings. Once he felt comfortable, he closed the door and headed toward Monroe’s grave.
Murder hopped out of his car also and tried to look as casual as he could as he headed to the grave. Murder patted his hip to make sure his.40 caliber pistol was in place.
Mecca was on the path to the tombstone and didn’t notice Murder walking a couple of feet behind him. Murder looked across the site and nodded, knowing the girls were watching closely and waiting for his signal to go through with the plan and get it popping.
On cue, tires began to screech and the sounds of gunfire erupted. The Murder Mamas had on ski masks, and Robyn had an assault rifle. She was hanging out of the window. Aries drove by while shooting her own handgun out of the window.
Murder quickly dove on Mecca, knocking him out of the way as he was taken by total surprise. Murder began to fire back, but he aimed high purposely, so he wouldn’t hit Robyn and Aries.
The whole scenario was planned to a tee. It was done and over within fifteen seconds, but those fifteen seconds were instrumental in Murder’s plans.
Mecca was taken off guard, and he had left his guns in the car, not thinking anything would pop off at a cemetery. He breathed hard as he saw Murder send bullets at the tinted car that was speeding out of the cemetery. Murder ran after the car, firing bullet after bullet until his clip was empty, showing Mecca that he wasn’t scared.
“You good?” Murder asked as he looked back at Mecca, who was still on the ground.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Mecca said as his heart beat rapidly. “Damn!” Mecca yelled as he thought about how his life had almost ended. “You saved my ass,” Mecca added.
“Don’t trip. I saw that shit coming from a mile away. I’m just glad that I had my strap on me. You must have an enemy somewhere, huh?” Murder said as he extended his hand to help Mecca up.
“Yeah, something like that. Thanks, fam,” Mecca said as he stood up and dusted off his pants.
“Don’t mention it,” Murder said as he walked toward the tombstone as if the conversation was over.
“Yo, hold up,” Mecca said as he followed Murder. “That was some real shit. What, you a cop or something?” Mecca asked, wondering why he would just be carrying a gun on him.
“Hell nah. I hate cops,” Murder answered as he put his gun inside his holster. “I stay strapped, that’s all.”
“Yo, I’m Mecca,” Mecca said as he extended his hand for a shake.
“I’m Leon, but my people call me Murder.”
“Okay, Murder. Nice to meet you. Let me bless you for doing what you did.” Mecca said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack full of money.
“Nah, I’m good. You keep that. I just acted on impulse. It was nothing,” Murder said.
“Well, at least let me buy you a drink,” Mecca asked with a small smirk. He liked Murder’s style and quick thinking. He knew that he could always use a live nigga around him. Murder impressed him just that quick.
“No doubt,” Murder responded, accepting the invitation. Mecca had just fallen right into Murder’s trap, and although Murder had a stone cold expression on his face, on the inside he was smiling, because he knew that the countdown to the end of The Cartel had just begun.
“And that’s how I ended up in Miami,” Murder said, just finishing a made-up story to Mecca. He told Mecca that he came from Atlanta searching for a coke connect, and had only been in town for a couple of months. Murder also told him that his father moved to Florida and had recently passed, which was something Mecca could
