He disconnected the call and put his phone in his pocket.
“So what’s up?”
“There’s a lot of talk in the streets that that nigga Mario is missing.”
Back to reality.
“Damn, that didn’t take long. It’s only been like one night.” Tiara was actually a little bit surprised.
“Well, you gotta remember he was supposed to have killed you, so people were waiting on his call. With him not showing up and shit, they gotta be wondering what the fuck happened to him. It ain’t gonna take long for them to figure out he’s dead. When that gets out, news of his death most likely will travel fast. What you’re gonna have to do for now is lie low. We don’t want them to find out you’re still alive. It’s best for all of us if you just stay ghost and let everybody think you’re missing.”
“Hell, no.” Tiara replied, “I’m not gonna sit here and hide like a little bitch. I’m not afraid of my cousin Vincent or my fucking mother.”
“Tiara, this has nothing to do with hiding or letting them think you’re afraid of them. This is all about strategizing. With you being missing, it will buy us some time to get our shit ready for the takeover. Once they find out you’re still alive, they’re gonna lose their motherfucking minds and come after you—except this time, they’ll come twice as hard; especially since you are the only heir to your father’s empire. And you ain’t gonna be in hiding forever, just until we ready. Once we have everything set up and ready to go, you show your face, and we take them out. In order for us to get at them, we have to get at them first.”
“Your plan would make a lot of sense if you were dealing with a man like how my father was,” Tiara stated very matter-of-factly. “My father was a very calm and calculated man. But you’re dealing with Vincent. My cousin has always been good with numbers, money, accounts, and paperwork. When it came down to handling shit like this, he was always the one that made quick moves, whether they made sense or not.” Stevelle sat back and listened to every word Tiara was saying. It was important for him to get a full understanding.
“The day my father was buried, he told me he planned on moving to New York that same week. This nigga had just been told he had to take over and handle my father’s business, and his plan was to leave all this shit and go to another state. I’m telling you this to give you an example of how he functions. Vincent doesn’t think his plans through. He thinks on the surface. It’s not a good look to let time pass right now. We need to strike while the iron is still hot.”
Stevelle looked at Tiara and smiled. She was speaking like a true boss. She was a natural at this. It was obvious that she was her father’s child. He had never met Blake Rogers, but he had heard a lot about him, and he knew he had become one of the biggest kingpins in Dallas by taking charge of things and making his own path. It was apparent his daughter was the same way.
“A’ight, Ti, so what’s the first move?” He nodded his head at her in agreement with everything she had just said.
“I think it’s time I show my face at my childhood home.”
“You sure you ready for that?”
Tiara paused for a second and looked around his home. It was nice, and for him to only be twenty-two, it was clear that he was doing his thing in the streets. Usually, it took a long time for people to earn her trust, but he’d already proven that he would kill for her. As much as it would have been nice for her to stay here with him a little bit longer, she couldn’t keep letting time go past her. Gazing into his eyes for a few more seconds, she nodded her head giving him her final OK.
“I don’t have a choice. If I don’t, they’ll just keep coming after me. It’s not like I have a fake identity. I am, and will always be, Tiara Rogers no matter where I go, and I’m done running from that. I am the only true Rogers, and my father knew that. That has to be the reason why he left everything to me.”
“A’ight,” he said. “My niggas will be ready to move tonight. But you still gonna have to lie low for today. Knowing niggas like Vincent, he probably got the whole house on high security, and he probably got everybody in the hood tryna find you or Mario. He probably has a bounty on your head. Follow me.”
He grabbed her hand softly, pulled her from the couch, and brought her to the master bedroom of his condo. He let her go when they were in front of his closet and walked in. Inside of it were so many pairs of pants, shirts, and shoes, she understood why he needed a closet so big. That man would never run out of clothes, and that turned her on. There was nothing like a man that could dress his ass off. He complemented her quite nicely.
“If you gon’ ride out with me,” he said, dragging a large chest from the spacious walk-in closet, “You need a gun.”
He popped open the chest and inside it were over fifty firearms. He expected her eyes to pop out of her head when she saw what he was working with, but instead, she eagerly stepped forward. Little did he know, she frequented the gun range. It was the place that she relieved her stress, and she had almost become an expert shot. Since Blake was never able to finish giving her lessons, she took it upon herself to learn. She always used
