“This means you will have one job,” Brian spoke up. “Protect the Queen.”
“At all times!” they chanted together.
Celine watched as Sade’s face fell. The envy in her eyes was palpable, and Celine knew without a doubt that sooner rather than later, she’d be forced to show her who was Boss.
“Sade…” Brian spoke.
Sade moved to the back of the room, standing in front of Carter. She shook her head and tisked. “Bitch, you should’ve known better.”
Carter mumbled something unintelligible through the linen cloth that gagged her mouth. Sade pulled it down.
“Please, Brian,” Carter began, “don’t do this. I can be an asset. I told you I know all of Zeus’s information. Hang out spots, safe houses, where he deposits his cash. You could kill him and cripple his empire.”
“He has no empire!” Brian roared.
“You’re wrong; he has more than you think. He’s been working quietly. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he’s moving in ways you wouldn’t believe. Reaching out for alliances, doing whatever he can to be bigger and better than you. Getting rid of me at this point would be futile with the load of information I have.”
A scream bounced off the walls and penetrated through the room. Sade had cut off one of Carter’s fingers. It lay in a small pool of its blood on the floor.
A grin grew across Celine’s face. “The girls got spunk. I think I like it.”
Brian’s eyes flashed to her. “Do you now?”
Celine tilted her head. “I do. Maybe there’s hope for her after all.”
Marcus moved. “Maybe we should hear her out.”
“We are hearing her out,” Brian retorted.
Raphaël spoke next: “If she knows what she says, that’s a wealth of information we could use.”
Another wail of pain shot through Carter as Sade released her of another finger.
Brian heaved a heavy sigh and observed Celine. “What do you think?”
Celine traced her teeth with her tongue, taking her precious time as Sade chopped off another one of Carter’s fingers. Celine decided to test the waters.
“Enough!” she yelled.
Sade paused midair on the verge of cutting off another finger. Her eyes closed as she gained composure. She wanted so bad to tell Celine to go to hell. Quickly, she whipped around.
“Would you like for me to stop?” The question was directed at Brian.
Celine’s brow lifted. “I think you heard me.”
Sade’s blood boiled. “I take my orders from Brian.” Her teeth grinding together as she tried to control herself.
Celine took slow steps toward her. The men parted, letting her past them. Standing mere inches in front of Sade, Celine spat, “Brian and I are one now, so you take orders from me as well. Is that going to be a problem, Sade?”
The men all eyed one another. This couldn’t turn out good for either of them.
Sade returned her sneer. “If you want to be technical about it, you’re not the Queen yet. So no, I don’t take orders from you. I take them from the Boss.”
Celine leaned back and headbutted Sade, causing her nose to crack open. Blood rushed from her nostrils, heavy with a stinging heat. Sade screamed and held her face.
“You bitch!”
Marcus moved first, making it to Sade before she had a chance to cut Celine with the knife she held.
“Let me go!” She kicked, scratched and screamed. “Let me go! I’m going to kill her!”
Celine turned. “Come on, Marcus, you heard the girl. Let her go!”
Marcus continued to move Sade from the room as Celine twirled to Brian. “I don’t think she liked that. What do you think?”
He folded his arms, his brows arching. “You’re having too much fun with this, Celine.”
She covered her chest with a hand. “So spank me.” She hissed and threw her other hand up in a cat woman like claw.
“You have to get rid of her now,” Red said.
The other men agreed.
“She’s an asset,” Brian barked.
“She’s a loose cannon,” Raphaël said. “We can’t protect Celine if we have someone in our midst who might throw her to the wolves. Be smart about this.”
“No,” Celine stated, causing them all to turn to her. “I like her.”
Brian gave a slow head nod. “Now, sweetheart, I usually take your word for everything, but this isn’t your best advice.”
“She’ll do anything for you, Brian, even take a bullet. Talk to her, make her understand that what she’s doing is for you. When it’s all said and done, you’ll be glad you did.”
“Whatever you wish, love.”
*****
Celine left the shipping room and made her way to the guesthouse. When she entered and found it empty, she strolled over to Marcus’s place. The doorbell crooned through the house, and she stood still, waiting good-naturedly.
The door swung open. “Celine?”
She hung her head to the side at Marcus. “Is that bitch here?”
“Yes.”
“Well, can I come in?”
“You can do whatever you want; you’re the Queen.”
For some reason, when he said it, Celine felt as if she should apologize for the title. “Look, you don’t have to get all ‘here comes the Queen’ on me. I’m still homegirl you’re taking to the car auction.”
His eyes widened. “No, I don’t think so.” He folded his arms across his broad chest.
“Um, yeah, I do. Now step aside and show me where this heffa is.”
Marcus moved to the side, and Celine brushed past him. Sade was in the kitchen nursing what looked to be an alcoholic beverage. She choked on the swig when Celine entered the room.
Her nose turned upward. “What the hell do you want?”
Celine pulled herself up on the kitchen counter next to Sade. “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot.”
Sade laughed. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“No, I’m serious. Did we not get off on the wrong foot?”
Sade tossed back another swig. The burn from the liquid did nothing to calm her nerves. “If you call coming in the front door and taking over the place getting off on the wrong foot. If you call taking my man, my crown, and my brothers getting off on the wrong foot. I call it things to kill a bitch over.”
Celine grabbed a nearby knife, tossed it up in the air, caught it and slid it against Sade’s throat. “You know, just a bit more pressure and your trachea is severed. When that happens, you’ll lose your voice. So no screaming or yelling. It helps really well when I need to kill someone quietly.” Celine dug the blade into her flesh a bit more for added effect. “Then, your carotid artery is severed, thwarting newly oxygenated blood from getting to your brain.” Her voice was low and steady.
Marcus was as still as a statue. As much as he wanted to intervene, he couldn’t this time. Celine had made it a point to find Sade. If it was her wish to kill her, he couldn’t stop it.
Sade didn’t move either; she knew Celine’s reputation with knives and guns. And if she were nearly as good as the rumors, putting up a fight would be in vain. At this point, she didn’t even swallow the liquor that sat on her tongue. But her heart raced wildly as Celine continued.
“Next, your jugular goes. It would be about thirty seconds of gurgling, coughing, gasping and desperation before you’re a corpse. It would take me less than,” Celine shrugged, “three seconds to send you on a journey to never never land.”
Celine took in a deep breath and sat up straight, removing the knife. “I didn’t come over here to kill you today, Sade. I hadn’t even planned on cutting you. You’ll be okay by the way, for now.”
Marcus exhaled, relieved that he wouldn’t have to get rid of a dead body.
“I simply came over here to say… get your shit together. Because I will not have our brothers…” She let the words hold in the air. “Yeah, you have to share now, bitch. They’re our brothers. I will no
t have them trying to protect me from the likes of you.”
She said it with such derision that Celine shivered. “I would kill you myself before I ever let you put them in harm’s way because of your jealousy. Now I know my love has already given you an ultimatum. You should be happy about that; I could’ve told him to throw you out on your ass. Hell, I could’ve told him to do it this time. However, I see you as an asset.
“Right now, you’re considered a friend and not foe. If you weren’t, you’d be tied to that wooden beam instead of Carter. But understand something, this is the last time I save your ass. The next time I might exchange you for Carter. I’m sure she would love to get payback after you cut off her fingers.”
Chapter Nineteen
Celine took the knife and stabbed it into the counter as she jumped down. She walked away from Sade, unafraid to turn her back on her. She was sure she’d gotten her point across.
The next morning, Brian’s men were setting up lookouts to cover their territory while they got ready for their meeting. Carter sat with her hands bandaged, two fingers missing from one hand, one finger missing from the other.
The night before, Raphaël had cut her loose and helped dress her wounds.
“Please, if you’ve got anything strong, please take mercy on me and let me have it.”
He gave her a shot of morphine that soothed her muscles but not enough that it would knock her out. She was so grateful she offered to have sex with him, but Raphaël was not interested. He had a wife and a child he kept hidden from the life he led, and he wanted to keep it that way.
Brian, Celine, Marcus, Cedric, Red, Dominique, Raphaël, and Sade formed a circle around Carter. When the disposable phone rang, she eyed them all then answered quickly, placing the conversation on speaker.
“Hello.”
“Did you get my message across?”
Carter wanted to tell him he could take his message straight to hell but she wouldn’t. “Yes, I delivered your message.” She kept her eyes on Brian.
“And you’re still alive. Not bad. You may be more useful to me after all. Why hasn’t he called me?”
“I haven’t given him the number.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I got caught up in some blowback.”
“Explain,” he said.
She sighed inwardly. “Someone noticed me. My cover was blown, so I had to give your message right then and there.”
“Elaborate and stop leaving shit out.”
“To make a long story short, I’m missing three fingers.”
The silence grew thick as fog.
Finally, Zeus responded: “That is expected. It’s a wonder you’re still alive.”
“Oh is that all,” came her snappy response.
A deep rumble bellowed from the phone. Zeus was tickled by her smart retort. “I’ll give you that, and I’ll make it up to you, but no more smart ass comments you, got it?”
“Yes.”
“Now, how am I supposed to speak to him about where we’re meeting if he hasn’t called me? You need to handle it.”
“You’ll go through me.”
“The hell we will!”
“Listen,” Carter began, “this is the only way it’s happening. This is not my request. Take it or leave it.”
“I’m going to have to do something about your smart mouth when you get back here.”
Carter didn’t respond. She kept her eyes on Brian while everyone else watched her. “So what would you like to do?” she asked Zeus.
“Have him call me like I told you before. This is the last time I’ll call this phone. If he hasn’t called me in one hour, I’ll assume the meeting is off, and this war will continue.”
The call dropped. “What’s the number?” Cedric asked.
Carter rattled off the number. “If he asks you to meet at Escobar,” she added, “don’t do it. If he asks you to meet at the Town Hall or Jeffries, go with either of those.” It was her way of showing a little good faith. She was willing to go even further if given a chance.
Brian’s eyes went over the details of her face as Cedric dialed the number and put the call on speaker.
After three rings, Zeus answered, “I didn’t think you would call.”
“Let’s get straight to it, where would you like to meet, Zeus?” Brian barked.
“The barbershop on 46 and James.” Brian glanced to Carter. She nodded.
“I’m listening…”
“This is the block that meets our territories in the middle.”
“I know where it is.”
“Okay, when you get there, go to Jeffries.”
Jeffries was a barber shop that had been sitting on the avenue for 65 years. The shop had been owned by three separate men in the same family over the generations. It was known as the spot that any opposing members of society could come together in a peaceful arrangement on any day.
“I’ll be there in an hour.” Cedric disconnected the call.
“Are the cars ready?” Brian asked him.
“Yes,” Cedric replied.
“Let’s go,” Brian answered.
“What are we going to do with her?” Sade asked.
“What do you suppose we do with her?” Celine asked.
Sadie hated when Celine addressed her. “If we’re keeping her around, then maybe we should put her back in the guest house.”
“Are you going to stay here and watch her?”
“No! I want to fight.” The fierceness in her eyes let everyone know she had some steam to blow off.
“Who said we were going to fight?” Brian asked, watching her carefully.
She twisted her lips. “Please don’t insult my intelligence.”
Brian chuckled. That was one thing he liked about Sade; she was down for whatever. “We’re not going there to fight, but if a fight happens, then so be it. But she can’t be left unattended if we let her back in the guest house.”
“You’re considering letting her back in the guest house?” Celine asked, looking at Brian with furrowed brows.
“She’s useful to us, why not? We still need somebody to watch her.”
Sade smiled brightly, rejoicing at what she felt was a small victory. Brian agreeing with her was everything she needed to help the boost of confidence and energy that she lost in the last couple of days.
Celine didn’t have to look at her elated expression to know Sade thought she won something.
She was unaware it was Celine that suggested he disagree with her and agree with Sade for the boost she most certainly needed.
“Okay,” Celine threw her hands in the air, “whatever, are we doing this or not?”
Marcus grabbed Carter and went out the door first, followed by Raphaël, Cedric, Dominique, Red, Sade, Celine and Brian. The line of cars that drove out onto the street was like the presidential motorcade. With cars that resembled each other, two cars in front and two cars behind, the five vehicles cruised to the entrance of the freeway and made their way over to 46th and James.
In the back seat of their luxury vehicle, Celine intertwined her fingers with Brian’s.
“Are you sure about this?”
Brian studied her face. “Are you worried?”
Celine crinkled her nose. “No, I just want to make sure this is what you want to do. I don’t trust Carter.”
“I don’t either, but her life is in our hands. So, we’ve got leverage. It’s against her better judgment to send us into a trap. Besides, you know Jeffries is fine.”
“It still amazes me how two people can be at war but be peaceful at Jeffries. I mean, what’s he got, the magic touch?”
Brian smirked. “Something like that.” Celine twisted her lips. “Sweetheart, you know this story already.”
Jeffries had been respected for generations; the first owner was Boss over both the south and the east. When he was on his death bed, he assigned his men areas to take over, and the transition happened smoothly. For years, things worked the way it sh
ould’ve. But when the first war broke out, the sides had never compromised on anything again, except bringing only peace to Jeffries Barber Shop out of respect.
Twenty minutes into the ride, Marcus exited the highway. Ahead of them Dominque and Raphaël drove the lead car, Red and Sade were in the second. Marcus, Celine and Brian were in the third vehicle, Cedric and Carter were in the fourth vehicle with extra men in the last vehicle.
The weather was calm, and the sun set high as the vehicles moved like a procession, coming to a stop in front of Jeffries Barber Shop. There was a moment of pause before doors opened and everyone exited with the exception of Carter, Celine and Brian. By now, Celine understood that they were the last to get out due to security reasons, but that didn’t mean she liked that idea.
When she was with Brian before, they moved at their own pace. But if Brian was allowing this to happen now, then she didn’t doubt his reasons behind it. Finally, their door was opened, and they exited and strolled inside the building. The door chimed as they entered. Immediately they were greeted by a tall, stocky, African American man with what looked to be a fresh haircut.
“Good afternoon, fellas,” he glanced to Sade and Celine, “ladies. I’m Stacey Goodwin.” He held out his hand for a shake, which Brian took with a firm grip. “I’m the owner of this beautiful establishment, which I’m sure you’ll be respectful of.”
In his deep, smooth voice, Brian spoke, “Mr. Goodwin, I can assure you no one in my company has any intentions of being disrespectful. You might want to double check with the other guy though.”
Stacey eyed the men with Brian. Marcus stood to his side, his muscular arms on display in a thin T-shirt and denim jeans. His look was as casual as going to a cook out but what worried Stacey was the weapon that sat in the holster around his arms. His eyes shifted to Dominque, Cedric, Red, Sade, and Raphaël before coming full circle and landing back on Celine.
His perusal of her was slow and thoughtful. Her appearance was that of a business woman in her white button down blouse, pencil skirt and four-inch heels. His eyes lingered on her bare legs then rode back up over her full breasts, lips and doe eyes. Stacey knew looks could be deceiving, and he was right. Under her skirt, Celine wore her thigh holster, and a pocket of knives sat at the small of her back.
Beautiful Assassin Page 12