I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid.
I struggle to think logically when I'm panicking, but for instances like this I have no true choice. One wrong move, I lose everything that has never mattered and lose everything that matters to me now. My pride has gotten Kaoir hurt time and time again when she's been saving my life and my soul undeservingly. I have my limits when it comes to what I allow a person to get away with, I'm not always trigger happy. But this called for a war where I would win and Marc's decapitated head would make a beautiful centerpiece at my dining table.
One thing he didn't realize was that I anticipated this day. I've done everything I could to avoid it, but deep down I knew some things just wouldn't prevail. I always have a plan. If I didn't, I wouldn't be where I am today.
"We can't let you go there by yourself. What if he kills the both of you? I can't lose both of my people, then I'd be friendless... And jobless." Gino looked off the side to ponder on his situation.
"Do you truly think I'm that stupid? I won't get myself killed and I won't be alone. Here's what needs to happen. I'll drive myself to Marc's base and enter alone, but I'll keep a mic on me that's small enough to not be felt in case I'm weapon searched. While I'm en route, Luca will stay here and disable his cameras to give you and your squadron time to get there. I'll serve as a distraction for as long as I possibly can and when it's safe to move, Luca will let the both of us know."
"You're really doing all of this to get her back? There's been nothing but trouble since the bitch got here! She tried to kill yo' ass!" Deuce chimes in ad everybody audibly groaned.
I stepped to him with a finger close to his face, feeling the heat rising from my body. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. So for once in your pathetic ass story of a life, do your best to act accordingly."
He looked me up and down as if he were sizing me up, but only scoffed. "Yeah, ight. You'll get it soon. When that whore rings you out and leaves you to dry, you'll be begging for my help again. Just like you always do. Guess you and unc' ain't too far off, huh?"
My head jerked back as if I had been punched in the nose. "The fuck you say to me, nigga?" I began to step up to him, but Gino quickly grabbed me and pulled me back to my respective corners. If Deuce didn't know anything else, he knew how to get under somebody's skin without hesitation.
"Kaoir is at Marc's base bleeding out and we don't know how much time we have to fix this shit. Let's not get carried away with side missions." Gino reminded me. With a few heavy puffs of breath, I relaxed myself. I picked up the mic and attached it inside of my shirt before snatching my car keys up.
"Y'all know what to do. I'm out." I rushed out of the door and got into my car, sitting with both hands on the steering wheel. I chewed on my lip, trying to shake my nerves before they consumed me. I don't know if she's alive or not, he could've lied. Whatever it is, Marc will not leave this alive. I bet my life on it.
Shaking off my thoughts, I started the car and sped off not even acknowledging the speed limit. All the way there, I muttered curses under my breath about how I couldn't believe I let this happen, how careless I was, how that bullet could've been for me instead. I had my guard up and still managed to let something as simple as this slip through the cracks. I wouldn't let this go unpunished though and that was a promise.
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List of things on my bucket list of activities I want to complete before the age of 50:
Go to France
Go into culinary school
Have a kid
Get married to a sane man that doesn't mind the fact that I'm crazy
Kill my father
Visit my mother's grave
Buy a red Lamborghini
Enroll in a gym membership
You know what's not on this list? Being shot. Yes, I'm alive. Not saying much. I mean what is there to say? I'm in Marc's base watching him wait in silence for Kyng to hopefully arrive. He should've killed me, I got out of these ties a long time ago. I'm in an extreme amount of pain, but I'm not disabled.
I keep my breaths short and slow, all while avoiding looking down at my lazily wrapped wound. I assume he didn't want me to die just yet, maybe not at all, because then Kyng wouldn't keep up the deal if there was no chance of saving me. Terrible logic, Kyng is going to kill him whether I live or not. However, he wasn't wrong. I'm bleeding out, but not as much as I could've been. He didn't shoot me anywhere vital and the bullet was small. It's no different than being stabbed with a small pink self defense pocket knife. Big enough to injure, small enough not to kill.
"Wow. Seems like Campbell didn't care about you like you thought he did. He's surely taking his time, isn't he?" Marc spoke up as I stared at him with low eyes, my jaw subconsciously clenched. I remained silent. He took my silence as an insult, turning his head towards me with an expression of disrespect as if I had spat in his face all by saying nothing. He stood to his feet quickly and stomped over to me, slamming his hand onto my chin, his fingers digging into the sides of my face as he squished it. He mimicked Kyng's actions from when we first encountered each other in his home, turning my face as if he were trying to get a better look at me. Ultimately, he chuckled coldly, pronouncing each "ha" with intent to mock me.
"It's a damn shame I didn't find you first... You would've been in much better hands." His mouth curved into a crooked smile as his fingertips slapped across my face slightly, grazing my lips which made me feel sick to my stomach. As a reflex, or not, I sunk my teeth into his hand hard causing him to pull back, the indent being left there. "Stupid bitch!" He cursed as he rubbed his thumb over where I bit him. Still, he looked back at me with that crooked smile again.
"What is there to smile about right now?" I spoke up as loud as I possibly could with a bullet in my side.
He chuckled slightly, stepping closer to me again. "So you speak? Answer my question then. You're obviously Kyng's whore, one of them perhaps. How often does he play with you? Is it whenever he wants or is it whenever you want? I just wanna know if when this is all said and done and Kyng is dead, if I should keep you for myself or not."
I laughed sharply almost to insult him, trying to keep it short for it hurt. "If you have to depend on another man just to get your dick wet then you have your priorities out of order. If I were you, I'd kill myself for even stooping as low as being willing to stick my dick in the same pussy that I think that Kyng Campbell had his share in."
"Oh, now you've got a mouth on you?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"I've got more than a mouth. Untie me and find out." I hissed, my sentence slightly staggered as I still focused on my breathing.
His eyes squinted before he took a rough hand and rubbed my shoulder, dragging his dry knuckles across the smooth skin of my biceps before his fingertips lifted one of my breasts slightly. My skin burnt, or perhaps it was my blood, feeling this sorry excuse of a boy touch me in any way. I couldn't focus on that for long, however, for I was interrupted by the own howling of pain emitted from my mouth as he stuck one of his fingers in the bullet hole. My teeth grind together as my nails dug into my palm, wanting to scratch, bite, kick, decapitate, anything I could do to stop him.
He didn't push too deep before removing a bloody finger, examining it closely. "I'll have fun spilling more of this." He nodded his head as he wiped it off on his shirt. Before I could say anything else, not like I was planning to either, one of his protégées entered the room in a hurry. "Sir, Campbell has arrived."
"Finally! The real fun. Bring him in." He clapped his hands once in excitement. I turned my head as I heard a door open and watched my knight in black armor walk in slowly. He glanced over at me with a stone cold expression, but didn't say anything. "The man of the hour! Please, make yourself at home. This here is long overdue."
"I haven't got time for this bullshit, Marc. You know what I'm here to do. I came alone and unarmed like you said." Kyng spoke deeply, his voice booming in the space between the three of us. He held a briefcase in his hand containing items I couldn't begin to think about.
"That's not the way to speak to someone who's currently in control, is it? Someone who has this..." Marc stepped back over to me, running his fingers through my hair. I watched Kyng's posture stiffen as his jaw clenched and he gripped into the briefcase so hard is knuckles were fading into white. "Pretty little thing bleeding out slowly. She's got a little fire in her tongue. Where'd you find her and what made you decide this was the bitch you want to replace Rose with?"
"Don't bring that bitch up to me!" Kyng raised his voice without warning. It was silent for a moment before he exhaled deeply, as if he were resetting himself. He glanced at me pitifully, like he were regretting something he hadn't done yet. Like he was about to do the inevitable. But his look hardened, as he forced it to. "Look. I don't care about this bitch the way that you think I do. She's just another stupid whore that I decided to keep around. I didn't come here for her."
Those words would've hurt me more if they were true. He's stalling and any genius with their eyes blindfolded could see that. Is Marc a genius though? I'd be surprised if he couldn't tell, but Marc feels that he already won so he's at a point where this is amusing to him. Either he's slower than a church service or he's simply sadistic.
"Oh?" Marc chuckled and looked over at me before lifting my chin roughly. "You hear that, sweetheart? Looks like I will be taking you with me after all." He pinched my cheek as if I were a child needing some sort of reassurance. "You came here to settle a score. Unfortunately, I just don't think you understand, Campbell. See, there is no more talking this out. I was gracious to you when you first turned our deal down for whatever unknown reason—"
Kyng interrupted him. "You think I didn't know you were planning to kill me at the gala? I spotted your sniper across the room. Talk about grace when there's constantly a gun to my head."
"Oh, don't be such a drama queen! It was merely for my own protection. That's a keen eye you've got there though. Too bad it couldn't keep you out of trouble."
Out of my peripheral, I noticed movement on Marc's security cameras. Before I was granted a chance to see what happened, the screen blinked to static. My brows furrowed as I glanced over at Kyng, who seemed to not notice what I was looking at. Either that or he already knew. However, Marc did. He glanced back up at Kyng quickly, seemingly already having an inference of what was happening. He quickly grabbed the pistol off of his hip and aimed it for my head.
"I advise you to pick your next move wisely." He warned grimly, his grip on the gun tightening.
"I have." Kyng looked over at me, his lips curling into a slight smirk as his eyes motioned towards my arms which he, by experience, knew weren't tied.
I took whatever initiative I possibly could and grabbed the base of the gun, pushing his arm towards his chest as I flipped the weapon upward causing his fingers to bend backwards with it. I tossed the gun over to Kyng who first shot the other man in the room who was just a moment away from returning the favor. He wasted no time turning the gun towards Marc instead, shooting him in his knee which reminded me he never had the best aim. I stood out of my seat to approach him, but didn't get far before collapsing onto the ground again. Kyng went to land another shot on Marc to finish the job, but either the gun jammed or it was empty. He huffed deeply before throwing the gun to the side and approaching Marc with a heavy stride.
With a ringed hand, he landed a blow directly to his cheekbone causing him to stumble back, immediately falling to the ground due to the bullet wound in his leg. Kyng took that as initiative to get on top of him. My heart thumped and sweat coated my skin. I saw nothing but irrationality and a racing mind behind his dark eyes as he cocked his arm back. Again, again, again the sound of Marc's cracking skull rang through my ears. I'd be jumping for joy if I wasn't bleeding out. Kyng never let up either. Each time he lifted his arm, more blood dripped from his knuckles and stained his silver jewelry. Marc was beginning to choke on his own fluid, but what did that mean to Kyng? Nothing.
Part of me wanted to tell him that it was enough that he made his point. Part of me wanted him to go for hours. However, I was past the point of conversation since the bullet wound in my stomach didn't seem to be bleeding any slower. He continued on, until he was no longer responsive in any way shape or form. Kyng didn't lift from him just yet instead he stared down at his seemingly lifeless body as he caught his breath. Nice, you got the bad guy. I'm still bleeding.
Almost as if he heard my inner dialogue, his head snapped in my direction. He rushed to his feet and lifted me off of the ground bridal style as I watched his pupils dilate once more, putting some emotion back into his dead eyes. "Hey, pretty. Marina will take care of you, alright? We'll get this fixed." His voice trailed off into a mumble as my blood stained his white shirt, even more than it already was. I didn't want to speak. I just wanted to lay in a bed and have my feet rubbed while I ate a large bowl of cookies and cream ice cream. I felt he owed me at least that.
𓆩♡𓆪
I watched Kaoir as she lied in my bed comfortably, sleeping her pain away. She already seemed pretty tired, but the medicine Marina gave her as she treated her wounds made her pretty drowsy. I kept my composure for the sake of everyone else around, however, my blood was still boiling. I had Luca burn the bodies of every one on the scene, but I didn't take comfort in any of them being dead. I wouldn't be comforted until Kaoir was back on her feet walking, talking, smiling, and I was sure she wasn't upset with me once again. After all, everything seemed to be my fault once again.
"I'm sure she'll wake up from her nap soon, Kyng. You don't have to watch her like a hawk. Marina fixed her up nicely." Gino said as he stood at the doorway, leaning against it.
"Mind your business." I spoke coldly as I didn't take my eyes off of her.
"She's my friend too, you know. I'd pick her over you." Gino commented with an attitude as he crossed his arms. Ouch?
"Leave him alone, Gino. You know he won't leave his woman's side." Luca commented playfully as the two of them snickered.
My brows furrowed as I looked up at the two of them. "You two think this shit is funny? She's not my woman."
"Yeah, okay. Have you not noticed your behavior for the past, I don't know, 4 months now that Kaoir has been here? If I were dumb enough to think you were capable of loving somebody other than yourself, I'd say it was her." My jaw clenched.
"Shut the fuck up, Luca!"
"You don't have to be in denial, Campbell!" Luca continued to tease.
"Say something else and I swear I will—"
"How about all of you shut the fuck up? Who the fuck sees a bitch tryna sleep and decides they wanna argue right next to her? Shut that shit up!" Kaoir slurred on her words slightly as she sat up to address all three of us.
Gino cleared his throat. "Sorry, ma'am." Luca mumbled as the two of them shuffled out of the room. I turned my attention back to her, seeing her furrowed brows as she grunted slightly, repositioning herself.
"Don't move too much. Marina stitched you up, but you need to relax."
"I'm fine, Kyng." She grabbed a pillow and placed it behind her head.
"You being fine doesn't mean you shouldn't still relax." Sometimes I have a tendency of speaking to her as if I were her father, but I have no shame in it. She believes nobody knows better than herself, when clearly I do.
"What part of me moving indicates that I'm not relaxing? Relax doesn't mean be a vegetable." She combatted.
I raised my brow. "If you're wincing or experiencing any pain from this movement of yours, is that very relaxing of you?"
"Are you really going to argue with me? Right now?" Kaoir groaned, placing a hand on her forehead.
I threw my hands up in defeat, choosing to let her have it. I was still right. "How are you feeling?"
She pulled her lips to the side in a so-so fashion. "I don't know. I went on the first real date I've ever been on and got shot and taken hostage. How would you feel after that?"
"There's no way that was the first date you've ever been on." She shrugged her shoulders. It was believable, yet unbelievable. While she was a beautiful woman, she isn't exactly the easiest to get through. "I'm sorry that things happened like that. That was my fault for letting my guard down. I said I would protect you and..."
"I don't wanna hear that. I don't want pity. Let's just be normal."
"How does one go about being normal after seeing his... seeing a... seeing someone he..." I cleared my throat. "Seeing you get shot?" I'm getting flustered.
"You've seen people get shot plenty of times before. You've been shot before."
"It was just a graze." I cut my eyes over at her.
"If that makes you feel better about being shot then sure." She pat my knee before throwing the covers off of herself and turning to stand up.
"What are you doing? Sit down." I took hold of her arm as she grunted, using the nightstand to help herself up.
"How do you suppose I get to the bathroom?" I grumbled slightly under my breath before standing up myself and lifting her off of her feet, being careful of where I placed my hands. "I'm not a cripple, Kyng. I can walk myself there."
"Will you shut up, Ms. Independent? When you need something, I am going to help you until you are completely nursed back to health. You won't tell me no." I made my way to the bathroom with her in my arms, making sure not to hit her head on the doorway on my way in.
She was silent for a moment. "What an odd way of saying you care about me, Campbell."
"I don't have to tell you I care. I'd rather show you."
"Hm. I'd rather you not watch me piss so..." She motioned towards the door.
With no hesitation, I took my exit and closed the door behind me, standing on the wall nearby. Deuce walked past looking troubled as always. His panties have been in the tightest bunch ever since Kaoir showed up here. Not saying I was any better with the way I treated her, but if I had to pick a lesser of two evils I'd pick myself. He glanced over at me and began to walk past me until something stopped him in his tracks.
He sighed deeply before turning his body in my direction. "Look, man. I shouldn't have said that crazy shit earlier. I was wildin'. I just don't like the way you letting that bitch get in the way of everything we been working on for forever now. She got yo' ass thrown off and you too blind to see."
My brows furrowed. "I'm confused, you apologizing or you ranting? She isn't worried about you, she hasn't been worried about you since she got here. What is up with you? What's the real issue here? Cause there's no way it's this girl who's sitting there with a bullet wound in her stomach right now."
"The real issue? The real issue is this bitch came here with a plot, plan, and a mission to kill you and you let that shit go like it was nothing! Now she got you walking around on a leash like a damn lapdog. You think this hoe got your back? She ain't got shit but you wrapped around her finger like a dummy! She gon fuck you up just like Rose did and ruin everything we built here."
"We? What the fuck did we build Deuce? When did you have my back? All this shit happening around here and you more focused on a girl than the people aiming guns at my head every where I go! When I was caught in a drive by, who was shooting back?! Who the fuck stopped me from getting sniped at the gala?! Hell, who stopped my ass from losing everything just last night?!" His jaw clenched as if he had something to say, but what could he? "Don't talk about we, Deuce. Cause it's always just been me and you when you felt like it. We ain't in danger, I am!"
His eyes were narrowed and intense. He scoffed and nodded his head before backing away from me. "Ight. Since you know so much, we'll see how much you know when you wind up dead. I won't kill the bitch for what she do to you. I won't cry for you. You're my brotha and I got love for you. But I don't respect no pussy."
"I don't need your respect. I got enough yes men around me, I don't need another one. I don't give a fuck about how you see me. I never did and I won't start now." At this point if I didn't know any better, I'd lay my hands on him but I have no time to make any more enemies than I'm already facing.
He chuckled. "Sorry ass nigga." He looked me up and down one more before disappearing down the hall. I heard the knob to the bathroom door turn as Kaoir swung the door open with an expressionless look on her face. She didn't say anything to me, she just wrapped her arms around my neck and urged for me to carry her. And I did so.