Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“Family?”
“Do you think most of her family is safe?” I glanced over my shoulder. Sophia eyed me. I could’ve sworn my flesh burned from the rage shooting off of her gaze.
“No.”
Interesting. Do you trust your mom?
Troy took his time with the next question. “So you don’t really want to say why Jasmine left in front of this person?”
“I don’t think it matters. You’ve lost your usefulness.”
“Watch your mouth, Chase. This is my sister. You told me you could keep her safe from Benny,” Troy snapped. “She’s not with you. That means either you fucked up, or Benny got her.”
“I didn’t fuck up. You did.”
“How? Wait a minute. Did you lose my sister to Benny?”
“Do you have any idea where he’s at?”
“Fuck! You lost her to him? That’s not good.”
“You’re a genius.”
“No, man. You don’t understand. I’ve been with Benny for the last week. He’s insane.”
“How is this news?”
“He’s even more insane. Viv and I left with him and figured we could watch him better and try to figure out something. Sherman has his eye on Lucy.”
“I hope not, because that would mean his eye is being buried at the end of the week.”
“What? Just wait a minute. Let me explain. We were with Benny the whole time besides four days ago, when he just jumped up out of nowhere and said he had to handle something. The motherfucker has been gone for four days, while Viv and I can’t leave.”
“You can’t leave?”
“He kidnapped us, man.”
I shot up in my seat. “Where are you?”
“If I could tell you, I would.”
“You don’t know?”
“I do, but the location doesn’t matter. If Benny thinks you’re on the way, and we’ll be moved somewhere else. We have to wait this out.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“Naw, man. The fact that you’ve been unable to handle Benny or Jasmine, doesn’t give me much motivation to say shit to you. Let me see what happens in the next couple of days, and I might call you. We can come up with something.”
Rage boiled inside of me. “You say this, after letting Lucy die by that man’s hands?”
More silence hung on the line, and then after a minute, Troy spoke, “Lucy is dead?”
“You were in charge of her—”
“Lucy is dead?”
“Where are you?”
“Chase, I handed Lucy over to Sherman. He was the only man I knew on this earth that could protect her.”
“That wasn’t part of the plan. All three of you were supposed to be with her, until I dealt with Benny.”
“Shit changed. Vivian went off on her mission to discover the truth. She had me do a DNA test. This siblingship thing that checked our blood. Our DNA were compared to see if we had a common father—”
“Why do I care about any of this? Did you hear what I said? Lucy is dead. Jasmine is gone.”
“The result was negative.”
“Again, why do I care?”
“We’re not siblings.”
I rubbed my temple. “Where are you?”
“You had people investigate, and all they discovered was a birth certificate that my mom and Benny signed. That doesn’t mean shit. Someone’s got their information wrong about Benny being our father. The results say we’re not related to Vivian. Either Benny isn’t Jasmine and my dad, or he’s not Viv’s. You get me now?”
I gritted my teeth. “No, where are you?”
“Benny doesn’t know about the test or the results, but if he finds out, then he’s going to start asking questions. Right now, Jasmine, Viv, and I are safe. He thinks we’re all his kids. He sees family as important. For now, there’s safety.”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“What happens if Jasmine isn’t his daughter? Why wouldn’t Benny kill you both, and me, too? You get me?”
“I got you.”
“Viv doesn’t get it. She’s too happy we may not be related.”
“May not? I thought the test was negative.”
Sophia tilted my way, giving up all pretense that she wasn’t trying to spy on my conversation.
Troy continued. “The doctor would’ve preferred getting samples from either both of our mothers or fathers. But yeah, he’s pretty damn sure we’re not related at all. Which means somebody has been lying to Benny. Viv’s mother is dead, so I hope it is her.”
“And your mom?” I checked Sophia again. She’d inched closer.
“Mom lies. I wouldn’t be shocked.”
“So you think that person is not to be trusted?”
“Who?”
“The one we were talking about?”
“My mom?”
“Yes.”
“Odds don’t look good in our favor.”
“Why not?”
Sophia tapped my leg hard and mouthed, “Who is that?”
I raised my hand to silence her.
“Why not?” I asked again.
Annoyance laced Troy’s voice. “I don’t have time to talk about my mother issues with you. We have to kill Benny.”
“How is that different from our plan earlier, when I asked you to protect Lucy?”
“That’s what I don’t like, Rich Boy. That shit right there. How the hell did Lucy get killed? Where’s Sherman? He’s texting me shit like he’s sorry, but never said why he was sorry. Now I know. He let Lucy die, but why? It makes me real uncomfortable. Sherman gave me his word. He takes that shit seriously, when it comes to his brothers. If he fucked me on this, then there’s only one person that could have gotten in his head.”