He’d tried to tell his boss not to trust G. That if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.
But Coke had been too desperate for a new lucrative distribution channel for his drugs. More inroads into the States. Now everything would go to shit because there wasn’t anyone to immediately take his place. Oh, lots of his lieutenants would want to take his place, but the power struggle was going to be long and bloody.
“Fuck!” Lloyd swore again, then turned for Coke’s desk. He needed cash—lots of it. Before the others found out Coke was dead. Everyone was going to make a money grab. He was just lucky he had found Coke first, had a head start on getting the cash kept on hand.
This was all that bitch’s fault. It had to be. It couldn’t be a coincidence that her brat of a son had disappeared at the same time Coke had been killed by G. She had to have gotten word out to someone, and they’d sent G in to get her.
He rifled through the drawers in the desk, pocketing two pistols and a stack of cash. Lloyd stepped out of the office, snapping his fingers at Martin to follow him. Out of everyone on the security force, he could trust Martin. The man annoyed him to no end, but he was still reliable. He shut the office door, hoping to buy time before anyone else found their boss dead on his couch.
He strode up the stairs toward Cassidy’s room. She had to have left something behind that would help him track her. But even if she hadn’t—her room was searched fairly often—Lloyd would still find her and make her pay. One way or another, Cassidy Hewitt would regret whatever had happened in that office last night.
Chapter Eight
Gramps watched Cassidy closely as she walked into her recently acquired apartment at the Southpoint Apartments complex. Her mouth fell open in shock. The space was completely furnished. Not only that—there were several bags of groceries on the counter, and he could see at least ten more bags sitting on the couch in the small living area.
“I . . . what . . . this apartment isn’t empty,” she said, stating the obvious.
“It’s not. This is all your stuff now,” Tiana told her with a smile. “After I talked to Skylar, and she told me why you needed an apartment pronto, I got together with Maria, Susan, and some of the others around here, and we all donated stuff we don’t need. The couch came from Goodwill down the street. Somebody was throwing out that table and chairs, and one of my friends snagged it for you. Skylar and her crew went shopping and got you the food and clothes. We have no clue if everything’ll fit, but if not, don’t sweat it—I’m sure Skylar will take you to the thrift shop later, and you can find stuff for yourself.”
“I . . . I don’t know what to say,” Cassidy said.
Gramps hadn’t previously been a huge fan of Tiana’s. He knew she used to run with the Vice Lords, but he had to admit that what she and the others in the complex had done was pretty damn awesome. Southpoint wasn’t in the best area of town, and he hated that he couldn’t have arranged to put her and Mario into one of the nicer complexes, but Bull had insisted that Tiana, Maria, and Susan would look after Cassidy and Mario. He had to believe that. “Just say thank you,” he urged Cassidy.
“Thank you!” she exclaimed immediately. “Seriously, thank you so much. I had no idea what we were going to do. Probably sleep on the floor for a while, right, Mario?”
Her son nodded.
“Why don’t you go over and check out the stuff in the bags?” Gramps suggested.
Mario’s eyes lit up, and he hurried over to the couch.
“Skylar apologizes for not being here this morning. She wanted to, but she had to teach,” Gramps told Cassidy. “And Taylor’s under deadline to get a book proofread. Molly had also planned to come, but she’s got morning sickness. I’d like to take you guys over to Silverstone Towing this afternoon, and you’ll meet them all then.”
“I’d really like that. You’ve told me so much about everyone that I feel as if I already know them. And I want to thank them for everything they’ve done for me and Mario on such short notice.”
Gramps loved seeing Cassidy so happy. It was striking home to him how stressed she’d been. Living in Coke’s house hadn’t been easy—she’d constantly been on her guard. But not even forty-eight hours after getting out of there, she visibly looked so much more relaxed.
They’d stopped in Miami for longer than they’d planned, but everyone had needed a break after the intensity of the previous few days. And Cassidy had still been feeling off kilter from the drugs in her system. So Smoke had rented three hotel rooms near the airport. Cassidy and Mario had insisted Gramps stay with them in their room, and they’d slept for eight hours straight.
Well . . . Gramps had spent a lot of those eight hours simply watching Cass and her son sleep. He was more thankful than he could say that everything had gone as well as it had.
The other Silverstone men had napped, called their wives, and set the ball in motion for Cassidy to walk into her new apartment almost as soon as they’d landed in Indianapolis. Bull, Eagle, and Smoke had left to reunite with their women, and Gramps had no problem taking Cass under his wing. After spending so much time with her and getting a glimpse into her inner strength, simply dropping her off and leaving wasn’t something he could manage right now.
“I’m sure you have things you need to do,” Cassidy said.
Gramps couldn’t read her tone. Didn’t know if she really wanted him to leave, or if she was saying that because she was feeling guilty for taking up too much of his time. The last thing he wanted to do was push himself on her if she truly needed some space, but he also didn’t want to leave yet.
Knowing he was being ridiculous, that Cassidy and Mario were perfectly safe in the apartment, that Tiana was there if they needed anything, he reluctantly nodded. There wasn’t anything he truly needed to do, though. He supposed he’d go back to his small house, unpack, do some laundry, and then . . .
Then just sit around wondering what Cassidy and Mario were doing. If they were settling in all right.
“I’ll come back around three thirty, if that’s okay,” he told her.
Cassidy nodded. “Of course. That gives us more than enough time to unpack everything. I suppose I’ll need to figure out the bus routes so I can get groceries and stuff for myself.”
Gramps wanted to tell her that he’d take her wherever she wanted to go, but Tiana spoke before he could.
“I can show you. There’s a stop near the entrance to the complex. It’s super easy.”
“Thank you,” Cassidy said with a huge smile.
Knowing that Cassidy didn’t truly need him was something he’d have to get used to. She’d managed to raise Mario for eleven years without him. She’d survived living in a drug dealer’s mansion for five years. She didn’t need him hovering.
Taking a deep breath, Gramps gave Tiana a chin lift, then headed for the door. Right as he opened it, he felt a hand on his back. Turning, he saw that Cassidy had followed him.
“Leo?”
“Yeah, Cass?”
“I . . . thank you. For the apartment, for getting us out of Jamaica, for being so great with Mario . . . just . . . I appreciate it.”
“I know you do,” Gramps told her. And he did. But the problem was that he didn’t really want her gratitude. He wanted more. Everything. But he had to let her stand on her own two feet. Make her own decisions. She had to acclimate to being back in the States, to not being under the watchful eyes of Coke and his security force. The last thing he wanted was to stifle her. He wanted her to soar, and she could only do that if she had the space to spread her wings.