Nikki looked at Cairo and Butch. They needed to know what was going on, but she wasn’t going to tell them about Barlowe’s involvement.

  “Garraway told me that he didn’t think Wilkes had anything to do with J.R. getting killed.”

  “You believe him?” Butch asked.

  “I don’t know. I mean, he doesn’t have any reason to lie to me about it at this point.” Nikki chuckled. “The nigga’s dead. And he was sure that Cromwell was in Chicago.”

  “So, does he have any idea who set J.R. up?” Cairo asked.

  “No.”

  “So what are we gonna do?” Butch asked.

  “Not we. You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. I want you to go to Chicago and find Cromwell.”

  “On it,” Butch said. “I need to pack.”

  “Cool those jets,” Nikki said. “Let me talk to Barlowe first, then we’ll get you going.”

  “Cool.”

  When they arrived at Barlowe’s house, he and Arya were celebrating an anniversary and had French food catered for lunch. They were dining on moules frites and trout amandine when he was informed that Nikki was there to see him.

  “Afternoon,” Barlowe said when they were shown into the dining room.

  “I need to talk to you,” Nikki said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “I need to talk to you alone,” Nikki said.

  Barlowe glanced at Arya, picked up his napkin, and wiped his mouth before he stood up.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said and kissed Arya on the forehead. “Let’s walk.”

  “I’m right behind you,” Nikki said and followed Barlowe as he walked out the double doors to the pool deck.

  “Sorry to interrupt your celebration.”

  Barlowe chuckled. “No, you’re not. If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done it.”

  “Fine. I didn’t intentionally ruin your celebration. What are you celebrating anyway?”

  “We met sixteen years ago.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

  “I had a visitor at the Palace last night.”

  “Really, who was that?”

  “Duncan Garraway.”

  “What?”

  Nikki paid close attention to the way Barlowe’s expression changed at the mention of his name.

  “Duncan came to the club?” He paused. “To talk to you?”

  “Yes. Garraway said that he got your message, and since I was the issue, he came to talk to me about it.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I didn’t think I needed to call you. Why would I need to?” Nikki asked with attitude.

  “What did he say, Nikki?”

  It was apparent to Nikki that Barlowe was, at best, apprehensive, and at worst, he was scared about what Garraway had told her.

  “He said that to his knowledge, Wilkes didn’t have anything to do with J.R.’s murder.”

  “You believe him?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know that man. But you do.”

  “I do.”

  “Can I trust him?”

  Barlowe walked alongside Nikki, not speaking for a second or two before he said, “Duncan Garraway is a lot of things, but he is a man of his word. If he told you something, it’s a fact, or he believes it to be a fact. Duncan Garraway is a man of honor. Ain’t too many men like him.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “So, how’d you leave it with him?”

  “We talked about restarting the Council. We agreed that if we had been talking, all of the issues we’ve had could have been avoided.”

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  “I do, too.” Nikki paused. “I was kinda surprised when he suggested it. You know, seeing that he was the one that disbanded the Council after Daddy died.”

  “I guess he saw the value in it again after all these years.”

  “I guess so.”

  Nikki was disappointed. She had given him an opportunity to tell her the truth that he was the one who disbanded the Council, but he chose to continue lying to her. It told her all that she needed to know.

  “I’m gonna let you get back to your celebration.”

  “You be careful with Duncan.”

  “You just said he was an honorable man.”

  “I did, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be careful dealing with him.”

  “Understood. Thank you, Uncle Pete.”

  “Anything for you, Nikki. You know that,” Barlowe said, feeling that his secret was safe, at least for the time being. If Garraway had told her that he thought Barlowe was involved in her father’s murder, there would have been no conversation. Nikki would have come in with her guns blazing.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Where you off to now?” Barlowe asked as he and Nikki went back into the house.

  “Airport. Butch is taking a little working vacation.”

  “Really? Where’s he going?”

  Nikki and Barlowe walked back into the house where Cairo and Butch were waiting with Arya.

  “Chicago. Now that I know that Wilkes wasn’t involved, I need to find Cromwell,” Nikki said and glanced in Arya’s direction.

  “Good idea.”

  “I’ll let you know what he finds out.” She turned to Cairo and Butch and said, “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Once Nikki left with Cairo and Butch, Barlowe and Arya could get back to their anniversary celebration, but neither seemed to be in a celebratory mood any longer. Whether or not Garraway had told Nikki, he knew the truth of what happened that day. It had haunted him every day since, and he’d tried his best to make up for it on each of those days. However, no matter what he did or how hard he tried, Barlowe knew that he could never truly make amends for his actions.

  What he remembered most about that day was being drunk. Barlowe couldn’t say for sure why he went to Eddie’s house that afternoon. His memories of the attempted rape were a blur. He remembered being on top of Naomi, her staring into his eyes and struggling against him.

  He could still hear her words: “Please, Pete. Don’t do this.”

  Barlowe remembered running out of there, but not how he got to the Palace. That was when he realized what he had done, and the regret began to creep up on him.

  Naomi was beautiful in those days. Still is, Barlowe thought, but since Arya was sitting next to him, he chose not to say aloud. From the time he and Eddie were introduced to Naomi, Barlowe had wanted her. For a short time in those early days, he thought he had a chance. But Naomi only had eyes for Eddie, and he for her.

  “I knew she was the one the second I kissed her,” was what Eddie told Barlowe.

  That didn’t stop Barlowe from wanting her. Even when he met and eventually married Caroline, who was equally as beautiful as Naomi, she always seemed like a consolation prize. Naomi and Eddie were so in love with each other, sharing the kind of love that Barlowe could only envy.

  Barlowe thought about that hot, muggy day. Naomi had just gotten out of the shower. When she put on her robe to answer the door, the material clung to her body. A smile crept across his lips. She looked so good that day, and the thought made him feel disgusted with himself almost immediately. He had come close to raping his best friend’s wife, and that was nothing to smile about.

  Barlowe knew it was wrong, and he knew that once Eddie found out what he had done, there would be consequences, and they would be extreme. He had sobered up enough to realize what he had done by the time Eddie arrived. He could have defended himself and put up some resistance to the beating that he took at Eddie’s hands, but at that moment, he felt what he had done was indefensible, and he deserved the beating he took.

  “If you come near my wife again, I’ll kill you!”

  “Not if I kill you first.”

  Those words, “not if I kill you first,” rang in his ears like an echo for years. Those words and the actions that they led him to changed so many lives. There were times when Barlowe wondered: if Duncan Garraway and all those people in the club hadn’t been there to witness the beating, would his response have been the same? He was embarrassed and humiliated in public. His pride demanded a response.

  When Garraway left the Palace, Barlowe had made the call to a friend in New Jersey.

  “I need someone taken care of.”

  “Who’d you have in mind?”

  “Eddie Marx,” Barlowe said, and the man laughed. “What’s funny?”

  “I just knew it would come to this one day. When and where?”

  “Tomorrow night. In front of his house.”

  “Done.”

  And that was it. The following night, Eddie Marx was murdered in front of his house. Barlowe didn’t think anymore about it until he got the screaming and crying call from Naomi. He acted as if he were shocked and swore to kill whoever was responsible. It was as if he hadn’t ordered the hit himself.

  Barlowe remembered feeling shaken and remorseful by the loss of a friend. He thought about his vow to find who was responsible and kill them, and his promise to always take care of Naomi and the kids. Maybe there was a part of him that thought he could fill that void in Naomi’s life. He would be there to comfort her in her time of loss. That fantasy ended the day after Eddie’s funeral.

  “You had him killed, didn’t you? You bastard!”

  He could still hear Naomi screaming with tears rolling down her cheeks while she pounded her fists into his chest.

  “I hate you!”

  All he could do was hold her and reiterate his promise to always take care of her and the children. He had done his best for them. Barlowe saw Nikki and J.R. as his children. All he could do was help Nikki find out who had really killed her brother.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  As for Arya, she had lost her appetite and no longer felt like celebrating either. She was feeling pretty proud of herself for the way she had manipulated the circumstances. Arya had orchestrated J.R.’s murder and had cast suspicion on Wilkes. Everything was going as planned, until Nikki talked to Garraway. Maybe she should have used one of her more-than-willing minions to make the call to set up J.R. and had them killed once they completed their task.

  “Why do you look like the cat that swallowed the chicken?” Barlowe asked Arya.

  “Huh?”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing. Just a little indigestion is all,” Arya lied to Barlowe. “I’ll be fine.” She got up. “I’m going to lie down for a while.”

  Arya went to their room and shut the door. She sat down on the bed and took out her phone to make a call.

  “What’s up, sexy?” Remy answered

  “We need to talk.”

  “Where and when?”

  “The lobby lounge at the Ludlow Hotel.”

  “When?”

  “Tonight, at nine.”

  “See you tonight, sexy,” Remy said, and he ended the call.

  At nine forty-five, dressed in a Valentino Garavani drap coat and 3x1 Kaya split-cuff coated skinny jeans, Arya arrived at the Lobby Lounge, an airy, softly lit bar with cozy couches. They didn’t stay in the lounge for long.

  “We have a problem,” Arya said as soon as they entered a hotel room.

  “What’s that?”

  “Garraway told Nikki that Wilkes didn’t have anything to do with J.R.’s murder.”

  “Garraway?” Remy questioned. “I thought him and Barlowe were mortal enemies.”

  “They were. But with Nikki going hard at them, Barlowe felt the need to reach out to him to make peace.”

  “And you couldn’t stop him?”

  “No, I couldn’t. And now she’s questioning the call from Cromwell. She sent Butch to Chicago to look for him.”

  “Shit. That’s not good.” Remy shook his head. “Damn it, Arya. I knew putting that shit on Cromwell was a mistake the second you said it.”

  “Then why didn’t you say something about it then?”

  Remy didn’t answer. He sat stone-faced, looking at Arya. She sucked her teeth.

  “What’s done is done. Too late to second-guess ourselves. We need to find a way out of this.”

  “What’s your plan?”

  “We need to kill Nikki.”

  Remy chuckled. “When you say we, you mean me. I need to kill Nikki for you.”

  “No, lover.” Arya smiled. “You need to kill Nikki for us.”

  Remy nodded. “What’s in it for me?”

  “You mean other than killing her before she kills you?”

  “Yeah, Arya, other than that? What’s in it for me?”

  “Once Nikki is out of the way, someone needs to step in and run things for the old man. I can’t think of anybody better for that than you.”

  “I should be running things for Barlowe now. Not Nikki. She didn’t deserve for him to hand her power like that.”

  “You’re right. She didn’t. But since that’s what he did, you need to kill her and take what could have been yours.” Arya shook her head. “I’ve never understood why he is so dedicated to them fuckin’ kids, but he is, and it clouds his judgment.”

  Remy chuckled. “I thought only you could cloud his judgment.”

  “Funny.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s me. Mr. fuckin’ happy.”

  “Will you do it?”

  “Yeah, I’ll take care of it for us.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m telling you now, this little arrangement is fine for now, but you and I need to be taking steps to move Barlowe to retirement, or we retire him.”

  “That’s exactly what I had in mind, lover. But not until we solidify our position. Once we’ve done that, it will just be you and me.”

  “On top of the world.”

  “On top of the world where we’ve always belonged,” Arya said and got out of bed.

  “You gotta go right away?” Remy pulled back the sheet and stroked himself. “I was hoping we could go around one more time before you go.”

  “Sorry, lover. I gotta get back,” she said and went into the bathroom to shower and get dressed to go home to Barlowe.

  Remy watched the door close and looked down at his hard dick. “What you looking at me for?”

  Things were quiet for the rest of the week. Nikki focused her attention on opening the new restaurant, but she spent more time than she usually did with Barlowe so she could keep her eyes on Arya. She was the one who claimed to actually have talked to Cromwell, and Nikki didn’t trust her. However, Nikki knew better than to come out and accuse her when she had no proof. She assumed that someone else was involved with Arya. Therefore, Nikki resolved herself to watch and wait in the hope that Arya would do or say something that would expose the truth.

  Nikki had sent Butch to Chicago to look for Cromwell a week ago, and he reported that in that time, he’d had plenty of leads, but no one that he’d spoken to had actually seen Cromwell in months.

  “Come on home, Butchie,” Nikki told her soldier.

  “I’ll let you know when my flight arrives,” Butch said, and Nikki ended the call that day.

  Now that he was back, Nikki assigned him a new task. “While everybody thinks you’re still out of town, I need you to do something for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I need you to follow Arya. Stay outta sight, but I wanna know where she goes and who she talks to.”

  “You got it.”

  The following day, Nikki and Cairo were at the restaurant, which she decided to name Elixirs. They had arrived there early that morning to wait for the delivery of a new stove. It didn’t arrive on time; however, the electrician had arrived to install it, so now he was waiting as well and getting paid by the hour.

  Naomi had been there earlier in the day, but when the stove wasn’t delivered, Nikki sent her to Paragon Carpet Wholesaler to pick up samples.

  “I’m back,” Naomi announced when she returned to Elixirs.

  “Let’s see what you have for us,” Nikki said as Naomi sat down at the table with her and Cairo.

  “Okay.” She laid out the samples she’d gotten. “This one is School Zone blue. That’s Special Memories coconut husk brown.”

  “I like that one,” Nikki said.

  “I do, too,” Naomi cosigned.

  “What’s this one called?” Cairo asked.

  “Let me see.” Naomi glanced at the fact sheet that she had been given. “That is called City Limits Telegram brown, and the last one is Corner Cafe espresso.”

  “I like that one, too,” Nikki said, looking over the samples. “Which you do you like, Cairo?”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, you.”

  “I’m kinda feeling the City Limits.”

  “What do you think, Mommy?”

  “I could get with that. What do you think, Nikki?”

  “I’m kinda feeling it too.”

  “Then it’s settled, City Limits Telegram brown it is,” Naomi said as the delivery men arrived with the stove. “About time.”

  “For real.” Nikki watched as they set it in place, and then the electrician did his work.

  “I’ve got some more errands to run, so I’m gonna get outta here,” Naomi said and gathered her things to leave.

  “Thank you for coming, Mommy. As soon as he’s done with the stove, we’re gonna get outta here too,” Nikki informed her as she walked alongside Naomi to the door.

  “You two are welcome to come for dinner,” she said at the door.

  “What are you cooking?” Cairo asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. What do you want for dinner, Cairo?” Naomi asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know. What do you feel like cooking?”

  “Y’all could go around and around like that for hours,” Nikki said.

  “Well, what do you want to eat?”

  “You could make your steak and shrimp stir-fry. That’s always good,” Nikki suggested.

  “I can go for that,” Cairo said.

  “Steak and shrimp stir-fry it is,” Naomi said. “See y’all later.”

 

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