Page 28 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2
Nan tsks at me as my cousin cleans up the sterile area.
“You put your hands on her?”
I buck my good eye at her, not acknowledging the pain from my other. “Do you not see what that bitch did to me?” I point to the eye patch.
She bristles. “Reno says she has hand marks on her neck, and a deep cut on her hand.”
“I choked her ass out after she sliced my face open. Are you serious? Do you not remember who you’re related to? I should have snapped her neck immediately.”
“Will you? Kill her? I know how important your face is.”
Nan narrows her eyes, ready to spot a lie. But I don’t answer right away.
I should murk Snow. I’m well within my right to. Part of my job is being able to blend in a crowd, and with a fucking scar on half my face, that’s over with. I’ll be retiring immediately, killing off multiple aliases around the world. I’m not exactly upset; it’s a great way to retire from my extracurricular business, besides actually dying, but the fact that I’m being forced, by Snow no less, has me itching for revenge.
Plus, I like blending in, especially after trying so hard to stand out coming up in the BBs.
All that’s over with.
Just like her life should be.
However, when I look at myself in the mirror, looking like I’m about to rob niggas in the sea for gold, I fight a smile. My lips keep pulling at the corners, and when I meet Nan’s gaze, we both chuckle.
“You know, your mother sliced Pooh Bear up, too.”
I turn toward her, shock reverberating through me. Nan never talks about Ma. Pooh, entirely too much, but rarely Yani.
“What?”
She nods, chuckling more. “It was an accident, but she did it. On his arm. She cried the whole way to the ER.”
A lightbulb goes off. “That scar he always covers?”
She smiles and nods again. “Pooh Bear said it was a love tap, and never wanted anyone else to see it. He was romantic like that. And it helped Yani feel better about hurting him.”
Part of me wants to ask her to keep going, but I know Nan well enough to know she won’t. She can’t. I see the light leaving her eyes before she clears her throat and stands.
“You’ve hurt her. And now, she’s hurt you. It should be easier to clear the air.”
With that, she shuffles out with my cousin, leaving me in the makeshift infirmary of the resort.
I try to roll my eyes before I flinch at the pain of my stitches pulling.
And just like that, I’m angry again.
Snow has the nerve to sleep peacefully, despite the handcuffs. She’s curled onto her side, mouth parted, snoring softly. I stand at the side of the bed, fists clenched, willing myself to calm down. When nothing happens to the rage zapping through my chest, I break down and walk back all the way to the infirmary.
I’m already used to my eye being in pain. It thumps to the beat of my heart, the skin trying to fuse itself back together. Once again, Snow has me pissed at how much I empathize with Pooh.
The scratch doesn’t bother me… too much. I’ve always been good at healing, so I’ll reassess once the patch and stitches come off.
It’s the inevitable conversation I need to have with Snow that has me ready to strangle her.
I was careful for years. Set and Snow weren’t into overt public displays of affection, but even then if we popped out, I kept a bitch with me. It was easy enough to almost ignore they relationship. Fredo refused to divulge any information, even going as far as to only chill with me alone, without Set, who he’d grown even closer to while I was gone. He figured that he wouldn’t want to provoke me into breaking the promise he made me make under duress.
He didn’t say shit, until the last time we hung out. I was only in town for a night, unauthorized at that. Shit was shaky in the city, with everyone on alert about the new rift between Tiny and Set. Fredo had told me Set had hooked up with Sabrina, Tiny’s daughter. He said some dumb shit, about how they reminded him of how me and Snow used to be. I ignored him and asked him about that stupid ass tatt on his neck.
After Fredo passed, no one knew to even try to give me updates, and Snow made herself scarce.
