Page 64 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

I pop up like a daisy, stumbling a little as my eyes zero in on Rico.

I start to exhale as he lowers the big gun, just to raise my hands when he reaches behind him and levels a handgun at me.

“Bring that ass here.”

I take timid steps toward the psycho, but when his trigger finger tightens I hightail it over to him.

His arm, heavier from the submachine gun, swings around my shoulders as he turns me around.

Pooh rises slowly, looking oddly proud at his son hugging me, and grins harder when Rico presses the barrel of the handgun to my temple.

“Rico–” I try to whisper, but he cuts me off.

“Creíste que habías logrado algo por follarte a mi novia? Quién te habló de ella?” (You thought you’d accomplished something by fucking my girlfriend? Who told you about her?)

Whatever Rico says has Pooh balling his face up immediately as his eyes dance from me to his son. “No se–”

“DON’T FUCKING LIE TO ME!” Rico roars. A squeal leaves me involuntarily, as I shiver against the gun barrel. He presses it harder, making Pooh raise his hands in surrender.

“Hijo, I ain’t–”

“Then why the fuck she got Ma’s bracelet?! Why the fuck she know about the chandelier?! Tell ‘em, Snow! Tell that nigga how your ho ass couldn’t keep them legs or your mouth closed!”

I cut my eyes to the wall, trying to sort through what the hell he just said. How could Rico know that Pooh gave me a bracelet? No one but me and Ty know I spent Christmas hiding out with him, and I know Ty wouldn’t spill the beans.

And I definitely didn’t have sex for a very long time after my abortion.

What is he talking about?

Blinking a few times, remnants of the night I cut Rico filter in my brain, and zero in on when exactly I put my fucking foot in my mouth.

Why is the fuck did I choose to say that to be petty?

In my defense, I absolutely would not have guessed we would all end up here. With Richard Alvarez once again overreacting.

“You’re an idiot,” I mutter, pushing him away from me.

Rico stumbles, dropping the heavy rifle on the ground and aiming his handgun at Pooh.

“You really think I would fuck your dad?!” I screech, stretching out my arms away from my body.

Confusion colors his face. “You said–”

“Because you told me you fucked my best friend! Because you burned me, and shot at me!” I push him again, and he stumbles a bit, his arms dropping to his sides.

“You have always treated me like shit, and thought even worse of me! What the fuck!”

His eyebrows pull as he averts his eyes. “That’s not true–”

“Son–”

Rico’s hand lifts immediately, leveling his gun at Pooh.

His original words die on his tongue, but he doesn’t back down. Not at all.

He just shifts his gaze to me.

“Rico had money on your head. That’s why–”