Business is Business PT 5 Read online

  “Everything happened so fast.” Eric moved in and cupped both of Nicole’s ass cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about that. I want to focus on us getting back into a good space.”

  Nicole leaned in to kiss Eric when she heard a loud knock at the door.

  “You expecting company or something?” Eric asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

  “Nah, the only person that even knows I’m here is Millie.” Nicole headed to the door to see who was interrupting her and Eric’s moment. Nicole opened the door and out in the hallway stood three big Italian men dressed in suits. “Can I help you?”

  “Ma’am, step to the side. We’re here to get the man in your room off the property,” the leader of the pack spoke in a deep voice.

  “What’s the problem?” Nicole asked, suddenly remembering that they were in a Russo hotel.

  “Step to the side, ma’am,” the leader said forcing his way inside the room. He held a metal baton in his hand. The leader took another step, when his feet were quickly swept from under him. Eric watched as the big man hit the floor hard. Nicole caught the next man in the room with a quick rabbit punch that stunned him. She quickly followed up with a knee to the man’s stomach then proceeded to roughly take the man down to the floor. The third man hit Nicole in the back with his baton when Eric ran full speed and tackled him down to the floor out into the hallway. Eric looked up and saw Pistol Pete getting busy with two Italian men at the end of the hall. The big man punched Eric in the face then picked him up and violently slammed him down to the floor. The big man handled Eric. The big man picked Eric up, ran full speed, and rammed Eric’s back into the wall.

  Back in the room, Nicole stood behind the big Italian man and snapped his neck. Nicole ran over to the bed and removed her pistol. She screwed the silencer on the barrel as she stepped out into the hallway with fire dancing in her eyes. Nicole walked up to the two men that Pistol Pete was fighting with and put a bullet in the back of both of their heads. Nicole then headed towards the staircase where Eric and the last Italian man stood going blow for blow. Neither one backing down or letting up in either man’s eye. The Italian man weaved Eric’s last punch, scooped him off his feet, and tossed him down the stairs as if he was a rag doll. The Italian man stood at the top of the stairs with a smile of victory on his face when out of nowhere his brains popped out the top of his head. The Italian man’s body crumbled down to the floor then tumbled down the stairs. Nicole stood behind him holding a smoking gun in her hand. Her face covered with specs of blood. “Come on, baby! We have to go!” Nicole ran down the steps and quickly helped Eric to his feet.

  CHAPTER 19

  Jimmy Mason

  “Let me get that for you, baby.” Jimmy stepped out of the driver seat and walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and watched as Cherokee stepped out dressed in a tight fitting purple dress with the purple heels to match. Her hair was freshly done and her makeup was flawless. For the last few weeks, Jimmy had been in the doghouse and couldn’t seem to keep Cherokee off his back so tonight he decided to take her out to a nice restaurant and wine and dine her. He hoped that would get him back on her good side. “You look amazing, baby.”

  “Mm…hmm,” Cherokee huffed. She knew exactly what Jimmy was up to and wasn’t falling for his games. “And don’t think just because you’re taking me out that you getting some of this good pussy later either.”

  “Ain’t nobody thinking about you or that box right now,” Jimmy lied. “I’m just trying to take my queen out and have a nice time.”

  “Oh, so now I’m your queen?” Cherokee rolled her eyes. “Was I your queen when you had that light skin girl all up in your face at the club the other night? Was I your queen then?”

  “You always going to be my queen,” Jimmy wrapped his arm around Cherokee’s waist as they entered the restaurant. The hostess escorted the couple to a nice candle lit table. Over in the middle of the floor sat a man in a nice suit playing a soft tune on the piano.

  “This place is nice,” Cherokee smiled, as the waiter brought a bottle of red wine and sat it on their table along with two wine glasses.

  “Need a little bit more time to look over the menu?” the waiter asked politely.

  “Yeah give us a minute,” Jimmy quickly dismissed the waiter and turned his focus back on Cherokee. He reached under the table and rubbed on Cherokee’s leg but she quickly smacked his hand away.

  “Get your hands off me. Ain’t no telling where they been,” Cherokee spat as she lifted her glass up to her mouth and took a deep sip of wine. “And what you in such a good mood for?”

  “My moms just texted me,” Jimmy smiled. “The faucet just got put back on so we’re back in business.”

  Cherokee huffed. “Guess that means I won’t be seeing you much,” she said with a slight attitude. Cherokee knew how busy Jimmy was going to be in the upcoming weeks but she didn’t complain, especially since it was drug money that allowed her to live such a lavish lifestyle.

  “Yeah, I’m about to put the streets back in a head lock,” Jimmy boasted. As Jimmy spoke, Cherokee noticed four Italian men quickly making their way over to their table over Jimmy’s shoulder.

  “Baby, I think we got company,” Cherokee whispered.

  “How many?” Jimmy slipped his hand inside his suit jacket and gripped the handle of his 9mm. He made sure not to look back not wanting to alert his attackers.

  “Four,” Cherokee answered.

  * * *

  Bad News stepped inside the fancy restaurant with a no-nonsense look on his face and a baseball bat in his hand. Behind him were three of his toughest goons who also carried baseball bats. Bad News walked swiftly through the restaurant until he spotted Jimmy and some big booty girl sitting down having a conversation over a glass of wine. Before Jimmy could get the heads up, Bad News jogged towards the couple’s table and hit Jimmy in the back of the head with the baseball bat. The wooden bat echoed loudly as it bounced off the back of Jimmy’s skull. Jimmy fell out his chair and clutched the back of his head. He dropped his gun in the process of him falling to the floor.

  “Yeah, talk that shit now motherfucker!” Bad News growled as he and his comrades beat Jimmy down with their bats as if he was a dog in the streets.

  Cherokee snatched the wine bottle off the table and shattered it over one of the Italian men head. She was quickly rewarded with a backslap that took her off her feet. Bad News picked up the table and lifted it over his head then violently tossed it down on Cherokee. Bad News then dragged Cherokee’s body and laid it on top of Jimmy. “I have a message from Frank Russo.” Bad News pulled out his penis and peed on both Jimmy and Cherokee. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice about fucking with a don,” Bad News laughed as him and his team exited the restaurant.

  CHAPTER 20

  Millie Mason

  Millie sat at the head of the table with an annoyed look on her face. “Okay, looks like we’re going to have to get this meeting started without Jimmy.” She paused for a second to take a sip of water. “Like I told everyone, we are back in business and it’s time to take the streets back over. Of course, we know Mike is no longer with us anymore which means we have to move a lot smarter. We have three weeks to get this money back to Brady so we don’t have no time to play no games. I need everyone on their A game.”

  “I have all the stash houses lined up and ready to go,” Eric said.

  Murder sat at the table with a concerned look on his face. He had called Jimmy over ten times with no answer or reply. “I got all the soldiers lined up and ready to go. The streets are hungry right now.”

  “Then let’s feed them,” Millie said. “Each crew will be supplied tonight. Let’s put the Mason family name back on the map.” Millie paused when she smelled something burning. “Y’all smell that?” Millie stood to her feet and grabbed her .380 from her holster. She walked out to the back to inspect where the smell was coming from. Millie stepped out back and saw a hooded man hunched over holding a containe
r of gasoline in his hand. Without warning, Millie shot the hooded man in the back three times. She stepped over the hooded man’s dead body and worked her way around to the other side of the house where she saw bright orange and blue flames. “Shit!” Millie cursed as she saw the side of the house going up in flames. As Millie stood admiring the flames, she was suddenly tackled down to the ground from behind. She rolled over and struggled with the next hooded man. While Millie rolled around on the ground with the mystery man she heard several gunshots being fired coming somewhere from the other side of the mansion. Eric ran out the back door in search of his mother and found her rolling on the ground with a hooded man. Eric quickly put a bullet in the back of the hooded man’s head then helped his mother back up to her feet. “There’s four more men on the other side of the house!” Eric said as he led Millie back inside the mansion.

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the mansion, Lethal Weapon broke into a side door and entered the mansion like a cat burglar. He immediately splashed gasoline on anything he laid his eyes on. Without thinking twice, Lethal Weapon struck a match, tossed it over his shoulder, and moved on to the next part of the house. Lethal Weapon stepped over several dead bodies as he left a long trail of gasoline on the floor. Some of the bodies belonged to the Mason family security while the others were good friends of Lethal Weapon. Lethal Weapon stopped when he looked ahead and saw four security guards headed his way. He quickly struck a match, set the rest of the mansion on fire, and then took off in a sprint down the hall.

  Pistol Pete stopped short as the flames rose to eye level. He raised his arm and sent five shots at Lethal Weapon’s departing back. “Fuck!” Pistol Pete cursed, as he headed back downstairs.

  * * *

  Nicole sprang from behind the wall and dropped two hooded men with headshots. She stepped over the dead bodies and kneeled down and touched the pulse of one of the Mason family’s favorite security guards only to find out there wasn’t one. “Damn.” Nicole stood back to her feet and continued on through the mansion. She wanted to save as many of her people as possible. As Nicole moved throughout the mansion, she stopped when she felt a strong hand reach out and grab her ankle. She looked down and saw a hooded man begging for some assistance. Nicole aimed her gun at the man’s face and pulled the trigger with no remorse. Then she backpedaled outside.

  Millie stood in front of the driveway and watched as the mansion burned. Her clothes were covered in blood and her nails were ruined. Millie turned to Eric. “I want to know who’s responsible for this by the morning,” she said in a light whisper. Knuckles walked over and placed a friendly hand on Millie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry the house is burning.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Millie replied in a whisper. Then she turned to Murder. “I need you to go and find Jimmy now and tell him to call me immediately!”

  CHAPTER 21

  Lethal Weapon

  Lethal Weapon laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. The scene of the Mason family mansion burning down replayed in his mind repeatedly. Every time he thought about it, a small sick smile crept on his face. Lethal Weapon loved to use violence to solve any and every problem and was thrilled when Frank Russo gave him the green light to go at the Mason family. Not only was Lethal Weapon doing something he loved he was also getting paid for it. Lethal Weapon’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard his alarm system go off, followed by the sound of a grown man howling in pain. “What the hell?” Lethal Weapon sat up, grabbed his .45 from off the nightstand, and headed downstairs to investigate what had triggered off the alarm. He made it downstairs and saw two of his closest friends sprawled out on the floor with a bullet lodged in the middle of both of their foreheads. Friends that he’d done time with; friends that he trusted with his life. Now, Lethal Weapon would have to come up with a lie to tell their mother’s. Lethal Weapon took a few steps forward then came to a sudden stop when he heard movement coming from behind him.

  “Drop that gun right now!” Nicole growled in a light whisper. “Don’t make me repeat myself,” she warned. Lethal Weapon slowly placed his gun down on the floor and turned around so he could look his killer in the eyes.

  “A woman, a fucking woman! You gotta be kidding me!” Lethal Weapon laughed. “After all the wrong I’ve done all my life, this is how it’s going to end, huh? Me getting killed by a woman!”

  “Millie Mason sends her love,” Nicole said then pulled the trigger shooting Lethal Weapon dead in the face. She didn’t even bother to wait around to see his body hit the floor.

  * * *

  Eric sat in the car with a nervous look on his face. He felt bad for sending Nicole into the house all by herself but she begged and insisted on him letting her handle everything on her own. The longer Nicole remained inside the property the more nervous Eric became and the more he had to talk himself out running up in the house like a mad man. As a man, he felt as if he was supposed to be the one fighting for the family. Not his woman. Eric glanced down at his watch. “If she ain’t out in one minute, I’m going in there,” he said to himself. A 9mm rested on Eric’s lap with a silencer attached to the barrel. Millie told him that Nicole was the best but Eric still didn’t see her as an assassin. Instead, he saw her as the love of his life. He was used to her cooking, washing dishes, and looking sexy. Not kicking ass and holding guns. “Fuck this!” Eric growled as opened the driver door. But before his foot could even touch the ground, he looked up and saw Nicole walk out the front door and down the path toward the truck. She slid in the passenger seat, put on her seat belt, and leaned over and kissed Eric on the cheek. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Eric quickly shifted the gear in drive and pulled away from the curb. For the first two minutes of the ride, neither Eric nor Nicole said a word until finally Eric decided to break the ice. “So, how did it go back there?”

  “That was a piece of cake,” Nicole said nonchalantly.

  “So like…how did you get started?” Eric asked.

  “In what? The cleaning business?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, let me start off by saying I used to be a good girl once upon a time but lack of money will make you do some things one may not have known they were even capable of doing,” Nicole said. “I did my first job when I was fourteen,” she admitted. “I didn’t have any money and a guy offered to pay me $3,000 to kill someone.” Nicole paused for a second. “I was desperate and needed the money so I said “what the hell.” Then, after that job, I did another and then another until finally I decided to take it seriously. I began training my body as well as my mind. I practiced on my aim for years, worked on hand to hand combat, and became a beast.”

  Eric sat with his mouth wide-open taking in every word.

  “Being in the line of work I’m in, it wasn’t smart for me to be in a relationship,” Nicole explained. “I’m no virgin but this is most definitely my first real relationship and when you dumped me a few weeks ago I felt so empty and alone.” Nicole paused to wipe a tear from her eye. “I realized at that moment that I would give it all up just to be with you.”

  Her words hit Eric hard and made him feel bad for dumping her. He had no idea the type of hurt she had been through in her life. All he saw was a pretty face and a nice body. He was now learning about Nicole’s history and it only made him love her even more. Eric placed his hand on top of Nicole’s. “I never meant to hurt you, baby.”

  Nicole nodded. “I know, baby. Pull over right here.”

  “Right here?” Eric asked. They were on the highway going seventy miles per hour.

  “Yes, right here!”

  “Thinking it was an emergency,” Eric quickly signaled and pulled over to the shoulder of the road. When the truck came to a stop, Nicole quickly hopped out. Eric got out along with Nicole and walked around to the passenger side to see what was wrong. “What’s the matter?”

  Nicole stood there for a second looking into Eric’s eyes not saying a word. Without warn, Nicole dropped down to one knee and removed
a jewelry box from her pocket. “Eric, will you marry me?” Nicole opened the jewelry revealing a diamond encrusted wedding band.

  Eric stood there with his mouth wide open at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe what his ears were hearing. Never in a million years would he have expected this. “Are you serious?”

  Nicole nodded looking up into Eric’s eyes.

  “Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you,” Eric smiled as Nicole slid the ring on his finger. He grabbed Nicole and pulled her in close as the two locked lips.

  “I don’t ever want to be without you,” Nicole whispered.

  “And you never have to, baby.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Murder

  Murder pulled into Jimmy’s driveway and killed the engine. It had been a couple of days since the last time he had spoken to or heard from Jimmy so Murder took it upon himself to just pop up at Jimmy’s house and see what was really going on. Not knowing what to expect, Murder gripped the handle of his 9mm and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, Cherokee answered the door. “Oh hey, Murder. Come on in.”

  Murder stepped inside the lavish home and the first thing he noticed was the huge gash just above Cherokee’s eye. “Everything alright?” Murder nodded towards the gash on Cherokee’s face. “I’ve been trying to call Jimmy for the last few days and I got no answer.”

  “Yeah, my bad. We got into a little scuffle the other night with some Italian clowns,” Cherokee said as if the beating she and Jimmy had taken was nothing. “Come on, he’s right back here.”

  Murder stepped in the room and saw Jimmy laying in the bed looking all battered and bruised. “What the fuck happen?”