Hey, book bae!
I hope you’re ready for more of the Black Mayhem Mafia! We have a family affair happening 12.1.21— Assad & Scarlett’s wedding!
Synopsis
In His Possession… she found freedom—and love.
Assad and Scarlett are preparing for a winter wonderland wedding that the city of Memphis won’t soon forget. But will a few issues from their pasts and unsuspecting guests turn their white Christmas into a dark, bloody mess?
Sneak Peek
Unedited
Assad
October
Swerving his black Tesla into his mother’s driveway, Assad lowered the volume on the Kevin Gates he was playing. Though his expression was stone, his nerves were rattling like a baby’s toy internally. Since she was regularly taking her mood stabilizers and getting the proper amount of rest, Kirby had been a lot more intuitive and selfless lately. She’d regained the ability to see and feel what her sons were feeling without their consent. And since he could hear the worry in her voice when she called, Assad didn’t want his ill feelings to further consume her.
Kirby had her ways in the past, but Assad’s unconditional love for her wouldn’t allow him to not come when she called. She’d been working diligently to care for and restore herself while bettering her relationship with both him and Hassan. He’d even allowed her to keep Maria and AJ overnight. At this point, he was willing to do whatever it took to help her maintain her peace… even if that meant being a few minutes late for his meeting with the rest of the heads of the mafia.
After cutting his car off, Assad stepped out and looked around the empty street and quiet neighborhood. He covered his eyes with his Versace shades as a hard exhale escaped him. Running his fingers down the corners of his mouth, Assad headed toward the front door. The door was already unlocked, so when he stepped inside, Assad went directly to the kitchen since that’s where Kirby usually was.
Sure enough, she was seated, eyes darting from one corner in the kitchen to another as she nibbled on her thumbnail. Relief washed over her body and it went limp at the sight of him.
“What’s going on?” Assad asked, heading over to the round, glass table.
“Colton called me.”
“And?” He sat down, unsure why this call had gotten this type of anxiousness out of her. It didn’t matter how much he told his mother not to entertain him when he called, she did. A part of him wondered if it was because she hoped one day he’d call to apologize and seek her forgiveness but that had yet to be the case.
“This call was different.”
“How so?”
“He’s coming home. Soon.”
“What makes you say that?”
Kirby stood and grabbed the dish towel hanging off the edge of the sink. The moment she began to wipe off the already clean countertop Assad clenched his jaw. She’d been doing so damn good—the last thing she needed was Colton’s taunts to cause her to relapse.
“He told me that he can’t wait to see me when he gets here. He says we need to talk.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him that there’s nothing we need to discuss, especially in person.”
Assad stood with one bob of his head. “Then why are you so worried? Did he threaten you or say he was coming to see you anyway?”
Leaning against the sink, Kirby rubbed the center of her chest. “I don’t have a good feeling about this. I don’t know why that conversation made me so anxious, but it did. Do you have a plan in place for when he comes? Is there a way you can denounce him and make it clear we don’t have anything to do with him?” Kirby slowly walked back over to the table and stood across from him. “I’m not worried about him bothering me. It’s you and my grandbabies I’m worried about.”
That sinister smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I don’t need you over here worried about that, okay? I’ll put two guards on the house to make sure he doesn’t try to pop up.” Assad lowered his shades to make sure she was looking in his eyes when he added, “Colton can call and make plans all he wants. The moment he’s spotted, he will be taken care of. We can keep it gangsta or be gentlemen about it, his choice. But you don’t have to worry about us, Ma. We’re going to take care of it.”
Releasing a loaded breath, Kirby nodded and blinked rapidly. “A part of me wishes me and April could handle his ass but she’s so holier than thou her ass would try to throw holy water on me if I even stepped foot in the same room as her.”
Though April’s extreme religious antics shouldn’t have been funny, Assad couldn’t help but chuckle. April’s hatred of Kirby and the sons she birthed had never been a secret. He’d never seen an adult feel so bitter toward a child for merely existing until he was old enough to recognize the hate in her eyes when she looked at them. It used to fuck with him as a kid, but now… he had no fucks to give.
“Fuck April. If you want that, you’ll have that. I’ll put ’im at your feet and let you release his spirit. Whatever it takes to make sure you keep up the progress you’ve been making.”
Her head hung briefly as he stood. “I’m not going to let him get in my head, son. I promise. Peace comes from knowing you’re going to handle this. I can’t lie… Colton has a way of…” Her head shook as she stared through him in thought. Her eyes were frozen, but when she blinked, that seemed to pull her out of her trance. “I-I’m sorry I…”
“I can’t control you, so if you answer his calls that’s on you. You know how he gets to you and makes you start thinking differently. It won’t do me any good to make moves to keep him away from us all if you willingly invite him back into your life during a moment of weakness.” He paused before adding, “I need you to promise me that you won’t answer any more of his calls. Don’t give him the opportunity to convince you that he’s changed in any way. Can you do that?”
Kirby cleared her throat as her brows wrinkled. “He just… gets me so flustered. I know in my mind that he’s a horrible evil that needs to be put down permanently. But there’s still this part of me that…” She looked away. “Feels love for him and attached to him. Hope that maybe one day…”
“That’s not love,” Assad rejected quickly. “You’ve never loved him. Y’all bonded through trauma and pain and that’s a hard bond to break. You’re healing and living better than you ever have. There should be no confusion about how detrimental Colt would be to that.”
“You’re right,” she almost whispered. “I won’t answer anymore of his calls.”
Assad wasn’t 100 percent confident in her words but all he could do was trust them and her. “Okay. Call me or Sanny if you need anything.”
She nodded, losing herself in her thoughts yet again, and it was taking everything in Assad to not call Colt and try to find out his location right the fuck now. Kirby had been doing too fucking good to be swayed by the slithering of such a common snake. One who had been bad for her in every way possible. In fact, the only good things that came from Colt were the children he’d made and empire he gave.
All the hope and grace Assad had stored up for his father over the years faded with each day of his absence and neglect. Each day of his presence and abuse. Disrespect. Too many lives had been shifted and hearts broken for Colt to have mercy. But he’d get it—as long as Assad was the boss of all bosses. One chance to leave the city in peace. If Colt didn’t take it, that mercy would expire… and so would Colt’s time here on earth.
—
Tell me in a comment what you’re expecting to happen at this wedding!