Reaper

43

While slowly climbing off the bed, I frowned, "I thought you said you'd be spending some time away in Cali?"

He was leaned against the door with crossed arms. He wore a grey sweatpants and matching sweatshirt with Yeezys on his feet. He had a fresh cut and shape up, and it made me wonder if he had done all of this knowing how it would make me feel. He looked so fucking fine, but he was pissed still, so I had to watch all of his fineness from a distance. He was trying to torture me, and his plan was working.

"Catching someone in a lie feels like betrayal, don't it?" he asked, and I shamefully looked away. We stood in silence, but I could feel his eyes on me through it all. Quiet never felt any louder. I raised my eyes and connected them with his, and he asked the question that he had been wanting to ask the minute he thought about it in California. "Was any of it real?"

"All of it," I answered, and I could see some hurt in his eyes. I hated that he was questioning the moments we shared, but I understood why he would. I would've felt so betrayed and used if I were him. I wasn't expecting his forgiveness any time soon.

He asked, "Why didn't you tell me when I asked if you wanted me to look into your dad's death?"

"I got scared. I panicked. Things were just starting to go well for us, and I didn't want to ruin that," I answered, which wasn't a lie. Michael was our driver that night, and seeing him as Azias asked about my dad scared the shit out of me. If Azias had been persistent in asking questions, Michael would have probably taken matters into his own hands or have the Boss retaliate against me.

"Why do I feel like you're keeping something from me?" he asked as he stared deeply into my eyes. I loved and hated that he could read into me so well. He was attentive, and I liked that, but now wasn't the time for that.

Normally, he was good at hiding his emotions, but today, he was letting them linger throughout the conversation, and that only made me feel worse about myself. I could see pain, worry, anger, and care jumbled up in his eyes. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't manage the ripple effects the truth would have. "Sapphire, what aren't you telling me?"

I looked away and lied, "Nothing..."

"Is someone else threatening you?" He asked with worry laced in his voice as he walked over to me. He cupped my chin and lifted my head so that I could look into his eyes. "You can tell me anything."

Shifting the attention off from myself I pointed out, "You don't tell me everything either, you know. Somethings are better left unsaid, right?"

He released my chin and nodded as he looked away. He then admitted, "You're right, I don't tell you everything." He connected eyes with me and sighed, "It keeps you safe though."

"Does it, or does it keep me from not thinking negatively about you?" I asked.

"Both," he stated. "This isn't about me, though. You're in trouble. I can see that much. I just don't know how much trouble, but I wanna help."

"600 thousand," I said, and he had a slight frown. "Cash. That's how much they want."

Azias frowned, "I thought you said you didn't know the amount?"

"Who goes around telling someone they owe someone 600k?" I asked, not answering his question.

"I'll have it by next week," he promised.

I frowned, "Says no one ever. There's no way you can just withdraw that amount of money like that."

"Don't worry about that," he sighed. "How are you transferring the money?"

"I can arrange to drop the money off at my apartment and have the person pick it up from there." I answered.

He nodded, "Good. I'll have some men scoping out the area."

I frowned, "What for?"

"Trust me, when people make such a high request for money and you give it to them, they never go away. They come back again and again and again. They don't give a fuck if you had to sell your soul to get the money. You got it once, which means you can find a way to get it again," he answered.

Fuck, I thought to myself. Maybe that's why the Boss made the request for 100k.

Azias further argued, "When they ask for a hundred thousand or something, you can tell that you're dealing with amateurs. Once it hits half a mil and up, you're dealing with people who know what they're doing."

I don't know what I'm doing!

"This nigga popped your dad. He means business, and he's definitely done this before. I wanna find out who this person is. If it's someone I know, I can make the problem go away peacefully, else I'll resort to-" Azias got out before I cut him off.

I frowned, "Murder?!"

"You think we walk with guns for fashion?" He teased. "Don't worry, you won't be in the area. I'll have someone else drop the money off. Then I'll wait to see who comes to pick it up."

"Azias, I don't think it's as deep-" I got out before he cut me off.

He shook his head, "You don't know this side of the world. I've been living in it for a minute. Trust me, whoever you're dealing with ain't no amateur, and I'm not willing to risk losing you." He paused as I stared into his eyes, and he broke eye contact while sighing. He then connected eyes with me again before saying, "I care about you, Sapphire. The last thing I want is for you to end up like Jade, so can you please just let me take care of this?"

"Okay," I said to shut him up. My plan had gone to complete shit, and I needed to think of another.