By this time next week, the Kings will no longer exist…
The moment those words left Justin’s mouth, Bruce’s breath hitched, Marco’s mouth dropped, Marcus’ eyes widened and John stood there, eyes glazed and lips pressed together seemingly knowing what was going to happen.
“You can’t be serious—”
“I am and if you don’t believe me now, you will when your office is cleared out,” Justin bravely spoke though his confidence was nowhere to be found.
They lost the battle and there was no fighting it now—everything was falling apart at the seams and there was nothing he or anyone else could do to stop it.
Lyndon won and he didn’t even know it yet.
Just the thought of how he’d react to the news made Justin’s stomach twist in all sorts of directions, bile rising in his throat. The guy who ruined everything in mere months, who turned this entire town upside down and made him choose between the two most important women in his life as some sick twisted game was going to have it all.
“Does Prince know?” Bruce spoke quietly just as he lifted his head slightly to look over at Justin.
Shaking his head, he licked his lips, “No, I thought we’d do it all together after we sort everything else out. I wanted us to be able to give the news to our guys before it spread like wildfire.”
Nodding, Bruce furrowed his brows together as if further thinking this through. Twisting his lips to the side, he chewed on the inside of his cheek, “When should we start wrapping it all up?”
“I say we take a few days to let this settle in but the sooner the better. We need to get our paperwork together, the calls, incoming shipment deals and all the settlements we made.”
Though he was still angry, Bruce forced himself to remain calm, listening to Justin’s orders instead of giving them—something that he wasn’t quite used to, being that he was the one who usually took control of that position.
“Alright,” He laid his hands on his lower lips, taking a deep breath, “I’ll get started on it right now.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I want to. It’ll give me something to do and it’ll get rid of the stress that’ll sure build by the time it’s over.” Inwardly wincing, Bruce paused to recollect his thoughts, “Instead of letting it pile on, I might as well handle some of it before it gets to be too much.”
“Okay,” and just like that, he was gone, leaving them all standing there with the inevitable hanging over their heads.
“Is this… are you being for real?” Marco broke the thick tension that began to weave its way through the atmosphere surrounding them. “This is really the end of us?”
“No, I’m lying,” Justin spat sarcastically, eyes narrowed, “If you want to stay out of prison then yes, this is it. I just—” Running his hands down his face, he cursed apprehensively, desperate for this all to be over already, “It was either we live or die… we knew of the consequences back when we first decided to join but now, we have so much more to live for… I know I probably should have talked to you guys before making the final decision but a part of me knew that if I gave you guys the decision you would—”
“Choose to stay,” Marcus finished for him and as Justin grimaced, he sighed, “you’re probably right but you couldn’t be more wrong at the same time. I mean, yeah, what we built for ourselves… it became what we lived for and what we all know and grew accustomed to. We’re all a family but with the girls here, there’s more at risk. I’m glad you made the decision you had because I don’t know what I’d do without Kadra’s loud mouth.”
