At Her Best.

Fourteen.

"Bitch you got ten seconds to make this make sense!" I huffed. "One...two...eight!"

Astra looked around nervously, frightened obviously. We laid Havali down with the best threesome he probably done ever had in his life, and then the bastard kicked us out, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Havali claimed to have business to attend to, but I knew better. His punk ass just wanted to get rid of us, he more than likely had another bitch coming after us. Astra breathed out slowly, and I believed she was making an attempt to calm herself. She wasn't used to these surroundings, for the wind was howling and dogs were barking viciously. But none of this bothered me. We weren't in a safe place, but this was all I knew at one point of my life. There was nothing that could pop out at us that would have me as shook as Astra's jumpy, scary ass.

"How are we getting outta here?" Astra shuddered. "That homeless man we passed doesn't look too friendly."

"How are we getting out of here?!" I repeated, snapping. "Honey, if your story doesn't line up in a few seconds there isn't going to be no 'we' anymore! Havali said y'all fucked a couple times, you should at least be familiar with his environment. Now start talking!"

"Yeah we messed around...but we did it at hotels and in cars." Astra exasperated, shaking. "Seriously Raja, how are we getting outta here? My phone's dead so I can't Uber us back to civilization. It's cold as fuck, and I feel like we're being watched."

Astra began to walk quickly, but I dead stopped and stared at her inquisitively. Why the hell was she continuously dodging the question I wanted answered the most? Was the answer going to be that detrimental to our partnership? To our friendship? What could she be hiding? I stood there with my arms folded until she finally looked back at me. She knew I wasn't playing games.

"Okay, fine." Astra sighed, warming herself with her arms. "Tonight, I went for the same reason most prostitutes do. I need protection. I've quickly learnt that being in this business is cutthroat, and I can't solely depend on Renzo for my safety. I didn't know you were going to be here tonight, Havali only mentioned a threesome with another woman. He didn't give a name. That's all there is to it. I'm sorry I went behind your back."

I shifted my stance, and folded my arms. Now Astra's lies might have worked if I hadn't been friends with her for over two years. I knew her pretty damn well, and she wasn't telling me the whole truth. I glared at Astra, fishing for a real conclusion. Her words were saying one thing, but her body language was saying something else. Although I could stomach her having sneaky link ups with Havali behind my back, I knew something was still up. Renzo couldn't be everywhere protecting both Astra and I, I'll give her that. But something wasn't clean in the buttermilk. Who did she need protection from? I sure as hell ain't did shit to her...yet.

"You're lying. Don't make me pull the truth out of you." I snapped. "You know I will."

"Yeah, I knew you weren't going to buy that." Astra murmured, tapping her foot. "Alright, here goes. Prince Deo is onto you about whatever deceitful thing you did to him, and he's doing some foul shit to me as a get back. That's why I called Havali. Deo said if I told you he'd kill you and me both. And Raja, he doesn't seem like he's playing around. We gotta be careful. Whatever shit you got us into, you better untangle."

I huffed. It literally took all the strength within me for me to not knock Astra the fuck out. Why the fuck didn't she disclose this information sooner? We were a team for crying out loud. Not the strongest team, but a team nevertheless. We vowed to be completely honest with each other, everything was supposed to be pure transparency. And the fact that she let Deo scare her was only irritating me more. The client gets the upper hand every time you let him get the best of you, and therefore it'll be easier to take advantage of you because he now knows your weak spots. Deo probably thinks Astra is easy to get over on, and that sure as hell ain't a good look for me. I was extremely disappointed in her, because I sure as hell educated her on what to expect out of these crooked ass clients. Everything I taught Astra probably went in one ear and out the next.

"Look Raja, I know you're mad. That's expected." Astra continued. "But I was only protecting you! Whatever you did to Deo, you need to fix it. I've been putting up with his abuse, his unnecessary greed for sex. That's why I pulled Havali into this. I was hoping to dissolve the situation without getting you involved."

"You keeping this from me has got to be the dumbest shit you've ever done!" I responded, stomping towards Astra. "From the minute you knew anything, I should have been your first call. Look at us Astra! We're still alive, breathing! If Deo was going to do something, he would have done it by now. You let a stupid fucker fool you."

"A stupid fucker wouldn't have been able to fool me if you were doing what the fuck you were supposed to do!" Astra snapped back. "You were supposed to be the one not leaving me blindsided, you were the one who promised to look out for me and not lead me astray! So don't flip this shit around on me! This both our faults."

Well my, my, my, when the fuck did she grow these balls? I looked at Astra like she was straight up tripping, because this bitch surely done lost her rabbit ass mind speaking to me like that. Astra sighed restlessly and breathed out. I'll admit that I should have paid more attention to the Deo situation, but I had other shit going on. Now that I was aware, it was time to calculate efficiently. It was only a matter of time before Deo decided to fully strike, and I needed to be prepared. Thanks to Astra I was caught slipping, but now that I know what I know, I had to move accordingly.

"Raja, I'm really sorry okay." Astra whispered. "This whole thing is stressing me the hell out, and it's starting to fuck with my mental. I'm sorry. I-"

"I told Renzo to meet us by the bus stop up the road." I snapped. "Havali and my brother have an old beef and I didn't want that ruining anything. Let's go."

Astra nodded and kept up with me, blowing air in her hands. She definitely looked scared, and was trying her best to act like how I taught her. A part of me started to feel bad, so I grabbed her hand and gave her a small smile for encouragement. I don't know if I was getting soft or what, but I wanted to relieve Astra of whatever feeling she may have been going through.

"I'm sorry for keeping the Deo thing from you." Astra said after a while. "I thought I was doing what's best."

"It's fine." I answered. "You're still new to this life, you'll make mistakes before you get better. But from now on, promise me you'll keep it a buck with me, and I'll do the same with you. Astra, we're in this together. If something affects you, then it affects me too. I'll handle Deo, but it's best that he doesn't know that I know what's really going on."

Astra pulled out her pinky to swear her allegiance. I reciprocated even though I was rolling my eyes at the act. Renzo pulled up and we scrambled into his vehicle, grateful to be rid of the cold air. On the drive back to my apartment, I got to thinking. Deo was a true loose cannon and I had to get to him before he got to me. I was already one step ahead of the prince, because I knew his intent. I never thought the prince and I would end up on bad terms. But now I had to bury him. Literally or figuratively, I still haven't figured that part out yet. But something had to be done. Quickly too.