Page 131 of The Ninth

He threw Timbo down as someone pointed a rifle to him. His eyes fell towards the bar and rested there. I had no doubt he was staring at both Tati and Kenzie.

Tati’s frame came into view as she tried to run past him and towards the section. His long arm caught her mid stride, a small smirk appearing on his face. He laughed a deep, scary laugh while lifting her into the air as if she weighed nothing.

“So she’s up there?” he chuckled.

“CASSSSIEEE!”

“Tatianna, don’t piss me off. Keep her and her back there. Don’t point no guns at them,” K3 said calmly.

As he carried Tatianna back to the bar with one hand, I seen it as my window. No one was really paying attention. They were all focused on pushing the club goers out the door and forcing the staff to line up. I hopped over the bar, dashing towards the steps.

“AYE!” someone yelled as I ran faster and faster.

Fuck them. I’m not letting my bitch get caught up. I’ll switch clothes with her in the section if I have to. I don’t know K3 well and I can’t even say if he killed a guard and switched clothes with them. What I did know was everyone feared him which means Cassie had reason to fear him coming up these steps.

“Grab her!”

I dodged someone, continuing to run. Just three more steps until the steps. A feeling of victory and relief washed over me as I realized I was going to make it at least to the top. At least to break up whatever the fuck was going on. As soon as my shoe dusted the bottom step, a hand wrapped around my arm.

I was stopped, midair. My body jolted as if I was in a collision. As whoever yanked me back, my body was still going forward.

I closed my eyes, grunting out at the whiplash. Bracing myself. The hand squeezed tighter as I felt their face come down to mine. My eyes stayed shut until their hand grabbed my cheeks the hardest they’ve ever been grabbed.

The air left my body.

“Duke...” I whispered.

His face was so close to mine, I’m not even sure how I recognized it was him. Maybe it was the scent swirling off him that even in this situation made me feel in love. His eyes were wide, eyebrows kissing, and breathing heavy with anger.

“WHY THE FUCK YOU IN HERE, DEVYN?!” he shouted.

As I stumbled over my words, K3 just casually passed us, climbing up the steps. He didn’t look at Duke and he didn’t look at me. He had one goal and one goal only: to catch Cassandra.

“I-I...” I stuttered.

He pulled me closer to him, “HUH?!”

“I don’t know!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW? WHAT THE FUCK YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW, SHORTY! YOU IN HERE WITH YOUR TITTIES AND ASS HANGING OUT LIKE I’M SOME FUCKING JOKE TO YOU? DO I LOOK LIKE A CLOWN ASS NIGGA?!”

The club was mostly cleared of customers. That means the staff and all of K3’s niggas were watching Duke shout in my face. Simultaneously, people were just being thrown over the bannister. As in, K3 was grabbing the niggas from the section, fighting them all at once, and throwing them over the bannister as if they were bags of laundry. I focused my attention back on Duke as he shook with anger,

“YOU GOT ME FUCK—"

“MAN-MAN, LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE!” Tatianna shouted.

Duke didn’t react at first. He knows Tatianna, and he knows why she called him that. But when my face turned from horror to shock, his melted from anger to confusion.

“Man-Man? MAN-MAN! YOU’RE K3’S BROTHER?!” I snatched my arm away from him.

“How the hell you know my baby brother? Huh?!”

“OH, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO BE MONITORING ME AND WHAT I’M DOING. NIGGA, WHAT THE FUCK YOU BEEN DOING!”

He tried to grab my arm again but I snatched away. Instead, he grabbed me by my waist, throwing me over his shoulder as he marched out of the employee entrance. I yelled, kicked, and screamed but he nor anybody else gave a fuck. Once outside, he put me on my feet, pinning my shoulder to the building.

“I’m only asking one more time. How you know K3?!”