Page 99 of Justice II

“Melody?”

“You really have him?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he alive?” I asked.

“He’s alive.”

I closed my eyes. Someone came out of the café carrying two drinks, and I shifted closer to the building to give them room. I waited until they passed before speaking again.

“Where?”

“Somewhere he can’t hurt nobody. He’s being watched.”

I knew that Justice was going to do something. Hearing him say it hit differently. It had been years of me hiding from Roman. Years of me wishing that I could get revenge. Years of yearning to get my son. And just like that, Justice had him somewhere he could never hurt me nor my son.

For the moment, he couldn’t do shit.

“Listen to me,” Justice said. “Nobody touches him till you decide.”

I rubbed my palm against the brick.

“Decide what?”

“How you want this handled. I’m back tonight. We can talk about it then.”

My heart jumped. After all these years, I could finally make him answer for the things he had done to me. But did I have the stomach to end him? I wasn’t a killer. Would I be able to pull the trigger or do whatever else it took?

I wasn’t sure, but I knew that I wanted him to die. He’d taken so much from me, and I wanted to take so much from him.

“I ain’t asking you to tell me what you think I wanna hear,” he said.

“I know.”

I looked through the window. Aubrey had folded her menu and was watching the door.

“Are you still there?” Justice asked.

“I’m here.”

“Talk to me.”

“I don’t know what I want to do right now, but I’m grateful you got him,” I said.

“Of course. I promised you I would. Look, I gotta go but I’ll hit you later,” he said.

“Don’t let Storie out of your sight.”

“I got her,” he responded.

“I mean it, Justice.”

“So do I.” His voice moved away from the phone. “Where you going?”

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Storie headed for the store. I gotta go. We’ll talk tonight. Oh and one more thing. I do have men sitting on Aria and Roman’s house. We’re waiting for the right time to get Keenan.”