Murderville Page 0,84

gain her attention.

“Can I get you something?” she asked.

“Yeah . . . her,” Nico replied as his eyes never left the stage and he nodded towards the dancer shaking her assets to the new Drake beat, grinding slowly. She was mesmerizing Nico with her slim waist and round ass. Her curves were killing him, and his dick was so hard that he had to adjust his hard-on in his jeans to conceal it. “Tell her I pay nice. I want a private dance.”

“New girls don’t do dances, but I can hook you up,” the girl stated flirtatiously as she tried to steal the other dancer’s one-on-one.

“Maybe next time, ma. I want her,” Nico commented.

The girl rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth as she took the $50 tip from his hand before leaving to go deliver the message. He had a couple stacks in his pocket and had a goldmine in the trunk of his car. So if the girl was for sale then he could afford to buy her, and he was ready for a fun night of mind-blowing sex.

A’shai sat in the shadows of the strip club as he watched Nico out of the corner of his eye. He admired the stripper on the pole, wanting to appear to be just another patron. The black Armani Exchange hoodie and NY fitted cap he wore concealed his identity. He nursed a drink as he scoffed at his idiot cousin while rubbing the scar on the side of his face. This nigga is making this shit too easy, A’shai thought. Nico had not been hard to find. A’shai knew that Nico lived in the strip clubs and wouldn’t be able to resist flashing his new paper for the hood to see. As he watched carefully he noticed the bulge on Nico’s hip. He then noted the four flunkies that Nico was surrounded by. He was sure that they were all strapped. They must’a paid the bouncer to get in here with the strap, A’shai said to himself as he felt his own steel in the front of his hoodie. As Nico flirted with the girl, A’shai watched intensely, peering at the couple and slowly rubbing his scarred face as Nico’s hands slid up the dancer’s thighs. I can’t wait to clap this clown ass nigga, he thought. Nico and the girl stood to go to a private room. There was only one way in and one way out so Nico would have nowhere to run. Once A’shai had sat back to analyze the situation, he realized that Nico had always been a snake in the grass. What Baron had been willing to dismiss as incompetence, A’shai saw as sedition. Nico had sparked a chain of events that Shai could never pardon. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Nico was the only person who knew I was up north . . . that’s how Samad was able to find me. That bomb would’ve never been underneath my car, A’shai thought angrily. Because of Nico a woman that A’shai loved had been murdered. Outwardly, A’shai appeared calm but inside he was fuming. Many people had taken A’shai’s controlled demeanor as his weakness, but it was simply the calm before the storm. He didn’t talk bad or make scenes . . . he put in work. There wasn’t a need to talk about his actions. Talking too much was a quick way to get caught up on the wrong side of the law. As he saw Nico’s back disappear into the backroom he slid his hand inside the front pocket of his hoodie and clicked his gun off safety. He stood to locate Big Ray, the club’s owner. Big Ray was a close affiliate of Baron’s . . . in fact Baron had put up some paper a few years ago to help Big Ray keep his establishment open after running into some financial issue with the IRS. Big Ray owed Baron a favor and helping A’shai set this trap was a part of the deal. Unbeknownst to Nico, he was flossing Baron’s cash in an establishment that Baron in fact owned a percentage of.

“I can’t believe that boy. Baron’s raised him as his own and this is the way he repays him,” Big Ray stated.

“Don’t worry about it,” A’shai stated. “All I need for you to do is keep his goons occupied. Show em’ a good time.” A’shai winked his eye as Big Ray looked over to the table