Although satisfied that he answered, Mileena also knew that the groggy quality in his voice was the way he’d sound after they’d had sex.
“It’s okay. What’s up?”
“I need you at J.R.’s right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here,” Rain said and ended the call. Then she looked at Mileena, saw the look on her face and thought that she should say something. She had heard from Yarissa that Mileena had a problem with how much time Carter spent with her and that she thought that they were fucking.
“You need me for anything else?” Mileena asked.
“I don’t think so. I know you wanna get outta here before Carter gets here.”
Mileena nodded in agreement.
“But before you go, I just want you to know that there never was anything going on between me and Carter. We strictly business. Trust me, I know what it feels like to have a man cheat on you relentlessly.” Rain paused. “I’m not sayin’ that Carter was cheatin’ on you. All I’m sayin is that I know what that feels like and I wouldn’t do you like that,” Rain said and thought about Gavin, who she just got through fuckin’ and how she had just done his wife, Capria like that.
As for Mileena, she knew that Rain was talking about Nick because she fucked him behind Rain’s back too.
What?
Don’t judge.
I was bored, lonely and horny as hell and here comes fine ass Nick. So I got some, Mileena thought but thought better of confessing that truth to Rain. So instea
d, Mileena just said, “Thanks for saying that.”
“You can go on and get outta here and I’ll see you tonight at The Late Night,” she said and went to her desk. Mileena watched Rain for a second or two.
“You want me to pour you a shot?” Mileena asked, thinking back to the days when she first started at J.R.’s and her only job for a while was to make drinks for Rain and Wanda.
“Thanks,” Rain said as she unholstered her guns.
Once Mileena poured the drink, she sat the glass on Rain’s desk. “Thank you.”
“I’m out,” Mileena said, heading for the door and then she was gone, leaving Rain alone with her thoughts.
Since she’d been a part of this Family, they had been in a constant state of war. Rain had listened to Black and Wanda tell stories of a time when there was peace in The Family, and they flourished in both their legitimate and illegitimate businesses. Heard them speak optimistically about what it will be like when all the shooting stops and they could go back to making money.
Rain longed to see those days too. Despite the fact that Rain Robinson was a serious action junkie, she was tired. Being boss of The Family was an honor, as was being hand-picked and groomed to take command by Mike Black himself. But still, Rain was tired and just wanted it all the stop and hoped, optimistically, that her killing The Petty’s was the first step.
As Mileena drove away from J.R.’s, she was deep into her thoughts as well. She had never been so scared in her life. Trying to stop her hands from shaking so she could put the money in the bag, along with the tracker, and do it all with a gun to her forehead. The second they were gone, and her brain switched back from react mode, her first thought was to call Carter. She took out her phone and was about to press the icon that she had moved from her favorites list but stopped herself and then she called Rain instead. There were times when Mileena had to remind herself that he wasn’t her man anymore, which was hard because she still loved Carter with all her heart. But it was Mileena’s mind that was in control now and her mind knew that he was not the man for her.
When he ended the call with Rain, Carter bounced out of bed, hurried to get dressed and was out the door and in the Caddy five minutes later. On the way to J.R.’s, he wondered what was going on. Although Carter was used to Rain calling at all hours of the day and night, there was something about the tone of her voice that said this is bad, so he drove a little faster.
When he got to J.R.’s, Rain was standing outside waiting for him. Carla had already called and had given Rain the location of where the money stopped.
“I’ll keep monitoring and let you know if it moves. By the time you get there, I hope to have eyes on,” Carla said, but when they arrived at the spot where the money was, it was a different story. “The outside is clear, but I am blind inside. No security system or cameras to hack into.”
“Heat signatures?” Rain asked.
“Not from where I’m sitting.” Carla paused. “Damn, I knew I should have got my ass out of bed and came down there.”
“It’s all right, Carla. Tell me what we’re looking at.”
“It’s a laundromat, with office space above. Based on the altitude, I’d say the money is somewhere on the third floor. I have access to the original architect’s drawings and a directory of who had offices on that floor, but it’s the best I can do.”
“It’s all right, Carla,” Rain said as she opened her trunk. “Keep this line open. I may need you to cut the power.”