I owe him that, he was thinking as they rounded the corner and the first person that he saw was Mileena.
She was standing at the bar talking to Ryder.
Carter stopped and their eyes locked.
Then Mileena rolled hers and walked off.
Rain laughed. “You coming?”
“I’ll be up in a minute. I need to talk to Ryder first.”
“Right,” Rain said and walked away laughing as Carter headed toward the bar.
Ryder saw him coming toward her, and the I’m mad as hell look in his eyes concerned her. Since she’d been a part of this family, she’d been the outsider who had struggled to find a spot to fit in. At first, it was believed that the only reason that she was down with The Family was because she was Shy’s old road dog because she hadn’t earned anybody’s respect or trust. And for a while, that was the thing that alluded her. Despite putting in solid work for The Family, she got no respect, and nobody trusted her.
The chance to earn respect and trust came the night that Ryder planned to kill Kirk and Bautista for killing her husband. She had tracked them to a restaurant in City Island, but when the time came to make her move, she saw people that Rain was looking for. So instead of going after the detectives as planned, she called Rain.
He killed my husband, Ryder told Rain that night.
I know. That’s family. But you my family now, and I ain’t trying to lose no more family, was what Rain had to say.
Ryder earned Rain’s respect when she watched as the detectives drove off, got out of the car and went with Rain and Smoke to kill Lucky, Odell and Preston.
After that, Ryder was in, and she quickly emerged from Shy’s shadow. There was no doubt that Ryder was a money-maker, and everybody respected her analytical mind and her planning ability. She had earned the respect and trust of her peers, but somehow, Ryder kept finding herself in bad situations that almost got her killed, more than once.
I just got off Rain’s shit list for not telling her some shit that I didn’t even know I was supposed to tell her.
That one always bothered her, but as always, Ryder put in the work and once again, had Rain’s trust and respect. But then she got caught up in Jab Baldwin’s mess and since she was the brains behind him, that brought Carter down on her.
I don’t care if you are Mileena’s cousin. If I ever find out that you were a part of this nigga’s plan, I will kill you where you stand.
Once again, Ryder had to work her way back to earn Carter’s trust, and she did. But now, he and Mileena, her cousin, were having problems and she feared that she would have to pay the price for their breakup, and she would once again lose her position in The Family and have to start over.
Or maybe I’ll just take my ass back to Cali.
“What’s up, Carter?”
“I need to talk to you. Come on,” Carter said, turned around and started walking toward the office.
Fuck, she thought and fell in behind him through the doors that led upstairs to the offices. When Carter got to the top of the steps, Yarrisa sat up straight and smiled because she hadn’t heard from him in days.
“Hey, Carter,” she purred.
“Hey, Yarrisa,” he said and went straight to his office. She was about to get up and follow him, but that was when she saw Ryder coming up the stairs.
“Hey, Yarrisa,” she said and went to Carter’s office and that ended any thought that she had about getting some before she went home. Yarrisa stood up and knocked on Rain’s door to see if she wanted anything and then she left for the night.
Carter went in his office and went straight to the bar to make the drink he’d been looking forward to all night. As soon as she closed the door, Ryder asked, “What I do now?” just to get it out of the way.
“Who said that you did anything?” he asked as he poured.
“You look mad.”
“I’m not mad at you.” Carter laughed and pi
cked up a bottle. “Patrón, neat, right?”
“Yes,” Ryder said and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Carter’s desk. “You’re mad at Mileena?”