Cane didn’t waver. “You were stupid for coming here.”
“Oh…you know why I’m here.” He slapped his palm with the back of his other hand. “I need my fucking money, not the shit you put in my commissary, but all of it. That company is mine! I named it! It’s mine!”
“Nothing is yours, so back the fuck off!”
Buck sneered, using the back of his hand to swipe the blood off his mouth. “I bet you’d like to know that I got myself a nice lawyer. Yep. I told her my story, and she’s agreed to help me file a suit against yo’ little company if you don’t start payin’ up.”
Cane glared hard at Buck. “You can make all the threats you want about suing me, but it won’t fucking work and you know it. You don’t have shit to back you up, and even if you did, it would be bullshit.”
Buck laughed even louder, and my ears rang. “Look at you! Thinkin’ you done dropped some balls now!” Buck turned toward us, but his eyes focused on me. “I’ve been watching all of y’all. Especially that little young girl right there.” He pointed directly at me and my eyes widened. “I see her when she goes to school and when she gets home. Seen her come to your office a few times too. You came out one day and was all over her. I figured she must’ve been important to ya.”
Oh my God.
“Funny thing is, she looked real familiar too. I couldn’t place it for a while, but then I woke up one night, and remembered that cop that arrested me. I kept thinkin’ about something he told me when they took me in. He kept saying something like how I was a piece of shit to hit my own kids and girlfriend.” He smirked. “He went on about how he had a daughter of his own and would never lay a hand on his princess—somethin’ like that—so when I got out, I looked into him. Found out his name was sir Derek Jennings. Found out he had a little daughter, and then saw his little daughter was livin’ with you. She must suck your dick real good, huh? There ain’t nothin’ like young pussy—”
Cane had clearly had enough. He lunged forward, wrapping his hands around Buck’s throat. We all gasped.
“Keep talking,” he seethed, squeezing his throat tighter. “I fucking dare you to say another goddamn word about her.” He squeezed more as Buck clawed at his hands.
“Cane!” Lora yelled, but Cane didn’t look back. He kept his hands locked around Buck’s throat, refusing to let up.
So I tried. I took a step forward and called his name, my tears on the verge of falling. “Cane, stop! Don’t let him get to you! This is what he wants!”
He looked through the corner of his eye briefly, and with each passing second, he let up a little more. Buck dragged in a breath and then shoved Cane away by the chest. “Remind me to tell my lawyer that you attacked me first,” Buck wheezed.
“Remind me to tell my lawyer that you went against your fucking restraining order.”
Buck smiled, looking at Miss Cane and Lora. “You mean against those two bitches over there? Don’t nobody want them anymore. They don’t have shit I need, and I’m sure your mama’s pussy ain’t what it used to be. But you got what I want.” He cracked a grin, and Miss Cane dropped her head. He was such an inconsiderate bastard. Now I could see why Cane hated him so much. “So this is how this is gone work. If I don’t get five million of what you got, I’ll hit up my lawyer and tell her to file my suit. And trust me, boy, I’ll make it real ugly. I’ll make everyone wonder why they bothered workin’ with a thief like you in the first place.”
Cane’s jaw flexed, fists clenching again.
“You give me my five mill, and I’ll be out your hair. It’s that simple. And to be clear, I only came here to let you know how dead fucking serious I am. Restraining orders don’t mean shit to me. All they’ll do is give me a warnin’.” He spat on the ground, and it almost landed on Cane’s shoe.
Cane grimaced as Buck walked backward. “What do you say I come back in two days? That’ll give you some time to get that money arranged.”
“You won’t come back to this house,” Cane snarled through clenched teeth. “And it won’t be in two days. You’ll meet me at my office. You’ll be there on Thursday, five days from now. You don’t show up, it’s your fucking loss, because if you come here again, I won’t just beat your ass.” He took a step closer to him. “I’ll end you.”