chapter ⅩⅩⅤ

Prince's POV

Everything got a weakness...

A body...A mind...A nigga...A king.

And I found Michael's weakness the second I heard that little bitch Giselle's name floating around the streets.

They say she got caramel skin...

Curly hair down her back...Walk like she don't even know how fine she is.

The type of woman a nigga like Michael would kill for — or die for.

I sat in the back of the barbershop, legs stretched out, watching the clippers buzz against some fool's head like I didn't have a whole chessboard playing out in my mind.

"She back in L.A.?"

Buster nodded from the chair across from me, brushing hair off his lap.

"Yeah... came back three days ago. They at Havenhurst... wedding planning or some shit."

I chuckled under my breath.

Wedding...

Michael really thought he could play husband and drug lord at the same time?

Ain't no happy endings in this life.

I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees.

"You know what happens when a nigga got too much to lose?"

Buster just looked at me, waiting.

"You hit him where it hurts the most... and you don't even gotta pull a trigger to do it."

Giselle ain't like the other bitches Michael used to fuck with.

She got heart...She got family...She got a conscience.

All I gotta do is break her — make her feel like she got blood on her hands — and watch how fast she drags Michael down with her.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the last number I got from the Bay.

It rang twice before a lazy voice picked up.

"Yeah?"

I smiled slow.

"I need a favor... I need someone to watch that light-skinned bitch. Make sure she ain't too comfortable out there."

He paused, like he already knew who I was talking about.

"You want us to snatch her up?"

"Nah... not yet."

I flicked my lighter open and closed, the little flame dancing between my fingers.

"Just scare her a little... remind her what kind of nigga she about to marry."

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Michael's POV

I felt it...

That pressure...That weight...That heavy cloud in the air like something was coming.

Giselle was in the backyard, sitting at the little patio table with Solange and Aaliyah, flipping through wedding magazines with that sweet smile on her face.

She had no idea how close danger was breathing down her neck.

I stood at the window, watching her...

My hands balled into fists at my sides.

I made so many enemies in this life...

Buried too many secrets...Broke too many promises...

And now all that shit was circling back around — trying to take the one thing that ever made me feel clean again.

I couldn't let it happen.

I walked outside, slipping my arms around Giselle's waist from behind, burying my face in her neck.

"What's wrong, baby?" she asked soft, turning to look at me with those big brown eyes.

I couldn't tell her.

I couldn't tell her that I had men following her every move — watching her from the shadows.

I couldn't tell her that Aaliyah's attack was just the beginning.

"Nothing, princess..."

I forced a smile, kissing the side of her face.

"Just... thinking about how beautiful you gonna look walking down that aisle."

She blushed, leaning into me — completely blind to the war I was fighting just to keep her safe.

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Giselle's POV

Something in the air was different...

The sun was shining, the wedding plans were moving along, and Michael was sweeter than ever — but I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me.

I kept telling myself it was all in my head...That maybe the stress of everything with Aaliyah was still weighing heavy on my mind.

But every time I walked out of Havenhurst...Every time I went to the store or stepped outside...

I felt eyes.

I didn't wanna tell Michael — not with everything he's been carrying on his back.

His condition...His business...This whole life we were trying to build...

He already had enough to worry about.

But I should've known better...

Michael always knew when something was bothering me.

It was late at night when he caught me standing by the window, pulling the curtain back to peek outside.

"You feel it too, don't you?"

His voice came low from behind me, making me jump a little.

I turned to look at him — bare chest, silk pajama pants hanging low on his hips, his light skin glowing in the dim light of the room.

His brown eyes locked on mine like he could see straight through me.

"Feel what?" I played dumb, trying to brush it off.

He stepped closer, his hand sliding around my waist...

"Don't lie to me, baby..."

I swallowed hard.

"I just... I don't know. I feel like somebody's watching us."

Michael's jaw clenched — his whole face shifted like I just confirmed something he already knew.

"Baby, listen to me..."

His voice got low and serious...

"If you ever feel like somebody's following you... don't say nothing. Don't act scared. Just come straight home, you hear me?"

My heart started beating faster.

"Michael... what's going on?"

He leaned in close, pressing his forehead against mine...

"You let me worry about that, princess..."

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Prince's POV

Michael's little princess was starting to crack.

All it took was a few shadows in the corner of her eye...A couple notes slipped in her purse at the grocery store...A black car parked down the street a little too long.

I told my boys not to touch her — not yet.

A scared mind breaks faster than a broken body.

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Michael's POV

I couldn't sleep.

I laid there in the dark with Giselle wrapped in my arms, her soft breath against my chest...

My queen...

My everything...

i tried to keep her in this little bubble — away from the dirt, the blood, the streets...

But the truth was creeping closer every day.

Prince was out there... watching... waiting...

I was running out of time to handle him before he handled me.

The next morning, I made a phone call.

"Cris... find him."

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Giselle's POV

Michael started disappearing more.

Late nights...Secret phone calls...Whispers in the hallways...

I knew what he was doing — I wasn't stupid.

He was trying to clean up the mess before it ever reached my feet.

But I couldn't pretend I didn't feel the walls closing in.

A week later, it happened.

I was at the flower shop with Solange — flipping through catalogs, trying to pick out arrangements for the wedding...

When I found the note tucked inside the pages.

A little folded piece of paper...

"YOU DON'T BELONG IN HIS WORLD."

My heart dropped...

I stuffed the note in my purse and kept smiling like nothing happened — just like Michael told me.

But when I got back to Havenhurst that night...

I locked myself in the bathroom, sat on the toilet seat, and broke down crying.

I knew exactly who was behind it.

Prince was coming for me.

And the worst part was...

He wasn't even trying to hide it.

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Michael's POV

I was a different man now...

All these years I spent trying to build a kingdom — trying to protect Giselle from the filth of this life...

But some snakes gotta be crushed with your own two hands.

Prince pushed me too far.

I tried to keep the peace...

I tried to let him have his little corner in the Bay...

But when he started circling around my woman — leaving threats in her purse, watching her from the shadows...

He signed his own death warrant.

It started with his boys.

One by one, I had them picked off.

The first one got found in an alley with his tongue cut out...The second one got snatched straight off the street — they still ain't found his body...The third one got shot up in his own car, windows rolled down like a warning.

I left just enough blood in the water to let Prince know I was coming for him.

I wanted him scared...

I wanted him paranoid...

I wanted him to know I was always one step ahead.

It took two weeks to track him down.

He was hiding out in a rundown warehouse in Watts, thinking nobody would find him...

But I had eyes everywhere.

When my men told me they had him cornered, I told them to stand down.

This was personal.

I walked into that warehouse alone — no guns, no backup...

Just me and my bare hands.

Prince was sitting at a dusty table, counting money with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

The second he saw me, he froze — like he'd seen a ghost.

"You really came here alone, huh?" he smirked, trying to play it cool.

I took off my sunglasses and slid them in my jacket pocket...

"I don't need no gun to handle you."

That smirk disappeared real quick.

He leaned back in his chair, trying to size me up.

"You must really love that little bitch of yours, huh?"

Before he could blink, I was across the room — snatching him by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

"You keep her name out your fucking mouth, you hear me?"

He grunted, trying to push me off, but I had him pinned.

"You been breathing on my woman... leaving notes... watching her like a damn creep."

I punched him hard in the stomach — knocking the wind out of him.

"You think I wouldn't come for you?"

He stumbled forward, coughing, trying to catch his breath.

"You can't kill me, Jackson... I know too much."

I rolled my sleeves up slow...

"I'm not gonna kill you, Prince."

His eyes flicked up at me...

"I'm gonna break you."

What happened next...

I don't even know how long it lasted.

All I know is I beat him till my knuckles were busted and his face was barely recognizable.

He tried to swing back a few times, but he was slow — soft from hiding behind his crew all these years.

I tossed him to the ground like a rag doll, standing over him while he spit blood on the floor.

"You lost, nigga."

I crouched down to his level...

"Everything you own... every corner, every shipment, every man... belongs to me now."

His swollen eyes flicked up at me, pure hate burning behind them.

"You can't run South L.A. without me."

I smirked.

"I already am."

I stood up, pulling out a cigar from my jacket pocket and lighting it slow.

"You could've had your little cut... stayed in the Bay... minded your business..."

I blew smoke in his face...

"But you got greedy."

He tried to sit up, but I put my foot on his chest — pressing him back down to the floor.

"You wanted to play king, huh?"

I leaned down close...

"Now look at you... a fucking peasant."

I called Cris and told him to bring the truck around.

They loaded Prince in the back like garbage — blindfolded and beaten.

I didn't want him dead...

I wanted him to live with the shame.

i had my men drive him all the way down to Mexico, dump him on the border with nothing but the clothes on his back and a couple hundred dollars in his pocket.

By the time he made it back to the Bay...

His whole empire would be mine.

I walked out of that warehouse covered in blood — knuckles torn open, heart still pounding in my chest...

But when I got back home to Giselle that night...

I kissed her soft...

Held her close...

And never said a word about what I did. 

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Giselle's POV

I knew something changed in Michael that night...

He didn't say much...

Just held me tighter in bed, like he was scared to let go.

I thought maybe we were finally safe...

I didn't know he sold his soul to keep it that way.