Page 2 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

After my shower, I got dressed and fled out the door. I was thirty minutes behind making it to the office. As I climbed into my Lamborghini, I dialed Brielle’s phone.

“Yes, Ms. Saint-Mercier.” Brielle answered on the first ring because I had her trained like that.

“I’m on my way into the office. I need you to find this client’s number. I think their name is Donovan McCallister. Have that waiting for me by the time I arrive,” I told her as I sped out of the driveway.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I disconnected the call and turned my attention back to the road. When I pulled up to the red light, I noticed a blacked-out Tahoe a couple cars behind me. The tint on the windshield was illegal as hell. I went on and turned, keeping my eyes on the truck. It turned right along with me, holding a fair amount of distance between us.

Once I made a sharp left turn and saw they did the same, I knew this truck was indeed following me. Savion and his team used these sorts of trucks all the time. I wasn’t aware if a detail had been assigned to me or not, so before I did anything drastic, I was gon’ call and make sure.

Grabbing my phone from the cupholder, I dialed Solei’s number and waited as the phone rang through the Bluetooth.

“Good morniiiiinnnnnnnggggggg,” Solei sang when she answered the phone.

“Did Savion place a detail on me by any chance?”

Those brothers of mine always had some shit going on. One would never know when it came to them.

“Bae, you put security on Luxe?” I heard her ask him.

“What she talking about?” The sound of Savion’s voice came through the speakers. By then, gunshots rang out behind me.

My foot mashed down on the gas, and I sped the fuck out of there. “Somebody tryna kill me!”

“Where you at?” Savion wasted no time asking.

“Getting onto the interstate. I’m heading to the office.”

Muffling noises came through the phone followed by Solei’s voice again. “Luxe, what did you do?”

“I think it has something to do with work. I don’t know.”

My mouth slacked as I picked up speed. I sped straight past a state trooper. He didn’t even bother to cut on his lights because he knew he wasn’t gon’ be able to catch me.

“Lord,” was the only thing she offered me.

I checked my rearview, and the truck was nowhere in sight. My heartbeat slowed. Just because I didn’t see them didn’t mean they’d given up on their assassination attempt.

“I think I lost them,” I said as I neared my exit. By the time I got off, I saw black Tahoes parked with men already outside them. They had their weapons drawn, prepared for whatever was to come their way.

I zoomed past them and headed straight for my office. Normally, I’d park on the street just in case I needed to leave early, but today, I was gon’ have valet grab my car for me.

There was another truck parked at the building. I stopped in front of the doors and got out. “Park it,” I told them and scrambled inside.

“You do know he’s gon’ place people on you now,” Solei said as I neared the elevator.

“Tell him I can handle myself.”

“We both know that’s a lie, Luxe. If you could, you wouldn’t have called in the first place. I know this isn’t something that you’ll want, but maybe it won’t be for long. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get to the bottom of it quickly, and you won’t have to worry about them for long.”

“I’m not a child,” I told her and disconnected the call.

Somewhere in Jamaica

My eyes shot open, and I stared over at the alarm clock next to the bed. It was four forty-five. Though I’d retired, my body still managed to wake up early every morning as if I had somewhere to go. Most mornings, I didn’t really mind it. I’d go out and watch the sun rise. It was just something peaceful about seeing that sun come up with the water from the ocean crashing against my feet.

Ever since I walked away from my lifestyle, it’d been peaceful. There weren’t any gunshots, dead bodies, or fights that I had to deal with. The people around here were polite for the most part. No one knew who I was. No one needed any favors out of me. I didn’t have to be Ghost . . . I was just Rhodes.