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My son was sitting across from me, looking entirely too comfortable for somebody who had spent the last few weeks worried about the same man we were discussing. And now he wanted me to believe he suddenly didn’t care. I knew better.

“Look at me, son.”

He met my eyes.

“I’m only gonna ask you this one more time.”

He didn’t say anything.

“What happened with Ghost?”

MJ leaned back in his chair and rubbed a hand over his jaw.

“Pops…”

“Don’t Pops me. Answer the fucking question.”

He let out a breath, and I waited. I had spent enough years raising him to know that sometimes the best thing I could do was shut up and let him figure out how he wanted to tell me the truth. Finally, he looked at me. MJ was quiet for another moment. Then he set his water bottle on the edge of my desk.

“Ghost is dead, Pops.”

I stared at him. For a second, I didn’t say anything. I had spent weeks wondering when that nigga was going to come back around and finish what he’d started. I had worried about my daughters and my wife all because Ghost had already shown that he didn’t have a problem going after people who had nothing to do with whatever issues he was carrying.

Hearing he was dead should have been the best news I’d gotten in a long time. But the way MJ was looking at me told me there was more.

“Who killed him?” he asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. I felt something settle in my chest.

“Malik Junior.”

He looked up when I used his name.

“Who killed Ghost?”

MJ held my gaze.

“I did.”

I sat there looking at my son. He didn’t drop his eyes. Didn’t start making excuses or trying to soften what he’d just told me. He simply waited for me to respond. I was at a loss for words because I didn’t know what the fuck to say.

Chapter 27

MJ

Ididn’t know what I expected Pops to say after I told him, but the silence that followed was worse than anything he could’ve come back with. He just sat there looking at me. I had spent the entire day acting like everything was normal. I laughed with Maylee, helped Ma get settled, and held my little brother like I hadn’t done a damn thing the night before. Nobody had questioned me except Pops, and even then, I’d tried my hardest to keep him out of it. That had been the whole point.

Pops had already sacrificed enough for this family. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel like he needed to get involved in something else, especially when he couldn’t even get around without somebody helping him. I hadn’t slept much the night before. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ghost standing in front of Trigga. I saw him reach for his gun, heard the shot, and watched him fall. I had stayed on FaceTime with Penelope for most of the night, and although she hadn’t asked me what was wrong, I knew she’d noticed something was off.

She had asked if I was okay twice before letting it go, and eventually, I fell asleep listening to her talk about something that happened at school. I was grateful she hadn’t pushed. I wasn’t ready to explain any of that to her, and I damn sure hadn’t planned on explaining it to Pops.

“Where?” he finally asked.

I looked at him.

“What?”

“Where did this happen?”