Tied to a Boss 2 (3 page)

“We gonna try this again,” Dante said calmly. “What apartment is Gina Ortez or Raul Martinez living in?”

This time Dante got a quick answer from the doorman and turned to walk off. He then called back to Wesley and, in patois, said, “Take care of the doorman and then meet me in apartment F-37.”

He took the elevator to the sixth floor. Dante stepped off the elevator and took a moment to look at the apartment door numbers. He then turned right and headed up the hall.

When he arrived at apartment F-37, Dante knocked on the door and stood waiting a moment until he heard a soft female voice call out, “Yes! Who is it?”

“Gina Ortez?”

“Yes! Can I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am. There’s been a…” He mumbled the rest.

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you that good. Can you repeat that?”

Dante again mumbled Raul’s name and hospital in the same sentence. He then heard Gina ask him to hold on, as she unlocked the apartment door for him.

“What were you saying about Raul?” Gina asked, after opening the apartment door.

Meeting the woman’s eyes, Dante started, “I was saying Raul should have been more careful.”

Snatching his Glock from under his shirt faster than Gina could catch on to what was happening, Dante pressed the front of the gun against her forehead. Seeing her body stiffen, he calmly said, “Now understand. You scream and I’ma blow ya melon head in half. Nod if you understand.”

Dante watched Shorty nod her head yes and then heard the ring of the elevator. He cut his eyes to his right, looking back up the hallway to see Wesley stepping off the elevator.

Pushing Gina back inside her apartment, he followed her in. Dante left the apartment door open as he walked her inside the front room. He had her sit on the white fur sofa.

“Where Raul?” Dante asked, looking around the nicely decorated apartment. He heard Wesley walk inside the apartment, close the door, and then lock it.

“Wh-who are you? What do you want?” Gina asked, looking first at the guy with the gold at the bottom of his mouth over to the dark-skinned guy who had just walked into the apartment.

Not bothering with answering Gina’s questions, Dante spoke in patois, telling Wesley to check the apartment and make sure nobody else was inside.

Turning his attention back to Gina and meeting her eyes, Dante repeated his question again. “Where Raul?”

She stared at the guy in front of her a moment. He held his eyes on her. Gina finally answered, “He left to take care of something.”

“How long ago he left?”

“Maybe a little over 30 minutes.”

“Who was he with?”

“What’s all this about?” Gina asked. “Who are you?”

“Everything clear,” Wesley said in patois, as he entered back into the front room.

Acknowledging Wesley’s statement with a simple head nod, Dante shifted his eyes back to Gina and said, “Listen! I don’t like repeating myself and I’ve done it twice already. You now have two choices. You can either answer my question or I’ll figure this out without you. Decide now!”

Staring quietly at the guy in front of her, understanding perfectly well the real meaning of his warning, Gina answered softly, “He’s with two of his friends. They came to pick him up.”

“He tell you where he was going?”

“No!” Gina answered. “He never tells me where he’s going when he’s handling his business.”

Nodding his head in understanding, Dante looked over to the couch to his left, across from Gina, walked over, and sat down. “I guess we’re about to sit here together and wait on your man to show up then.”

* * *

Alinna walked out of the beauty salon after getting her hair washed and her nails done up in a French manicure. She headed towards her BMW just as her cell phone started ringing.

Digging out her phone from inside her Gucci bag, Alinna stopped at the driver’s door to her car. She sucked her teeth when she saw that Vanessa was calling.

“What Vanessa?”

“Alinna, where you at?”

“Why?”

“Alinna, Harmony’s been shooting with some niggas and she been shot. Tony T going crazy.”

“What?” Alinna yelled. “What the fuck happen? Where the fuck Harmony at?”

“She at Parkway Hospital with Amber and Tony T. I’m about to call Dante now.”

“What happen exactly? Who shot Harmony?” Alinna asked, as she was rushing to unlock her car door.

“From what Amber said, Tony T told her it was some of Raul’s boys again.”

“Shit!” Alinna cursed, punching the steering wheel. “Listen, I’m on my way to Parkway now. Meet me there.”

“I’m already heading there now. I’ma see you when you get there.”

“Yeah!” Alinna replied, hanging up the phone and tossing it over into the passenger seat with her handbag. She punched the steering wheel again. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

* * *

Dante hung up his phone after talking with Vanessa about Harmony. He then looked at Wesley and, in patois, explained about Harmony and what Vanessa said went down with some of Raul’s men and that she was now at Parkway Hospital.

“What happened?” Gina asked, staring between the two men and seeing the expression on their faces.

Shifting his eyes over toward Gina, Dante stared a few moments and finally answered, “It seems like Raul has been really busy.”

“Wh-what’s happened?” Gina repeated the question, as she began to cry. She stared at the guy seated across from her who was now texting on his cell phone.

He ignored Gina as he continued texting with Vanessa, letting her know that he and Wesley would be over to the hospital after they were finished handling a little business. Dante sent the text message to Vanessa just as he heard a phone ring nearby.

Dante looked in the direction of the kitchen and saw Wesley walking towards the breakfast bar, where a pink cell phone lay. Dante met the dread’s dark eyes when Wesley turned facing him with a half-smile.

“Da blood clot boy is calling,” Wesley told Dante in broken English, as he made his way back over into the front room and stood beside the couch next to Dante. He handed him the phone while staring at Gina.

Dante took the cell phone from Wesley and glanced down at the screen to see Raul’s name. He tossed the touch screen across to Gina, watching her catch the phone with a confused and surprised look on her face.

“Call ‘em back after the phone stops ringing,” Dante told her. “Let ‘em know you taking care of something and couldn’t stop to answer the phone.”

Gina stared at the guy with the golds. Once the cell phone stopped ringing, she took a deep breath and then did as she told and called Raul back.

“Yeah!” Raul answered on the second ring.

Speaking in Spanish, Gina was only able to get out a few words when the guy across from her held up his gun and pointed at her.

“English!” Dante told her.

“Who the fuck is that?” Gina heard Raul ask angrily, as she sat staring across from her at the guy with the gold in his mouth.

“Raul, what do you want?” Gina asked, while still staring at the gunman. “I’m in the middle of doing something.”

“Doing what?” Raul yelled. “What the fuck are you doing, Gina? Who the fuck there with you?”

“Hang up the phone,” Dante told her, loud enough to be heard over the phone.

Doing what she was told, Gina hung up the phone as tears ran heavily down her face.

Ignoring the tears, Dante shifted his eyes to Wesley who stood behind Gina. He nodded his head slightly and then sat and watched Wesley pull out a long black-handled machete from the side of his jeans. With one heavy swing to Gina’s neck, Dante watched the woman’s head fly off, hitting the toss pillow on the sofa beside the now headless body.

Chapter 3

Raul Martinez was angrily talking to himself in Spanish as he and his boys stepped off the elevator on the floor of his apartment building. He marched down the hallway to his apartment, keys in hand.

Arriving at his apartment, he unlocked the door and forcefully pushed it open. Raul stepped into the room, yelling out for Gina.

“Gina, where the fuck …? Oh, God. No!” Raul cried, seeing his lady sitting on the sofa. He was unable to understand how her head was sitting on the coffee table in front of her and staring at him.

“Looks like she not happy to see you.”

Raul swung around and was surprised by what he saw.

It took him a moment to understand what was taking place. Both his boys lay face down, while a dark-skinned guy stood over them holding a banger. He then shifted his eyes over to the light-skinned guy who was seated at the breakfast bar, pointing a burner at him.

Raul then asked, “Who the…who the fuck is you?”

“I’m surprised you don’t know,” Dante replied, as he sat calmly across the room staring at Raul. “I’ll help you out though. You seem to have a little problem with a friend of mine. Name’s Harmony and runs a spot ‘cross over in Miami. You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?”

“How much she paying you?” Raul asked, ignoring Dante’s question. “I’ll pay you $80,000 to change your mind if you take your boy and leave.”

“$80,000 not enough, Raul,” Dante replied. “Make it $100,000 and I’ll think about it.”

“That’s no problem,” Raul told him. “I got the money inside the safe in my bedroom. You can have it.”

Nodding his head slowly, Dante climbed from his high chair and nodded toward the hallway leading to the bedroom. “Lead the way!”

They followed Raul to the back of the apartment and into his nicely furnished bedroom. Dante stood at the foot of the bed as Raul opened the closet, stepped inside, and bent down reaching for something.

Dante was holding a Glock in each hand as Raul returned from the closet carrying a mid-size safe. He saw the surprised look on Raul’s face upon seeing both bangers in his hands.

“Just open the safe, Raul.”

Doing as he was told, Raul used the key he had tied onto the side of the safe. He then opened the door and looked over at Dante.

“I offered and you agreed to $100,000,” Raul stated, as he stared at Dante.

“I tell you what,” Dante told him, nodding his head over to the window. “Stand over there.”

“Man, you can relax.”

“I don’t like repeating myself, Raul,” Dante told him, staring a moment until Raul moved over and stood in front of the window.

Dante walked over to the safe and looked inside, seeing the chrome .25 automatic taped to the inside of the safe’s walls. He smirked and looked over at Raul. Then he focused on the money inside the safe.

“Alright, Raul,” Dante said, looking toward Raul who was staring back at him. “I ain’t gonna kill you.”

“What you gonna do with me…?”

Dante spoke up again, cutting off Raul. “Since I promised not to kill you, I want you to open up the window behind you and jump out of it.”

Dante watched the expression on Raul’s face and then said, “You can either die that way or die like your lady did. Either way, yo ass gonna die today. Decide now!”

* * *

Alinna stood at Harmony’s bedside at Parkway Hospital, watching her girl sleeping after being given drugs for the pain. She turned around to see Tony T walk into the room, followed by Vanessa, Dre, and Amber.

Following Tony T with her eyes as he walked over to Harmony’s beside and seeing the expression on his face as he bent down and kissed Harmony’s soft lips, Alinna looked back over her shoulder at hearing Amber ask, “How the doctor say she doing, Alinna?”

“She’ll be okay!” Alinna told her girl, turning to face Amber and Vanessa while ignoring the look on Dre’s face as he stood staring down at her. She continued, “They was able to get the bullet out but they’re watching to make sure no infection or anything else pops up.”

“What about Raul?” Amber asked. “What are we gonna do about his ass?”

“Dante said he was dealing with Raul,” Vanessa told Amber only for Alinna to speak up angrily, “You know what, Vanessa? I really am getting tired of you and Dante’s this and that. It’s amazing how you all of a sudden got all this fucking faith in his lying ass.”

“You know what bi . . .”

“Andre!” Vanessa said, shooting Dre a look before grabbing Alinna and dragging her out of the hospital room into the hallway.

“Look! If you about to tell me about . . .”

“You know what, Alinna!” Vanessa said, cutting Alinna off, “You keep talking about how sorry and how much of a lie Dante is but if it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be where you are right now. Matter of fact, none of us would be where we are if Dante wasn’t out there risking his life doing what he’s doing. I know he messed up with Angela and he knows it but there’s no doubt that Dante loves your ass, Alinna.”

“Fuck Dante!” Alinna said angrily.

“Speaking of Dante,” Amber said, as she and Dre stood behind both Vanessa and Alinna nodding her head up the hallway. “Look who’s coming this way now!”

Turning and looking to see who Amber was talking about, Alinna froze as she watched Dante walking her way, barely noticing Wesley walking next to him.

Dante simply walked right passed Alinna and up to Vanessa as Alinna just stared. Vanessa hugged Dante’s neck. When Alinna saw him kiss Vanessa’s cheek and return her hug, she felt her anger skyrocket at being disrespected.

“What’s up, big bruh?” Vanessa said, smiling up at Dante.

“Everything good, lil sis?” Dante answered, as he released Vanessa. He then embraced Amber and dapped up with his boy Dre. “So, what’s up with my girl, Harmony? How she doing?”

“If you wasn’t out running behind the next bitch, you would know,” Alinna said, watching Dante cut his eyes back at her.

“Come on, Dante!” Vanessa said, grabbing his hand and shooting Alinna a nasty look. “Let’s go see Harmony.”

Sucking her teeth as she watched Vanessa lead Dante into Harmony’s hospital room, Alinna ignored the look that Dre shot her as she followed Amber into the room.

Once inside the hospital room, both Tony T and Dante embraced each other while Wesley and Tony T dapped. Vanessa explained to Dante what the doctor had said about Harmony’s health. Dante stood affectionately rubbing the side of Harmony’s face.

“She wouldn’t be lying there if you would have taken care of Raul like you said you would and not chase behind that bitch, Angela,” Alinna said nastily, causing everybody in the room to stare at her.

“Alinna, you know what . . .”

“Naw!” Dante spoke up, cutting off Vanessa as he stood staring at Alinna. “She right. I should have handled Raul when I said I would but I can’t change what’s already happened. I know it’ll never happen again, though. That’s my word.”

“Your word ain’t shit, nigga!” Alinna told him.

“Vanessa!” Amber cried, stepping towards her girl, who was moving towards Alinna.

“Oh! So what, you gonna fight me over Dante now, Vanessa?” Alinna asked, staring at Vanessa in surprise.

“Look!” Amber spoke up again. “What we need to figure out is how we gonna be able to deal with Raul ass. Y’all not fighting each other.”

“De blood clot boy no problem no more,” Wesley spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

“How you figure that, baby?” Amber asked her man.

“Me brethren killed the rude boy,” Wesley answered, smiling over at Dante.

“Wait a minute!” Amber said, looking to Dante. “When you kill Raul, Dante?”

“Wesley!” Dante called out to the dread. “Turn on the news.”

“What’s going on, fam?” Dre asked Dante, as Wesley turned on the television.

Dante nodded his head toward the TV, as Channel 7 News reported a possible homicide turned suicide at the West Palm High Rise apartment building, leaving three bodies found dead inside an apartment rented out to a Gina Ortez. Dante then waited until the news reporter said Raul Martinez’s name as among the deceased. He then looked at Alinna asking, “You happy now?”

Alinna looked from the television to Dante’s eyes, as he stood staring at her. However, she never got the chance to respond as Dante turned to Vanessa and asked to speak with her for a few minutes.

Alinna watched both Vanessa and Dante leave the room into the hallway. She looked at Dre who asked, “You still got some fucked up shit to say about my brother or is you happy now?”

* * *

“What’s up, big bruh?” Vanessa asked, as she and Dante walked up the hallway.

“I need you to promise me something, Nessa,” Dante told her, turning his head and looking at her.

“What’s up, Dante? Just ask it.” Vanessa told him, taking his hand inside hers as they walked side by side.

Stopping in front of the elevator, and turning to face Vanessa, Dante said, “Look, lil sis. I really don’t wanna keep dealing with Alinna and the bullshit but I need you to take D.J. over to see his sister, Mya, at Angela’s place. She already knows you’re going to be coming by.”

“You serious, Dante?”

“Yeah!”

“Wait a minute!” Vanessa said, gripping Dante’s hand tighter. “Why can’t you take D.J. to see his sister?”

“I told you before that I leaving town soon, Nessa.”

“But you coming back, right?”

Slowly smiling as he reached out and brushed Vanessa’s hair back from her face, Dante said, “I’ll always come if you need me, baby sis. Just promise me you got me on this.”

Nodding her head, Vanessa accepted the kiss to the forehead from Dante and then stood watching him turn and walk onto the elevator just as two nurses were stepping off. She smiled as she watched both nurses nearly break their necks turning back to check out Dante before the elevator door closed shut.

Shaking her head as she turned around, Vanessa started walking back towards Harmony’s room. She started to wonder how she had allowed herself to develop feelings and allow Dante into her heart when at first she couldn’t stand his ass.

When Vanessa walked back in Harmony’s hospital room the others were having a discussion. She stepped over beside Dre and leaned into his side only to hear Alinna ask, “Where the hell Dante ass at?”

Rolling her eyes, Vanessa answered, “Dante left, Alinna. He went to handle something.”

“Handle what?”

“His business, Alinna. Damn!” Vanessa answered with an attitude. She continued, “Also, I’m taking my nephew and A.J. out this weekend to spend time with them. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Whatever, Vanessa!” Alinna replied, rolling her eyes at her. She turned back to the others and they continued their discussion.

* * *

After the issue resolved with Raul Martinez, Dante spent the next two days getting things ready for the trip that he, Tony T, and Dre were making to Phoenix. He wanted to out things with the nigga Victor Fayman who was pushing some major weight in Arizona.

Dante was surprised to see Vanessa climbing out of the front passenger seat with his son in her arms. He allowed a small smile to show as he stood and watched Vanessa walk up the yard and onto the porch in front of him.

“Hey, big bruh!” Vanessa said, as she leaned into Dante, wrapping her free left arm around his neck and kissing him while they hugged.

“What’s up, lil sis?” Dante replied, taking his son from Vanessa once she released him. “Why didn’t you tell me you was coming with Dre and Tony T?”

“Because it wasn’t planned,” Vanessa answered, smiling as she stood watching Dante playing with both his kids. It was only the second time she saw him smile since she had known him. “I just found out that you, Dre, and Tony T were leaving for Arizona from here. I figured this was a good time to really get to meet this Angela chick who Alinna hates so much.”

Dante didn’t respond. Instead, he turned a little towards the front door and tapped loudly so Angela could hear from inside the house. Dante then kissed both his kids foreheads.

Turning his attention back to the front of the house, he saw both Dre and Tony T packing bags inside the Ford Explorer they had rented under a false name. Dante looked back over his shoulder as he saw Angela step out of the doorway.

“Hey, Papi! What’s the …who is she?” Angela asked, after noticing the tall woman on her front porch.

“Angela. This my sister, Vanessa!” He then introduced Angela to Vanessa as Mya’s mother.

“So, you’re the Angela I’ve been hearing about, huh?” Vanessa said, looking over the baby mother of her brother’s daughter. She was surprised at how pretty the female was but then she thought about how pretty Alinna was and how good Dante was always looking which made her realize she really wasn’t all that surprised.

“Vanessa Green!” Angela said, looking Vanessa over slowly. “I recognized the name.”

“You would since you a detective now. A new captain with the help of my brother,” Vanessa replied with a slight attitude. She looked at Dante after hearing him say her name, meeting his eyes as he stared at her over the head of his son.