The Game Never Ends. Zaire Crown

stole on him. She punched him in the face and shoulder, causing the Rolls Royce to swerve out of its lane. He corrected the wheel and caught her arm before she could hit him again.

      “Girl, what the fuck wrong wit’ you?”

      “What the fuck wrong with YOU?!” she hissed with heavy breaths. “You think I’m worried ’bout the money? You dumb sonofabitch, I’m worried ‘bout what I’m gone tell these girls when they start askin’ what happened to they Daddy.”

      Marcus had known what she meant from the beginning. This was just part of the conversation he was hoping to avoid.

      He said: “These last three years been the happiest of my life, and you and the girls are the reason for that. Don’t think for a second that I’m cool with this. I’ve just had more time to deal with it.”

      Marcus didn’t drive slow, just at a speed that showed he wasn’t in a rush. Tuesday felt a sickening pain in her stomach when they reached their street and the house came into view. Like Marcus had said, another burgundy SUV was already parked across the street from their home.

      When he pulled onto the grounds, the people trailing them remained outside the front gate. Marcus pulled up their driveway and stopped beneath the lighted portico at the entrance. He and Tuesday sat there for a moment; neither of them wanted to leave the car.

      “You don’t live the life I lived and not expect that shit to catch up to you. There was never gone be a happy ending for me, Tuesday. I always knew I wasn’t riding off into the sunset.

      “I did a lot of wrong—that company is the one thing I ever did that’s wholly about doing good. Sure, it turns a profit, but it’s one of the few large corporations that’s for the right thing. I can’t let that be corrupted, bae. I just can’t.”

      Tuesday shook her head. “I understand how important it is to your legacy that you repair some of the damage you did as Sebastian Caine, but what about your legacy as Marcus King, the father? To your daughters your legacy will be a man who just disappeared out of their lives.”

      “Tanisha’s still young, in time she’ll forget me. It’ll be a lot harder coming up with something to tell Dani. Of all the slimeball shit I ever done, leaving you behind to have that conversation is right at the top.”

      Tuesday glanced down at the Chevy Tahoes waiting at the front gate. Tears blurred her vision. She turned away from them but wasn’t able to look at him either. “Maybe they’ll give you a few minutes just to run in and say goodbye.”

      Marcus cut the engine and dropped the keys into her lap. “I already did. I’ve been sayin’ goodbye to ’em every day for months.”

      When he got out of the car, Tuesday followed right behind him. She grabbed his arm as he started down the driveway.

      “No. No. I don’t believe this. It’s not happening like this. Maybe I don’t know the truth about Sebastian Caine, but I know you. I know you, Marcus.

      “You got a plan. You got some angle you working. You not ’bout to just surrender. That’s not you. You got a plan,” Tuesday almost seemed manic.

      Marcus grabbed her and kissed her lips. He whispered in her ear. “It’s up to you to finish what I started. Protect my shit. You will be tested.”

      Tuesday watched him walk down their drive where two men jumped out of the lead Tahoe to greet him. Marcus held out his arms, submitted himself to a quick pat-down. Then he climbed into the back seat like he was leaving with friends.

      Tuesday just stood in front of her house as the three burgundy SUVs rolled off into the night. She had every expectation of seeing her husband again.

      Chapter Eleven

      The next day Tuesday sent Danielle to school and left Tanisha with a sitter. When Danielle asked, Tuesday told her that Daddy had gone on a business trip and would return soon. Tuesday didn’t feel like this was a lie.

      It may have been delusion or just the faith she had in her husband. While understanding he was not superhuman, she knew Marcus to be too much of a tactician to simply walk into his own execution. He would find a way to overcome this the same way he overcame the dope game, overcame his indictment, and overcame the odds by transitioning into a legitimate entrepreneur.

      Over the next few days, Tuesday went about the business of running Abel and being a mother. The combination taxed her patience and nerves but provided enough activity to fill her days. On the home front, Danielle was still trippin’, and it was much worse without Marcus to act as a buffer. At work, she was bombarded with mountains of paperwork, long meetings, and problems that felt like calculus. Luckily, she had Brandon to help steer the ship when the wheel became too much for her to handle.

      The days were difficult, but those calm and quiet nights were by far the worst. Lying in their extreme ultra-king, all Tuesday could do was think of Marcus. Being alone on that massive tenby-twelve-foot bed amplified his absence so much that she opted to sleep in one of the smaller guest bedrooms.

      Tuesday did receive a call from Marcus on the second day. He explained that the family had pulled the plug on Rene shortly after the two had made their peace. He said that out of respect, the meeting was being pushed back until the funeral was done.

      From what Marcus had explained, La Guapa couldn’t harm him as long as her father was living. Despite no longer having that protection, something in Marcus’s voice sounded optimistic when they spoke. This helped to feed Tuesday’s belief that everything would be fine.

      She remained strangely positive even after Marcus stopped calling or answering his phone in the days that followed. Tuesday was sure he would come back with some tale about how he’d outsmarted Reina and her associates then taken them out in one Machiavellian move. They would celebrate as a family, probably spend a day with the girls at Disneyland. That night the two of them would celebrate as a couple by making love in a way that was deep and soulful, reuniting their flesh and spirits.

      Even on the fifth day when Brandon came by the house and tried to shatter the delusion, Tuesday still believed.