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  “I’m flattered that you’d give it all up for me. But real talk, nobody wants a broke-ass man,” Tyeedah said.

  Took cleaned it up quick. “Baby, I’m saying, I’d lose all for you right now, because I know I’d get it all back. I never had no problems making no money,” he said confidently.

  “Well, I have a thought.”

  “I’m all ears,” Took told Tyeedah.

  “I don’t know how this is going to play out. I truly don’t”—she threw up her hands—“but what I do know is for starters, to show an act of good faith, you have to tell the Grimm Reaper that he can’t throw the fight and any money you already gave him, you have to count that as a loss.”

  “Done.”

  “I think you should let Kennard know what this clown was willing to do.”

  “I don’t really want to make Grimm a casualty.”

  “Well, he was already a pawn anyway,” she added.

  Took nodded, not sure if it was a good idea, but he was willing to try for the sake of love.

  “Now is there anything you can think of that might put Unique in danger or that could hurt her?”

  Took thought long and hard, before he finally spoke. “Now that I think about it,” he said, thinking hard, “there is something that I didn’t really take heed of because I was on my own mission.”

  “What?” Tyeedah asked, gazing into Took’s eyes.

  “After I left the spa, I did a drive-by of Nique’s restaurant, to try to map out my next move, and I noticed this nigga in the alley.”

  “It is New York City, it’s not uncommon for dudes to be lurking in the alley.”

  “It was a nigga from the party. I thought I knew him from somewhere but I couldn’t place him. I didn’t put too much thought in that shit, and just assumed it to be someone’s security.”

  Tyeedah listened patiently for Took to make his point.

  “But now I think it was that nigga, Big Time, one of the vics that we got when we were on our robbing spree.”

  “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure and I know that nigga ain’t in the city to sightsee, he’s up to revenge. In fact, he promised that he was going to hunt us down if it was the last thing he did.”

  “And he was in the alley behind the restaurant?” Tyeedah asked just to be sure.

  “Yes,” Took said with a nod. “I’m sure of it now.”

  Tyeedah reached for her phone and powered it on. She called Unique, but this time it was Unique who wasn’t answering. Tyeedah got worried. “I need to put her up on her game, so she can be careful.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Took co-signed.

  When Unique still didn’t answer, she called Kennard to see if he knew where Unique was. Kennard and Tyeedah talked for a few minutes before she hung up.

  Tyeedah put her shoes back on and grabbed her purse.

  “Where are you going?” Took asked, putting his shoes on too.

  “Kennard said it was going to take him about forty minutes to get over to the restaurant. I can get there in twenty. She’s not supposed to be over there by herself, but knowing her, she’s probably in that restaurant alone trying to get some work done,” Tyeedah paused for a second and let her mind run wild, “and God only knows.” Worry was written all over her face.

  FRIENDS AND FRENEMIES

  “What do you want from me?” she asked. “I told you that I could get you your money.”

  “And I told you that the only thing you running here today is yo mouth. I’m calling the shots, baby girl. Me. Big Time.” He enunciated the B and T in his name so emphatically, spittle flew from his mouth.

  Unique tried to keep calm and rational. “Then call the shot,” she said in a composed voice. “Just tell me what it is that you want.”

  “I thought I’d made that clear in the note I had left on the computer, in your office. You did get it, right?” he asked. Then, not waiting for her to speak, he said, “To make your life feel like hell, before I kill you.”

  That’s when Unique saw the gun in his hand.

  Three shots rang out. Unique fell to the floor. At that exact same moment, Big Time, with slugs to the head and one through his back and out of his chest, died instantly.

  Unique had passed out for a few moments. When she opened her eyes, she thought she was hallucinating. A pungent odor of gun smoke filled the basement’s air as Tyeedah was asking, “Unique, chica, are you all right?”

  “You saved my life?” she said.

  Next to Tyeedah, with a smoking .45 in his hand, stood Took.

  Big Time had forgotten to lock the service door when he pushed it closed. And the innocent, ultimately fatal mistake got him served up cold.

  Thank God for her friends … and frenemies.

  LET BYGONES BE BYGONES

  After the effects to her eardrums subsided—the result of the explosion of Big Time’s and Took’s guns being fired inside and at close range, Unique heard the distinct sound of feet racing down the steps of the restaurant toward the basement.

  Seconds later, Kennard and his right-hand man, Drop-Top, came crashing around the corner, with guns out and desperation in their eyes.

  Once Kennard saw Unique lying on the floor, and Took standing over her holding a smoking gun, he snapped. Unique wouldn’t have wished her worst enemy on the other side of Kennard’s murderous glare. She knew that Drop-Top had the proclivity to kill without conscience, but she had never seen this side of her newlywed husband.

  Both Drop-Top and Kennard took aim and were moving to squeeze their respective triggers. Unique screamed, “STOP!!! Took saved my life!”

  Kennard didn’t buy it and neither did Drop-Top. The only thing that Kennard knew for sure was this was the dude that had stalked and threatened his wife, and tried to financially destroy him.

  Even after knowing all this, he didn’t shoot.

  With his gun still trained on Took’s dome, Drop-Top said, “Just give me the word, Kennard.”

  For the first time since entering the basement, Kennard noticed the dude stretched out on the floor with his boots knocked. Then he quickly scanned Unique’s body for any sign of blood or injuries. There weren’t any. All he could see were her pleading eyes.

  “I know how it looks,” she said. “But Took really did save my life.”

  Drop-Top gave Kennard a quick glance. No words were needed this time. If Kennard wanted the business done, he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty. All he had to do was nod and Took would be toast.

  Kennard made up his mind. “Hold up.” He decided to let the act play out a little longer.

  Drop-Top wasn’t happy with his friend’s decision, but he would follow his lead. However, nothing short of an earthquake could make him lower the gun.

  “For a man who says he’s not going to do any harm, you sure have an odd way of showing it.” Kennard was eyeing the gun still in Took’s lowered hand as he spoke.

  Took dropped the weapon. “My bad.”

  Kennard squatted down next to Unique. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

  After Unique assured him that she was, Kennard gave her three kisses: one on the forehead, one on the nose, and the last one on the lips. He loved her so much.

  Then he said to Took, “Convince me why you shouldn’t already be dead.”

  Took cut his eyes over to Drop-Top, then he looked at Tyeedah, who was standing off to the side, looking worried. He knew she wanted to come to his side, but they both knew he was on his own for now with Kennard. He was either going to get himself out of this mess … or he wasn’t. He turned back to Kennard.

  “It’s pretty hard to speak freely with a gun pointed to your head,” he said.

  “It’s even harder to speak when you are dead,” Kennard countered.

  “Point taken.” Took laid his cards on the table.

  “Everything you thought of me, up until a few hours ago, is true,” he said. “I came to New York to do you and Unique both harm. I don’t hide tha
t fact.”

  He had either bumped his head during the altercation or the boy had a death wish, Unique thought.

  “But I didn’t do it because of any hate towards either of you. My actions stemmed from the love I once had for Unique. I didn’t want to see her happy, especially if I wasn’t happy. But after meeting her,” Took turned to Tyeedah, “on a humble, everything started to change. I didn’t mean to fall in love, it just happened.”

  Drop-Top sucked his teeth and said, “I hope you’re not buying this Hallmark shit.”

  Took ignored the interruption. “The more my feelings for Tyeedah grew, the more I began to see what the two of you have. The simple version,” said Took, “is that I was acting like a bitch that deserves whatever he gets. I won’t beg for anything more, but I will give you my word, and my word is all that I have. If I make it out of this room alive … it would be as a friend and not an enemy.”

  Kennard gave his attention to Unique. “What is it that you want?”

  Unique thought long and hard about the question. Took had threatened her life on multiple occasions, but he had also saved her life. “You and I have to talk,” she finally said to Tyeedah. Then she turned to Kennard and said, “I believe him. To answer your question, I don’t want him to die.”

  Tyeedah smiled with relief.

  “Consider me sparing your life a wedding present,” Kennard said to Took, “if the two of you get that far.”

  Tyeedah went over to Unique and gave her friend a hug. “I’m sorry and thank you all at the same time.”

  “We will talk it all out.”

  Out of nowhere, Drop-Top let one off into Took’s leg. Took yelled and fell to the ground, cursing and clutching his leg. “That’s for leaving my sister-in-law in Mexico with no passport. That was some real bitch-ass shit.”

  Everyone stared in shock. No one had seen that coming, not even Took.

  “I’ll take that,” he said as Tyeedah rushed to his side.

  “Let’s hope this chapter of your life is finally closed,” Kennard said to Unique as he put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.

  ALSO BY NIKKI TURNER

  Project Chick II: What’s Done in the Dark

  The Glamorous Life 2: All That Glitters Isn’t Gold

  AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK

  Unique

  Unique II: Betrayal

  Unique III: Revenge

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  NIKKI TURNER is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Black Widow, Heartbreak of a Hustler’s Wife, Forever a Hustler’s Wife, A Hustler’s Wife, The Glamorous Life, Riding Dirty on I-95, Project Chick II: What’s Done in the Dark, and The Glamorous Life 2: All That Glitters Isn’t Gold. Visit her Web site at www.iamnikkiturner.com.

  These novellas are works of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in these novellas are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  ALWAYS UNIQUE. Copyright © 2014 by Nikki Turner. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  The parts in this book were previously published as individual e-books.

  Unique. Copyright © 2012 by Nikki Turner.

  Unique II: Betrayal. Copyright © 2012 by Nikki Turner.

  Unique III: Revenge. Copyright © 2012 by Nikki Turner.

  www.stmartins.com

  Cover design by Ervin Serrano

  Cover photographs: woman © by Howard Huang; Wall by Shutterstock.com

  The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-1-250-04302-3 (trade paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-4668-4103-1 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9781466841031

  First Edition: March 2014