“It’s up to her and God. She’s on oxygen and they are monitoring her heart. For now, we just have to wait and see.”
“O-okay.” Inhaling a deep, shaky breath, I massaged my thigh. “What hospital? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Heir?”
“I don’t care, Daddy. I’m coming to see her.”
“Alright, Princess. If Marz will be with you and he thinks it’s okay, fine. We’re at the same hospital we went to when she had low oxygen the last time. Room 2112.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way. Give her a kiss for me.”
“Will do.”
After disconnecting the call, I tried to stand, but Marz wouldn’t allow me to. The sad look on his face told me all I needed to know before a word left his mouth.
“No,” I rejected.
“Heir…”
“I’m going to see her, Marz.”
“And I’ll take you,” he assured me quickly.
“Now.”
His head shook. “It can’t be now, Wifey. I’m sorry.”
“Why not?” I whined, trying to remove myself from his grip again.
“There are protocols that have to be in place, bae. I didn’t want to tell you this because I didn’t want you to worry, but Iman has had people driving around your job, your dad’s firm, and your parents’ house. There’s no question that he follows your parents to see if they will meet up with you. I cannot allow you to go to that hospital until it’s cleared and I know he won’t have anyone there waiting for you. That’s a large space to cover, and a lot of cars and people to put through Eze’s software. It’s going to take at least a day for him to do that, and that’s if he isn’t busy and can start it tonight. We can’t go until I clear the hospital. I can’t risk it.”
“If he had someone riding around, why didn’t your people follow them?”
“It was at random times, and we had no guarantee it wasn’t a setup for an ambush. If they left their post to follow them, there was a chance someone else would pull up and do something to your people. There was no guarantee they would lead them to Iman, so it wasn’t worth the risk. It was more important that the guards always stay on their post.”
My fingers trembled as I gripped my forehead. “Can you just call Eze and see if he can start on it now? What will he haveto do? Go up there and take pictures or something?” I asked, feeling my distress grow with each passing second.
“I’ll call him now, Wifey. I know you’re scared, but try to remain calm so you won’t work yourself up.”
All I could do was nod as I slid off his lap and started to bite my nail. I heard Marz talking, but his words were going in one ear and out of the other. All I could think about was my grandfather getting sick while I was in college, thinking I had time to finish my exams, go home, and see him, but he died. I didn’t have the chance to say goodbye, and knowing that he’d been asking for me haunted me. That wasn’t something I could allow to happen with my granny. No matter what Marz said, I was leaving this house to go and see her.
Marz sighed as he sat next to me and took my hand into his, and I hadn’t even realized that he had gotten up and left the room.
“Eze is out of town.” My eyes squeezed shut as I rested my elbows on my thighs and palmed my face. “He’s coming home in the morning to work on this for you. To expedite the process, I’m going to send a few people to the hospital tonight to start. That way, when he gets here, he’ll be able to start running his facial recognition software and checking the license plates.”
“How long, babe?”
“Two days tops. One if the hospital isn’t too crowded. I’d be willing to check just the parking lot cars and the people on your grandmother’s floor to speed the process up if necessary. We’ll just have to be careful when we leave.”
Nodding, I sat back and licked the corner of my mouth before swallowing hard. Regardless of how long it took Eze to finish, I was going to see my granny—tomorrow.
I tossedand turned and cried all night last night. Not just because I was thinking about Granny but because I was conflicted as well. On one hand, I didn’t want to selfishly put my family or anyone else at risk by going to the hospital. Iman had already proven he didn’t have a problem having a shootout in broad daylight, and Marz didn’t either. I didn’t want to go up there and that happened. I also didn’t want to wait two days and my granny’s condition got worse. If she died and I was unable to say goodbye, my heart would be crushed, and I didn’t think that was something I’d ever be able to get over.
This morning, I called Jay and asked him if he could set up a meeting for me and Iman. I needed to see my granny and get out of this damn house, and I didn’t want to wait two days to do it. Of course Iman agreed, and when Jay offered to pick me up, I told him I’d meet Iman at a neutral, public location. After writing Marz a note explaining everything, I booked an Uber and left while he was still sleep, grateful the guards hadn’t arrived yet.
As I stood in the lobby of the coffee shop, I convinced myself that this was a good idea. I didn’t think there was a chance Iman would shoot first and ask questions later. Regardless of the war he’d started with Marz, he still saw me as valuable, and I planned to use that to our advantage. After taking a deep breath, I rolled my luggage inside and looked around until my eyes landed on Iman. As when he was at his office, two men surrounded the table, making him look so out of place. With a roll of my eyes, I walked over to them, ignoring Jay as he headed in my direction.
“Can we talk before you leave?” he asked, getting an immediate head shake out of me.