The Big Payback - Aundrea T. Washington

Two best friends rise through Chicago's drug trade, building a reputation for being unstoppable, loyal, and untouchable. Together, they navigate a world ruled by power, violence, and fear, until prison shatters everything they thought they knew.

While incarcerated, one of them is brutally assaulted. In the aftermath, rumors about his sexuality begin to spread, reaching the ears of their ruthless and homophobic boss. Viewing him as a liability and a threat to their image, the boss orders his execution. Believing his closest friend has been killed, the survivor buries the past and returns to the streets, hardened and focused on survival.

Years later, the ghosts of his former life begin to resurface. Members of his old crew start turning up dead one by one, hunted by a relentless and highly skilled assassin. The killer is a striking Latina woman driven by a deep and personal vendetta tied to the sins of the past.

As the bodies continue to pile up, he is forced into a final confrontation that exposes long-buried truths and betrayals. Though he survives the deadly showdown, justice finally catches up with him. He is ultimately sentenced to life without parole, left to face the consequences of his choices.

Now confined behind bars, all he has left are fading memories, unanswered questions, and the heavy burden of regret that he will carry for the rest of his life.