“Listen, the murder shit is different from the drug side of business. Theonlyreason we’re being looked at is thatyourworker, Layken Walsh, whom I had the pleasure of putting his lights out to make sure none of us goes down for this shit, was running his fucking mouth. Instead of you screaming and hollering about us letting outsiders post up, you should be thanking me for keeping ya ass out of jail a little longer.”
“Furthermore,” Mill started. “We all know not to leave any witnesses. You let that man walk away with his life, which is why this shit is happening in the first place. So, pipe it down. Because what you should be doing is showing your gratitude that the drug shit will possibly be thrown out due to us handlingyourproblem.”
“I didn’t ask you to step up and do a damn thing. I was going to handle it myself?—”
“You should have handled it before the nigga even made it off the block once he left,” Mook spoke up.
“Okay, I fucked up, but as I said, I didn’t ask any of you to handle him. I could have done it myself.”
“But you didn’t. Anyway, we need to contact the distribution team and let them know that we’re pausing everything until this shit blows over.”
“I’ll have Breshawn handle it,” Pierre said.
“Cool. If that’s all, I gotta go,” I told them, standing, and everyone else began following suit. I could feel Torrance’s eyes on me, so I gave him eye contact. “Speak your piece, Banks.”
“Can I talk to you in private?”
“You know there are no side conversations in the presence of the families,” I told him.
“This is personal, not business.”
I sighed and walked out of the room. He followed me and led me down the hall to what I assumed was his office.
“What’s good, Banks?”
“Would you like a drink?”
“I’m straight. What’s up?”
“You have been ignoring my daughter for months now. I’m just trying to understand what the holdup is.”
“I’m not marrying your daughter, Banks. I thought my father told you what the deal is.”
“He did, but I’m not understanding whatyourdeal is. Are you trying to say my daughter isn’t your type? I mean, that doesn’t matter anyway. All that matters is combining our families to create a legacy and generational wealth.”
I shook my head at him. “And that’s where the problem lies.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not marrying someone I’m not in love with so that you can make sure your family is secured for the future.”
“People do it every day, Em. You all will eventually learn to love each other. Trust me. Normani has already been groomed to make your life as easy as possible. She also knows the ins and outs of the business and can ensure things work smoothly on your end.”
“I’m not interested,” I finalized. I wasn’t marrying his daughter, and that was that.
“Hmph. You’ll regret your decision in the long run.”
“I won’t. And saying shit like that makes me feel as if you’re threatening me. Your daughter said something similar. I don’t like that shit, Banks.”
“I would never. Shecertainlywould never. Your father and I are good friends. I wouldn’t dare harm his children.”
“I’m sure you won’t.”
“I’m just trying to get you to see that you two would make a great team.”
“Louis DeVato is available, and so is Isa St. Claire. Why not choose one of them?”
“First, I don’t want my daughter marrying outside of her race. Secondly, we all know that Isa has a drinking problem. Lastly, you, the Aldanas, started this organization, so you rank higher on the wealth scale. I want my daughter to be properly cared for. Just think about it, Em. It’s not like you have to stay married forever. Just give me some grandchildren, and that’s all.”
