“My son owns this club. You won’t have a fucking job if you don’t let me in or if you touch me.”
Colby chuckled beside her.
I groaned and stood from behind my desk, then grabbed my phone to head out. I locked the door behind me. I didn’t want to come back and see Nessa in my shit, thinking she was going to have my dick down her throat. I jogged down the steps and made my way through the back of the club until I was at the entrance.
Heiress’s eyes lit up the moment she saw me.
“I told you my son runs this place! Now you’re going to be fired.”
Boss my security looked in my direction with wide eyes. I waved him off and I could tell he visibly relaxed. I stormed over to my mom and wrapped my arm around her waist, walking her and Colby away from my club.
“Where are we going? Oh, you’re taking us through the back like VIP.” she assumed.
“Nah, I’m taking y’all the fuck home. When are you going to grow out of this shit? Y’all not young no more. Ain’t no reason you should be out here this drunk and acting an ass. Now, where are your keys?” I asked.
I glanced down to see my grandad’s keys to his truck. She quickly tried to place her hands behind her back. I stood still for a moment and chuckled because this was the same shitwhenever she came around. I held my hand out, refusing to play her games.
“Give me the keys. I’m tired and over this shit.”
“Who are you cursing at? I am your mother and that’s your father. Just because your grandparents looked after you sometimes doesn’t make them your parents.”
I chuckled because that’s exactly what made them my parents. They cared for me when neither of them did. I hated to go over this same song and dance with her. Colby had accepted I would never see him as my pops, but Heiress would never. I always said it was my grandparents spoiling and advocating for her every wrong that made her feel entitled to even my feelings.
“Yeah, aight.” I reached around her and took the keys from her hands.
Then made my way over towards the pickup truck. I hopped in the driver’s seat and started it up. Then looked out the window to see Colby talking to Heiress. She stood with her arms crossed against her chest, as if she had no intention of moving from that spot.
I leaned across the seats and rolled the passenger window down with the wind up handle.
“It’s taking everything within me not to disrespect y’all. Get in this damn truck, man. Now!” I yelled.
Heiress rolled her eyes and strolled over to the passenger door with Colby following close behind her. He opened the door, and she slipped in beside me onto the middle seat as he closed the door behind himself. I drove away from the front of the club, allowing my mind to run.
“I don’t even know why y’all have this fucking truck. Should be driving your own shit.” I mumbled.
It was a silent ride; I dropped Colby off first at his parent’s home then drove with Heiress back to my grandparents’ place. We only had another fifteen minutes before we made it.
“Can we talk Duke?” she asked.
I stayed silent. This was her usual whenever she got drunk. She wanted to have conversations filled with promises she would never keep. About shit that didn’t matter to me now that I was a grown man.
She could keep all of her empty promises. They would have done wonders for the five-year-old version of me.
“I know you hear me, so I’m just going to talk. I want to be better for you, but I can’t sometimes. When I’m sober, I can tell I lost you. But when I’m drunk, it doesn’t matter. You show me you love me when you protect me. I was a kid. Give me a chance to be your mom.”
I shook my head and continued to drive.
My silence was answer enough for her.
We pulled into the driveway and she snatched open the door to storm to the side. I turned the car off and followed behind her so I could let her inside.
Once we were inside, I went straight to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and a Gatorade, then placed them on the table beside the couch she’d plopped down on. I turned to leave and saw my grandad coming down the steps like I knew he would. He had always been a light sleeper, so I knew he’d watch after Heiress.
I lifted my hand to show him I had his keys.
“She’s on the couch, drunk out of her mind. I’m taking the truck with me, but it will be back by the morning. I have to close my club and get someone to drive my motorcycle home for me.” I told him.
He nodded and reached out to pull me into a hug, then kissed my temple. He’d never been a man who didn’t show he loved me. He knew just how difficult this could be for me. But these days I had become numb to it. Heiress would never be different, and I’d accepted that.
