I leaned closer.
“Nah, but you will hurt somebody who can have me in ways you never can, you delusional ass lady. If anything happens to Emily…”
Her eyes changed.
“…or my son…”
The room went quiet.
“I will kill you.”
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
“You always were dramatic,” she whispered.
But I saw the crack.
She wasn’t controlling this moment anymore.
I released her.
She slid against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
I stepped toward the door.
Behind me, she spoke again.
“You think you know what I am.”
I didn’t turn around.
I left her standing there.
For the first time in her life…
Afraid.
CHAPTER 52
Ares
ONE MONTH LATER…
“We Smile For The Cameras”
The ballroom for The House of Delacroix Gala glowed under warm chandeliers, champagne glasses in everyone’s hand, while cameras flashed every few seconds. Outside the building, the press had been blocked by barricades and security, but inside the room was nothing but money, old alliances, and people pretending they didn’t know exactly what kind of families they were standing beside.
Laveau-Wells.
Delacroix.
Jackson.
The kind of names that made men behave a little better in public.
My sisters were already enjoying themselves near the bar with my mother, laughing with a couple of cousins from the Jackson side of the family who had flown in for the night. Seeingthem here always reminded people I didn’t just come from European power.
I had roots in Compton.
