CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHAT YOU NEED
Christmas tunes continued to hum through the house. Laughter and chatter resumed, but it was different. Phoebe now seemed out of place, on the outside looking in. Audiemar conversed with his grandchildren and Sailor, telling them old stories about the things he did or got into as a child while they listened attentively. Even Dane lingered on the arm of the couch inside the living room, entertained. Audiemar was raised in group homes like his sons, during a different era.
The same way he stepped in for them was what Desiree and her husband did for him all those years ago. He didn’t have the advantage of growing up in a place like Haven House. It had its problems like any other facility, but he’d seen worse. Back in his day, abuse was normal and accepted. Meals were withheld; kids were forced into their room and locked away for hours. Staff would slip into certain rooms and violate kids. Audiemar was ten years old when he caught his first body, a security guard who got off on molesting little boys. It wasn’t the type of story he’d ever share with his boys, but his wife was fully aware.
He spent a year in a juvenile detention center before they shipped him to a psych facility because he stopped talking after he did it. The doctors all thought he was crazy or had sufferedsome kind of break down. Desiree and her husband attended a career day event. Axl Blackmoor started Blackmoor industries with a dollar and a dream. He had one semi-truck that he refurbished and had someone paint his name on the side, and it was up from there.
Audiemar was good with numbers, and Axl paid attention to potential. He prided himself on it at that point in his life because he’d put plenty of people on and now his business was thriving more than he could have ever dreamed. That was the story he recited to the young minds that had somehow surrounded him near the Christmas tree.
Coast, Ayla, and Inari remained in the kitchen around the island, chatting. Ayla had the staff set up the dining room for dinner and brought the side dishes from the warm oven with mitts on her hands.
“Inari, Moose looks like he wants to kill Danilo,” Ayla stated, arranging the dishes for the waiters to come and grab next.
“Don’t remind me,” Inari grumbled, grabbing a decorated snowflake sugar cookie and taking a bite with her grip on a fresh flute of champagne.
“Why did you bring him again?” Coast queried, forking a slice of apple pie on her plate and bringing it to her lips.
“He basically forced himself into the situation. He has a knack for that,” she mumbled.
“He is not coming to Hawaii.”
“Absolutely not!” Inari voiced. “I told him and Dane I was leaving bright and early too.”
“What the hell was that with Desiree and Phoebe, though?” Coast wondered.
“I have come to learn that the Blackmoor family is full of skeletons in the closet, and I, for one, don’t need to know about them.” Ayla brushed cookie crumbs off her hands.
“Amen to that.” Coast aimed her fork at her and nodded.
“Coast, your family is interesting.” Inari snickered.
“Insane is what they are.”
“I just think the three of you coming down to Haven House and talking to those other kids would be inspiring.” Bee’s sweet voice carried into the kitchen, strolling in with Mozzi, Moose, and Kong behind her. “All of you survived that place, and look at you now.”
“We some fucking savages, Bee,” Mozzi declared.
“Now you know I don’t believe what the streets say,” she argued.
“And speak for yourself, nigga.” Moose shoved Mozzi, who stepped back to square up and swung on him.
Mozzi lightly tapped Moose’s cheek, which sent him lunging for his younger brother. The two wrestled it out right in the middle of the floor in designer suits. Kong approached the counter, pausing on the opposite side of Inari, but closest to Ayla. Moose and Mozzi were out of breath, both tired from drinking and smoking all night. Mozzi rolled out of his brother’s headlock, and both pressed their backs into the floor to catch their breath.
“You wrinkled my shit,” Mozzi complained, sitting up and swiping his blazer of the wrinkles that had developed during their scuffle. “Next blunt is on you, bitch.”
“Fuck you.” Moose flipped him off and sat up, pushing his locs from his face.
“At least consider what I said. Kong, you could come and talk to them about what it’s like running Blackmoor Industries and going to college. I know the three of you might be considered thugs by the rest of the world, but don’t forget I knew you when you barely had any bass in your voice with scrawny little chests.”
“I always been beefed up, Bee. Ion know what you talking about.” Mozzi adjusted his jacket on his shoulders, and Bee cackled.
“The event is three weeks away, so you have plenty of time to prepare for it.” She stopped at the counter beside Inari and Coast. “Inari, I would love it if you and Moose could come too. You can talk about your work at Vintage Vault, and Moose, it would be great to hear from you about starting and running your own business.”
Clearing her throat, Inari briefly glanced at Moose and nodded with a forced smile.
“I would love to, Bee. Just remind me when,” she agreed.
