Page 53 of Risking it All

“You think Reed knew what they would do to her? If he knowingly left her to the wolves, I’m gonna fucking kill him. She has younger sisters who are waiting for their fate. One of them ran away before she did.”

“Yeah, Zara was still in the marriage pool. They found her a week or two ago.”

My heart dropped, hearing him say that. I knew Zenia had no idea that her sister had been found. I didn’t even know the circumstances behind the situation, but the whole thing was disturbing.

“We need to get in touch with Reed to figure out the next move, and you need to call your fucking dad.”

I nodded. “I’ll call Reed, but you already know what my dad is gon’ be on. That’s my last resort.”

“This is the last resort, Saw. Too many people have already looked the other way for too long. We have to do whatever it takes to make sure these girls are safe.”

“I’m not joining back up. That’s out of the question.”

“Not even to save the woman you love?”

“There you go again with that love shit. I said I would call Reed.”

“Call him now,” Nicholas suggested.

I sighed and shifted my weight so that I could pull out my phone. I knew Nicholas wasn’t going to drop it until I did. I hit Reed’s name on the contact list and put the phone to my ear. It wasn’t like I was scared to talk to him. I didn’t need him letting anybody know where Zenia was on some family loyalty shit. I knew his family had done a number on him as well. Last I knew, he had severed ties with them. Hopefully, he still felt the same about them.

“What’s up, ugly-ass nigga?” he answered after a couple of rings.

“You still indisposed?”

“Pretty much. Please don’t tell me we need to get on a flight, because my babies are having the time of their lives over here.”

“I just needed to run something by you. It’s pretty heavy, though.”

Nicholas poured two glasses of scotch before pushing one over in front of me.

“Hold on,” he said before I heard shuffling in the background. After a few seconds, he came back on the line. “What’s going on, bro?”

I took my drink to the head before responding. “I’m in love with Zenia,” I confessed, surprising myself.

Apparently, Nicholas was just as shocked as I was because he spit his drink out all over his desk.

“Wait, my Zenia?” Reed questioned.

“My fucking Zenia,” I snapped.

“Zenia Morgan? I thought she was missing.”

“I met her a few weeks ago. I had no idea who she was, but now I need to make sure nothing happens to her.”

“Damn, I actually figured her daddy was pulling some kind of stunt. He’s shady as hell. She was supposed to be marrying one of the St. Thomases, which I already thought was weird as hell. Then I heard that both her and one of her sisters were missing after the payments for the deals had been accepted. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone kills him for the way he’s moving.”

“He doesn’t have anything to do with Z’s disappearance. I have her.”

“You kidnapped her, nigga? What the fuck? You back in the family business?”

“No, I didn’t fucking kidnap her. She ran away to get out of the marriage. I didn’t even know who she was. She came to Cashville looking for you. She said she needed your advice. In the meantime, some other shit went down, and I’ve been looking out for her ever since.”

“What kind of advice did she want from me? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I asked her the same question. She wanted advice on how you got out of the arrangement. I knew what you had to do. I don’t know if it’s the same for the women, but if it is, I’m willing to complete her mission for her.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple. Zahad already took the payment.”