Page 110 of Cannon

“She okay?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Far from it.” I knocked back the liquor, welcoming the burn. “But she’s asleep now.”

Three hours later, with Cannon still in my apartment, I crept back into ZaZa’s room. Her laptop sat on her desk, closed butnot locked. She’d always been careless that way. I glanced at her sleeping, guilt gnawing at me, but I needed answers.

Back in the living room, I opened the laptop while Cannon watched, his expression unreadable.

“My brothers are digging into Alfred. We should hear something soon.” He said quietly.

I nodded, too focused on my mission to respond. ZaZa’s password was the same one she’d been using since high school. It was her birthday backwards followed by her middle name. Some things never change.

Once I was in, I navigated straight to her banking app. My heart was pounding so hard I swore Cannon could hear it from where he sat, his massive frame perched on the edge of my couch, watching me with those penetrating blue-green eyes.

“Fuck,” I whispered as the screen loaded.

“What?” Cannon leaned in, his shoulder brushing mine, sending an unwelcome spark through my body despite the situation.

I turned the screen toward him. There it was, a deposit of $30, 000 made three days ago. The exact amount missing from Sylk Road’s account. My fingers trembled as I clicked through her purchase history. Designer clothes, makeup, and there it was, a receipt for those red-bottomed Louboutins she’d been flaunting tonight.

“My own daughter,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “It was her all along.”

“You sure?” Cannon asked, though we both knew the answer.

“I accused Nori. I fucked up my friendship.” Shame washed over me, hot and thick. “Been riding her ass for days, and it was my own flesh and blood stealing from me.”

The betrayal cut deep, opening wounds I thought had scarred over years ago. First my mama using me to kill a man, now my baby girl stealing from me. Was I destined to be used byeveryone I loved? I was tired of it. I was tired of taking care of sick and ungrateful users.

“What you gonna do?” Cannon’s voice was low, steady.

I slammed the laptop shut and stood up so fast I got dizzy. “What I should’ve done with my mama years ago. Set some goddamn boundaries.”

I stormed down the hallway to ZaZa’s room, flipping on the light without warning. She startled awake, her eyes puffy from crying, still in that red dress.

“Mama? What’s?—”

“Don’t ‘Mama’ me,” I snapped, tossing her laptop onto the bed. “You wanna explain the thirty thousand dollars that magically appeared in your account? The same thirty thousand that disappeared from my club’s account?”

Her face crumpled, but this time I wasn’t buying the tears. “I—I can explain?—”

“Explain what? How you stole from me? How you let me accuse Nori, knowing damn well it was you?” My voice rose with each word. “I raised you better than this!”

ZaZa sat up, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. “Marcus and I found this apartment in Brooklyn. We needed first and last month’s rent, security deposit… I was gonna pay you back, I swear! He got this new job lined up and he told me he would give it right back…”

“So you stole from me instead of asking?” I was shaking now, rage and hurt battling inside me. “After everything I’ve done for you? Everything I’ve sacrificed?”

“You never would’ve given me that much! Marcus said…”

“Fuck him! This is about you betraying me!” I slapped my palm against the wall, making her jump. “My own daughter. Just like your grandmother, taking what you want, using people?—”

“I’m nothing like her!” ZaZa screamed, standing now. “And you wouldn’t understand anyway. You never support what I want!”

Something in me snapped. Maybe it was thirty years of carrying the weight of a murder, maybe it was simply being tired of family seeing me as nothing but an ATM. Whatever it was, I was done.

“Pack your shit,” I said, my voice suddenly ice cold.

ZaZa blinked. “What?”

“You heard me. Pack. Your. Shit.” Each word felt like a knife leaving my mouth. “You wanna be grown? Go be grown. But not under my roof.”