Page 100 of Into the Blue

I expected fury, not resignation. “You sound awfully resigned about it.”

“Well, my daughter came to tell me that it would happen. But there was nothing I could do about it.”

Something sick and cloying crawls up the back of my throat. Carefully, as if I’m edging up to a bomb, I ask, “Your daughter? Didn’t know you had one.”

“I didn’t either. Until recently. She’s gonna be takin’ over the family in Junior’s… absence.”

My mind works a million times a minute.

Redd is about to be down for a sentence he shouldn’t be serving because he decided to take matters into his own hands.

The last of my profits are gone without a trace after months of chasing and coming up empty.

Bad things come in threes.

And now Racquelle is— “Who’s your daughter?”

“Well, you might know her as Diamond. Worked at Off Topz a while back.”

Through gritted teeth, I try to keep my voice as contained as I can. “Where is she?”

There is silence that crackles on the line.

Too much fucking silence.

“Hello, Blue.” Her sensual voice slips through the receiver and into my ears.

My heart drops to my stomach as my rage rises to the surface.

It’s the most disorienting feeling of finding out something you didn’t know was being kept from you.

Weeks of inquiring about who her Pa was to find out like this?

For all this time I thought she wanted to protect him from my world. To keep him safe from the consequences that she had already endured with her connection to me.

But that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

“You’re a Faye.” It comes out as stupid and lame as my observation of her being new at Off Topz so many months ago.

Months of her living in my house. I kept her safein my houseall while she knew that she was the daughter to the very people who were destroying my operation piece by piece.

“I’m actuallythe Lafayettenow. I’m running this thing.”

Disbelief is a pungent thing in my brain. “You—What? How? Why?”

“Well, I’m happy to explain everything. Would you like to meet for coffee or dinner? I’m free—”

Her voice is casual as she speaks. I still don’t understand. “Nah. Tell me what the fuck is goin’ on right now.”

“Ah,” She chastises me over the phone. “You don’t make the calls here. I’m in control. I don’t owe you an explanation.” In a softer tone she says, “But, I’m willing to give you one if you let me.”

“Racquelle,” The sound of her name guts me and I try to process how much I’ve fucked up. How she made me look like a fool. Everything I lost while she sat comfortably in my house. That night in my office she must have taken more than I could have realized. That is an obvious fact now. God, I’m so stupid and blind. “What did you do?”

“Long story, long—I’m your supply chain management team and inventory control. Seeing as how I am in possession of more than sixty-five percent of your stock, you can defer to me moving forward.”

I blink at the wall. Then my temper rises to a fever pitch. “Why are you doin' this?”

“Because I am a woman in a world dominated by men. The only thing you all know how to respect is force. So. Here is your pressure. Do you feel it?”