Page 108 of Lavish

“You just letting him do it?” Erik turned to Serena.

“What are you talking about?”

Don’t say shit, Erik.

“Aren’t you running King Enterprises? Serena and I got our businesses handled. Nobody needs your opinion on how we do things.”

He sat back. Noelle, who was sitting next to him, reached out to place a hand on his arm. “Oh, so you big shit? Just come into my company and take over?”

“Mycompany,” Serena emphasized. “Irun it.”

Erik shook his head. “Relax. No one’s taking your sandbox away.”

I saw Laurene’s and Noelle’s heads whip to Erik, and Serena grabbed her knife, giving him a look of disgust. “My sandbox?”

“All due respect,” I said, leaning forward, voice calm but cutting, “but King Developmentsisthe only part of your family’s empire actually innovating right now. So maybe instead of talking down to her, you should be taking notes and not banking on the rest of our hard-ass work.”

“What work? You’re company’s been piss-poor for years and you haven’t even been able to get it back on track until us,” Erik shot back.

“How you mad at me? My family was ruined, yours is sitting up here eating braised rib and lobster,” I snapped.

“Don’t do this at the table,” Vincent told Erik.

“This was a mistake,” he said, looking at his parents. “We should have done things my way.”

“I’m the head of this family,” Yvonne said calmly. “Your input isn’t needed, Erik.”

He scoffed, leaning back in his chair like he was too exhausted to hold his tongue any longer. “It is. Serena’s sitting here like she hasno ideawhat’s actually going on—and from the looks of it, she can’t handle it or him anyway.”

“You that much of a pussy you want to insult your sister? You? The one who needs Mommy’s approval for everything? Do you even know all the hard fucking work she’s been putting in? Day in and day out.”

“Miles…” Serena placed her hand on mine. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.”

Erik pushed his chair back with a loud scrape and immediately I matched him.

Vincent cleared his throat. “That’s enough.”

“Don’t insult my wife.”

I ignored Laurene’s and Noelle’s squeals, watching him. I still wanted to see a brother somewhere in him but it was hard as fuck to find any semblance of it.

“No,” Yvonne said, voice like a whip crack. “Let them finish since apparently dinner is now a street brawl.”

“I’m not the one starting shit,” I said, voice calm but tight. “I came here out of respect.”

“Respect?” Yvonne arched a brow, slicing her rib again like she was imagining it was my neck. “I think your family lost that when your father was doing crack.”

“Mama!” Serena said.

Reese cleared his throat and pointed to a server. “More wine, please.”

“Reese!” Laurene hissed and I saw her pinch him.

“My father served his time,” I said, looking her straight in the eye. “And I’m not him. It would be nice if we can stop bring up old issues that have been resolved.”

“Well, I’ve yet to see the difference,” Miss Yvonne replied.