Page 63 of Lavish

I forced a smile, stepping forward taking Gigi by her arm, and yanking her over to me. I didn’t care to be subtle. “Let’s go. Mama wants us.”

“Let me give you my card, Gigi, and you reach out when you’re ready?—”

I snatched it before either of them could respond.

“Okay, weirdo.” Gigi gave me a disappointed look before smiling at Jenese. “You should come to Café L’Amour. We all hang out there. What do you think?”

“No,” I said, and they both looked at me, surprised. “That’sourtradition. Jenese is… I’m sure she’ll find herself in the right circles soon enough.”

“But—” Gigi started to protest.

“Mama is looking for you.”

Gigi made a face but looked at Jenese and shrugged. “Excuse me. Duty calls.”

I waited briefly, checking for family. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Jenese?”

“What do you mean, sugar?” she cooed, playing dumb with effortless ease. “I’m just getting to know Gigi. I’m new here, after all. And she’s so full of energy. A real breath of fresh air.”

“Cut the bullshit,” I snapped, my voice low but sharp. “You stay the fuck away from my family.”

She looked at me like I was being ridiculous. “Serena, you came to me because no one else took you seriously. Not even your own mother. Now you want to be mean?”

How did Jenese ever convince me to see her as a mentor?

It definitely wasn’t the row of cars in her driveway or the clothes or the fancy homes she had. I was used to that. It was justher.She was an outsider too. She told me how she’d fought for every inch of ground she stood on. How no one handed her a damn thing. How she had to watch from the outside until she learned how to break the doors down herself.

“Where’s my property, Serena?”

“I told you. Paperwork.”

“Hmph. Did you read the manuscript?” Jenese waved me off. “You’re ignoring me. I don’t like to be ignored, sugar.”

Yes. And it was awful. Both in the writing and the truth.

But people wouldn’t care. They’d see my name, attach it to my family, and bam. Another King scandal.

“I was going to respond.”

She sucked her teeth. “Not fast enough. So now I’m here. And I’m going to need you to do a job for me.”

I needed time to clean this up. I needed to figure out what she actually wanted—because this wasn’t just about leverage. Jenese never played short-term. If I could stall, keep her close, I’d find a way to flip it.

I glanced around again. “Fine. What’s the job?”

“There’s a guy in the next town over who’s been a pain in my side for a while now. Alan Price. Runs a consultancy firm. Thinks he’s untouchable.” She smiled, but there was a bite to it. “Get some documents from him.”

“What kind of documents?” I asked, suspicious.

Jenese’s grin widened. “Oh, nothing too fancy. I just need to make him eager to negotiate with me.”

“How?”

She shook her head. “All you need to do it put a USB drive into his laptop. It’ll do the rest.”

That was too damn simple.

“I’ll do it. Send me the details,” I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. “Now get out.”