Page 7 of Lavish

I ran over, grabbing Daddy’s arm, shaking like crazy. “Daddy…”

Suddenly, Laurene and Gigi burst through the throng, their faces pale. Gigi’s wail echoed over the murmur of the crowd, tears already streaming down her face as she collapsed onto Daddy and he groaned.

“I-it’s okay. I’m okay…” Daddy coughed.

Miles kept wrestling with Omar. His grunts punctuated the sounds, and I saw him bite Miles’s forearm.

“Damn! Stop!” Miles’s voice cracked, his grip tightening.

This chaos would haunt every deal, every meeting, every family dinner we had.

With a sharp crack, Erik’s fist met Omar’s jaw. Omar went slack, his body crumpling into Miles’s arms.

Miles held on to his father, but glared at my brother. “You ain’t have to do all that. I had him.”

“You didn’t haveshit. What the fuck is wrong with him?” Erik’s voice was a hiss of pure venom. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen my brother that angry.

Miles squared his shoulders. “You think I wanted this?”

“You didn’t stop it,” Erik barked . “That’s the same damn thing.”

He took a step forward. Miles matched it. And just like that, the space between them vanished.

I moved fast, grabbing Erik’s arm, tugging hard. “Erik, enough. Miles, get your father.”

Miles’s head turned, and the second our eyes met, I felt the shift. Not anger. Worse. Disappointment. Hurt, cold and quiet.

“That’s it?” he asked, low. “Just ‘get my father’? You’re not gonna say something else?”

I swallowed, and Erik jerked his arm from my grip. “Why are you looking at her like that?”

Miles didn’t answer. Just kept staring at me.

“Say it,” he said, daring me now. “Just say it. Things can’t get worse.”

I blinked, my mouth parting slightly. For half a second, I thought about telling the truth. About saying I loved him.

But all I could think was,Don’t say anything. Don’t give them a reason to look at you. Don’t give Mama something to use.

“I want him gone!” Mama shouted.

Miles tensed up. “Miss Yvonne?—”

“Don’t.” Her voice was steely, firm. Her gaze flicked to Daddy, still struggling to breathe, and something in her face hardened even more.

“You think I’m going to let this slide? That I’m going to pretend like I didn’t just watch him nearly choke my husband to death?” She gestured toward Daddy, toward the shattered glass, the discombobulated guests, the absolute fucking disaster of it all. “I will be pressing charges.”

Miles’s breath hitched. “Come on, you can’t?—”

“Yvonne, we’re so sorry,” Audrey said, tears in her eyes. Mama ignored her friend and shook her head.

“I can, and I will.” Mama’s voice never wavered. “This has been going on for too long.”

“Honey…” Daddy’s weak voice said.

“No! Audrey, we had a private conversation about your…situation, and I understood. I gave grace. But this? I can’t allow that to happen.”

Erik stepped closer to Mama, his hand catching mine as he tugged me gently to his side. My heels scraped against the stone as I stumbled into place.