Page 86 of Lavish

She turned to Pops. “Omar, he’s trying. And whether or not you agree withhow, you owe him the space to try not to just give up what your father built for us.”

Then to me. “And Miles… He’s not the man he used to be. You may never get the father you wanted back. But don’t let his silence convince you that he doesn’t care.”

Pops’s eyes shifted, his hands gripping the arms of the chair, knuckles pale. “I never wanted this for you,” he muttered. “I’m going inside.”

With a push of the joystick, his chair rolled backward with a quiet mechanical hum. He didn’t meet my eyes. The screen door creaked, then clicked shut behind him.

“You were going to say something,” Ma said quietly.

I didn’t answer at first. The words were there—Victor’s voice, those damn emails, numbers that didn’t add up unless you knew what you were looking for.

“It’s nothing. I need to handle something,” I told her, stepping back. “Don’t worry about me.”

I would have to deal with Victor on my own. Like I’d been dealing with everything else.

CHAPTER 20

Serena

“Hungry?”I asked Doughboy, who I’d reluctantly letsit next to me. He’d been creepily staring at me for four hours while I researched Jenese.

Of course it wasn’t easy.

She’d covered her tracks pretty well. Jenese knew how to stay in the spotlight just enough. A party photo here. A foundation gala there. Always with someone who had money. Jenese gave Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liz Taylor a run for their money when it came to marriages.

I didn’t know her. Not really. Not the way I thought I had.

She told me she grew up with a single mom who often couldn’t afford both food and electricity. But had that really happened? Apparently, she went to an all-girls college that was now closed. Highly doubt it.

“Meow.”

I frowned at Doughboy. “Are you super hungry or just a bit hungry?”

Why the hell was I talking to a cat? I didn’t even like Walter, Gigi’s decrepit dog.

I dragged myself off the couch; I knew I could find something to blackmail Jenese with if I just kept looking. I walked to the kitchen, and heard Doughboy jump off the couch and follow me.

I sucked my teeth and looked at the clock.

It was close to one in the morning.

Where on earth was Miles?

“You know where your owner is?” I asked Doughboy as he came strutting in, his tail high before he launched himself up onto the counter.

“No way, get off the counter! It’s not sanitary!” I swatted him away with a dish towel. He had theaudacityto hiss at me. “Oh, don’t youdare. Iwillcall animal control.”

Doughboy blinked slowly. After that, he licked his paw, flashed his butt at me, and leaped back to the kitchen floor, going to the edge of the kitchen.

“That’s right, you ain’t crazy,” I muttered.

Eyeing the menace just a bit longer, I opened the fridge and was quickly disappointed.

I had forgotten to order more of my premade meals, and there was nothing left. The quinoa bowls, the grilled salmon, even the sad-ass kale wraps—all gone.

I had to do the unthinkable.Cook.

I glanced at the stack of cookbooks on the counter, perfectly color-coded and absolutely untouched.