Page 43

“How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t show up at my home? And you don’t contact me, I contact you,” I seethe, standing in the doorway.

“You’ve been ignoring my calls,” she cries hysterically.

“Because I have been very busy. I don’t have time for handholding or coddling,” I explain impatiently.

“I can’t reach Parker. I’ve been calling him for the last hour, and he’s not responding to my calls or text messages.”

“Maybe he’s busy with some work for Zaire, or maybe he’s caught up in . . . something else,” I answer suggestively, eyeing her up and down.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Sweetheart, I have not said anything directly. Take from it what you will,” I reply, turning my back and walking to the dining room table where my laptop is set up.

“Listen. Something’s happened to Parker, and I need to get in touch with him,” she hisses desperately.

I turn back to comment and then tilt my head sideways. Tapping my chin, I shake my head and reply. “Aren’t you forgetting something very important, darling?”

“That’s why I’m looking for Parker. My cover has been blown!”

Shaking my head, I throw my hands up in frustration. This dimwit is so damn simpleminded. I told him that I didn’t want her involved and that his plan wouldn’t work.

“How could you screw up something as simple as being pregnant?”

“My sister walked into the room while I was showering! How was I supposed to know that she would do that?”

“It’s your sister. You’re supposed to know everything about what she would or wouldn’t do. Otherwise, why would you even bother to get involved? You’ve only made a bad situation worse. You should just return home, lay low for a while, and steer clear of me and anything concerning me.”

“What about Parker?”

“What about him?”

“Don’t you want to find him?”

“I’m sure Parker will be found when he’s ready to be found,” I reply scathingly.

She walks toward me with her fists clenched at her sides and her face scrunched up.

“I swear if you have something to do with his disappearance, I’ll—”

“You’ll what, Riley?” I ask, stepping closer to her. “Hmm? Are you threatening me? Because I don’t have time for your little games. I have to go work on a few items for this campaign.”

“Let me make myself clear. If you don’t take me seriously and help me find Parker, or if you had anything to do with his disappearance, there won’t be an election to work on.

I promise you that every resident of this town will know what you’re up to.

And I’ll personally make sure that Zaire comes after you with everything he has! ”

This heifer is fourteen-karat crazy. Does she not realize that she’s crossed her sister’s man up in a way that he will never forgive? Does she really believe that he’ll be on her side or care about her now that they know she’s not pregnant?

I laugh and shake my head. “Not before he handles you. Now get the hell out of my house, and don’t you dare step foot on my property again, or I promise you’ll regret it, Riley Montrose.”

She laughs, shakes her head, and replies.

“You think you have all the power, don’t you, Ms. Essence Hamilton?

Well, you know something. I’m the one with the power.

Mm-hmm . . . I have more power in my little pinky finger than you do.

I have knowledge, and knowledge is key. I can ruin you with what I know. ”

Yes, this bitch is a certified nut. Did she really just threaten me?

I watch as she walks toward the door and heads out of my home. The moment she closes the door, I return to the dining room table, pick up my phone, and request an urgent meeting.

I step out of my house thirty minutes later after receiving a text message.

A driver opens the back door of a black Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows. I slip inside and sit opposite a man with tawny skin, broad shoulders, and chiseled arms.

I find myself wanting to run my hands through that shock of jet-black hair.

As he slowly lowers his dark sunglasses, he reveals a faint scar under his left eyebrow. I hold my breath until those thin, firm lips turn upwards into a half-smile.

Derek Sawyer was, at some point, a very handsome man.

He’s of mixed parentage, Hispanic and Caucasian.

I don’t know if the heartache of life or the evil perils that he’s witnessed have etched a permanent downturn between his eyebrows and a pinched expression at his eyes and lips, or what, but he looks menacing.

I guess anyone would in the line of work that he does.

“Thank you for coming to meet with me at the last minute, Derek.”

“Any time, Essence. How may I be of assistance?”

“I recently had a guest arrive at my home unannounced and uninvited. I need you to pay her an unannounced and uninvited return visit and immediately dispose of my little visitor. I’m pretty sure she’s heading back to this address.” I hand Derek a slip of paper.

He takes the paper and glances at it.

“Do you know how many people reside at this address besides the mark?”

“She now lives alone. She may or may not have a guest tonight. I’m not sure. But let me make one thing clear: Riley Montrose is no longer to be breathing by sunset tomorrow. Is that understood?"

“Understood.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. When you route the amount that I have sent you via encrypted email to the number supplied in the email, then the job will commence. You will pay the final balance upon receipt of proof that the job is complete.”

“Thank you,” I repeat. “Are you busy this evening?” I ask before reaching for the door handle.

“Essence,” he replies, making it personal now. “We’ve discussed this. No more mixing business with pleasure.”

“Too bad. You were such a good lover,” I state, and grab the door handle. It’s pulled from my hands before I can open it.

The driver reaches inside, takes my hand, and helps me out of the car. Before I make it to my front door, the car has pulled away from the curb and is down the street.

I look around before I slip back inside and head to my computer. I don’t waste any time finding the email and routing the money to Derek’s account.

Derek was a damn good lover until a year ago. When I first asked him to do a job for me on Theron James, my former bodyguard, who was blackmailing me, Derek took the job and ended our affair. He did an excellent job of making it look like the poor boy died of kidney failure.

It was a big loss, but I’ve found others who compete.

Take Parker Jones, I think, smiling. I collapse on my couch as my head begins pounding from everything that has transpired in the last hour.

I refuse to allow that simple-minded imp to ruin the future of this city or my career.

It’s bad enough that Zaire Knight is trying to stand in my way; I won’t let his whore’s sister do the same.

He’s still holding a grudge after all these years because his father’s failure to keep his dick in his pants or stand up to his demented wife cost him a few decades in prison.

It’s the least he deserved for screwing me over.

I need to secure the position of mayor before Isaiah Knight is released from prison.

I told him a long time ago that if he didn’t leave Nora Grace for me, he would never see the light of day again. I meant every word.

Forty-five minutes after I’ve wired the money to Derek Sawyer, my doorbell rings again.

I jump up and head to the door, jerking it open.

“What?” I hiss.

“Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Riley. Where is she? I’m sure she came to visit you, Essence.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anyone by the name of Riley, and the only visitors that I’ve had are you and this thug beside you,” I state, gesturing at the tall, brown-skinned man with tattoos on his neck and a sinister look in those light caramel eyes that make me shiver.

I have no idea if he does it on purpose or not, but Zaire Knight, the fine young man that he is, surrounds himself with some of the most handsome, sexy, make you want to take your panties off and throw them aside, fine ass men I’ve ever laid eyes on, including Parker Jones.

That foolishly ridiculous girl. She honestly believed that Parker Jones was in love with her. Parker was in love with his ego and his long stroke and nothing more. As for me? I was simply drunk off the things that kid could do with his tongue.

A tingle shoots straight between my legs when I think about what he did to me last night. I’ll call him later when things die down this evening. Maybe we can meet at a little hotel on the outskirts of the city.

“Listen, I know what you’ve been up to and who you’ve been up to it with. Your little reign of terror behind the scenes is coming to an end soon. You and your little partner’s shenanigans are over,” he threatens.

“I should hope not,” I reply with a smirk, clutching my pearls as I think about Parker’s head between my legs again tonight.

There’s a reason why a woman should take good care of her body. At sixty-six, my body rivals that of women half my age, including Bayleigh Reed and Riley Montrose.

“Don’t fucking play with me, Essence. You’re not even ready for the battle, let alone the war,” Zaire warns.

“Good night, gentleman. Oh, and Mr. Washington, if you’re looking for a respectable job where you can put in hard work and really get your back into it, you know where to find me,” I state, eying Jamal Washington up and down before winking at him.

Satisfied with the way this night is going, I close the door and return to the couch to watch TV. You never know who might turn up on the news, alive . . . or dead.