The Rules (6 page)

She could hear Shanae popping her gum. The annoying habit sounded even more annoying over the phone. If she wasn’t her brother’s fiancée and the mother of his child, Terri would have cursed her out a long time ago, but she had made a promise to her brother that she would make an effort to be nice to her. Shanae, however, didn’t have the same desire to be cordial except when Damian was within earshot. Then she turned on the charm, voice dripping with sugar as she
hey girl
-ed Terri and spouted lies like
It’s so good to hear from you
.

“Where is he?” Terri asked.

“He at work.”

In addition to operating a crane during the day—a job that paid very well, Damian worked most nights at a warehouse to put away extra money. Not only to take care of his family, but also because with his wedding to Shanae coming up next year, he wanted to give his fiancée the wedding of her dreams. Something he could have done if not for Terri.

Shanae blamed her for the financial crisis created when Damian’s investments—investments he’d entered at Terri’s urging—bottomed out. At the time, Terri assumed they were all legitimate, but later learned her boyfriend, Talon Cyrenci, had set up shell corporations and laundered money through established businesses—car washes, nightclubs, and flipping real estate.

A lot of people lost money, including Shanae’s parents and friends Terri could no longer face.

“Anything else?” Shanae asked, not bothering to keep the impatience out of her voice.

“Is Little Bit up?” Terri’s asked, referring to her two-year-old niece, LaShay.

“She sleep.”

“Oh.” Of course Little Bit would be asleep. Atlanta was three hours ahead, which meant it was almost midnight there. “Well, give her a kiss for me and tell Damian I called.”

“Yeah.”

Terri didn’t even know why she bothered. Half the time, Shanae didn’t pass on the messages. If Damian didn’t get a cell phone soon, she was going to get one for him.

“Bye, Shanae.” Before the other woman could respond, Terri hung up the phone.

She reclined against the pillows and stared at the white curtain cutting her apartment in two, recalling fond memories of growing up in the little yellow house with the green shutters on Washington Avenue. The year her parents passed away—her father from a heart attack and her mother from complications after surgery—she and her brother moved in with her mother’s mother, Grandma Elisabeth. Her grandmother kept them until they entered high school, when a stroke forced her into a wheelchair. Although still lucid, she was unable to care for them any longer.

Terri and Damian were shuffled among family members for months, including an elderly aunt whose younger boyfriend used her financially—something all the family could see except her. When he emptied her bank account and ran off, she couldn’t recover. She ignored the eviction notices, and one day, they came home to find their belongings being picked apart in the street by neighbors. They scattered like vultures chased away from a carcass when she and her family pulled up in the old station wagon. Even worst, what was left had been soaked through from a brief rainstorm that flashed through the city hours before.

They salvaged what they could—a few clothes, a couple of pots and pans so damaged no one wanted them. They lost most everything, but Terri hadn’t cried until the shocking sight of her prized
Charlotte’s Web
—an old, rare copy given to her by her grandmother—destroyed by rain and torn apart by trampling feet. At that young age—no more than fourteen years old—she vowed to never be a victim again.

After her first love failed, she saw Talon as a prince, with his cool green eyes, thick black curls swooping down over his forehead, and charming wit. But she learned the hard way that he was not royalty.

So she decided to stop wishing for a man to save her, and resolved that she would save herself.

****

Gavin strolled into breakfast at his mother’s home. The formal dining room contained a long table that seated ten and could be expanded for extra seating. Two chandeliers hung overhead and offered additional elegance in the ornately decorated room.

Although he had rented his own place, he sometimes drove over to eat breakfast with his mother. Considering his wild night in Las Vegas, which took an interesting turn when a member of his party showed up at the suite with five strippers and enough vodka to kill a horse, he should be tired. Yet, he felt buoyed and refreshed.

Constance Johnson sat at the head of the table with a half-eaten plate of eggs benedict, grilled asparagus, and pieces of thinly sliced berries fanned out on one side of the plate.

“Morning.” Gavin kissed his mother’s cheek. Her face, a deep color that reminded him of rich chocolate, was surprisingly free of wrinkles for a woman her age.

She stopped in the middle of her conversation with his brother, Xavier, who was already dressed for work in a crisp navy suit and tie, his long dreadlocks pulled back in a low-hanging ponytail.

“Good morning, dear.” Constance sipped her tea. “I’m surprised to see you this morning. I understand you and your friends took one of the planes to Las Vegas and did quite a bit of partying this weekend.”

His mother had a way of sliding in comments without directly stating disapproval. Unlike his deceased father, who had been direct in all his conversations—at times, brutally so.

Gavin held his response as a member of the household staff, a young woman named Alicia with golden brown skin and a calm demeanor, filled his cup with coffee and placed two sugar cubes on the saucer beside him.

“I didn’t want to miss breakfast with my favorite lady.” He flashed one of his grins and Constance shook her head, a smile of pleasure on her lips.

He had taken his friends—rather, his entourage—to Las Vegas with him. Wherever he went, they went, and once he’d recovered enough to walk again, they started hitting all the hot spots in Seattle, taking short trips to California to dine at celebrity hangouts like Nobu and Tavern, and occasionally flying to Vegas or New York to party.

Compared to some, he had a small group. A male assistant answered his phone and maintained his schedule. He’d had a female assistant at one time, but after sleeping with her, their work relationship got messy and ever since, he only hired men. His two trainers were working with other clients at the moment, but whenever he was ready to start training for another sport, he could call them. They prepared him for any extreme activity he chose to tackle and brought in consultants as needed.

A personal chef traveled with him at all times, and even when Gavin wasn’t around, made sure his friends ate hearty meals from the freshest ingredients and drank the finest wines available. Then there was what his family called his “hype team,” three guys who didn’t really have a job, so he called them assistants. One he’d met in college, the other two surfing in Hawaii. Their job was usually to get in touch with women on his behalf, run errands, and in general co-sign any behavior he chose to indulge in. His family really, really didn’t like the hype team.

Constance cut into a piece of asparagus and ate it before speaking again. “I have a busy day today. All week, to be honest. I don’t know how I’ll fit everything in. I have to find something to wear to the Farnsworth wedding this weekend. I can’t believe I let the time creep up on me like this. Then I have to look at more fabric swatches for the house in Nice.”

“You’re still working on that?” Gavin asked, placing a white napkin across his thighs.

“Unfortunately.” Constance shook her head sadly. “I fired the last decorator because he simply didn’t understand the look I wanted, and I was getting tired. I found someone new, recommended by Blake’s mother. By the way, how was your date?”

“Fine,” Gavin said shortly, noting Xavier’s smile across the table. He was going to kill Trenton.

“Well, Celeste is back from vacation, so I’m going into the spa to get a facial. This winter weather makes my skin so dry. I think it gets worse every year.” She touched a hand to her cheek.

“You look fine, Mother.”

Xavier nodded in agreement. “He’s right. You don’t look a day over thirty-five.”

Constance laughed. “
That
I know is an untruth, but I appreciate it.” She turned to Gavin. “When will you be leaving? Of course I don’t want you to go, but I expected you would be gone by now. You mentioned you would leave after the specialist said you no longer needed therapy.”

“I did, but I think I’ll stick around a little bit longer.”

Xavier held out his cup, signaling Alicia for a refill of coffee. “Really? What prompted that change?”

Gavin shrugged as another servant came in and set a plate of the same breakfast in front of him. “Nothing, really. It’s no big deal.” An image of Terri entered his mind. Her pouty lips, her flirty smile.

“So you’re enjoying your stay?” His mother smiled.

A boulder of guilt settled in Gavin’s chest. She probably thought he intended to stay indefinitely, but in all honesty, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d stick around. He had barely made it through the Christmas holidays, the time of year when other people were celebrating and festive, but not him.

His mother, as she always did, flew back to Texas to spend the holidays with her parents. Unable to tolerate remaining in town because he remembered the accident that took his father’s life during the same time of year, Gavin went to the family’s property in Hawaii with his entourage and a few young women who wanted to party as much as they did. Under the warmth of the Maui sun, he shut out the bad memories between the legs of a set of nubile twins and drank to the bottom of a thousand dollar bottle of limited edition Absolut vodka.

“I’m enjoying my stay,” Gavin confirmed to his mother.

“What are you going to do to stay busy?” Constance asked. “You can’t play all day now that you’re back to one hundred percent.”

“I’ll find something to get into.” There was plenty to keep him busy—his friends, keeping track of his investments…Terri. A little smile touched his lips when he thought of her voluptuous body and sexy little smile.

“Why don’t you come into the office?” Xavier suggested.

“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea.” Constance clasped her hands together and looked from Xavier to Gavin.

“I don’t know if—”

“It’ll be good for you,” Xavier said, a twinkle in his eye.

His brother knew that he didn’t want to work at Johnson Enterprises. According to the terms of their father’s will, Gavin received a handsome monthly allowance, which allowed him to travel and fund his escapades around the world. Coupled with his own investments, a traditional job was completely unnecessary.

His siblings worked at the company to continue the family legacy and collected multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses for their efforts. At the helm, Cyrus Junior efficiently ran the entire conglomerate as the CEO. Xavier worked directly under him as the COO, a new position he was still learning. Ivy controlled the restaurant group operations as the COO, and Trenton oversaw a large department in his role as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

After avoiding the same fate for years, Gavin was now being railroaded right in front of their mother. All because Xavier knew that if Constance wanted him to spend time at the company, it was going to happen.

“I’ll consider it,” Gavin said, hoping his smile appeared more genuine than it felt.

“You’ve been sitting around doing nothing for the past few months. Might as well come in and learn something.”

“This is your inheritance,” Constance added.

“There’s nothing for me to learn,” Gavin said. “I don’t have the brains for the work they do.”

Xavier set his napkin on the table and immediately Alicia came by and swept it up along with his empty plate. “You have a brain and a degree in chemistry.”

At one time, Gavin considered becoming a brewmaster and heading up quality control for the company’s beer products.

“I think you should do it. You need to learn more about the business, even if you’re not going to work at the company.” His mother’s gaze rested on him as she waited for a response.

Gavin swallowed the tightness in his throat. He didn’t want to have anything to do with the company his father had turned into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. It was simply too painful.

“You’ll love it,” Xavier said.

Gavin couldn’t tell if his enthusiasm was genuine or manufactured, but it was definitely annoying. Xavier himself had been working at the company for only a short time, after abandoning his work in Africa to fall prey to the corporate grind.

“What would I do there? I have no skills.”

“You don’t have to do anything, dear. You simply have to go in and learn.” Constance patted his hand.

“I can learn about the company from home,” Gavin said.

Constance dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “I would like you to try.”

The words came out quietly but firmly, which meant he didn’t have a choice. Accepting directives from her had been instilled in them from the time they were young. He still remembered the first time he understood the severity of disobeying his mother—or disrespecting his mother, as his father called it.