Chapter 27

27

E lias

Sunday

It took a hell of a lot of last-minute planning, but I was able to put together a small party to celebrate Amanda. I knew she didn’t like the attention being on her if she wasn’t on stage or doing a class, but I wanted to honor the changes within her. I felt like she downplayed her good because she was so used to the focus being on her bad. That was changing today. What she thought was simply her picking up EJ was actually a party with her closest family members and friends along with my people.

When she first realized what it was, she cried. I mean really cried. I hadn’t ever seen her cry like that before. As I held her, it took everything in me not to kiss her tears away. Once she composed herself, we turned up and had a good time. Even though she was sober enough to drive, I was able to convince her to spend the night and go home after she took EJ to school in the morning.

As we said goodbye to everyone, Felicity’s eyes were locked on me as she hugged Amanda. She mouthed for me to do right by her cousin, and I nodded. I knew in my heart that my and Amanda’s story wasn’t over, but I wasn’t sure when the next chapter would start or how it would end. Since Felicity and West were the last two people to leave, I walked him out to the car while they talked a little longer.

“Did you look at the video I sent you?” he checked.

I nodded. Apparently, David was down at the trail last night where ol’ boy took Amanda and got to fighting. So far, even without me meeting him, he’d made a good first impression. I knew I could trust him not to back down and to protect my girl, and that meant more to me than anything.

“Yeah, I saw that shit.”

“Whatchu think about him?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think about the next man. You know that.”

West sucked his teeth, and I chuckled. “You know what I mean, mane.”

“I mean…if she likes him…good for her. I would have to meet him first, but I don’t know. He can protect her, so he’s already okay in my book.”

“Yeah, I agree. This was love. Sis really enjoyed herself. I ain’t seen her this happy in a while. You did well with this.”

We shook hands as I thanked him before telling him to take it easy and let us know in the group chat when he made it home. Felicity wasn’t too long after leaving. EJ had already gone to bed, and Amanda was in the kitchen grabbing a small piece of strawberry cake.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

She must not have heard me enter the kitchen because she jumped slightly as she turned, making me laugh.

“Jesus, you scared me.” Her giggle felt foreign these days. Hearing it made me smile. “Yes, I did. I know I keep saying it, but thank you for this, E. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. You know I’ll do anything for you.”

Our eyes remained locked as she leaned against the table and took a small bite of the cake. Even dressed down in leggings and a sweater, she was beautiful. Her shoes were off, toes rubbing against each other as she hummed under her breath.

“Do you…like him?” I asked, causing her to look up at me.

“Ryan?”

I shrugged. “Whoever you were with last night.”

She smiled softly. “He’s cool. He’s deploying next month, and I can’t do a long-distance relationship.”

“Yeah, I’m already knowing.” Amanda loved quality time, so her words didn’t surprise me at all. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She frowned and rolled her eyes before laughing. “No you’re not.”

“I am. Of course I don’t want you with just anyone, but with me doing my thing with Fiona during our brief intermission, I didn’t mind you entertaining someone else.”

As she set the cake on the table, she crossed her ankles. “There’s a lot to unpack there.”

Her low eyes gave away the liquor and weed in her system, but she was still cognizant enough to have this conversation. Gripping the table, she chuckled.

“Brief intermission?”

My head bobbed once as I took a step in her direction. “Yeah.”

“What happened to Fiona being the one?”

“I said she could be the one, but she isn’t.” I paused, considering how much I wanted to share. “We have an expiration date. I don’t know when it’ll be over, but it will be.”

A slow grin spread her lips as she almost cooed, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Now that’s bullshit.”

Amanda giggled as she covered her face. “I wanted you to get what you wanted, Elias. For real. Do I wish you would have been able to get it with me? Yeah, but I understand why you can’t. So…it is what it is.”

Before I could say anything else, she walked over to me. Gripping my shoulder, she lowered me and kissed the corner of my mouth.

“Thank you for tonight. I loved it, and I love you. Good night.”

“G-Good night,” I replied as she quickly made her way out of the kitchen.

God, help me stay out of her room tonight.

Monday Morning

As I suspected, I received an email canceling my meeting with Declan. We used to meet twice a quarter to talk business and at least twice on a personal level, whether it was for drinks or at the country club. Now that I was less trusting of Fiona, I believed she was the one canceling and not her father. Until I had proof, I wasn’t going to approach her about it, but I was still going to Declan’s office.

Since it was business hours, I took the town car. When I saw a call coming through from my brother, I smiled. I put the partition up as I answered the call.

“Wassup, Neek?”

“I need you to send me you, EJ, and Amanda’s sizes. Now that me and my sweet girl are in Japan, I’m about to be shopping and shipping shit back.”

“Say less. How y’all been?”

“Good. Having the time of my life, surprisingly.”

My smile widened, genuinely. I’d do anything for my little brother. He was why I’d even come back to Rose Valley Hills in the first place. To know he was finally basking in love, doing what he loved, and seeing the world truly filled me with pride.

“That’s wonderful. I’m happy for you, bruh. For real.”

“Fill me in. What’s been going on?”

I spent a few minutes updating him on what had been going on lately, including me being on my way to meet with Declan.

“I didn’t want to say nothing because I knew you really liked her, but I felt like she was hiding something after Mama told me about the family dinner. I wish I could have been there to get inside her head, but if Mama say something is off—”

“Something is off,” we said together. “I feel like she’s hiding the fact that we’re in a relationship,” I added. “But I don’t know why.”

“Well, if she is, you’re about to find out.”

“I’ve already started detaching from her because I know what she’s hiding is going to be the reason we break up. The damage I’ve done to my relationship with Mandy to be with her was enough of a sacrifice, you feel me?”

“How’s that going anyway? Did she like the party?”

“Yeah, she loved it.”

“That should have smoothed things out a little bit then, right?”

Sighing, I unbuckled my seat belt as we parked. “Yeah. I think the tension is gone, but she’s moving on. I’ve been dropping little hints that I want something with her. What, I’m not sure. She hasn’t really said anything about it either way.”

He chuckled. “Y’all crazy. West owe me five stacks. I told him when y’all moved back that y’all would end up getting back together. I don’t know why you been wasting all this damn time.”

“Man, you act like she wanted to be with me. Or like her ass wasn’t cheating on me for money. Money I could have given her easily. Can you really blame me for not wanting to be in a relationship with her ass?”

“If that’s how you feel…what’s changed?”

As I got out of the car, I considered his question. Before I replied, I told my driver he could keep the car running because I was sure this wouldn’t take long.

“She’s changed, and quite frankly, I’m tired of trying to have what I want with her with someone else. I’m not saying we’re going to be together forever, but I am saying if she would be willing, I want to give us another try. This would be the first time we’ve wanted the same things at the same time, and I at least want to say I gave it a chance.”

“Yeah, but would you be able to trust her? Not hold the past against her? Because there’s no point in going there if you’re going to push her away with your paranoia.”

“I feel like I can trust her, but I’on know. It’ll depend on how things are when we commit to each other. If she acts right and makes me feel like I’m secure with her, the past won’t be an issue. I’m at Declan’s office, though, so I gotta go.”

“Aight. Make sure you call me back and let me know what he says.”

I laughed but nodded. “I got you.”

After disconnecting the call, I checked in and waited a few minutes for Declan’s assistant to lead me back to his office. He smiled at the sight of me and quickly made his way around his desk. We shook hands and did a side hug as he said, “You finally made some time for me, huh? I ain’t mad at you. Get that money.”

I laughed as we released. “Man, that’s been you. You’ve canceled the last two or three meetings we had.”

Confusion covered his face as he reared back on his heels. “I haven’t canceled a thing. Your office has.”

Squeezing the back of my neck, I rolled my tongue over my cheek before I chuckled.

“Your daughter did that shit, man, and I need to know why. I got a cancelation email for this meeting, too, but I decided to still pop up to see what was going on.”

He motioned for me to sit down at the sofa in front of the large floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

“Why would Fiona cancel our meetings?”

“I’m starting to think it’s because she’s been hiding our relationship from you.”

Blinking rapidly, Declan sat up in his seat. He massaged his chin. “I’m confused. I told Fiona I didn’t want her to date you. She told me she wasn’t, but you’re saying y’all are together?”

“Yeah, and we have been for a while now. She came on to me the first week she was in the office, and it progressed from there. We’ve been traveling together and everything. You’re telling me you had no idea?”

Releasing a bark of laughter, Declan sat back in his seat. “She wouldn’t tell me she was with you because she knew I wouldn’t approve.”

That was a surprise, but it made her secrecy make sense. “And why wouldn’t you?”

Clicking his tongue, Declan sat up in his seat. “Look, this isn’t personal, Elias. I respect and admire you, and I’m proud of your achievements. However, I’m sure you’ve noticed the theme when it comes to marriage in my home.”

I thought about it. His wife was Irish, and his son married a white woman, but I didn’t think that was intentional. I for damn sure didn’t think that would have anything to do with Fiona.

“Speak frankly with me, Dec. What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I told Fiona I wanted her to marry a white man. That’s why she’s been keeping us apart.”

His calm tone and blank expression did not soften the blow of his words. I shifted slightly because a part of me hoped his words would be different if I actually watched them come out of his mouth.

“You got to be the blackest nigga I know, and you’re sitting here telling me you don’t want me to date your daughter, who is half black herself?”

“You’re making this personal.” He laughed quietly as he stood, causing me to do the same. “I married white, and so will my children. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big fucking deal, man. We can have our preferences, but Fiona should be able to choose who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. How are you okay with controlling her like that?”

“Her choice will be based on my choices for her, and that will never include you.”

“Oh, so let me get this straight.” I took a step back to put some space between us, because the way I felt, I was seconds away from hitting his ass in his ignorant fucking mouth. “I’m good enough to make you millions, but I’m not good enough to be with your daughter because of the color of my skin?”

“Exactly.” The shrug and nonchalant tone he used was it for me. “I love our people and will always support us and lift us up. That’s what I did with you. But when it comes to my bloodline, I want different. I want better. I picked my son’s wife, and I will pick Fiona’s husband. Now I’m sorry if she led you to believe the two of you could be together, but that’s not possible. I hope you can respect that.”

My fingers slid down the corners of my mouth as I sighed. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. For a few seconds, all I could do was stare at him. He felt foreign to me. This wasn’t the businessman I’d been admiring for years. It broke my heart in a way I didn’t think was possible. While I wouldn’t say I had Declan on a pedestal, I was proud to be associated with him because of the good he did for our people. I wouldn’t go as far as to say his personal preferences would negate all the good he’d done, but it did make me look at him differently.

“I’ll never respect it, but I accept it. You don’t have to worry about me and your daughter because I’m deading that today… and our working relationship too. Be well, Declan.”

“Elias, come on, man. Are you serious?” He chuckled. When he realized I wasn’t playing as I left his office, he continued. “Are you really going to end our relationship and miss out on millions because of this?”

“All money and connections ain’t good money and connections. I appreciate how you’ve mentored and helped me, but I can’t respect you the same anymore. Thanks for everything, but this is it.”

“Wow. Well, if that’s what you want to do.”

Not even bothering to respond, I continued out of his office. I knew Fiona was hiding something, but I never expected it to be this.