Page 70 of What I Needed

“There’s Daddy’s girl.”

I lifted her in the air, making her laugh uncontrollably. She loved that shit, and I loved the sound of her laughing. I kissed her cheeks and gave her back to Erissa.

“Hey, Shakira. I hope you enjoyed the game.”

“It was cool, but I had to check a few of those⁠—”

“Kira, not right now,” Erissa protested.

“Fine.”

Shakira frowned at me as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Umm, I gotta do press before I shower and get dressed. Wait for me in the family lounge.”

“No. I’d rather meet you at home. I need to get Rivvy to bed,” she told me.

“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can, and we can talk about what’s bothering you.”

I kissed her and Riverlynn again before leaving. I was anxious to get home to find out what happened in the suite. Over an hour had passed before I could leave, and when I got in my car, my phone rang. It was the security office at my condo, which had me a bit concerned.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Westmore, I’m sorry to bother you after your first game, but this couldn’t wait,” LaRon said.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a woman here that says she needs to see you.”

“A woman? What’s her name?”

“She won’t say, sir, but she says it’s urgent.”

“LaRon, I need a name.”

“Ma’am, Mr. Westmore asked if he could have a name, please.”

“Tell him it’s about Riverlynn,” I heard the woman say.

“How does she know—I’m on my way.”

I raced out of the arena parking like a race car driver, making it to my condo in under ten minutes. After parking haphazardly, I rushed into the lobby and was spotted by LaRon right away. He nodded toward a lady sitting near the windows.

“Thank you.” I approached the woman in a hurry. “Excuse me. Were you looking for me?”

She stood and offered her hand.

“Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. I’m Marveya.”

“No problem. Do you want to talk here or somewhere more private?”

She looked around, then said, “Somewhere more private, if that’s okay.”

“We can go up to my condo. Follow me.”

We took the elevator up to my floor and sat at the kitchen table when we entered my condo. She placed the folder she’d been holding on the table and opened it.

“I’ll get straight to the point. This is Riverlynn’s mother. Her name is Chala, and she’s my younger half-sister.”