Page 10 of The Need to Know

I was loyal, and I did love my pops, but he’d stuck me in the back first.

Regina kissed my cheek, squeezing my shoulder before coming and planting that nice ass on my lap. “You’re going to be patient, Z. Success means nothing with no one in your corner. You’re young, you still have time to become the boss you’re destined to be. But do it the right way.”

I wrapped my arms around her, holding her in my grasp, feeling her energy, and yet, I was still upset.

I went home and got my new house keys from the front desk before stopping inside my condo and changing into my workout clothes to go and hit the gym. Talking to Regina had helped, but I was still reeling, and if hitting the bag a few times didn’t work, I knew Cease would come through.

“Eaze!” Cesar greeted me with a handshake and a hug, pulling me in and patting my back. “So how we feeling?” He leaned down, as if he weren’t already shorter than my six-two, grinning up at me, being silly. “How’s it feel to be a CEO? Do I call you boss now?”

As if a switch had been hit, my fury refueled and I was back to square one.

I shook out my durag, trying to distract myself. “Nope.”

My tone gave away my attitude and Cesar lost his smile. “Damn, what he say?”

I met his gaze flatly. “That I’m not ready. That I should be trying to settle down than be in the club. That he needs more time to consider.”

Cesar whistled, looking at the ground. “Shit.”

“Indeed.” I put on my silky and focused on tying it. “Don’t matter though. I got another idea.”

“Word?” Cesar prompted.

The sound of clinking metal and the echoes of workout music could be heard all throughout Phat Fitness. It was still early in the day, so it wasn’t particularly busy this Monday. No one was around where Cesar and I stood by the weights. In the mirror beside us, I could see I held all of Cease’s interest.

“Tee been wanting to work with me. I think it’s time I step out and become my own man,” I announced. “Make a new club and take over Atlanta’s nightlife.”

Cesar’s brown eyes enlarged. He took a step back, uneasy. “Tee Money?”

“Tee Money will give me a share. A percentage. I would own the club, partially. Shit, I could tap into my savings and buy a spot and just say fuck it and do it all on my own.”

Cesar blinked, twisting at his hair. “I mean… What would you even call the club? What would be the setup?”

I smirked. “It’ll come to me. I could do it all again, make it bigger and better. All of BLVCKJVCK’s people are my people. I’m sure it wouldn’t take much for them to come with me. I got connections and a name in Atlanta, I could do it.”

My best friend rubbed at his neck. “Yo, Eaze, you my boy—my brother, even, but I’m not sure I could do this to your pops. I barely made it through college, but your pops had my back in putting me on with BLVCKJVCK. My own father don’t give a shit about me, but Luke look out for me. He call me on Sunday mornings just like he call you. I feel you and all, but I couldn’t go with you.”

It was disappointing to hear, but I wasn’t surprised. “It would take a year.”

“If it would take you a year to create something new, why not wait a year to see what happens with your pops, man? Shit, he may change his mind next week.”

I hated that he was right. That the time frame required patience no matter what. “Nah, it ain’t sound like it. He was married to my mom pretty early. He all about family, and he wants me to be all about family. They had me when he was twenty-eight, they were ready for forever then. Me? Nah. Forever’s a big word that’s not in my vocabulary. You know what’s forever, Cease? Money. Dead presidents. That’s all I’m about right now.”

“I hear you.” He reached out and slapped me five. “But be patient, because it ain’t gon’ feel right unless your pops is behind you.”

“He should be behind me now,” I argued.

“A man’s name and his family are all he has,” Cesar pointed out. “That and his dick.”

I didn’t want to go against my father, but it felt like I had no choice. He could retire early, spend his days with my mother, and leave the club to me.

“And I’m trying to preserve both,” I insisted.

Still, Cesar wasn’t convinced. “A man who betrays his father? Can he be trusted? Your pops is good to you, he gives you the world, and you plot against him because he wants you to wait for the title? You burn that bridge and you start a war and ruin your family.”

I hung my head, hearing his words echo in my mind. I was my pops’s only boy, the heir to the Marcuson legacy. Perhaps, I was being ungrateful and greedy.

Like Regina, Cesar had a point, and I knew deep down I couldn’t go through with it. No matter how tempting it was.