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“He cool.” He shrugged.

“After all them questions you asked, that’s all you got.”

“He ain’t weird. I don’t have anything else.”

“I’ll take it. Go take a shower and get in bed. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I thought it was going to be difficult letting somebody new in my life without feeling like I was taking something away from my kids. I was making it harder than it needed to be.

CHAPTER 28

KYENNA

Iwas thankful to everyone on my team for stopping the fight with Raya from becoming the buzz of the city. It was Wednesday, and I was more than ready to sit and have lunch with Lloyd. He was already at the table when I got to the new restaurant by the courthouse. He instantly stood up and pulled my chair out for me.

“I was starting to think you were going to cancel on me after the week you’ve had,” he said, smiling as he reached for his water.

“I thought about it for thirty seconds, but I needed to eat anyway. Plus, if I stayed at Royal Flush, somebody else was going to ask what happened to my hand, and I was going to end up fighting twice in one week.”

“That would make my job significantly harder, so I’m glad you are here. I’ve already had enough people question me about what happened with Raya, and most of them know I wasn’t there. They just know I have a connection to you, and think I got the inside scoop.”

“I hate people. Everybody suddenly knows what happened except the two women who were actually in the room.”

“I know what happened. Grif gave me the run down.”

“I’m going to fire his ass.”

“He was concerned on the legal side of things.”

The waitress came over, and we ordered drinks before even opening the menus. Once she walked away, Lloyd glanced down at my hand.

“Since we are already talking about it, tell me how bad this could get if Raya decides she wants to make a big deal out of it.”

“Legally, it depends on what she decides to do. She can file a police report. She can consult an attorney. She can claim you assaulted her after denying a request involving her daughter. None of that means she automatically has a strong case. You had witnesses, and she didn’t. The bigger concern is the optics. Royal Flush doesn’t need any bad press. If she hits that social media one time, you know what that’s going to do.”

I nodded because I thought about all of it. She was missing teeth, and I’m sure her face was fucked up. If she posted one picture and then Royal Flush would be the first thing people attack instead of me.

“I can see the narrative being flipped now. She’ll make this about Rah’s money and how I’m stealing from her and not helping her take care of his child. That shit would be a mess.”

“Exactly. You’re not just Kyenna that hides in the shadows of Royal Flush anymore. You are the face now. Then you got the King Foundation as well. If she gets her ass online with a busted mouth and black eyes, people will run with it before anybody bothers asking what actually happened.”

“I’m telling you now. I’m not apologizing.”

“Oh nah, I don’t expect you to. She deserved everything you gave her. I’ve witnessed her verbally abuse you since the funeral.”

“Good, because for a second I thought this lunch was about to go left.”

The waitress brought our drinks, and I took a sip to calm my nerves.

“What do you think I need to do to get ahead of this?”

“I think we remove the thing she can use most effectively against you, which is the mortgage situation.”

“I don’t want to dip into Ryleigh’s money. That’s not fair to her that her mama moved somewhere she couldn’t afford.” Then an idea hit me. “I’ll pay it out of my account.”

“What? Nah, I can’t let you do that.”