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The man gaped at me for so long, the energy grew awkward. At this point, I wanted him to say no so I could go about my day and stop feeling helpless, waiting for approval. I’d even begun thinking of a way of cockily saying,Never mind. You got it.
“You know, Sinclair, I know I’m not supposed to say this to you, but I am. You were supposed to be a problem. You were assigned to me because theFEDs put you on a ‘return at any time, for any reason’ list, courtesy of Newark PD. They still have it out for you and have given me unlimited surveillance support. You’ve not been perfect, Sinclair, but you’ve not been stupid. Plus, I went to school with the commanding officer over the Bartnicki case at the time. He was a pompous asshole. So was the big brother, so was the father.
“I’m going to grant you traveling privileges for one reason: your expiration date is fastly approaching. But there are conditions!” His volume increased as he warned. “You must submit your requests at least one week in advance and that is to be accompanied by all of your travel arrangements.”
I nodded. “Understood, sir.” I would not thank him.
“Sinclair.”
“Sir.”
“You fuck me over, you’ll regret being assigned to me. I have a few tricks in my bag and Newark PD has more.”
“Understood, sir.” I gave a pause before asking, “Does that conclude this check-in?”
After another long glare, Reed turned his back to me, going into his computer. I didn’t take it personal. Understanding the visit was done, I stood to leave with a W on the scoreboard. Reed could be dramatic by his damn self.
I had a chick with wings, taking off every and anywhere. I’d just been given mine, too, to keep up with her ass.
“You sure you don’t want a stick?”
I shook my head, eyes rolled around my father’s smoke room on his estate. He sat across the small table from me, having just sparked a stogie. We’d had dinner and I agreed to join him in here because I couldn’t regain the courage to break the news to him. I don’t know if I was more annoyed at him for putting me in this predicament, or myself for delaying the moment since I arrived tonight.
I hadn’t been in here in years and could tell it had recently been renovated. The walls were a navy blue instead of the old black, the ceiling a cool gray, and even the cognac leather single seats circling the table were new. But the photo above the bar was not. It was a painted photo of him and my mom at a bar he used to own in the eighties. My mom’s slender caramel frame draped around his vastness as he held court in the main room. They seemed happy and wealthy…influential, too. He’d still been holding on to those days—the time when she was as crazy about him as he was her, if not more.
“It was a wonderful time,” he observed out loud, seeing my gaze on the large painting.
“Apparently,” I murmured. “That was eons ago, but it made the new design cut, I see.” Then another thought occurred, spurring my nerve to say what I needed to say. “You’ve redesigned the room.”
Daddy blew out smoke. “A few rooms. Been doing upgrades here and there since last winter.”
“Like a retiree.” I cleared my throat, sitting up in my chair.
He groaned with the cutest smile, “Let’s not start this shit again, baby girl.”
“Well, let’s try me finishing it.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m submitting my resignation. It’s been typed up and signed. I wanted to tell you face to face first. I’m done, Daddy. I need to move on.”
Daddy blew out more smoke. He leaned forward, eyes low from the cigar and him studying me. “Are you serious?”
“I couldn’t be more serious.”
“When?”
I swallowed hard, trying to brave through this. “You’ll have me until July, but very limitedly. Either way, by that time, Lewinski’s merger would have begun.”
He shook his head. “I need more time than that, Ashira. I’ve not decided to sell. I may renegue on the merger. What if I’m not ready to part ways with the company I spent the better part of my years building?”
Boomerang…
“Then you can start searching for my replacement, I can help with that as much as I can until the end of summer.”
“What if I need longer?” his tone terse.
I swallowed hard again, struggling not to cry. “You don’t have much longer. I’m deciding between two properties right now for my club. I hope to be in closing by the end of next month.”
