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“I thought you said you could handle this, Ezekiel.”
“Handle him.” Forrester pointed to me and I chuckled lightly.
“I never said I wouldhandlemy brother. Only that I would ask if he was ready to return and if he would be willing to marry a Devereaux. Please don’t mistake my agreeing to ask him here as me handling him or even choosing sides with any of this. My loyaltyisand always will be to my family. Make no mistake about that.”
“Your father…”
“Is no longer in charge. I am. Now shall we focus on the importance of why we need this alliance or will my brother and I be walking out of here to figure shit out on our own?”
“Speaking of, if neither of you plan on giving into the money being offered by smaller, less relevant parties who only intend to abuse the power we hold, why is this alliance so necessary?” I asked looking both Forrester and Parker in the eyes.
“We’re businessmen. We don’t fight wars in the streets like common thugs. There’s only so much we can do to ensure that the balance isn’t disrupted. Your family and theirs left an opening for them to strong arm us into accepting terms that don’t benefit the greater good. I will not ever put my family at risk.”
“No, you’ll just accept the money they offer, turn a blind eye, and put your family in a gated community on the hill while pretending you don’t know the rest of the world exists and is suffering,” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“Can you blame me?”
“For leaving the door open for men like Samson to slide in back doors taking control from you, us, the Devereauxs? Yes, I can blame you, because if that happens, what the hell do you think those forced partnerships will do to the state of things? They don’t give a damn about rules or business. They only care for their personal agendas. We collectively maintain balance. No decisions are made without the approval of all eight families. If we can’t come together on this, everything changes.”
“He has a point. We’re not the problem. Our alliance is strong. Our control is not in question. This marriage has to happen because yoursis.” Parker’s fair complexion showed his anger by exposing a red flush that crawled up his cheeks from his neck. I could have easily argued that he not speak so harshly about our league of honorable Black families that he barely qualified for with his mixed heritage. There were times when his ice blue eyes passed down from his white mother annoyed me. We all eluded certain struggles because we came from wealthy families but he didn’t always understand or encompass the weight of being a Black man. He slipped back and forth between the two worlds when it benefited him most. Colorism existed even amongst the wealthy.
“Understood. But you need to understand that marrying into their family is a choice.Hischoice. I stand by whatever decision Elias makes.”
“IfI agree, I will only agree to a marriage. There will not be an heir. I’m not having children.”
“But…”
My brother quickly cut in. “The marriage is enough. As long as the union is believable there will be no issue. They won’t see our alliance as fake or weak and we keep things as they’ve always been. The balance remains in place. A child is not necessary.”
“It helps.”
“It won’t happen,” I added with finality.
My condition was hard enough to manage for myself. I wouldn’t dare put myself in the position to pass that down to a child. No one knew of my disorder. I planned on keeping it that way. As far as everyone in our world knew, I was just erratic, irrational and a little crazy at times. The reason why Ez mentioned that these two men would be uncomfortable around me. Being the eldest child, the shift in power should have gone to me, not my brother. I would bet my ass they were overjoyed and relieved that hadn’t been the case. All they knew was that I didn’t want the responsibility. The commitment that came from holding a position of power.
Ez took over. “Elias and I will meet with Christian to map out the details and if we all agree, then we move forward.”
“And if you don’t agree and end up killing each other?”
“That won’t happen,” Ez clarified but didn’t hide the warning glance he delivered my way.
I chuckled lightly because I couldn’t be sure how things would go at the moment.
“How soon can you meet with Christian?”
“Tomorrow,” I stated bluntly.
“That soon?”
“I don’t see a reason why we need to prolong this. Either I’m in or out. I will make the determination after meeting with Christian.”
Parker and Forrester looked at each other. I knew they were silently communicating their unease with me holding all the cards. That was exactly what was happening. I made the decision on what happened next. Ez would back me publicly. Behind closed doors was another issue but he would always stand by whatever decision I made in front of the others.
“Okay then. I guess we’re done with business until tomorrow. I guess we can get to the entertainment part of the evening.”
My brother extended to his full height and moved to the door. He pressed the intercom on the wall and announced to the Wiz that he could send in the entertainment. Dancers. The reason for the stage and pole between us. High class strippers who would do whatever these men asked of them. I wanted no parts of any of that and didn’t care that they would find it rude for me to walk out.
I did however lift my glass and down the water.Show respect.I could hear my father’s voice in my head and I hated how much I was programmed to want to do what he trained us to do. Never disrespect a man by not sharing a drink with him when offered.
