Page 73 of A Smooth Operator

"Marriage?" Mama looked like she was going to have a heart attack. "What?"

"Deal with it." I was done with this drama. Fuck, no wonder Echo was so worried about my mother. She knew her better than we all did, obviously.

"I can't have the help show up as a future family member," Mama declared, her arms crossed.

"Then I'll be spending the holidays with my girlfriend and future fiancée and wife," I announced, rising. It crushed me that her hate for people that she saw as coming from a lower station was bigger than her love for me.

"Do you think I can join your Thanksgiving dinner, Remi?" Lani asked tentatively. "Echo makes a mean stuffing."

Something was going on with my sister. It wasn't a complete about-face, but she seemed to have spent some time thinking about who she had become and what choices she'd made. Probably just as I had.

"Absolutely." I patted her shoulder, feeling proud of her.

"You do that, Lani Drake; you will be completely cut off from any money you're getting from us," my mother thundered.

"That's fine, Mama," Lani said sadly, standing up. "I think it's time I paid my own bills, don't you?"

That was the bravest thing I'd ever heard my sister say, and I grabbed her in for a hug. "So proud of you, sis," I whispered.

"Actually, Sierra, you're probably gonna be alone for the holidays," Dad spoke softly, but I could hear the iron in his voice.

"What's that supposed to mean, Dallas?" Mama's lips quivered, and her eyes filled with tears; this time, I could see that they were genuine.

Dad was always on her side. He didn't raise his voice at her. They didn't fight. All in all, he indulged her. But she'd crossed a line for him and hadn't even realized it. All their marriage, he'd given her whatever she wanted and put up with her pettiness, as we had, but this was a bridge too far. My happiness wasn't something Dad was going to fuck around with.

"That means, Sierra, that if you can't accept Echo as Remi's girlfriend and future wife, then we as a couple are not going to make it."

The flat tone of his was filled with grief. I didn't want my parents to break up, not because of me—but I didn't think that was all this was. I realized that Dad was finally tired of having a wife who cared more about social standing than her own children.

"I've been there for Echo since she came to us," Dad continued, "And I know you hated that. You tried to get me to stop helping her, but the truth is, Sierra, I didn't help her. She took care of herself. I didn't hire her because I was being nice to her; hell, I had to compete to bring her into GeneVerse. You never believed that."

My mother looked at him in shock. Everything she ever held true seemed to be floating away from her. "You always had a soft spot for the servants, Dallas, and I—"

"They work harder than you ever had to," Dad cut in. "Fern may not have been a loving person, but she worked with her hands and damn hard. Echo is more successful than your children; hell, I'm grooming her to take over as CEO of GeneVerse when I'm ready to retire."

Anger gave way to shock, and my mother stood up, her fists on her hips, her eyes throwing daggers. "Dallas Drake, you won't be doin' that when we have two children who will inherit your business."

"They'll inherit my stock, sure, but not the company, not as CEO," My father persisted, "How can they? Neither of them understands what we do. Echo is a scientist and a damn good one. I think in ten years or even less, she's going to be a strong leader."

"You can't do this, Dallas," Mama was flustered because he was right; neither Lani nor I had a scientific bone in our bodies. Dad had never pushed us to study what he was passionate about. He let us find our own way and supported us; hell, he supported Lani financially so she could move out of our parent's home and be able to live her life the way she was used to. But that didn't mean we could run his company. I wouldn't even know where to start.

"It's my company, Sierra, I can do whatever the fuck I want."

"How dare you speak to me like that?" When Dad didn't respond, Mama turned to me, and I could see her eyes turn malicious. "She just wants you for your money, Remi. You know that, right?"

"That's fine with me," I replied, "I'll give her anything I have to keep her with me."

"What is goin' on with y'all?" Mama cried out. "What has this girl done to my family?"

Lani burst out laughing inappropriately, and when Mama glared, she smothered her amusement. "Come on, Mama, this ain't nothin' to do with Echo. This is about Remi growing up and realizing there's more to life than being a Drake. I'm still gettin' there. I reckon it's gonna take me a little longer. I don't want to be married to a man like Tommy who lives off his father, has no spine, and sticks his dick into—"

"Lani Marie Drake," Mama raged, "Mind your language."

"—his dick into any slut who comes along," Lani continued. "The worst part of it is that I felt just fine cheating on him 'cause he was doin' it to me. Look at us. Marina cheated on Remi. He hurt Echo. Tommy sleeps around. I slept with Kate's fiancé. Is this what it means to be rich and elite? That we have no moral compass?"

Mama shook her head, and I knew she was struggling to process what was happening to her family. Echo had been a catalyst for me, and I was grateful for it. I knew what it meant to love someone with all my heart and be loved for who I was, my authentic self, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Before, I didn't know how freeing that was, so I didn't appreciate it, but now I'd fight the world to keep Echo with me, to stay with her.

Mama dropped back on the couch. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked small and bereft. I wanted to soothe and comfort her, but I also knew that was not how she'd learn to be the woman I needed her to be so we could be a family. Not a for-show family but a real one where we were honest with one another and not constantly worried about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

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