Page 79 of The Heir

“That’s your people, Blaze. He and Daisy. Daisy is gone. She left with Montana for California, leaving all of this behind. Easy has every intention of joining me in Georgia when he retires. He, Trista, and May.”

“Yeah?” I smiled, not having heard a word of this until now. “How long is that gonna be, Easy?”

He looked away and scratched the stubble on his throat.

“Right.” I laughed.

“It was going to be announced tonight, which is why Mak wanted to press you into joining before I could step down. He thought it would make me stay.”

“And it won’t?”

“Fuck, no,” Easy scoffed.

I nodded, “Then I guess I’ll be seeing all of you when I get off of this court shit.”

Easy nodded and gave me a side glance like he didn’t believe it.

“Go catch your mom before she has her third meltdown of the morning, would ya?” Oak jerked his chin toward the hotel.

I looked between them and got the distinct impression I was being dismissed.

“What the fuck?” I chirped.

“Get, fucker.” Easy, brought his boot up and tried to nudge at my ass.

I flubbed my lips, “Easy, you’re so old you can barely throw that thing over your bike these days. Fucking retiring.”

I thought he was going to fist fight me right there under the canopy, the way he stared into my soul and shifted his weight.

“Mouthy little fucker,” I heard him laugh to Oak as I dipped into the hotel.

The lady at the desk smiled big when she saw my tattooed arms, raising her hand and wiggling her fingers as she waved.

“Morning,” I grunted. “Can you tell me what room he–” I hitched a thumb at Oak, “And Crystal are in?”

“For sure,” she cheerfully answered, before clicking away on the keyboard.

“O’Brian, right?”

“Yep.”

“Two oh-five.”

“Great, good thing I didn’t come to kill anyone.” I winked.

Her jaw dropped and I marched toward the elevator with the numbered sign over the button that read one o-five, through three hundred.

I got off on the second floor, found the room with the appropriate number outside and pecked on the door.

“Mom, it’s me–” I called.

I heard an exchange of voices and then the door slowly opened. Karlotti greeted me with a big smile and wrapped me up in a hug.

“Thank God, she’s going crazy,” she whispered in my ear, before trying to slide past me.

“Wh–?” I started, but I let her head out.

I pushed the door until it clicked shut behind her and walked deeper into the dark den of my mother’s hotel room. She was sitting in the desk chair, her hair a mess, her robe skewed.

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