Page 11 of Ruin Me

“Sometimes later. Let’s just say there’s always someone doing dirty that needs my finesse.”

“Tsk. While you take care of everybody, who’s taking care of you?”

“All those life skills you and Daddy gave me.” I smiled at my mother as she punched three minutes into the microwave.

Nikita Montgomery had boundless energy. She was a senior partner at Dietz, Simpson, and Montgomery, Douglas’ premier law firm, and she was a hands-on mother. She never missed my competitions or dinner at home; even if it meant returning to the office late at night to work on a case. She set the plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mustard greens before me. It was pointless to tell her I’d had something at the office; she wouldn’t consider a protein drink proper food.

I forked a mouthful and groaned at what I’d been missing as the flavors hit my tastebuds. “Where’s Daddy?” I finally got around to asking when I was more than halfway done.

“You know that man is downstairs playing God with that miniature town he’s been building since you were in middle school. You should go down and talk to him. He won’t say anything, but he’s been sulking since you returned because he hasn’t had enough one-on-one time with you.”

We shared a smile. Dennis Montgomery hid his softer-than-a-plush-toy interior beneath a gruff exterior when it came to me. He took me moving away for college and deciding to stay away the hardest.

I rose and washed my plate. “I’ll go see him now.” With a kiss to my mom’s cheek, I headed to the basement.

“When you return, I’ll have a glass of wine waiting for you. I want to know what had you slamming through my house like a bull elephant in musth.”

Her reminder brought back my rage from earlier, but I cleared the emotion from my face and nodded.

Downstairs, I watched in silence as my father detailed the shingles of a roof for one of the three-dimensional houses he designed. My father was a master carpenter. Dignitaries and celebrities alike sought after his talent, keeping him busy.

Being exposed to his clients helped me when I began my career while I attained my accelerated law degree at Penn. After my disastrous confession to Kent, I’d busied myself with every distraction under the sun, pouring my broken heart into my studies and later into Madison Consulting.

“I know I’m pretty, but my good looks don’t stop you from greeting your daddy properly.”

I smiled at his unsubtle demand for my affection and ran over to hug him from behind. “Did you miss me?”

“Hmph, what’s to miss? I haven’t seen you in so long I almost forgot I had a daughter.” He laid his work down and patted my forearm before turning and breaking my embrace. “Ah, yes, you look familiar now. Almost like looking in the mirror, you so pretty.”

“Daddy!”

“What? Instead of denying who gave you that good DNA, give me a proper hug.” He pulled me into his arms and wrapped me in his warmth. “Now, how’s my baby girl doing?” He released me to cup my face and study my response.

I shrugged, not wanting to burden him with the stresses from my day. “You know how it is. Working for friends is never easy.”

“Ah, yes. How is Kent doing? Ever since Oyinlola passed, he hasn’t been the same. His old place sits empty, and he rarely comes around anymore.”

“Ife never mentioned that.”

“That’s because he stays there whenever she visits, which is a lot more often than some daughters I know.”

Guilt niggled at me because Kent and the odd chance of seeing him were the reasons I stayed away. If I’d known he spent most of his time in his penthouse, I would have visited more often.

“You’ve added a lot to the city since the last time I saw it.” I changed the subject, unwilling to dwell on my reasons for avoiding my hometown.

He glared at me. “Because it’s grown since you moved away, and I need to update this place with the changes. I can’t afford for Ulysses Murphy to upstage me.” He shifted an entire section of buildings off the original board onto a second cityscape.

A notecard beside the second board labeled the new the city’s name with a date range to reflect the historical time period.

“Ever since Douglas’ First Lady created the Best Little Douglas competition during the annual Spring festival, that old man has been riding my coattails. Except for last year.” Daddy glowered at the altered miniature downtown landscape he was redesigning. “Murphy’s focus on the train routes throughout the city put me in second place for the first time.”

“But Daddy, isn’t the competition only three years old?”

He switched his vexation to me. “And I was going for a three-peat. He broke my winning streak! And I bet it’s because I didn’t update downtown with the fancy new Luxe buildings and the new shopping and eating districts that have popped up over the years.”

I nodded with a fierce frown transforming my face into the formidable version of myself I employed when handling a particularly troublesome crisis. “This means war. Tell me what you need.”

“About time my actual daughter showed up. What I need is a showstopper that will outshine this Mr. Murphy and his moving trains.”

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