Page 5 of Divine II

“Why don’t they focus on solving Sherrod’s murder instead of pointing the finger at me?” I asked.

“They aren’t exactly pointing the finger at you. They put a million-dollar contract out on Liam. It was loaded to the site this morning,” Psalm disclosed.

“What? Take it down!” I urged him.

“I put it on hold, but you know that’s not going to stop them,” he told me.

“What are we going to do? I can’t let them do anything to Liam based on speculation.”

“Is it really just speculation, Divine?” Bishop quizzed.

“Yes! Why would Liam kill him?”

“You sure you didn’t have an argument or tiff that got out of hand?” Maven asked.

“I think I would remember someone dying, Mave.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of it, but in the meantime, we came up with a plan,” Bishop announced.

“Good,” I said, nodding my head and sitting back in my seat. I knew that if nothing else, my boys were top-tier problem solvers. They would fix this sooner than later.

“We had been strategizing about how to merge businesses with them anyway. They can offer a lot of things that we need right now—territory, resources, and protection. The warehouse space alone is going to put Divine Smoothies in another tax bracket.”

“What does Divine Smoothies have to do with any of this?”

“You’re going to date Zane Whitmore,” Bishop said, tossing out that information like he was just giving me the time.

My brows shot up to my hairline. Bishop’s statement was met with silence. Since no one else spoke up, I erupted with laughter. I knew damn well he was playing with me.

“I’m going to do what?”

“There’s nothing wrong with your ears. It won’t be a real relationship, just a publicity stunt for Whitmore Foods. Zane needs some good press, and the Whitmores need a new way to wash their money. Zane is a marketing genius, but business has been tanking since he took over as CEO of Whitmore Foods. He’s going to use the shipping division of your business to make their warehouses look legit.”

“I’m going to do what?” I asked again. I wasn’t sure if I heard anything correctly for the past few minutes.

“It’s strategic. You’ll make a few public appearances with him, take a few pictures for social media. You know? Lay it on real thick. That keeps you and Liam off of the chopping block and helps our business just as much as it helps theirs.”

“And what the hell does Sherrod have to do with anything?” I asked.

“Apparently, he was in bed with them. He’s been funding their operation since before he got his first advance.”

“Another fucking arrangement?” Syre threw his head back.

“You see how well mine worked out. This might be good for her.” Bishop raised his shoulders.

“Yeah, but I’m not doing that shit. I’ll pay the million dollars if I have to,” I protested.

“That’s not how this works, sweetheart. If it were, I would have paid them off the muscle. They want a pound of flesh. Unfortunately, I had to pay them with yours. I’ve already negotiated a 10 percent stake in the business short term to take care of the money they would be missing in Sherrod’s absence.In addition, we agreed to Zane being seen with you on his arm for a year to kill the chatter about their business practices and Zane’s wild past,” Bishop explained.

I felt like I had been shaking my head since the conversation started.

“We could have killed the chatter another way. Don’t y’all usually try to block me at every pass when y’all think I’m dating somebody? Now, y’all are ordering me to date someone?”

“I wish I would have blocked you from Rod’s untalented ass.” Maven shook his head.

“I fucking told you, Divine. Damn it!” Syre bellowed as he jumped up from the table.

No one tried to stop him as he stormed out of the room. I was too stunned to move, or I would have been right behind him.

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