Page 57 of Restless
“Because Kendall advised her not to wear her fucking cut, Bailey, so Meggie leaves it in the car. The week after the ribbon cutting, Zoann and Kendall stopped in. While Kendall was parking, Zoann went in. She was wearing her cut. Velda claimed you were in a meeting—”
“I remember that since it was the only time Zoann ever visited. Shevisited, Momma. So you must be wrong.”
“She visited because Kendall came in andwasn’twearing her cut. She was in a designer suit. It wasn’t until later, when I went in my cut to test that bitch of an assistant, that I realized she thinks you’re too high and mighty to socialize with the likes of us. I bet my fucking fortune, Mortician hasn’t set foot in your fucking office since you moved, and you haven’t even noticed. He knew what the fuck was up when you got rid of Shanice.”
“Lucas loves me,” Mommie said firmly. “If what you’re saying is true, it’s because he knows how hard I’ve worked.”
Lolly shook her head. “You don’t even know if the boy has visited or not. No wonder Harley is so fucking selfish, ignoring what CJ is going through to act like a spoiled fucking brat, wanting to control that child’s every fucking move.”
Mommie drew herself up, dressed in a winter white suit and stilettos. “I don’t call my daughter names and will allow no one else to do so. Stop it this instant or else.”
Lolly jerked and her eyes widened, then narrowed. “Or else, huh? Let me get my ass out of here before I fuck you and her up. How aboutthis‘or else’? Fuck your fucking apology. It didn’t mean shit, so stay the fuck out of my sightor else.” Snatching her handbag and fur coat, she stormed out of the auditorium.
Mommie opened her arms and Harley fell against her mother’s chest. “CJ promised!” she sobbed.
Interlude – Bred in One’s Bones – Sharper
Knowing the beginning lent understanding to the journey.
Betrayal. Birth. Death. They were all wrapped up in what Logan Donovan wanted as his legacy.
In whatSharperwanted.
Lust, greed, and family ties entangled their past, but their futures were diverging. Sharper’s children, eighteen-month-old Lucas, and the baby due in seven months, would be raised just as their mother had. With silver spoons and the world at their feet. Sharper planned to trot them out to show himself as the perfect father and family man.
But the club would always be his. The secret charter gave him majority ownership and he’d flaunt the document whenever Logan got out of line. The motherfucker wanted power, but he’d have it only through Sharper’s grace.
“I first met Sharper when I gave a speech at his high school,” his father-in-law, Milon Frank, said to the rapt congregation. The well-known businessman and philanthropist had the audience’s full attention. “He was a fine, well-spoken young man with a bright future. Now, almost eight years later, he’s being ordained as a minister and installed at this fine church.”
Sharper had been licensed for several years. Then, the senior minister at Light of the World Church died suddenly and Sharper seized the opportunity to advance.
Next to him, Vivian shifted. She’d never lost the weight she’d put on during her first pregnancy and Sharper grew increasingly disgusted. It surprised him he’d gotten a hard cock and fucked her until he got her with child again. Sometimes, he regretted she hadn’t fucking bled to death like Kimber had while giving birth.
After the cunt searched for Cee Cee, she’d had the fucking gall to die. Her death fucked with Cee Cee’s head as much as it had Joe’s, now a single father and a miserable fuckhead. Kaleb stayed in Joe’s shadow but served as a sounding board and crutch.
Until Logan and Sharper’s fallout, he’d sworn retribution against those three fuckheads. If Wally hadn’t come across Logan, bound, gagged, and beaten in the closet of a house they were staying at and called Sharper, he wouldn’t have known Cee Cee, Joe and Kaleb intended to kill him.
He hadn’t known Logan raped Vivian. Sharper wondered why Logan allowed her to live.
“I’m proud to call Sharper Banks my son-in-law,” Milon continued, “and the father of my grandchildren. Before Augusta’s death a year ago, she expressed her pleasure in how well you treat our only child.”
Cameras were flashing. By tomorrow, the ceremony would be front page news.
“Vivian, Sharper, please join me for a moment. Sorry, folks.” Milon smiled. “We’re going a little off script.”
No one cared or dared speak up. Milon Frank did as he damned well pleased. Exactly what Sharper wanted for himself.
Logan fucking Donovanbelievedhe had all the power, but that motherfucker was beside himself.
Vengeance was bred in Sharper’s bones.
Fury pounding through him, he got to his feet and started forward. At the last minute, he remembered Vivian and helped her to her big fucking feet, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm and guiding her to her father.
“You and I have had long conversations, Sharper,” Milon said when they reached him.
The way he’d intercepted Cee Cee, Joe, and Kaleb and begged for Logan’s life pounded through Sharper.
“I have never known what it means to go to bed hungry and I’ve worked to make sure my little girl doesn’t have to worry either.”
