Page 190 of Treason's Temptation
I leaned back in my chair. “Families also see fewer police raids tearing through their doors. They see jobs created from legitimate businesses instead of street corners. They see their tax dollars working for them, not against them.”
A murmur rippled through the chamber. Some nodded, some frowned, but all were listening.
Victor tightened his smile. “What you call leveling the playing field, I call normalizing chaos. Madison Pointe doesn’t need more excuses for broken homes and addiction.”
“Don’t twist my words, Victor. You talk about broken homes like you’ve ever lived in one. You talk about addiction like it isn’t already here—like people aren’t already dying because leaders looked the other way.”
The meeting ended with Victor pissed off, just how I liked him. I went back to my office and spoke with Zoe before leaving for the day to attend to campaign business. Fallon was busy handling other tasks, but made sure to leave a to-do list with Milaya upon my arrival. Peeling off my jacket, I checked in with Navie, then got to work.
“We need to talk!” Sloane announced, pushing my door open with Milaya frantically trailing her.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Westbrook. I tried to stop her from barging in,” Milaya sneered, cutting her eyes at Sloane, lowering to the couch.
“I’ve had a harder time taking a shit than getting past her,” Sloane replied, crossing her legs.
“I got it. Thanks, Milaya.”
Milaya was slow to leave my office, gritting at Sloane for making her look bad. She was the ultimate professional and took her job seriously, but I didn’t hold this against her.
“Next time you think about walking into my office unannounced, don’t. I’m not Jaleb, that shit doesn’t impress me.”
“Nobody’s thinking about Jaleb but you. I didn’t come here to talk about him.”
“What do you want?”
“What do you want from my daughter?”
“Get out,” I replied, walking back to my desk to sit down.
They might not have been the same, but both shared the same skepticism about men. She sounded so much like Navie I almost answered. Then I remembered she wasn’t Blue. I didn’t care enough about Slaone’s feelings to rehash shit that didn’t have anything to do with her.
“You want me out? Do it yourself, but I’m not leaving until you answer my question!” Sloane fussed, shooting up on her legs, ready for a fight. “I failed her. A lot, and I won’t let another man take advantage of her.”
Instead of engaging, I went back to fine-tuning my speech because that was more important. Sloane’s tantrums weren’t my problem, but she thought otherwise after ten minutes.
“Oh, you think you’re going to ignore me?” Sloane’s question accompanied a laugh- the kind that made me stand up because she was about to take her tantrum up a notch.
“Blue is the only thing saving you. Instead of projecting your failures on me, find a nigga to scam or actually do the fuckin’ work to be a better mother. Trying to rewrite history is impossible, and wasting my fuckin’ time. Keep it up, and you won’t come within ten feet of Blue or my baby.”
Then she did the thing I least expected.
“You really do love, Vie.”
“Sloane, get out,” I sighed, massaging my temples because five minutes alone had given me a headache. At this point, Ineeded to employ her to irritate terrorists because she was that fuckin’ annoying.
“Look, Vie loves you, and believe it or not, I am trying to do better. So that means tolerating you, too.”
“Next time, start there.”
“Oh, this isn’t a truce. I still have my eyes on you, but you love my baby, and I can’t ask for more than that.For now,” she grabbed her purse off the couch and headed for the door on her own volition.
“We have dinner tonight at my grandmother’s house. Bring this, Sloane. Not the maniac that stormed into my office.”
She narrowed her eyes and flipped me the bird, then snatched the door open. She purposely left it open to piss me off after losing the battle and the war. Shaking my head, I got back to work so I could leave on time to go home and shower.
I left the office later than I expected, but thankfully, Navie was asleep when I crept into the house. She looked so peaceful, resting on her side, hand on her belly, and mouth open like she’d just finished a twelve-hour shift. I wasn’t complaining because pregnancy seemed like more work. She didn’t hesitate to share every change, ensuring I was aware of it too.
Thirty minutes passed before I pried Navie from her sleep to get ready. I knew she was tired because she didn’t put much thought into her outfit, considering we’d be filming tonight.
