Page 157 of Grace

“But…” My eyes raced back and forth. “It’s not theend—Dan is incapacitated. The fall. He’s not returning towork—”

His head bobbed. “Expediting Danny Lew’s succession. Yeah.”

“I’m so confused, Jas.”

“The plan was for Danny Lew and me to run the new conglomerate with all of its mergers.”

“Damn.” My head bounced back with revelation. “That means you’ll own…everything?”

“Ashira,” he used my name again, this time lowering to a squat in front of me. “I met with Danny Lew a few times over the past few months. Each time, the nigga was high and less like the man I signed the original, contingent agreement with. I didn’t wanna lose out on this opportunity. It was a once in a lifetime one for me, so I went allin—”

“What does that mean?” Jas was giving too many potatoes and not enough steak with this story.

“It means, I had Danny Lew sign all of his stakes over to me before his father had to prematurely retire.”

“Wait!” I grabbed my forehead, struggling, and shook my head. “So, are you telling me, you’ll possibly be the owner ofJust Homesone day?”

Jas’ eyes went blank and I didn’t understand it was a protective measure in that moment. “Ashira, I got a call this morning. Danny Lew’s body was found in an abandoned warehouse in Passaic.”

“Passaic?” Danny Lewinski was a Saddle River kid. “As in dead?” Jas nodded. “So… Wait. What does this have to do with us?”

Jas’ head lifted then dropped with fortification. “It means, I ownJust Homesand all of its assets. I’m sure the Lewinski family will try to challenge this in the courts, but the language on the contract is pretty descriptive. He’s locked in. My lawyers made sure of it. Whether it’s next month or next year, I will add that firm to my portfolio.”

That’s when it clicked. “My father’s firm, too.” It wasn’t a question. When it came to Jas, I was slow because my heart derailed my good senses, but I was no fool. I shook my head, disgusted by his audacity and overwhelmed with how his move totake over the worldjust complicated our lives in more ways than one. “Are these the same lawyers who got you off for a quadruple murder?” I leaned over and placed the coffee mug on his desk. “Do they accept coupons or just dirty money?”

Jas shook his head. “I had criminal attorneys for that case,Ashira—”

My palm shot into the air, head waved around my shoulders. “Don’t.” I took a deep breath, closing my rolling eyes, trying to calm the churning of my stomach. I felt faint. Another rug had been pulled from beneath me. Two in one day, in fact. “Until now, I could never seem to believe you were the horrible things you’ve been spoon-feeding me about your past. There’s no way a man as morally-grounded, intelligent, and humble as you could have such a reprehensible former life.No way!But then the answers were in front of me all this time: the implausible luxury home, the boat, hijacking Rizzo for his astutely-built firm, the international street cred, the ability to vacationmyhyper-vacationing ass. All these things are signs of an underhanded, cunning, low down, gutter nigga.”

I lifted my index finger in the air, surprised by my crushing pain and abundance of anger. And that’s when I realized, I’d been exhausted from being surprised and hurt by Jas. “You even knew to tell me to shower before coming down here. You knew I’d leave after this news.” The way his face lifted and eyes rolled to the side of the room, Jas confirmed it. “Did you plot on me, too? The whole Jesus, felon act. The therapist—how long have you been “seeing” her? And let’s not forget about you telling my ex to stay away.” I stood to my feet. “How do I know this hasn’t all been a ploy to take over the metro home-building industry by way of me?”

“You know that ain’t true,Ashir—”

“WITHERSPOON!” I shouted for the first time then took it back down, remembering. “Leave your father’s company, Witherspoon,” I mocked the words he’d spoken to me on several occasions. “You can do anything as long as you’ve got your health and freedom. Remember that bullshit line you’ve had me quoting like a damn fool?” I laughed, still feeling my heart shear in my chest. In fact, this was all an out-of-body experience. Or perhaps Jas hadn’t awakened me yet and my brain was subconsciously acting out my irrational fears. All of them. “That why you found me a very competent commercial real estate agent, ensuring I’d find my club?”

“You know that’s all bullshit!”

“Bullshit!” I laughed more. “See! It never made sense to have a Christian man with a sailor’s mouth. Nothing about you makes sense. You’re a walking conundrum. No wonder you’re full of secrets, who could keep a crafty enigma like ‘Jas Sinclair’ together?”

Shaking my head, I promenaded for the door.

“One last ‘secret,’” I heard the quotations in his inflection.

I gasped suddenly and hard, spinning on my heel to face him. “Your name? Oh, hell no! Don’t waste my time with shit that’s irrelevant to even the next second of my life. Whatever your name is, the crimes you’ve committed, and the companies you’ve purloined, fuck off forever!”

Then a thought spurred and I spun around again, surging to his desk. I reached into my pocket and pulled out all six soiled pregnancy test sticks.

Jas’ face contorted, observing them like foreign objects. Perhaps, to him, they were. His head shot up, eyes wild. “You—when?”

“This morning. I took them this morning before showering. You see how complicated life is without secrets? I would never keep this from you—didn’t even plan to delay telling you. Because I'm a decent human being with a heart.” I snorted, not believing this was my life in real time. “Like father, like son. Lamont isn’t the only one liking to go raw with a woman who knows shit about him.” I shook my head and walked off again.

“When I was sixteen,” he announced behind me. “I wasfuck—messing up in school again. I just got arrested…againand my pops put me in a summer program here in Jersey to keep me out of trouble. The other kids were able to pick a professional to shadow all summer for extra credit. I came in at the last minute and couldn’t. Mine was picked for me. The very first day, my field advisor was working on an addition to the side of his house and I had to bum a ride there.” He scoffed.

“All the way to Millburn, New Jersey, the ideal quaint, affluent township. I didn’t expect to be on a property as big and grand and neither had I ever had a dream or goals outside of getting fast money. That was until that day when I saw the prettiest fuckin’ girl in my life.” His voice turned hoarse, scratchy and my heart rented even more. I turned to face him. “The image of her cute face and sexy body in an oversized bikini top became my fixation for years to come. Then the sight of her mother... The way she whispered into the girl—mygirl’s—ear knowing they were judging me against my better-dressed cohorts, wrapped around my heart like a fuckin’ vine.” Jas shook his head.

“I tried forgetting about you for years—sometimes I did. Or I thought so until I got a moment to myself and could see your long, shapeless chicken legs crossed on that float in the pool. Then I started mentally making goals of how I’d either have a girl like you or make one with a woman like your moms. I know it sounds sick, but I’m giving you my fuckin’ truth, Ashira. I met you before February—not formally—but I knew your kind. I’d seen your home, knew your beauty and pedigree. And I damn sure knew to run like hell from you at that coffee shop.”

Stunned and breathless, I declared, “I wish you would have, too, Jas.”

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