Haywood Millionaire Series: Box Set Books 1-5

by Zi'ere

  “Damn Emani! It’s not like we haven’t done this before! What has your head so far up in the clouds that you forget I’m in the car with you?” I neglected to answer her, instead I rolled my eyes towards the heavens not being in the mood to play sensitive big sister today.

  “Just come on, we’re already late!” I was already at the doors before Amina could catch up with me.

  “I will get back into this car and go home! I had no plans to be here today anyway and it won’t matter to me one bit if you do this by yourself! We all know that you dream of ruling and speaking for the four of us but I am not in the mood for your control issues this morning! Amina was giving me more attitude in those few sentences than she had ever voiced to me before. I had to give her props; she really did set me straight.

  Amina was my younger sister by three minutes and my identical twin. Between the two of us we ran the Barton Modeling Agency which was housed in the same building as the Purple Label administration offices. Amina and I were pulled from our beautiful chocolate hunks we called husbands to handle the madness of press agents regarding the current status on Laini Jefferies. We were supposed to be headed out of town on vacation. After this all too important press conference my sister and I would be leaving to join the rest of our now huge family on a Disney Carnival Cruise that was set to sail for nine nights and eight days. Only to come back to Chandler for a day before we all would be flying to spend three weeks at Martha’s Vineyard. I was in a hustle and bustle mood because I was ready to get back in my husband’s arms and within arms- reach of my babies.

  I looked over to my sister’s face. Gone was her usual happy go lucky smile and bubbly personality. I smirked to myself privately; Amina was obviously not happy at being up this time of morning as well and still pissy with me because I had forgotten she was in the car with me. A lot has happened in a short amount of time. Just a little over a year ago we were both starting new relationships that our now mother-in-law set us up on a blind lunch date with her sons. Now we both were newlyweds and with even newer babies. We had no idea the type of lifestyle we wanted to have until we met our husbands then everything clicked. Our men came from a rather large family and whenever we did family things, it was the whole family going wherever. Just as one big happy family, that is what we were now, and we both treasured the life.

  On the elevator ride up to our offices I noticed that we both were doing the same thing, looking into our children’s rooms from the security monitors at our homes that were linked to our cell phones. Closing out the screens we both stepped out onto the foyer of the twenty- fifth floor which held the four offices, one for each of us with separated spaces for our assistants. When the elevator doors opened both of our assistances were standing there holding cups of our favorite coffee and tea. The ladies also held the factual information from none other than the media queen herself, Laini. I issued a snooty look towards the piece of paper. I wanted to make sure Felicia, my assistant and everyone else was well aware that I was fed up with Purple Label’s personal affairs.

  “Good morning ladies, Felicia I like your outfit.” Amina was always good with talking to the employees whereas I opted to rule with an iron fist.

  “Uh-huh, looks like she has been in the sample rack again. I need to find out who the leak is letting all the good samples run away up here. No matter what Laini says, I’m sure I am paying for all of these supposedly ‘free’ outfits some kind of way. I am sure that is costing me money and everyone here knows Emani Barton does not lose money, I make money.” I gave Felicia another look that lasted from the bottom of her shoes to the top of her head.

  I watched the three of them exchange knowing looks although no one said a word. I was sure I could see Felicia plead with her eyes and mind that Amina would take her instead of, or even in addition to Gert. Gert and Felicia had the same position and made about the same amount of money but Gert’s perks and benefits were higher than those Felicia received. Of course Gert was an older woman and I noticed that even she wore Purple Label. Amina grabbed her assistant’s hand and walked off into the direction of her office. How Amina ran her business end was on her and what I did with mine was just that.

  30

  Amina

  Being the less vocal one of the Barton and Jefferies girls had its perks and curses. Emani was the self- appointed boss of all of us while Laini, Zoey, and I were planning a revolt sometime before we all turned thirty five. Laini and Emani went toe to toe often. Zoey and I usually stepped back and did our own things with no worries, under radar. Zoey was more vocal than I ever wanted to be, she had to have been taking notes from the other two. But I would gladly trade places with Zoey any day. Laini was fun, she kept things interesting, and she treated people nicely no matter what their pay grade. Emani was a powerhouse stricken with maintaining her position of power. I prayed for Felicia daily and I took extra time to make sure she was treated just as well as the other assistants. It wasn’t the first time I had gone behind her back to issue a band-aid to someone she’d knocked down in her stroll through life. What Emani didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

  When Gert handed me the information on my best friend, she had also typed a note on the top of the page advising me that there was a problem with Zoey as well. Emani only knew about the scandal surrounding Laini. There was no way I could let her unleash the beast in the lobby. I needed to handle Emani with great care as if she was some sort of wild animal. When Gert and I were safely behind the locked double doors of my office she began her daily ritual. She took my purse and briefcase from my hands, passing me a cup of tea in my favorite mug. After she had put my personal effects away, she gave me a small motherly hug and a kiss on the cheek. Gert then became Mrs. Gertrude White. Mrs. Gert, as I affectionately called her has been my assistant since we started the company fourteen years ago. She has silently taken on the role of being a mother figure to me and an honorary grandmother to my triplets. I trusted and leaned on her with every fiber of my being.

  Mrs. Gert was old enough to be my mom but was a couple years older than her. I thought the world of her but I had to admit that she was the jazziest fifty-six year old I knew. Her now salt and pepper hair was cut short and she wore it hot razor cut like most twenty year old women nowadays. Her edges and curls were always perfection. I had no idea how she kept her hair looking like she had just left the beautician chair five days a week yet she never took time off. Mrs. Gert was one of those women you didn’t question regularly. I was her boss and I knew she would tell me the truth if I ever asked; I knew that I was never going to have nerve enough to ask her either. I respected her too much. She made time to keep herself lean, in good shape, ran circles around me eight hours a day, cooked/baked, and took care of her grandbabies. It was my goal in life to be as on point as she was one day.

  “Amina, what I have to tell you is going to crush your heart. You know I don’t beat around the bush, so I am going to just come right out and say it.” Mrs. Gert looked very concerned.

  “What’s wrong with Zoey?” I walked over to the window convinced I needed to look away to get the news but at the last second I turned.

  I looked her directly in her eyes. I saw her mouth moving but all I was sure I ever heard was the word coma. I felt the hot liquid splash onto my arm just before my head hit the carpet. I saw Mrs. Gert’s stylish Purple Label kitten heeled shoes run off in the opposite direction and one heart beat later, I closed my eyes.

  “EMANI! FELICIA, COME NOW! AMINA HAS PASSED OUT, SHE IS ON THE FLOOR IN HERE. COME HELP ME!”

  “Felicia, you call Carlos. Emani help me get her onto the couch!”

  “What in the world happened to make her pass out? Mrs. Gert what was going on in here? Who was she talking to, what was she talking about?”

  “Ms. Emani, I am fifty-six years old! I cannot lift her body and play twenty questions with you at the same time! Focus on moving her in this second, please!”

  31

  Laini

  I had come to the hospital
expecting the very worst and that is exactly what I got when I stepped foot inside Zoey’s room. My baby sister lay in the center of an oversized bed with tubes and machines beeping all around her. Her eyes were taped shut and through the bandages I could see that she had a lot of bruises and cuts. Her head was wrapped in such a way I could not even see an inch of her already short hair. I envisioned her head being shaved for some sort of operation. Reoccurring visions of my mother laying in the same sort of bed when I saw her after she had taken her last breathe was too much for me to handle. I rushed to her side to touch her. Maybe I could have some sort of hope she would be okay if her body wasn’t cold like mom’s had been that day. Mekhi blocked my path and I ran right into his chest. He roughly grabbed me by the shoulders and looked at me in a menacing way.

  “Your sister was being scooped off the concrete last night and you were somewhere whoring around Laini?”

  “I don’t know who in the hell you think you’re talking to but maybe you need to have your head checked if you think I’m about to listen to your shit!” I snatched away from his grasp and stood firmly footed in position.

  I was prepared to punch him in his eye if he put his hands on me again.

  “Who answered your phone after I had been trying to reach you all night?”

  “Mekhi, move out of my way!”

  “No, you don’t get the right to be in here holding vigil over her this morning when you weren’t even talking to her yesterday! I suggest you march your ass back to whomever’s bed you just got out of!” With the last word he attempted to turn my body around to face the door.

  It was the perfect opportunity to land a right hand punch to his left eye. Just like I predicted, Mekhi started to scream like a girl. In a matter of minutes Liam had burst into the room to see about the commotion.

  “I suggest you remember who runs this show before you get your ass beat in here today! Just in case you forgot the only person in this room who doesn’t know you are softer than a cotton ball is in a coma and I won’t hesitate to put your ass in one as well! Remember your life and dreams are laying in that bed. I could bury your shit while she’s still sleeping!” Mekhi attempted to move out of my reach several times but I wanted to be sure he looked me in the eyes so that he was very clear I meant every word I said.

  Liam made a move to come closer to me but I stopped him by a strong hand gesture.

  “Now, you don’t get the right to be all up in her space like you really give a damn about her for real! You have been relieved of your duties, her family is here now. I don’t want to see your metro-sexual ass until she verbally asks me about you, do I make myself clear?” I stood a few inches shorter than him but I was sure that with Liam’s help I could give him a nice stay in a hospital room across the way from Zoey’s room.

  “Whatever, Laini! Just remember you aren’t the only one with a secret that needs to be kept.” Mekhi walked out of the room rubbing the soft skin around his eye.

  “Laini, what was that about?” I knew that Mekhi’s intent was to get a rise out of Liam and he had succeeded.

  “That is another story for another day. Right now all of my attention is on my sister. Either you can stand beside me while I travel down this road even though I have no clue where it will lead or you can kick rocks too. The choice is yours.” I issued a solemn look in Liam’s direction before I restarted the walk that would lead me to Zoey’s bedside.

  I kept my ears at attention to hear him leave, although he didn’t move a muscle but didn’t say anything either.

  I reached Zoey and began to rub the skin on her face that I could actually touch. I inhaled her scent to see if she still smelled like my baby sister. I was disappointed to find that she had the regular hospital smell. I got as close as I physically could without getting into the bed and I began to talk into her ear.

  “Zoey Bug, your big sister needs you. I don’t know what you’re thinking about me. I don’t know if you know I am just getting here. I just need you to know that I love you Zoey. I know if you’ve seen mom and dad you may want to stay with them, maybe you’ve already decided to stay with them. I just want to beg you to change your mind. I would die without you Bug. You guys know I am selfish so I’m not going to lie to you and say that I will be okay if you leave me. I have lived every day of my life looking at you every single day. Spend a little time with mom and dad but come back to me, please. I have never begged you to do anything in my life. I’ve never had to because you were always beside me. Please fight to stay with me Bug. We have so much to do here. I know you are not done living your fabulous life. You haven’t even seen your wedding dress design yet. I will never leave your side again. I won’t ever avoid you again. I love you my Bug.”

  With tears streaming down my face I began to weep over my sister’s body. I prayed to the Virgin Mary that my sister’s life would be spared and that she would be better than ever when she woke up. The tears seem to stop falling when I felt Liam’s strong hands on my back. In a weird way it seemed as if he was transferring his strength to me and I was passing it to Zoey. We stayed in that position, linked by hand touches until the nurse came in to change the saline drip.

  32

  Mekhi

  As I made my way to the elevators I thought about the exchange I had just had with Laini. She had spoken absolute truth. She knew all my hopes and dreams, she was the sole reason I had them. Laini was in the position I hoped to be in one day in the near future. I wanted to rule the future of men’s fashion. I had big ideas that were sound and were sure to bring in big profits if I ever had the opportunity to bring my ideas to life. My career goals were the fuel behind the love story I shared with Zoey. Zoey could change my life in a matter of minutes after we would officially become husband and wife. With her bank accounts and connects, I had nowhere to go but up. Present day, my blessing and curse was that I had one foot in the door of the fashion elite. No one wanted to work with me if the Jefferies girls were unwilling to back me and I could not get Zoey to invest in or partner with me on a men’s line. She had sworn herself to Laini and what they called their “parent’s empire”.

  The plan had seemed so simple back in college when I met the four twin beauties. Zoey wasn’t my first choice but between the Barton and Jefferies girls, no one choice was an altogether bad choice. I had successfully maintained a relationship with Zoey despite Laini’s thoughts or opinions for years. Laini held one tiny secret for me that would surely end Zoey and I’s relationship. The part of the story that Laini played had lost its shock factor over the last few years due to all of her failed love conquests. Cheating on Zoey Jefferies with a married man would kill my image, my name, and any chances of stepping into the game without selling my soul to the devil. Laini pledged to keep my secret as long as I broke off the down low relationship and remained faithful to Zoey from that point on. My only problem was that agreeing to Laini’s terms and conditions were a lot easier than ending the relationship with my boyfriend.

  The plan was to get into a minor accident to shake Zoey into realizing life is too short to remain engaged for over a year and a half. Her parents died together as the result of a traffic accident; surely she would want to get started on our family as soon as possible. Instead of waiting another nine months, I was ready to do the deed in a matter of hours. Zoey ending up in a coma was never supposed to happen. The more time she spent away from me and under Laini was not going to be beneficial for me in any way. I knew for a fact that Laini despised the dirt I walked on, she saw me for everything I really was from the start. The key to Zoey’s heart was never being interested in the type of lifestyle she lived. I had her thinking that no dollar amount was worth sacrificing real love. There would be no real love to be had when she awoke and I wasn’t there. There was no way Laini was going to take back the threats she gave me. I needed to get another twin on my side in Zoey’s absence.

  Deep down in my heart I really did love Zoey. She was the closest thing to a best friend I had ever had. She knew all my
deepest darkest secrets, except for my love triangle affair with Juan. I had met Juan when Zoey was off living the life of the rich and famous in college, starting the modeling agency, and being groomed for the family empire. Zoey gave me too much free time. Her grip on me was too loose. She trusted me too much. I was a fool because I had the kind of relationship most men would love to have with their mates. Instead I needed to be monitored like a five year old. There was no doubt in my mind that I would lose everything I wanted in life if Zoey left me.

  She had afforded me every opportunity she could since the first day I met her. She had lined up internships for me to study under her dad. I soaked every molecule of knowledge I could up until the day he was snatched from this life. That day was just a minor setback on my path. The estrogen levels around Zoey had me blocked from every angle. I had no choice but to carry my woes to Juan to be soothed. Instead of him being a support system he was forced to choose between his wife and I. In the midst of that tragedy I was called out by Laini after Juan had admitted his sexual preference to her. Juan was an ass for confessing his sins after he had just finished devouring her body without protection. Sadly neither one of us was considered important people to him. His wife’s increased knowledge only made her hold to him tighter. During those days nothing stopped him from trying to get back to both me and Laini.

  Laini chose to cut ties quietly for fear of a scandal breaking. I had successfully held it over her head for years. After story after story ran in the media the shock factor that circled around Laini’s personal affairs was becoming a bit relaxed. To date a married man was probably the only scandal she hadn’t been the center of, well that and a same sex affair. I had decided to solidify my place in the world but it was coming apart at the seams and fast. I could not count on anyone to make sure Mekhi was taken care of but Mekhi.