by Love Belvin
“We’re not moving—”
“And ain’t shit deep about him getting married without my knowledge.” My eyes burst wide. Earl shook his head. “Yeah. I know y’all married on the beach in St. Justin.”
“Wait...” This wasn’t making sense. “He told you?”
“Yeah, but before he did, he made sure I found out, though. Our pastor been visiting me. He came by before y’all got back and told me. Sadik knew he would, which is probably why he flew Pastor Wright out there instead of using a local, who could’ve done the same damn thing.”
I chewed on the inside of my lip, feeling outed. It’s not that I wanted to keep it a secret, but I hated feeling exposed like this. Did he know I was pregnant again, too? I decided to let him tell that detail.
“It wasn’t planned,” I murmured, unable to look at him.
Earl scoffed. “Oh, it was by him. He’s my fuckin’ son, young lady. It ain’t much on this earth we fix our minds on that we don’t get. That boy felt fire in his belly when he came across you. ‘Cause he ain’t the type to cry a damn river about what he feels, I missed that shit and made the wrong call.” That’s when I did look his way again. “A goddamn call that could’ve…”
I gasped. “He’s here. Sadik is here and healthy. Even after Iban’s accident, my baby’s alive and thriving. I’m so grateful for that, I can’t focus on the what if’s.”
Or was I being naïve again and too forgiving?
Earl shook his head, fist going to his mouth. “I’m weak!” he grunted. “Fuckin’ weak. I run the whole fuckin’ state with a weak ass heart and troubled lungs. It’s just a matter of fuckin’ time before the vermin come and destroy everything I done worked hard for,” he finished on a mere whisper.
My lungs seized. “What is it? What is it you’re not telling me?” Considering his world, the possibilities were endless. My mind raced. “Is your family in danger?” I murmured with fear.
“One of Tiffany’s clubs was shot up in fuckin’ daylight this morning.” I sucked in a heap of air. “That was just before some muthafucka snuck into my grandbabies’ school and tried taking lil’ Iesha when she walked to the bathroom by herself—”
I leaped up in my seat. “No!” I breathed.
He nodded. “Thank God the janitor so happened to turn the corner and saw a white muthafucka pulling her down the hallway.”
“Who’s doing this? Who wants to harm the family?” I began to panic. “What do they want?”
With his chin resting in his hand, Earl shook his head, golden eyes rolling away. Then he lifted, reaching for his tray of food. He plucked the tan cup that sat upside down. Beneath it was a folded piece of paper. Earl’s eyes grazed me immediately in alarm. I could tell suspicion filled his mind. He lay the cup back on the tray and grabbed the paper. I watched him unravel it until it was fully opened.
Earl’s eyes flashed wider than I’d ever seen them, and his mouth dropped.
“Yo! Travis…Rodney!” he shouted, allowing his wrist to go limp enough for me to see what was on the other side of the paper.
the untouchable can be touched. i could blow her head off
When the door burst open and his men charged in, Earl demanded, “Where did you get this shit?”
The stormy weather out was indicative of my mood tonight. I watched as Camille was escorted inside of Elliswoods Palace with Sadik’s car seat in her hand. They had arrived seconds before me and were covered with umbrellas on their dash inside.
I opened my car door and jogged up the staircase, hurrying inside where it was dry. Immediately, I was greeted by the house staff and Rory. Several of them forming a perfect line in the grand foyer. My attention at this moment was singular. Camille removed her jacket then went to unwrap Sadik’s car seat.
“Is he okay, Camille?” my voice boomed through the vestibule.
She turned to me, face initially tight from concentration, then smiled when recognizing me. “Oh, yes, Mr. Ellis. He’s just fine. I’m going to take him to my room and feed him.”
“Okay. As soon as I’m done, I’ll call for him.” I hoped the desperation in my voice went undetected.
Nothing would quiet my disposition more than holding my son securely against my chest. When we returned to the apartment tonight, he’d definitely be sleeping with his mother and me.
I turned to Elgin, head of security for Elliswoods Palace. “Good evening, sir,” he greeted when finally prompted to speak. “All measures you requested have been set in place. I have about a half a dozen men en route and will assign them according to your wishes.”
“And Brown?” I asked.
“I’ve contacted your security head and have begun coordinating routes for this week.”
“Thanks, Elgin. You know to contact Rory and me directly should there be any problems.”
He gave a neck bow before retreating.
Stacy was next. “Good evening, Deek. Your father’s in his study. He arrived just over thirty minutes ago. The staff from the hospital is settling him and transitioning care. My nurses are up there being assigned roles as we speak.”
“Thanks.” I nodded, processing it all. “Nurse Gladney?”
“She has agreed to stay for a few days.” Her fingers were laced at her pelvis as she spoke. “I just had her things sent for from her home.”
“Anything she needs…or that of the staff. Whatever amenities we can offer. Are the rooms cleared for their stay?”
She nodded. “My girls are finishing up on it now.” She checked her wrist for the time. “They have another thirty minutes to have the task completed. Dinner is underway as well. If you don’t have anything more for me, I need to check in on them before the meeting.”
“Thanks, Stacy. You may go.” She took off with a few of her assistants behind her.
I turned to Rory next. She stepped closer. “They all in the dining room.”
I nodded again. “I’m going to peek in on my father and I’ll be right in there.”
“Gotcha.” She turned, hiking down the hall.
I motioned to Johnson my destination before taking off. We weaved the halls for the room on the lower level where we decided he’d be best suited for his medical needs. Yards away, I saw bodies swarming the hall. People in scrubs with clipboards and cell phones, using terms I wasn’t familiar with.
“Mr. Ellis,” Nurse Gladney called out to me as she headed my way.
“How is he?”
“He’s fine. A little weak.” Her expression was weary. “The doctor gave him something to induce rest before we left the hospital. Having him airlifted from there to here, and then transported in the rain could have been too much considering his agitated state. You can go in and see him if you want.”
I shook my head. “As long as he’s comfortable and safe.”
“He is. The chief of staff has the hospital on lockdown. We still don’t know how anyone got in there. They’re reviewing surveillance video tonight.”
“Yeah.” I scratched my cheek. “I have my guy there now. He specializes in surveillance. In fact, it was he who built the system in the hospital years ago.”
What I wouldn’t share was it didn’t matter who did it, just how. We knew the who right away.
Whose life is this?
That’s all I could ask myself as I sat at the dining room table in Elliswoods Palace staring at the blackened face of my phone. My anxiety was through the roof, belly churning and groin stirring. Every muscle in my body felt tense from worry.
“Try this,” Candy, one of Irene’s kitchen staff murmured, placing a tray in front of me with a mug of steaming tea and accessories. “It’s one of Taaliba’s.”
My eyes blinked, awakening me from my thoughts. For the first twenty-five minutes of sitting here, I waited for a text from Camille on her and the baby’s arrival. That message had just come through and I didn’t realize I was still holding the phone.
Placing the phone on the table, I murmured, “Thanks.”
The table had
been filling up. There were black and brown faces all around the room. Many I’d seen in passing when touring the property. Some I knew by name, most I did not. One older man took a seat wearing overalls and gardening gloves. A couple of men walked in with black captain style hats and matching livery. I recognized them as chauffeurs.
Across from me sat Monica, tapping away on her phone. Her expression so tight, creases would soon form. The more I observed her, I could see a slight grin behind the scowl. Clearly, she was engaged in a pleasant conversation. Everyone deserved a momentary break from the crisis surrounding the Ellis family at this point, I guessed.
Taaliba had been in and out of the dining room, the place we were ordered to plant ourselves and wait for Sadik to arrive. Apparently, there had been trouble with Danny. She’d been on the phone with his people, I knew. The details missed me, I’d been too preoccupied with settling what happened over the past few hours to listen in.
When Tiffany breezed into the room on her phone, my hackles raised. The only break I felt in anxiety was when she was in my presence. That’s when heavy annoyance and anger dominated.
“No. Pack all my Chanel bags, Hermes, and diamonds…my pearls, too. Pack all that shit!” She listened in to the other party. “Ase Garb? Fuck, yeah. All that high-end shit like my Louis Vuitton luggage and bags. I don’t want nothing there.” There was another pause from her listening as she sat at the far end of the table. “I ‘on’t know right now where I’mma take it. We waiting on Sadik now to tell the family what to do, but I can’t stay there. Poppa Earl told me that earlier at the hospital. Just be ready. I’mma text you with the info. He’ll probably say stay here.”
Here?
That assumption upset me to the point my ears could pop at any moment. Then Rory gaited in, causing a blanket of silence to fall over the room. Following her was him. His medium build was yet powerful and commanding. He was in a full suit, navy blue with a crisp white dress shirt, burgundy tie, and cognac oxfords. He was all business with his stride, expressionless, and exuding authority. Those full lips were slightly perched, skinned head glistening, and green eyes spangled with agitation.
It was at that moment my anxiety eclipsed my anger, and the humming in my core had resumed.
When I entered my mother’s dining room, my search of her began. She was seated toward the head of the table, slouched in her seat with a tray of tea in front of her. Her tapered cut looked fingered through at the top too many times, curls in disarray. All eyes were on me…except for Bilan’s. Even still, I shouldered through, mentally preparing to address my family and its staff.
Rory pulled out the chair at the head of the table, and I took a seat. My eyes swept the room for the attendees.
Taaliba had just lowered into a chair with a swollen face and reddened, wet eyes when I asked, “Where’s queen?”
Taaliba froze for a second, appearing discombobulated by the question. Her eyes squeezed. “She’s on her way home.”
“From where?”
“Tom took her away for his birthday.”
Angered by the answer, I flexed my jaw. “Where?”
She shrugged. “Somewhere in Pennsylvania. But I spoke to her a little over an hour ago and told her you called the meeting. She said they were packing up to leave right away, but wouldn’t be here in time.”
Why in the hell was she out of town when her fucking husband was recovering from a damn heart attack? This didn’t seem like my mother at all. She’d always been the gatherer, the most present.
“Tom insisted,” Taaliba murmured, seemingly reading my mood.
I took a deep breath and began. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’re congregated in this room, I can speak with a loose sense of candidness. You all have an idea of the line of work my father’s in, even if you don’t know the specifics. I will not palliate the seriousness of the current calamity. It’s my job to provide information on its status and present strategy which will change our modus operandi until the threat has been cleared. With that being said, as you all are aware, a series of events occurred today that my father believes to be an attack.”
I ignored the hiked breaths and uncomfortable squirms in chairs.
“Can we ask what they were?” Joan, the head of housekeeping, had her hand raised toward the front of the room.
“Sure,” I answered. “Late this morning, an intruder entered my nieces’ school and attempted to abduct Iesha. Then a few hours later, this afternoon, Energy, one of Tiffany’s clubs, was shot up. I’ve spoken to the lead detective and learned a few other stores near her suffered the same vandalism, but choose to not ignore the timing of it all. The last thing I can share is this evening…” My regard glided over to Bilan, whose eyes were straight ahead and not on me. “Bilan visited my father and was given a tray of food from an unsuspected perpetrator. On the tray was a letter stating with specificity that my father’s security had been breached by an enemy.”
I gave pause for another moment of reaction from the room. “Upon discovery, my father was immediately packed up and transported to the compound by way of an aircraft. I’m sure you’re all aware he has returned home. He’s still under the watchful care of several physicians and specialty nurses, many of whom will be lodging here at Elliswoods Palace. You are to be at their complete disposal. Should any need arise, I expect you to go through the proper channels to have it met.”
“How many people will be here with him?” Joan asked with the lifting of her hand again.
“Stacy will have an exact number for you soon.” Stacy nodded at the table. “Also, please be advised, until further notice, Monica and the girls will be on the grounds. The same goes for Taaliba.”
“Huhn?” Taaliba’s face was etched in shock.
Expecting this from her, my head bobbed. “Elliswoods Palace was designed and built to be a secure compound in the event our family is in danger. This isn’t news. Until I’ve had all incidents investigated and see no threat, the safest place for the family is here.”
“And what about work?” Monica asked, uncharacteristically apprehensive. “I have inventory at the liquor stores. We have several being remodeled as we speak. It’ll be an ongoing project until all eight are done. We have grand openings for two this summer. I can’t quarterback all of that from Elliswoods.”
“You’re going to have to figure out who to delegate pertinent responsibilities to,” I advised firmly. “This isn’t the first shutdown of this nature.”
“But I had Iban here to shoulder the responsibility with,” she argued.
“And now you have a staff, all of whom should be competent enough to carry out your wishes with you being remote to their respective locales.”
Taaliba’s eyes closed as she shook her head. That highlighted her appearance all of a sudden. She’d been in distress of sorts.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?”
Her head shook again, this time more rigorously as tears fell down her face. “La Cocina, one of Danny’s father’s restaurants, was burned beyond repair this morning. It was arson,” she barely got the last words out.
“He’s fine, though.” Monica asked, grabbing her hand. “Right?”
Taaliba nodded, worried eyes stapled to my wife. “Yes, but only because he was delayed getting there for a standing meeting he usually has there three days a week with his staff.”
Something passed between the two women. It was clear Taaliba was the cause of his delay.
Fucking disgusting…
“I’m sure Danny is handling it,” I offered with wavering confidence.
“But you can’t see why I can’t revert to being a teenager and be confined to my wing in the palace like I’m fucking Rapunzel,” she hissed.
I cracked a cheeky grin. “You don’t have enough hair to be Rapunzel, baby girl.”
“You can remind me of that while we’re stuck here together—” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re staying here, too, right?” Taaliba’s eyes bounced between Bilan and me.
“No—�
�
“Yes!” Bilan answered emphatically.
My regard slammed into hers. Those high cheekbones were piercing, lips in a tight ball.
“We’ll be with the family until the threat is over.”
“We will not,” I countered, then addressed the room. “My family is in the process of securing land and a property designer so we can settle permanently. We currently have our things between two residences as it is.”
Bilan repeated, “We will be staying with the family.”
She’d lost her fucking mind. “I’m sorry for the lack of comprehension on your part, but we will unequivocally not be staying here.”
Bilan turned to me in her seat, her head falling to the side, puffy eyes squinting. “Am I to be an Ellis just on paper, or should I teach your parents’ staff how to spell and pronounce Asad-Yasin?” She grated, “Either we stay here as a family or my child and I will get ghost so quick, no enemy of an Ellis—or ally—will find us.”
My chest tightened and head spun. Never had I been spoken to like that at the head of a table. It wasn’t a tone I was accustomed to in any facet of my life. She was fucking threatening me. I’d disassembled lives for less infractions.
“It’s close to eleven at night,” I reminded her. “We have nothing here. We can discuss this tomorrow.”
“Kimmy’s at the apartment,” Bilan replied, gaze searing into me. “She can pack us a suitcase for pickup before she leaves. Sadik has more than enough to begin his stay tonight.”
I understood right away what she was doing. Bilan was regurgitating the same logic I’d given her when trying to push her hand at my agenda for the impromptu St. Justin getaway.
“I think we should stick together, Deek.” Taaliba’s eyes were wider, expression now nervous. “She’s right. It won’t be forever. Just until you and Daddy can figure this out.”