Chapter 3 #4
Gannon watched after her for a while until Max dragged him from his impure thoughts. Max knew the power women had over men. His daughter had these fools around here captivated at an early age, so it was no surprise to him that Gannon found himself smitten with her after a few business dinners.
“Everything good?” He questioned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
Today he was business casual, which meant legal shit was going on. Any other time, he was still dressed down in jeans, a T-shirt, and his Notorious biker vest that he and his entire crew owned. Today wasn’t the day for that version of Max, so instead, he exuded elegant in a Tom Ford ensemble.
“Yeah, dealing with the club and handing it over to Stillwell. A nigga been putting in a lot of late hours. Now Minx nagging me about the shit. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“The thing about trying to balance work and family, it’s never easy.
Trust me, it took me a long time to get right.
Mila and I had to go through our share of shit.
We still have our days where she has to remind me to take a step back and make sure I am present for the important stuff.
Mil is growing up. He’s into sports and shit now.
I have to be there for him, cheering for him, being a dad.
” Max broke it down for Gannon, who nodded in understanding.
“I get it. I’m still young though, and building my empire is taking time and dedication too. I thought if anybody understood that, it would be Minx.”
“Minx is… a livewire. She goes through life to the beat of her own damn drum. She’s been that way since she was born, but it got worse after—” Max caught himself as an image of his oldest daughter bounced into his head.
He missed Mickey on a regular. She was even more wild and carefree than Minx.
Minx only became that way when she had Mickey around.
Once she was gone, Minx dangled off the edge, and lived there now.
Everything she did, she did because of the adrenaline it gave her.
Gannon knew the story. You had to live under a rock around the town not to know what happened to Minx and her sister when they were kids.
Minx never talked about it with him though.
It was the one thing she kept hidden, and he’d tried forcing it out of her plenty of times.
She would shut down, or blow up, and then they would sweep it under the rug again.
Somehow, he knew that she did talk to Rose about it.
He didn’t like that part, where she could voice her fears and all that other shit to him, but not Gannon.
“You are good for her. You’re solid. Minx needs that,” Max responded.
“I got this meeting at city hall today. Perez and a bunch of other officials want to discuss regulations and some other shit. I don’t know what the hell it has to do with me, but I’m going to go and find out.
I’m gonna set Rose up to handle shit on Hillside.
Maybe that will lighten the load and give you more time with Minx. ”
Gannon considered what he was saying and nodded in agreement.
Max taught him a great deal over the years, so Gannon respected him immensely.
Ever since Rose took off last year, he and Max had gotten closer.
Now that Rose was back, he was wondering how long it would take for Max to switch up.
Gannon knew when motherfuckers were moving different.
He always expected that shit because of how he was treated when he didn’t have shit.
“Okay, you want me to let Rose know what’s going on?”
“Nah, it will be better coming from me,” Max answered, shaking his head. “I will talk to him later. I need to head out and get to this meeting.”
“Max… Minx and Rose, I know they close and shit.”
“Close is one way to put it. What? You feeling some kind of way about them?” Max asked, reading his thoughts.
“I don’t know what to think. Is that shit even normal for her to have a best friend that’s a man? The fuck am I going up against?” Gannon asked.
“That’s up to you. I love Rose. That’s my son in every way.
He can be a hothead, but he has his reasons for that.
I know that he and Minx are deeply connected.
If you want to be with her, you will have to deal with Rose too.
He’s a part of the package. If you can’t accept that, which would be understandable, I get it. ” Max couldn’t offer any solution.
Much like his wife, he knew that Minx had to do what was best for her.
If she wanted a life with Gannon, he would support it.
Rose was another story. He knew how lethal that Ambrose Westbrook could be; half the time he banked on that shit.
Was he the type of man he wanted his daughter to end up with?
That was a hard question to answer. On one side, Rose was loyal to a fault, and a savage when necessary.
He was also impulsive, short tempered, and cocky.
All in all, the good outweighed the bad.
Max knew his daughter would always be protected, but Rose was been dubbed a menace a long time ago.
All Max could do was stay out of it and allow Minx to find her way.