Chapter 11 Rowan
“It’s hot as hell out here!” I groaned, shielding my eyes from the beaming sun as I walked through my company’s main worksite.
My team and I were working with a private business owner today to add onto his mechanic shop.
Milly Grove now held contracts with Boudreaux Enterprises for most of the city’s restoration, so all my current projects were with privately-owned businesses or personal residential renovations.
I wasn’t complaining because I needed the money, and I was happy that losing some of the government contracts didn’t affect my construction business.
After greeting and speaking to the crew, I made my way inside my office and was relieved that someone had come in and turned the air conditioner on. I wasn’t seated ten minutes before there was a knock on my door.
“Damn, man. Let me find out you’ve been ducking and dodging me. Is that the way you treat family now?”
Looking up from my desk, I locked eyes with Damien. With his hands in his pockets, he strutted into my office as if he had the right.
“Why haven’t you been answering any of my calls?” he asked, his words slow and steady.
“I’ve been busy…” I said nervously as I gestured to the clutter of papers on top of my desk. “I was going to call you later this evening.”
Holding my breath, I watched as he said nothing and continued to look around my office.
Damien knows everything about my family and me, and he’s let it be known that no one is above punishment when it’s time to pay up.
I’ve been trying to pay him back what I owe, but it seems as if I’ve been doing nothing but digging a bigger hole for myself.
That’s the main reason I didn’t feel bad about agreeing to hand over my sister if I couldn’t get the money the last time I spoke with him.
“How’s my future wife doing?” He smiled as he pulled down a picture of my sister and me from my mantel. She decorated my office when I first started my company, and I often forgot it was there. “Have you told her I’ve been asking about her?”
“She and I don’t speak that often,” I stated honestly, standing from my desk.
I hadn’t talked to Blossom since the day she fired me from doing a job for her.
I was wrong for showing up intoxicated, but so what?
She was my sister and needed to cut me some slack.
“Not to mention, it’s not much of a conversation starter when she’s engaged to someone else, Dame. ”
As Damien eyed my sister’s photo, I thought of a way I could get him off my back and out of my life.
I could tell Tyreek, being as though he’s not the most lawful cop.
I was positive he had people or ways to make Damien disappear.
But that would require me to show my ugly lies, and that was not something I wanted to deal with or do.
How do I tell my future brother-in-law that I gambled away my sister?
“We agreed that you would either pay me the two-hundred grand that you owe me, or I could have Blossom.” He removed the photo from the frame, folded it, and placed it in his pocket.
Finally, he turned to face me, piercing me with eyes that were just as dark as his skin.
“You’re not going back on your word, are you, Row? ”
“I just need a little more time…” I pleaded with him as I walked toward him with my hands in the prayer position. “Life is tearing me up right now, and I just need—”
“I don’t care about any of that!” he hissed through his words, holding his hand up to cut me off.
“You knew what owing me entailed, and you agreed to my terms. You have three weeks to pay me what you owe, or your sister is mine. And if you keep dodging me, you may not even live long enough to see us live happily ever after. See you later, brother.”
I stood, watching him leave my office, slamming the door behind him.
Closing my eyes, I rubbed my temples, cussing at the shit I was in.
Blossom and I weren’t on the best of terms, but I didn’t want to sell her off either.
I was under duress when I agreed to his terms back at the hole-in-the-wall, but there was no way I could go back on my word now if I wanted to live.
Trekking back over to my desk, I used my office phone to call Chris. He and I hadn’t spoken much since we robbed the stash house in Willow Springs. Now that I thought about it, it had been days since I’d spoken to him even though I’d called multiple times.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I cursed as I slammed down the receiver of the phone. “Where the fuck is that nigga?”
Pacing the floor, I couldn’t help but pull at my hair in frustration.
At this point, I was getting worried about Chris.
I was hoping he still had some cash or drugs left so we could flip them for a profit.
Right now, I needed him, the money, and that product more than ever, and since I’d known Chris, I’d never experienced him not coming through for me.
I met him and his brother, Jamal, years ago when I was working a job in Willow Springs and needed a bump.
Jamal and I grew close, but it was Chris who let me know he wanted to venture out and do their own thing in the dope game.
Jamal wasn’t really feeling it, but he promised to back his brother as best he could.
His death was hard on Chris and me, so when TJ presented us with the chance to get revenge on the people who caused his death, we jumped at the opportunity.
Robbing the stash house wasn’t the come up I thought it would be, even though TJ gave us a foolproof scheme.
I should’ve taken that money and them drugs to Damien soon as I got back to Milly Grove.
Now, that sixty grand and them drugs I got after splitting them with Chris were gone.
I was in deeper shit than I had been before that hit, and I needed Chris to come through before Damien killed me.
“Where’s my shit?”
I rushed over to my desk and began rummaging through the drawers until I found the small vial I was looking for.
Twisting the top off, I tapped it on the backside of my hand, eyes lighting up at the sight of the small dab of white powder forming a tiny mound.
I raised my hand to my nose, inhaling deeply before sinking into my chair.
A feeling of tranquility washed over me as the high kicked in instantly.
Throwing my head back, I spun my seat around, gazing out the window as my high settled my nerves.
You would think that with me being the governor’s son, I would have my shit together.
You would think that I wouldn’t have certain vices or a dependency on drugs to cope with the things I had going on in life.
From the outside looking in, it might have seemed as if I had a picture-perfect family with an even more perfect life, but those assumptions were wrong.
Being the son of Governor Carlton Reid was a curse.
Day in and day out, I had to walk around with a mask.
I hated my father, and I hated my stepmother.
My father was the reason my mother killed herself all those years ago.
She took loving him to death literally. She couldn’t handle him being with another woman and having a child with her.
That was why I hated Blossom the fucking most.
“Boss, we have a problem!” Hector, my site’s supervisor, burst into my office without knocking. “The supplies we ordered last week haven’t come in yet. I called the vendor to track the order, and they said it was canceled.”
Sighing heavily, I spun around in my seat to face him.
Hector was a good man and an even better worker.
He’d been here with me at Reid’s Construction since I started the company a little over ten years ago.
Business had been going well up until the last two years.
I tried to keep my struggles from my employees as best as I could, but I didn’t know how much longer I could put up a front.
“I will call them,” I assured him as he stared at me, worried. Growing annoyed, I raised my brows, motioning for him to say what was on his mind. “Is there something else?”
“You have a little something…” His words trailed off as he gestured toward me, wiping the tip of his nose. “I’ll go now.”
Embarrassment washed over me as I opened the camera app on my cell phone. Sure enough, there was white residue sitting on the tip of my nose. Cleaning it off in a hurry, I placed my phone back on the desk, dropping my head into my hands. I needed to get my shit together and fast.
“Let me call these people and see what the hell is going on.” I groaned as I called my plank vendors.
Out of all the wholesalers we used, I deemed them the most important.
There was no way we could build or complete the various contracts if we didn’t have the damn wood.
Looking around my office as the phone rang, I frowned at how junky it looked.
Even though I worked on a construction site, it didn’t mean my shit had to look and smell like a dumpster.
I was just about to hang up the phone before the familiar voice of the receptionist came on the line.
“Good morning and thank you for calling Composite Depot!” she greeted happily. “Ana speaking. How can I help you?”
“Ana, hey. It’s Rowan Reid.” I grinned as if she could see me. She and I had rolled around the sheets a few times, so I knew she was happy to hear from me. “I have an issue, and I was hoping you could help me.”
“Oh, hey, Row…” She went silent, but I could hear her typing. The flatness in her tone wasn’t appreciated, but I needed her help, so I was going to bite my tongue and let her continue.