Epilogue
EPILOGUE
T he sounds of Shaboozey’s, ‘Last of My Kind’ came through loud as Lennox stood on the ladder, removing the painter’s tape from the wall of his fitness center. Construction workers, electricians, and even a couple of designers that Silva had hired marched in and out of various areas. He’d done plenty of last-minute changes—his curiosity had sparked. Since he’d gotten back from his week-long honeymoon with Nadia to Taos, New Mexico, things had been full speed ahead. He’d decided to change the name of the place, and a new electric sign was made that read: Wilde Ways Fitness Zone.
He was finally at a place in his life where he was embracing his last name. At this point, for him it meant to conquer, and to be free. Inside the large structure, he had a room set up for yoga classes and a free Lamaze session for expecting mothers. The room was dedicated to his own mother, with her framed photo holding him and his sister Silva as children on the wall. There would be an indoor pool added the following year, and a second attached building for dance classes. Lennox wanted Wilde Ways to become a statewide brand, and was more than willing to put the blood, sweat and tears into it to achieve just that. He climbed down the ladder and looked around. Pleased with the progress. One large area had all of the ellipticals, treadmills, and bikes, as well as a movie-theater-sized screen that showed various shows. There were also small built-in web browsing monitors on most of the equipment offered.
There was even an area set up for daycare services during member workouts, and he’d hired many staff members to run the front desk, aid with marketing, and teach spinning, Zumba and kickboxing classes. In a large closed-in area was all the weightlifting equipment, with a separate shower area, and he also had set up a healthy snack bar and juice center. A lot of money had been poured into this place, but he had no doubt he’d earn it all back and begin making profit in no time.
“Lennox!” Nadia called out to him, holding a stack of notebooks. “Where do you want me to put these?” she yelled over the hammering and music.
“In my office, baby. In fact, come here. I need to talk to you.” He waved her over.
Nadia had been a little worker-bee assistant for him, despite having her schedule full due to law school. She was pursuing a full-time accelerated program, and had completed her Juris Doctorate. The woman was kicking ass, and he was incredibly impressed with her resilience, aptitude, and time management. She’d explained the more she does now, the more relaxed her schedule would get over time, so she tackled the time-consuming classes and requirements first. The woman barely got any sleep, but she was definitely determined.
Dressed in a black crop top, black leggings and black and white Nikes, her long dark brown hair parted on one side and tucked behind her ear, she waltzed over and followed him into his office. He closed and locked the door behind them as she set the notebooks on one of his bookshelves. He eyed her up and down, his gaze resting on her cleavage, and then her ass when she turned around to take a seat. He shoved the lustful, seedy thoughts aside, leaned against his desk, and crossed his arms and legs.
“What’s up?” she questioned, looking a bit sleepy and exhausted.
“I’m just going to come on out and say it. We received somethin’ interesting for our wedding.”
“Oh, the gifts from Saint and his wife, Xenia? Wasn’t that nice of them?! The engraved charcuterie board and those wine glasses were so pretty, Lennox, and they had our names inscribed on them, too. Saint sent a couple autographed books, and a sensual massage for couples scented oils and candle kit, along with a DVD that he helped produce and direct. DVD? Who still watches those? Anyway, I did! It was kinda porn-ish,” she burst out laughing, “but so thoughtful!” They’d just had a chance to open the rest of their wedding presents when they returned to their new house from their honeymoon.
“Yeah, that was nice of them and I’ll need to check that out, especially the instructional movie.” He laughed. “But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Oh… what did we get? From who?”
Lennox sighed, grabbed his phone, and pulled up his banking information.
“On the day of our wedding, I saw a sizable deposit. I thought it was a mistake, so I called my bank and asked that they return it to the sender. I had a lot of transactions coming in and going out from contractors and what not. The bank couldn’t give me the name of who it had come from, only some agency I’d never heard of. I figured it was just a mistake by one of the vendors. I thought that was the end of it. Then, this morning, I saw that the money was deposited again. Same exact amount. I didn’t say anything right away. I was busy, and figured maybe the bank made a mistake. I called the bank a couple of hours ago, and got more information. Long story short… Grandpa Wilde did it.” Nadia’s jaw dropped. “I know… you don’t have to say it. I called him. He didn’t answer. I left a voicemail and told him that we don’t want his money. He sent me an email in response, well, us an email to our joint account today. Obviously, you haven’t seen it yet.” He handed her his phone.
“No, I didn’t.” She looked at his phone and began to read aloud:
Lennox and Nadia Wilde,
Congratulations on your recent marriage. I hope that it was all that you wished for. Family is important. Blood is important. I don’t have to like you to still consider you family and it’s no secret that I don’t like either one of you motherfuckers. Despite that, this money is for the new bride and groom. You are in fact family, no matter what, and you have also married. One thing that was in the contract that perhaps my grandson, Lennox Wilde, overlooked, is that no matter the outcome of our business discussions, consultations, and meetings, I am to give a certain amount of money, should that grandson still be amongst the living after said deliberations.
I feel this is fitting for each of my seven grandsons who are currently involved in business negotiations with Wilde Incorporated. There’s a reason behind this that I will not go into at this time. Nevertheless, the dollar amount is up to my discretion. My choice. Once the contract is either honored, or null and void, for whatever reason excluding death, the money will be sent.
Needless to say, the contract between Lennox Wilde and myself is null and void based on the events that took place in our final meeting. I am stating, for the record, that in this situation, Nadia Deere-Wilde and Lennox Wilde should consider this a wedding present. It is non- fundable. I wasn’t invited to the wedding, and I would not have attended even if I were. Some things are just best left alone. That notwithstanding, Lennox is still my grandson. The offspring of my son, Scott Wilde.
Any children born from this union will be a Wilde, regardless of whether the mother or father like it or not. Lennox let it be known that he is not happy that he was born into this family. That is a shame. What we like and dislike, versus what is fact do not always exist in harmony. That child/children will be my great-grandchild/ren, and as such, they are part of my lineage. No, this is not a way for me to stake claim to the child, as I’ve done with Lennox and many others, soon after their birth. There is a high probability that I may be dead and long gone by the time any of your children are old enough to come aboard and join my empire.
Lennox and his cousins were to be my last recruits. I have nurtured them for several decades, and wished to cash in on my investment, as I am getting up in age. This is what made their participation that much more crucial. I need my legacy continued, and I need to know that my business is in good hands, with the best of the best of the bloodline. Lennox successfully disqualified himself, but that does not halt my obligations.
All married couples in this family receive a monetary contribution in order to help forge their new life together. So, on that basis, I am honoring the contract. I am quite aware that the two of you are struggling financially due to vocational and educational ventures.
Nadia Wilde, you now have my surname due to marrying my insubordinate grandson. That makes you family, and I will treat you as such. College is an expensive scam, and that jungle gym that Lennox has pasted and glued together out of clay and construction paper is probably going to be a money pit since most businesses like that fail in the first year, but regardless, you both still deserve credit for attempting to make your own way in this world. Most people want handouts, and you two are trying to earn your keep. Though I despise both of you, you do have my respect.
Now, that brings me to the gift that I have extended to both of you. If you send this money back, right now or in the future, it will just be returned, over and over again. Not only that, but it’s also rude to return a present such as this, and that would make me angry. Please don’t make me angry. There could be consequences. I would hate to have to re-open my and Lennox’s negotiations based on this portion of the agreement.
Nadia paused, looking nothing short of shocked. Lennox shook his head and rolled his eyes. Surely, she wasn’t surprised that they were being threatened and given a present all at the same time? What part of, ‘This man is dead serious, and bat shit crazy!’ didn’t she understand? She continued to read aloud.
It’s best to simply accept the money and put it aside if you don’t wish to utilize it for whatever reason. This money has no strings attached. My hope, however, is that you do use it for whatever you need it for, considering the edification of your union, and imminent offspring.
May God bless both of you.
With my earned respect,
Cyrus Jedediah Wilde
President and CEO of Wilde Inc.
With a look of trepidation, Nadia handed him back his phone. He placed it on top of one of his filing cabinets, then turned back to her.
“How much was it, Lennox?”
He swallowed. “A little over two million.”
Nadia wheezed, then slipped out of her chair and onto the floor as if she’d been turned to butter. He burst out laughing and shook his head.
“Get up and stop being silly!” he hooted.
She lay there, looking up at the ceiling as if dazed and confused.
“Oh my God. What are we going to do?!” She jerked her head in his direction. “He threatened you in a nasty-nice way by saying we better not send it back, and though it’s tempting, Lord knows we could really use that money, but we can’t keep it, Lennox. He’ll hold it over our heads and we could risk him finding a way to weasel back into your life!”
“We can, and we will. We just won’t touch it right away. I told you that my grandfather has this warped way of thinking. He believes in being a man of his word, he is religious, he is very much into family values, procreation, blah, blah, blah, but he doesn’t pertain it to himself. He sees himself as some lord, where the rules don’t apply. Anyway, he hates it when someone makes a big promise and doesn’t provide what they offered. He’s right. That was in that contract, in small print, but I honestly didn’t think he’d follow through because of what we did to him.”
“Well hell, I wouldn’t have thought so either, but I knew nothin’ about this! I didn’t see that in the contract when you let me read it!”
“…It was on the very last page, in small print. Most people would probably miss it. I’m certain that was by design. He’s stickin’ to it, regardless.”
“This is crazy!”
“He’s a maniac. A completely insane, unhinged person, but he’s also quite dangerous, as you noticed firsthand, so it is what it is. Look,” he tossed up his hands, “that’s a drop in the bucket for my grandfather. He’s a billionaire, okay? This is mere peanuts. He can easily make two million bucks in a month if he wanted to. That’s one reason why he literally gets away with murder. He has just about everyone who could help paid off, and if not, he can get them knocked off. He, and the entire Wilde Family, is basically Southern mafia, without the title.” She nodded in understanding. “The point is, he knows that’s a lotta money to most people, and I have a feeling he gave us a little more because of that shower situation with Sam, even after I got revenge. I think he also didn’t renege and gave us the money to try and look better in the eyes of—”
“Silva.”
“Exactly. He has a guilty conscience when it comes to her. It’s strange. He doesn’t give a fuck about hardly anyone but himself, Nadia, but I still haven’t figured out why he cares about my sister so much.” He shrugged. “Not that it’s a bad thing, or hell, it might very well be a terrible thing. Who knows? But there is something about her that he wants protected, and I’ve not gotten to the bottom of it yet. He actually gives a damn about her wellbeing.”
“I imagine you’ve already talked about this with your sister?”
“Yeah, she’s as clueless about it as I am. I can’t ask my dad either because he is still workin’ for him, and I don’t trust him all the way.”
“I meant to ask you about that… Does your father know that you got the information from his computer?”
“No. If he does, he’s said absolutely nothin’. Like I said, my father is a great accountant but horrible with computers, so he and my grandfather probably suspect that someone who’s worked on his computer somehow got a hold of the files, or he got hacked. Something like that. I know they put in extra measures now though so it’s harder to obtain anything. Regardless, my dad is in the clear, just as I wanted him to be. I didn’t want him hurt in all of this, and, uh, when I realized that he actually did give a damn about me, and what Grandpa was doin’… yeah… it made me have a change of heart.” He exhaled sharply. “I didn’t tell my father about what really went down all of those years ago with the police and shit. How Grandpa was behind all of it. I’m letting it go.” He shrugged. “It’s not going to do anything but cause problems, all for things to go right back to the status quo eventually anyway. I’ve already seen that happen before. My father clearly feels obligated to keep workin’ for him. He’s an enabler. He and my grandfather are back to their regular, toxic and codependent selves. At least for now.”
“Well, you covered your tracks well,” she said. “That’s good. If he knew that Silva ran our little errand for us, he’d explode!” She cackled.
“You know what’s crazy, Nadia? I think Grandpa would feel the same, quite honestly, even if he knew for a fact that he’d been drugged by her so his inhibitions would be lowered, and he could have his little orgy in peace. That would also explain Silva’s deep connection to him.”
“What do you mean?”
“My grandfather is not stupid. Far from it. He very well may suspect her. In fact, for a split second he did until I cleared her name. He may still after he gave it a second thought, but doesn’t care enough to do anything about it. She has some type of hold over him. I saw it in his eyes, and it surprised the shit outta me. Silva honestly felt that love from him, so it wasn’t just her being greedy for his money, or anything like that. I was wrong about that aspect. Her finding out he’d been the cause of so much pain in this family gutted her. She cried for days. Anyway,” he made his way back around the desk and plonked down in his new leather chair, still covered in plastic, “just wanted you to be aware of this, since he followed up with an email and now has admitted it was him after I attempted to send it back.”
“How’d he even get your banking information? How’d he—”
“Nadia. Come on.” He sighed. “This is Grandpa we’re talking about. If he wants to find out something bad enough, more times than not, he probably can.”
“This man is unbelievable. I’ve heard of some far-out shit, met some demented folks in my life and I thought I’d seen it all, but your grandfather showed me otherwise. After all that has happened, and the emotional toll it’s taken on you, Lennox, it seems you could save your cousins the time and trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you could go ahead and tell your grandfather that if he doesn’t leave Kage and all the rest of them alone regarding this workin’ for his company business, you’ll go through with turning in that video and giving all of that information and evidence to the FBI. All of this could finally be over with.” She shrugged and shook her head.
“Baby, no…” He sighed, wishing it were that easy. “It doesn’t work like that. I wish it did, but it’s far more complicated.”
“Well, explain it to me because my ass is ready to go to the FBI, and social media, right the hell now! He sent that fool to my job, wit’ a damn gun, and he’s just about ruined your family. He’s out of control. Something has to be done!”
“Yeah… something does have to be done, but it has to be done in the right way, baby. You’re not a Wilde, so this is a little hard for you to understand, but let me break it down like this. For starters, each contract is individual to all of us. None of them are written the same, and they aren’t asking for the exact same things, either. The compensation, should we agree, is not always the same, either. Secondly, what happened between Grandpa and me because of this mess was specific to me .” He pointed at himself. “We have to fight our own battles. I can’t fight for Kage, he can’t fight for Roman, Roman can’t fight for Maddock, so on and so forth. Now, we can help each other, he can’t stop that shit, but we can’t do the heavy liftin’ for one another, and ain’t no honor in that. Grandpa only respects you if you stand on your own two damn feet. If you try to ride off of someone else’s steam, he won’t release you from the contract.
“Thirdly, and this is probably the most important, let’s say I did what you said and threw caution to the wind. Let’s say I went on with turning in the accounting reports to the FBI, which of course would take my father down, too… but let’s put that aside and say I’d do it anyway. And let’s say I turned over that sex tape, which would embarrass Grandpa—kinda the entire point, true—and potentially ruin his reputation in the Christian sector that he has attached himself to. Nadia, it would only be a damn speed bump.
“Grandpa has so much pull and power in Houston, hell, Texas and the entire South, period, that he could work from prison and STILL ruin Kage’s, Roman’s, Maddox’s, Phoenix’s, Ryder’s and everyone’s lives if he saw fit! And believe me, he would, without a moment of uncertainty. The only difference would be now he’d be all the more pissed, and unhinged.”
“…Damn.” She hung her head and shook it.
“See? And let me tell you something else. Those contracts are set in stone, unless we can find a way out of them on our own, just like Grandpa said. He’s got a provision in there—if we can find a way out, he’ll let us out, but like I said, each contract is individual. This is no, ‘Let my people go,’ situation. He ain’t treatin’ us like Moses.” He laughed mirthlessly. “This one act of mine changes nothing for nobody but me. He’s serious about this. That man meant what the fuck he said. Nothin’ short of death would stop that son of a bitch from still going through with this. The contracts are basically written in blood, but since he put that caveat in there, we have a chance. We didn’t make a deal with the devil, but, the devil made a deal with us….
“Just like Roman and I talked about when I went to visit him a long time ago. This ain’t got a lot to do with Grandpa wanting us to work for him. I mean, sure, that is what started it years ago, but right now? This is all about control. It’s about power. It’s about domination. It’s about his legacy and his warped vision for the future of this family. Grandpa takes this family thing, blood ties, to a cult-like level. That man is a narcissist, baby. The worst kind. Only thing is, Grandpa is ridiculously intelligent and has a sense of awareness, which makes him even more diabolical. His downfall, though, is thinking he’s smarter than everyone else. He never in a million years thought I’d be able to pull something like this off. He never said that to me, but I can read between the lines. He figured I’d be the easiest one to take down because I don’t start any trouble and keep to myself. But he found out real damn quick that he was wrong.”
“He sure as hell did.” She smiled at him.
“You start some bullshit with me, I’m going to damn well finish it. He’s evil down to his damn bone marrow. When Grandpa says he wants you, he wants you, and he’s going to do everything he can to get what he wants. Ain’t shit you can do about it unless you step to him, one on one, man to man, toe to toe. He don’t respect nothin’ less.”
Nadia nodded, her smile turning sad.
“I get it now. It’s fucked up, but I get it.”
She sighed and got off the floor, dusting off her knees and butt.
“Well, as interesting as this is, we still have work to do. We can talk more about it at home later tonight. I better finish clearing out that back closet so you can put the towels in there, and—”
“Wait. I have something else to tell you.”
“What is it now?” She looked at him with a bit of concern in her expression.
“Speaking of emails, my dick just sent an email to your pussy requesting an emergency meeting. Make sure she accepts the notice. He said he’ll make it fast.” He curled his finger in her direction and gave her a devilish grin.
“Lennox.” She put her hands on her hip. “You are one sick puppy, you know that? I’m not about to have sex with you right now. I have shit to do!” It was obvious she was trying to sound tough, but the smirk on her face gave her away.
Twisting his thumbs around the elastic waistband of his jogging pants, he shoved them down along with his underwear, exposing a throbbing, fat hard-on.
“Lennox, pull your damn pants up. I don’t have time for this!” She giggled as she turned to rush out of the office.
Getting up from his seat, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her over to his desk, laying her down onto her back. She fought the entire time, punching at his chest, laughing hysterically as he yanked her leggings down to her ankles and pulled her shirt up, exposing her bra. Within seconds, he was buried deep inside of her, thrusting away like a piston. She held onto him tight, the music from the main area thumping through their bodies as he made rough, beautiful love to her. Black Pumas’ ‘Colors’ webbed exquisite sounds in his ears as he took her down to the land of pleasure…
She clawed at his shoulders as his hips bucked and pushed, and she wrapped her long, shapely legs around his lower back, keeping him steady as he drove in and out of her with brute determination.
He shuddered when he felt her orgasm burst free… Her back arched and she whimpered with delight. Pausing, he placed a gentle kiss against her soft lips, her body electric, on fire for him.
“My gorgeous wife is so wet right now… I love how that sounds: ‘My wife.’ You’re so damn beautiful, baby.”
He rotated his hips back and forth, then looked down and watched his dick disappearing inside of her, coming back out soon after, slick with her juices. He pulled all the way back, returning only to slam into her hard. Entomb himself within her, to the point of no return. He covered her mouth after she gasped in sweet agony, stifling her screams while he slammed into her a few more times—until finally he fell apart, cumming deep inside of her.
He groaned into Queen Lust’s cleavage as she curled into his body, making him whole. A deep feeling of peace overcame him. In fact, he felt right as rain. They rested momentarily, then quietly redressed. When she began walking away to leave, he blew her a kiss, then closed the door softly behind her. He stood there. Looking around. In awe.
He dropped his head and shook it. Moved by how far he’d come in life. Immensely thankful. Everything he ever wanted was materializing. A dream come true. He wanted autonomy over his own life. Done . He wanted his own fitness company. Almost complete. He wanted a better relationship with his father. In the works. He wanted his broken relationship with his sister repaired. Fixed. He wanted to fall in love and find his soulmate. Bingo. He wanted to get married and plant roots. Accomplished. He wanted children. Fingers crossed, that would be soon on the horizon. He wanted to be a sprinkler. Hot damn, he’d found his garden…
He wanted to nourish that woman. Protect her. Make her always feel loved, respected and cherished. He wanted to water her to quench her thirst for true love, not drown her in the storms of life. She was his harness, when he needed to be yanked back and redirected. Separate, they were not to be trifled with. Together, they were double the trouble. He looked at that closed door, and could hear her talking to one of the electricians. Nadia has no idea how much she’s inspired me. She has no idea how much I love her. She couldn’t, because there’s no words in existence to describe it.
At night, she may have been Velvet, but in the new light of day, when the sun shone bright, she was the next beat of his heart.
~The End~