28. Serena
Serena
“Whatcha think of this?” Gigi asked, showing off a feathery mini-dress totally Vegas showgirl style as we stood in one of my favorite boutiques in town.
“I don’t want you here,” I said, crossing my arms. I was desperate to get home to Miles. Standing here, it felt too distracting and a waste of time. Being near him was the best feeling. I felt all wrong when I wasn’t with him.
What is happening to me?
“You’re happy to have us here,” Laurene said, sitting on the chair and flipping through her baby book. “Did you know some babies are born with hair, while others may not develop hair until later? I hope my baby comes out with hair. All of us did.”
I was losing my strength. I didn’t care for that. I was becoming like my sisters. Ew.
“Go home, Gigi,” I said sharply. “I only needed a dress. This was not supposed to be a big deal.”
“You’re in a mood ,” she said, wrinkling her nose at the dress and tossing it back onto the rack like it offended her. “Let me guess. Miles?”
Laurene looked up from the book. “Have y’all been fighting this whole time?”
Far from it.
We’d been fucking almost every night and morning. On desks. Against walls. Bent over my damn bathroom sink while the shower still ran.
And yet, somehow, it never felt like enough.
I couldn’t get enough of him.
“Oh my God, it is Miles,” Gigi gasped, delighted.
“ Ooooh , y’all get nasty? He blow your back out?
I was betting with Reese and Laurene on how long it would take you to give in.
I’m sorry, sis, but you so damn uptight, just enjoy the dick.
I mean, I do with my guys. They’re like a bus or train line—ride them to the end of the line, then get off, get a new one. ”
I scrunched my face up at her.
“If you’re having fun with him, that’s not bad.” Laurene shrugged and relaxed back in the seat, placing a hand on her belly. “Just use protection. Pregnancy sucks.”
Gigi nodded. “Take it from the queen of busting it wide open.”
“I know you not talking. Wasn’t you just busting it open on a yacht?” Laurene glared at her.
“My coochie only gets wet when his bank account has several zeros and commas in it. Nothing less. I’m highly expensive.” Gigi blew her a kiss.
“We’re talking about me.” I pointed to myself.
“Rude, but y’all in there hunching, don’t lie.” Gigi shot me a look.
I sighed and nodded. Laurene and Gigi screamed their heads off.
“Yes!” Gigi said. “Tell Reese to run me my money.”
“I swear, I told G you were glowing,” Laurene gushed.
“Get a life,” I said, shaking my head.
I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling, and Gigi went back to the rack and searched again. I didn’t realize the polo match had a strict dress code, and I needed to shop for something new.
“You’re almost thirty, Serena. Should you really be dressing like Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris with all those pantsuits?” She plucked a dress off the rack—a sleek yellow number with a plunging neckline—and held it up against me. “Show some ass.”
“She is showing ass.” Laurene gave a devilish smirk.
I shouldn’t have told them anything.
“You gotta use them repressed feminine wiles. You have amazing legs, Rena, don’t hide them.”
This was not what I came here for.
My mind was on Jenese. That manuscript still sat like a ticking bomb—coded names, thinly veiled stories, and just enough truth to set fire to everything I’d built. I’d gotten distracted by Miles but I had to get it together.
There were gaps in her story.
The last time I saw Jenese was in New York. Right after our failed sting. I knew she’d been hanging out with a man, but she wouldn’t tell me his name. A reverse image search got me the name Roman Tolland. Hedge fund billionaire.
Gigi waved a short orange dress in my face.
“What about this? Too obvious?”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“You didn’t hear a word I said.”
What was the shocker last night was I found an old photo of Roman with Jenese on his arm. It was at some charity gala. Next to them was a couple. A lovely younger woman.
And Dante Castillo.
Jenese fucking knew Dante. He knew her.
“And you need to give me your perspective on what went down at the family dinner. Lu said shit went left. Was Erik about to fight Miles?” Gigi looked at me with wide eyes.
“Erik didn’t fight Miles. They just had…a disagreement.” I shook my head. “Again, not your business.”
She plucked another dress off the rack, this one a bold red, and held it up with a critical eye. “Ooh, this one might actually make you look like a woman instead of a walking corporate PowerPoint presentation.”
The second job for Jenese, the damn blackmail, I’d been hoping to forget it. But I couldn’t. The suffocating weight of it all—it was eating me alive. And I knew I couldn’t let this continue. If I let her goad me into this, what else would she want?
“Talk to me, Rena. I mean I know y’all just think I’m here for fun and my looks, but I can be deep,” Gigi said.
Laurene finally put her book down. “We all wanna know how you’re handling being married to Miles.”
“I’m serious, talk to me,” Gigi said again.
I stared at the row of silk blouses in front of me. My mind should’ve been focused on work, on damage control with Jenese, on keeping the King legacy intact—but all I could think about was him .
“I don’t do this,” I said finally. “I don’t spiral. I don’t feel this much. It’s inefficient.”
Gigi blinked. “Girl, what?”
“It’s like—there’s a framework for everything. I know how to win a negotiation, secure a deal, destroy a competitor if I need to. That makes sense to me. But this?” I shook my head, my voice dipping. “He makes me feel things I don’t know how to categorize.”
“So what’s the problem? That y’all fucked and you caught feelings?”
“I love him.”
It was comical the way Gigi’s and Laurene’s expressions went blank, and they stared at me like I had grown a second head.
“And he told me he loves me.”
Laurene clasped her hands together. “Serena! That’s amazing.”
“Wait, wait, wait. What? How the hell did this happen so quick?” Gigi looked between us. “What Lu said before was correct? You were sleeping around with Miles years ago.”
I hesitated, then looked at Laurene.
She nodded gently, like she was telling me it was okay. That I could say it.
“We weren’t just messing around,” I said quietly. “We were in a relationship. He proposed to me.”
Gigi’s mouth fell open. “Bitch, what?”
Laurene’s jaw dropped. “He—what?!”
Gigi damn near collapsed onto the floor, flailing like someone just told her the world was ending. “Y’all been sneaky as hell! And I knew something was off!”
She sank onto the edge of the chaise, clutching her chest like she was genuinely winded. “Nah. Nope. Uh-uh. This is too much.”
Laurene leaned forward, still dazed. “Serena…why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I didn’t want anyone to know,” I said, quieter now. “I didn’t want anyone to see how much it meant. And when it ended, I—I couldn’t even talk about it.”
It was kinda weird telling my sisters all that.
I liked figuring things out myself, but…
maybe Miles had a point. It helped having them understand, it made things easier.
“I don’t like being seen,” I admitted after a long pause.
“Not like that. Not when I haven’t controlled what’s being shown.
There’s too much I haven’t figured out yet. Too much that could go wrong.”
Gigi softened. “You mean like getting hurt?”
“Or being vulnerable?” Laurene said.
“I mean like losing,” I said sharply. “You don’t understand what that feels like for me. It’s not just emotional—it’s personal. Strategic. If I slip, even once, it’s not just me that falls. It’s our name. Our legacy. Everything I’ve spent years building could unravel.”
Gigi studied me, and then her voice lowered, unusually gentle. “Rena…that sounds exhausting.”
It was exhausting. But I couldn’t say that. Not out loud.
Instead, I glanced away. “I don’t know what I want from him. I only know that I can’t stop wanting.”
“I mean, I know I give you shit about being Mama’s little solider, but you’ve been serious since we were kids, Rena.” Gigi smiled at me.
I turned to look at her, brows pulling together. “What does that even mean?”
“You’ve always been on . Class president. Valedictorian. If there was a team captain, you were it. Every time. You like…seek out the weight. Like if no one else is carrying it, you’ll do it just so it doesn’t get dropped.”
“That’s not true,” I said, but it came out a little too quickly.
“Isn’t it?” She tilted her head, gold hoops catching the light. “You’re always worrying about somebody or something. I think you like to be anxious.”
I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“No, it’s control,” Gigi said, picking up momentum. “You can’t control feelings. You can’t predict people. You can’t make love fit in a spreadsheet or a ten-year plan. So instead, you fill your life with things you can control. Titles. Wins. Legacies.”
I stared at her. She was usually the chaos tornado, the glitter bomb. But now she was peeling me back like she’d been watching all along.
“So what are you saying?” I asked, quieter.
“I’m saying maybe this time, you don’t have to lead the moment, Rena.
Maybe you just let yourself be in it. Let him love you, or mess up, or surprise you.
Let yourself want him without needing to control the outcome.
You can’t stop bad things from happening in life, and the way you’re always holding on too tight? You won’t let the good happen.”
Gigi paused, then grinned.
“Let the bus take you for a ride for once, sis. Stop tryin’ to be the damn driver all the time.”
I blinked at her, stunned into silence for a beat too long.
Gigi. Of all people. Making sense.
“Okay, Dr. Phil,” I said finally, rolling my eyes. “Did you rehearse that in the mirror before you came?”
She smirked, pleased with herself. “Nope. It’s all natural, baby. Wisdom from the baddest.”
I shook my head, lips twitching despite myself. “I’m actually embarrassed that was helpful.”
“Don’t be,” she said, flipping her curls over one shoulder. “I got layers like lasagna. You just gotta dig past the hot girl aesthetic.”
“I do want to add onto the sage wisdom of Gigi.” Laurene pushed herself up and waddled over to us, and she stood in front of me, her brown eyes wide. “Remember what we talked about at my baby shower?”
I did. I hadn’t wanted to. I’d brushed it off at the time, called her hormonal, too soft since she got pregnant. But the words stuck with me.
“Yeah,” I said slowly.
“You know what I realized once I left the house?” she continued, tone quiet but steady. “I didn’t know how to make a single decision that didn’t sound like Mama’s voice in my head.” She touched her stomach. “Not one.”
I stayed silent.
“You don’t have to be her.” Laurene met my eyes fully now. “We love Mama. I’m not saying not to, but she’s got things she’s fighting on her own, and that means she may not show up the way you need. But I’m letting you know I’m here for you.”
Maybe you should leave, Serena. You’ve made King Developments the best. What do you want?
Laurene reached her hand out and grabbed mine, giving it a squeeze.
“You’re allowed to want something just because you want it, Rena,” she said.
“It’s okay to not have a plan either. That’s the beauty of life.
But lean on us. Even Erik. We know the pressures better than anybody, and while we might not have been good at supporting each other before, we’re better now. ”
Gigi snorted. “Yeah, even with your mean ass, I love you.”
Why were my eyes feeling prickly? It was a weird feeling.
“Group hug, bitches!” Gigi grinned, and the two of them rushed me, all lavender and citrus and the faint burn of expensive perfume.
I stood stiff in the middle, arms hovering awkwardly at my sides like someone being restrained at a checkpoint.
“I—okay—this is happening,” I muttered.
Laurene’s cheek brushed mine. Gigi wrapped herself around us like a human boa constrictor. Somewhere in the pressure of the embrace, my hand twitched, then slowly, I let my fingers curl into the back of Laurene’s blouse.
“We love you, Serena.”