14. What You Need
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHAT YOU NEED
Christmas tunes continued to hum through the house.
Laughter and chatter resumed, but it was different.
Phoebe now seemed out of place, on the outside looking in.
Audiemar conversed with his grandchildren and Sailor, telling them old stories about the things he did or got into as a child while they listened attentively.
Even Dane lingered on the arm of the couch inside the living room, entertained.
Audiemar was raised in group homes like his sons, during a different era.
The same way he stepped in for them was what Desiree and her husband did for him all those years ago.
He didn’t have the advantage of growing up in a place like Haven House.
It had its problems like any other facility, but he’d seen worse.
Back in his day, abuse was normal and accepted.
Meals were withheld; kids were forced into their room and locked away for hours.
Staff would slip into certain rooms and violate kids.
Audiemar was ten years old when he caught his first body, a security guard who got off on molesting little boys.
It wasn’t the type of story he’d ever share with his boys, but his wife was fully aware.
He spent a year in a juvenile detention center before they shipped him to a psych facility because he stopped talking after he did it.
The doctors all thought he was crazy or had suffered some kind of break down.
Desiree and her husband attended a career day event.
Axl Blackmoor started Blackmoor industries with a dollar and a dream.
He had one semi-truck that he refurbished and had someone paint his name on the side, and it was up from there.
Audiemar was good with numbers, and Axl paid attention to potential.
He prided himself on it at that point in his life because he’d put plenty of people on and now his business was thriving more than he could have ever dreamed.
That was the story he recited to the young minds that had somehow surrounded him near the Christmas tree.
Coast, Ayla, and Inari remained in the kitchen around the island, chatting. Ayla had the staff set up the dining room for dinner and brought the side dishes from the warm oven with mitts on her hands.
“Inari, Moose looks like he wants to kill Danilo,” Ayla stated, arranging the dishes for the waiters to come and grab next.
“Don’t remind me,” Inari grumbled, grabbing a decorated snowflake sugar cookie and taking a bite with her grip on a fresh flute of champagne.
“Why did you bring him again?” Coast queried, forking a slice of apple pie on her plate and bringing it to her lips.
“He basically forced himself into the situation. He has a knack for that,” she mumbled.
“He is not coming to Hawaii.”
“Absolutely not!” Inari voiced. “I told him and Dane I was leaving bright and early too.”
“What the hell was that with Desiree and Phoebe, though?” Coast wondered.
“I have come to learn that the Blackmoor family is full of skeletons in the closet, and I, for one, don’t need to know about them.” Ayla brushed cookie crumbs off her hands.
“Amen to that.” Coast aimed her fork at her and nodded.
“Coast, your family is interesting.” Inari snickered.
“Insane is what they are.”
“I just think the three of you coming down to Haven House and talking to those other kids would be inspiring.” Bee’s sweet voice carried into the kitchen, strolling in with Mozzi, Moose, and Kong behind her. “All of you survived that place, and look at you now.”
“We some fucking savages, Bee,” Mozzi declared.
“Now you know I don’t believe what the streets say,” she argued.
“And speak for yourself, nigga.” Moose shoved Mozzi, who stepped back to square up and swung on him.
Mozzi lightly tapped Moose’s cheek, which sent him lunging for his younger brother.
The two wrestled it out right in the middle of the floor in designer suits.
Kong approached the counter, pausing on the opposite side of Inari, but closest to Ayla.
Moose and Mozzi were out of breath, both tired from drinking and smoking all night.
Mozzi rolled out of his brother’s headlock, and both pressed their backs into the floor to catch their breath.
“You wrinkled my shit,” Mozzi complained, sitting up and swiping his blazer of the wrinkles that had developed during their scuffle. “Next blunt is on you, bitch.”
“Fuck you.” Moose flipped him off and sat up, pushing his locs from his face.
“At least consider what I said. Kong, you could come and talk to them about what it’s like running Blackmoor Industries and going to college.
I know the three of you might be considered thugs by the rest of the world, but don’t forget I knew you when you barely had any bass in your voice with scrawny little chests. ”
“I always been beefed up, Bee. Ion know what you talking about.” Mozzi adjusted his jacket on his shoulders, and Bee cackled.
“The event is three weeks away, so you have plenty of time to prepare for it.” She stopped at the counter beside Inari and Coast. “Inari, I would love it if you and Moose could come too. You can talk about your work at Vintage Vault, and Moose, it would be great to hear from you about starting and running your own business.”
Clearing her throat, Inari briefly glanced at Moose and nodded with a forced smile.
“I would love to, Bee. Just remind me when,” she agreed.
“I’m with it,” Moose chimed in.
“Coast—”
“I don’t have anything to talk to those kids about, Bee.” She shook her head.
“I was going to ask you how you’re doing. Did Marina talk to you about her and Sailor staying with me?”
“She mentioned it,” Coast mumbled with a sigh.
“If it’s going to be a problem—”
“She’ll be living with you. Why would it be a problem for me?” Coast furrowed a brow.
“Because you’re my niece, and I would still like to be a part of your life and that baby’s life.”
“Whether I want to deal with Marina or not, because of Sailor and Iara, I will try. I’m not making any promises, though. And you shouldn’t get used to her being around. You know how she is. The minute she gets antsy, she’ll be gone like she was never here.”
Sliding in beside Coast, Mozzi nuzzled her neck and stole a kiss from her juicy lips. Resting his hand on her belly, he rubbed it gently and whispered in her ear.
“Come outside with me. I need to talk to you.”
“Outside? Moses, it’s cold as hell,” she whined.
“Come on. It won’t take long.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bar chair.
“Fine.” Coast huffed, dropping her fork on her plate. “Don’t start dinner without us.” She wagged a warning finger in Ayla’s direction.
Lightheaded and praying she didn’t wobble where she stood, Ayla gripped the counter and tried to shake it off. She covered her mouth, hoping no one noticed her gag as the overwhelming smell of her own food flipped her stomach.
“Yo, you good?” Kong leaned in, and Inari lowered her glass in concern.
“I’m f-fine,” she replied, shaking her head. “I just need a minute.” She rushed off to the nearest bathroom, and Inari stared after her with Kong.
When she was gone, he swiveled his head in her sister’s direction.
“She’s been working nonstop all day. Must be catching up to her.” Inari lifted both brows and shrugged.
Although she thought her sister should tell Kong what was going on, at the end of the day, that was her choice to make.
Inari wouldn’t dare interfere because she wouldn’t want anyone doing that shit to her.
Kong squinted suspiciously at her. Something else was going on, but Ayla nor Inari were going to reveal a thing.
The two of them were in fact their sister’s keeper.
Bringing himself to his feet, Moose dusted off the back of his pants and joined them at the counter.
“The fuck you doing, Nari?” He didn’t have time for pleasantries when she was clearly on some bullshit.
“Moose—”
“Nah, I want fucking answers! I deserve that after the other night!” he hissed. “You just walked out of my shit and went home to this nigga after everything we talked about?”
“What else did you want me to do?” Inari countered. “Danilo holds all the cards. I told you that!”
“And I told you I got you.” Moose gritted his teeth. “What, you don’t believe me?”
Eyes falling on the counter, Inari went radio silent. She owed him more than that.
“What I know is that I’ve been on my own for as long as I can remember. Trusting someone means allowing myself to fall if something goes wrong. I tried that with Danilo, and he went to jail.”
“Don’t be comparing me to that nigga!” Moose sneered.
“Don’t stand there yelling at me!” she quipped.
“Fuck this shit.” Pushing himself away from the counter, he stormed out.
“I know the nigga don’t make it easy, but Moose is solid, and you can trust him.” Kong vouched for his brother.
“What about you? Are you solid? Can my sister trust you?” Inari interrogated.
“This ain’t about me and Ayla. I care about her. Enough to walk away. Ain’t that what you wanted?” he asked, brows bunching together as his dark orbs bounced around hers.
“At the end of the day, Kong, it’s not about what I want.” Inari grabbed her glass and shuffled away.
“It’s freezing out here!” Coast hugged herself as her teeth chattered from the blistering cold.
Slipping out of his jacket, Mozzi placed it across her shoulders.
He pulled her closer by the lapels and kissed her slow and deliberate, taking his time before their tongues met, and Coast released a hungry moan.
She locked her arms around his back, and Mozzi cuffed her chin before gently pecking her plump bottom lip and nudging away.
“You a hot girl. You good,” he teased, a sexy smile crinkling his amber flecked eyes.
It was damn sure cold, but it was also quiet out there. Snow fell in light, barely noticeable flakes around them. Coast lifted her head to look at the sky and hugged his coat around her.