Treason’s Temptation

Chapter 1

“ C ome in!” I yelled, standing behind my desk.

The door opened, and my intern, Milaya, peeked her head inside.

“Miss Dorothy is calling again .”

Dorothy ‘Dot’ Haynes always called. She was a retired postal worker, self-proclaimed neighborhood watch commander, and the unofficial mayor of the East Side.

She called my office every Monday since I took the interim seat.

It didn’t matter if I was at a press conference or solving an infrastructure crisis.

She would leave a voicemail, and if I didn’t return her call within three business days, she’d come down in person.

“What’s the problem this time?”

“ The problem? She gave me a list.”

I chuckled, waving Milaya in while checking my watch. I was supposed to be on my way to a pointless meeting because adults needed a babysitter to do their jobs.

“Somebody’s running a chop shop out of their garage on Wexler. She’s seen the same car in three different colors this week. Who’s in charge of those damn potholes? She hit one last week and thought she got baptized,” Milaya mimicked Miss. Dots’ tone.

“ When she calls back, tell her I’ll look into it.”

Milaya nodded and dismissed herself while I gathered my iPad. I’d rather listen to Dot’s list of demands, but I took the trip to the West Wing and pushed open the door.

“Well, look who finally decided to grace us with his presence,” Victor said as I walked into the chamber. “The People’s Prince himself. I didn’t know we were at a fashion show this morning, Westbrook.”

“Funny, you have nothing to say about Winston Calloway’s Initiative that tears down another community center that would keep children off the streets.

Instead, the city gets another golf course that half its citizens can’t afford to go to.

Why, you ask? Because they’re being forced out of their homes to make way for more private schools.

It seems to me that you have bigger problems than what I choose to wear.

Especially considering I wouldn’t be here to babysit if corruption wasn’t governing the city. ”

That got a bigger laugh, mainly from the younger reps.

“I’ve dedicated decades of service to this city,” he rebutted firmly.

“You’ve been in office for decades, and the city is still bleeding.” I tossed my finger at the chair leader. “You can proceed with the meeting.”

The chamber was tense as another planning session continued.

The drug game brought in so much money that now we had to decide what to do with it.

Initially, they thought my proposal was insane, but in six months, they saw the light.

Victor sat across from me, wearing a smug smirk while trying to manipulate every deal to fit his donor’s agenda.

“The proposal streamlines vendor approvals,” Victor said, sliding the folder across the table toward me. “We have developers ready. There’s no reason this shouldn’t be greenlit today.”

“You’re cutting community vendors out of the process,” I said, still scanning my email. “How does this benefit Madison Pointe?”

“It expedites revitalization efforts in the lower blocks while providing jobs, modern infrastructure, and safer housing.”

I cut him off. “For who?”

He didn’t answer, and I didn’t need him to. Everyone knew who would benefit when Victor Jackson backed an agenda. It was never the folks living in the buildings that he was so adamant about revitalizing.

“You fast-track these contracts, and it opens the door for inflated pricing and the displacement of neighborhoods, but I think you know that.”

He chuckled under his breath. “Don’t be dramatic, Treason. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the battle to win the war.”

“Every contract over half a million goes through the Equity Review Board, and last I checked, you’re not exempt.”

Victor’s jaw tightened. “We don’t have time to run everything through your new red tape.”

Another policy I’d created since stepping in. Victor hated it because it was another check to balance his bullshit.

“Make time, since you’re so eager.”

Victor leaned back, tapping his pen against the table. A grin pinned to my mouth, watching him fight to keep his composure. I was the monster Victor couldn’t slay to push his donor’s agenda. That put a target on my back, but I didn’t fold under pressure. I thrived in it.

The meeting ended, and Victor stood taking the long way around the room. He leaned in close, delivering a warning. “You’re clever, Westbrook. I’ll give you that, but clever only takes you so far.”

“Keep talking shit and you’ll learn first-hand I am who I think I am,” I smirked, looking him up and down, “Fuck out of my face.”

Disgusted, I left Victor fuming, but the day was far from over.

On the way downtown to meet Fallon and Jaleb, my phone buzzed with texts I wasn’t in the mood to answer.

My homeboy, Ward, drove laughing each time I scanned the screen and flipped my phone back over.

When we reached the campaign office, Fallon was already pacing, mid-spiral.

“Don’t sit down,” she yelped when I walked in. “We have a problem.”

“I need coffee before you hit me with problems. ”

“On your desk already, smart ass,” she rebutted. “Victor Jackson blamed the city’s revitalization plan being stalled on you.”

“Good,” I muttered. “Means I hit a nerve.”

Jaleb didn’t look up either. “You hit nerves all day. That’s not the issue.”

“Give it to me. I know you didn’t come down here to kick it because you miss a nigga.”

“Optics, Tre. We’re months out. You have momentum, but this city isn’t voting for a lone wolf. You want to win? You need someone next to you. Even my money can’t fix that,” Jaleb reiterated.

The Langstons were black royalty in Madison Pointe. They had old money, known for their influence in business, politics, and philanthropy.

I raised a brow. “This shit again?”

“Yes, this shit again ,” Fallon said flatly, “because I’m very good at my job. That’s why you begged me to come work for you.”

“Pipe down. Begged is a stretch.”

In her mind, asking and begging were the same. She had been my homegirl since our freshman year of undergrad. In a world full of frauds and cowards, Fallon was my voice of reason and down for whatever.

Usually .

“You need a woman the public believes in. Someone who softens you up without bringing you down.”

Jaleb added, “I love your down-to-earth approach, but the hood can’t win you this election on its own. You need votes from the prominent districts.”

“Why the fuck does that matter to them?”

“Perception is everything, and the right one can take you far,” Jaleb explained.

Then Fallon scolded, “Unfortunately, being painted as an unpredictable, single hoe will not.”

She tossed the tablet on my desk, filled with profiles of suitable candidates. Laughing at what my life had become, Ward watched from the corner.

“We don’t need perfect. We need believable,” Fallon coerced.

They were right to a degree, but the idea of picking a girlfriend from a fuckin’ catalogue was crazy.

“Yassah is available,” Jaleb offered.

Ward lifted his head at Jaleb, offering his baby sister on a silver platter. He tuned out most conversations, but we didn’t come from a world where image and legacy came first. Where we came from, a nigga would never offer his sister to be used.

“You really wanna’ do that?”

“It’s not like she’s bringing better men home on her own. Trust me, you’re an upgrade, and my parents would sing your praises forever. Yassah is polished and knows how to play the game.”

“You’re already in good with the family.

That alone would cancel any questions about the timeline of your relationship.

Using the upcoming gala as your coming-out party is brilliant, especially since Yassah was named the CEO of Langston Media.

That’s money in the bank,” Fallon rattled off a bunch of shit I already knew, but it didn’t change my stance.

“I’m good on that.”

They were family. I couldn’t imagine going down that road even if it was fake.

“Is it because of Danielle?” Jaleb asked, referring to my ex-girlfriend.

“No.”

Fallon paused before demanding, “Then be good on one of the women we’ve vetted.”

“I’d personally pick Lauryn,” Jaleb urged.

“Ohhh, what about Thandie? You surely like sticking your dick in her enough.”

After a tense meeting, I ran into Thandie in a hotel lobby bar.

She struck up a conversation, offering a distraction when I needed it.

That grew into casual sex because she was beautiful and curvy, but obsessed with status like everyone else in the city.

She just hid it behind a public relations degree.

It matched her ambition and poise well. Thandie wasn’t a bad choice, just not the right one for me.

“That’s all it is and will ever be.”

Fallon threw her arms up in frustration.

“You should rethink Thandie,” Jaleb urged, tilting his head toward me, “She’s bad as hell.”

“If Mich heard you talking like that, she’d fuck you up,” I smirked, swiping past Alexa’s profile.

She had a pretty face, but referring to her French Bulldog as her son and letting him climb into her bed disqualified Alexa.

Dogs were worse than kids in my book. They at least got you a tax credit at the end of the year, but dogs were just another expense.

Fallon should’ve known I’d never let a dog in my house.

“You’ll never get where you want as a single black man. With your attitude, you might not get there at all.”

“Damn, Fal. That’s how you really feel?”

“It’s your girlfriend’s job to stroke your dick and ego.

So let’s find one and fast. That too busy to date shit is getting old.

Obama made time for Michelle, and you’re no Barack, nigga.

You haven’t been with anyone publicly since Danielle.

It’s time, otherwise people will assume it’s because we’re fuckin’. ”