Children of Vice (Children of Vice #1)(21)

I glanced around and caught more of those stupid leers guys did when they thought you were interested in them. I didn’t notice the girls because they weren’t looking or looking out of the corner of their eyes. It wasn’t like everyone stopped to stare at me, but there were people who did. Some were even looking at her.

“Welcome, ladies,” the hostess said at the restaurant entrance. “Table for—”

“Two,” Nari replied, and the woman nodded, leading us back through the restaurant until we sat by a glass waterfall.

“Your server will be right with you,” the woman said to us before leaving as we sat.

“Do people not know you own this hotel?” I asked.

She lifted the glass, inspecting it, which should have been a dead giveaway, but then again she could just come off uppity. “We opened this hotel last year. I’m sure they don’t know and it’s better for me to inspect when…”

“What?” I asked when she stopped speaking.

She shook her head. “We aren’t here to talk about me. Congrats, you now look good enough to be seen out with me in public. Now we need to work on your education.”

Oh no. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to have to teach me about salad forks or something.”

“Hardly. Whatever you want to eat your salad with is your choice. This is far more important,” she replied, lifting her hand out, and one of the guards, who were surprisingly easy to forget about, handed her a tablet and me one as well.

“The family,” she said and a family tree appeared on the screen. The first photo of… “My grandmother, Evelyn Callahan.”

Beside the picture was a photo of a handsome young man, maybe in his mid-forties.

“Sedric. My grandfather. He was murdered when Ethan was a baby. None of us knew him, but Evelyn visits his grave every week,” she said with ease.

“She really loved him,” I whispered, seeing all the photos of them together.

“Yea,” she said as if it was nothing and clicked to the next picture of three men. “Sedric and Evelyn had three children. Neal, my father, their first son. I, as I told you, was adopted. And my parents later had a son, whom they named after my grandfather, Sedric. He is currently the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, something my father will brag about to anyone who will listen.”

“He’s so—”

“We’re about to eat. Don’t say hot or cute. I’ll puke,” she said, flipping to the picture of another handsome man with brown eyes.

“This is Declan Callahan. He’s not Sedric and Evelyn’s son, but their nephew. However, they raised him after both his parents were gunned down. He’s married too.” She scrolled to this beautiful dark-skinned woman. “Coraline, they also have one adopted daughter, Helen. She is currently the head of technology at WaveTree and handles all cyber security for the family. Think Tony Stark, without Ironman…and, well, black and female.”

“So ingenious, cocky, and—”

“An infuriation to her co-workers but simultaneously also hard not to love.” She nodded, flipping to the next picture. “Her younger brother is Darcy, the starting point guard with the Chicago Bulls. He and my brother are close, obviously because of their love of sports, but also because they are rivals. Apparently, there can only one number one athlete in the family and city.”

“People must love them.” I grinned, seeing a picture of them running through the city. They were both handsome with their number nine jerseys.

“Exactly,” she said.

I glanced up.

“Darcy and Sedric, by merely playing a sport, bring good press. People hear a negative story about us and then see them and think, ‘but they’re such good boys, they must come from good families,’ on top of the fact that they are both bi-racial, with their parents still happily married, people feel good. In their minds, racism is dead, equality is here, and anyone can fulfill their dream.”

“I was starting to feel good till you started shitting all over my rainbow.” I frowned. Jeez, it was like she had this unbelievable ability to ram reality down your throat.

“You don’t need to see this family through rose colored glasses. You need to see it for what it is,” she replied, and I leaned back into my seat.

“I hardly doubt they both play sports because they care about the family image.”

“And you’d be wrong. When both of them were young they went to Ethan after hearing he’d take over as the head of the family and let him know they’d always be loyal to him. You see, people are always looking for cracks in the family to get in through. My father’s first wife betrayed the family, and…she’s gone.”

“Did he—”

“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” she shot back. “Anyone could set them up. Make it seem like they are also betraying the family. Ethan, back then, told them simply, make me look good and have fun doing it. Play a sport. An arena, which can also have fans, be treated like superstars, and never be linked to anything they aren’t meant to be in. I inherited my father’s hotels. I don’t need people to fan over me, only respect. Helen is the same. We are all in our own spheres, so we don’t ever step on each other’s toes. It’s not a happy accident but by design…Ethan’s design.”