Relinquish(36)

“I told you, she went missing a few days ago, bro. None of the girls can reach her,” he explains, sprawling out along the wing-backed chair in front of my desk, a tumbler of scotch in hand. His dark hair is messy and uncombed, his gray shirt wrinkled and untucked from his jeans. Roman never was one to be organized, and it hasn’t changed with getting older, either. Being the youngest, he gets away with it. But even at the age of twenty-five, I still have our father breathing over my shoulder at my every move.

“So, we know nothing. One of our girls up and disappears and nobody knows anything?” I scorn, tugging on my blue tie in frustration. Turning this place around is becoming a hopeless battle.

“I didn’t say that,” Roman remarks, tilting his head to the side arrogantly.

“Would you tell me what’s going on already?” I roar.

“Veronica said she thought she saw her down by that shitty little café you hang out at from time to time. So, I’m guessing if she was around that side of town, she probably went to Mick.”

Veronica is our step-sister, a bitchy twenty-year-old. I can’t stand her. She’d do anything to have a position at this estate. It’s pathetic most of the time.

“DAMN IT!” I slam my fist on the desk. Mick has been taking our girls from under our nose for over a decade now. He’s not the only sleazy pimp who targets our girls. Since I’ve been appointed head of the estate, I’ve done what I can to stop it, but it’s not enough apparently. I need to make a bold statement, something to show the wannabe pimps and our girls that things are changing.

“Someone’s slacking,” Roman sneers, making me grit my teeth. I know this game better than most. Read the girl, find her weakness and use it against her. You have to make her feel like she can’t live without you. I can reach all aspects of a damaged woman — greedy women wanting money, girls hiding out from authorities, or the ones who need the comfort from another. There’s no woman whose emotions I can’t play against her. But I can’t reach Claudia because she has a drug addiction, and that’s not something I tolerate here at the Blackwell Estate. My father may have let it slide when he was in power, but I won’t have it. A woman with an addiction is dangerous and weak.

“Or has that girl you met at the café tainted your pimp hand?” Roman laughs. I glare at him from under my lashes, annoyed with his flippant tone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve clearly had too much to drink,” I sneer, my jaw clenched.

“Right.” Roman chuckles.

“Father had me followed,” I state rather than question. I rest my elbows on my desk and steeple my hands in irritation. It’s just like my father to have me followed. He can’t seem to keep his nose in his own affairs.

“What did you expect? You were gone every day for hours. Of course he had one of our men figure out where you were going, only to find you at that café. Learning you took a girl to a hotel room was just a bonus,” Roman chuckles. I narrow my eyes at him, warning him he’s about to step over the line.

He takes a sip of his scotch, his brows furrowed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that woman has gotten under your skin, and now you’re screwing up.” He ticks his tongue against his teeth and shakes his head. I curl my lip. Charlie was different, I give her that. But saying she has me off my game is a laughable concept.

“That girl is not a problem, I assure you,” I convince Roman, sitting back in my chair.





CHARLIE


Black wings flap violently in the night’s sky. Glancing up, the moon casts a glow upon the wings as they weave back and forth. Crying. I hear disgruntled cries from what sounds like a little kid. I try to move toward the sound, but I’m cemented in place. I look down at my feet, finding them buried in muck. I shift and shove at them to move, but they won’t budge. I look up, noticing the wings have moved closer. They’re flapping faster, like they’re angry. The cries are getting louder and more frantic, and yet I still can’t f*cking move. The wings suddenly wrap around me and squeeze me so tight I’m nearly suffocating. I try to scream for help, but nothing comes out. No sound, not even a whisper. The black, ominous feathers start to crush me, breaking my bones like toothpicks. My skin begins to turn black, blending with the wings as one.

“Charlie, you awake?”

I jump from my nightmare, my body covered in sweat. “I am now,” I mumble into my pillow, my heart pounding against my chest. I peel an eye open and find it’s still dark outside before closing my eye again.

“How did your first night go?” Jayden whispers. I think of Smith and the pleased face of Mick.

“It was okay,” I groan, flipping over on the bed.

“Mick said he was getting us air conditioning because of how well you delivered,” she continues, her tone soft.

“Mmm,” I mumble.

“I didn’t do as well as he hoped, so he put me in the motel tomorrow,” Jayden whispers. I pull my head up from my pillow, my vision blurry from sleep.

“Seriously?” That can’t be. Jayden has had way more experience than me. Well, at least I thought she did.

“After Margo gave me the low-down on how to spot cops, I went to work. I worked two cars, both with some fine-ass men from the college. But then there was a car that pulled up to our corner that had two men with evil looks on their faces. Their lips were curled with a sense of anger, and their teeth were stained yellow. I could smell their body odor just from standing on the outside of the car. So, I refused service. I stepped back and said ‘no thanks’. Margo snatched me by the arm and was pissed. She waltzed me back to Mick and told him I wasn’t what she thought.”