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I couldn’t own it publicly—not with Franklin hunting me—but Ms. Addie and I worked out a plan. She’d stay the face of the brothel while I took over behind the scenes. I wasn’t just running a business—I was helping those women build their futures.
The first thing I did was remodel the place. The girls needed a way out of this life, so we sat down, and every single one of them came up with a five-year plan. Selling their bodies wasn’t a long-term profession, and they knew it. Some wanted to go to college, others to trade school, even culinary school. I made sure they got regular medical checkups and our clients? They had to sign NDAs and provide medical records. We ran things with precision, and soon, we were attracting high-end clients. The business was thriving, and for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was in control of something.
But I stayed in the shadows. I lived at the hotel but never took clients, and no one knew I was the real owner. To the girls, Ms. Adelaide was still the queen of the house.
Then, one night, everything changed.
I was heading to my room when I saw him—Franklin. His eyes locked onto mine, and in that instant, the world stood still. My heart stopped, then exploded into motion. We both moved at the same time, but I was faster. I bolted down the narrow streets of the Quarter, weaving through alleys, the sound of Franklin’s footsteps and his goons close behind.
My lungs burned as I ran, my legs growing heavier with each step. Just when I thought I couldn’t go any further, I spotted a bike parked by the curb. The key was in the ignition, like a gift from the universe. Without thinking, I jumped on, kicked it into gear, and tore off into the night.
“And you know the rest,” I say, finishing the story with a heavy breath, the adrenaline still pulsing faintly in my veins.
He watches me quietly for a moment before asking, “What’s your uncle’s name?”
“Uncle Lennon,” I reply, curious at his sudden interest.
He nods, a knowing look in his eyes, but says nothing more. Well, I trusted my gut and told him everything.
CHAPTER 6
Lion
My head is throbbing. She provided the answer to everything. Her husband killed my father! She has a husband. Her uncle is my Uncle Lenn, my father’s best friend. My head feels like it is going to split with all the revelations she just dropped in a twenty-minute story.
“I, uh, I need to step outside,” I mumble.
“Oh, okay,” she says, but I am already in motion. I stumbled outside, pulling out my cell phone to call my brother.
“You ready to stop shacking with the thief?”
“Dad is dead,” I say without preamble.
“What?” All humor leaves.
“She is the key to all the questions we had. Her uncle is Uncle Lenn. Her husband killed our dad,”
“Tell me everything,” he says, and I retell the story that was told to me.
“So that’s why she’s looking for Judah,”
“Yep.”
“Are you going to tell her you’re Judah?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Just not yet,” I say, looking at my phone and reading the text that just came through. “I got church.”
“Okay, and Ronnie?”
“Oh, she’s not leaving my sight. I have to go by the house to take care of Jazz and Blues.”
“I have been taking care of them. You know that.”
“I didn’t doubt it, brother, but I want to see them for myself.”
