Page 4 of Weddings on the West: Vol. I Brick & Destiny

“No sir,” I said softly, all the joy in my mood leaking out of my body. Arguing with him would get me nowhere, and I knew then and there that I would not be going home early that day.

“I would hope not.” The way he glared at me made me shiver in shame. He was an expert on bringing shame out of you that you didn’t even know was there.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized again, trying to keep the peace. “I was having lunch with Eden, and I must have underestimated the lunch traffic getting back.” I thought the mention of his last born child would have at least warranted a small smile, but all it did was make the frown lines on his face deepen.

“Hmph. No wonder. Of course you’ll pick up bad habits when you’re congregating with the devil herself.” He spoke without a hint of lightheartedness, as if he really believed my sister was Satan reincarnated. He continued to fuss about how honesty and integrity were the most important attributes in a good wife, and I needed to tighten up if I ever wanted to get out of his pockets and find a husband of my own. I just stood there, nodding, with a solemn look on my face before he had enough and finally dismissed me after aggressively suggesting that I stay late to make up for the whole one-hundred eighty seconds that I had missed from lunch.

I closed the door to my office and silently got back to work, filing and sorting receipts and documents to make sure that the church’s funds stayed organized and in check. Once I was done with my projects for the day, I pulled up the files for the church treasury to make sure that I had all the receipts and expenses submitted for the month end. Usually, I finished them and sent them to Daddy for approval, but that day something tugged at me to give them another look.

“What the—” My voice trailed off as I eyed the document in front of me. I knew for a fact that the duplicate charges added on were not entered by me. They weren’t small charges either—two seven-thousand dollar charges for AC repairs and two fifteen-thousand dollar charges for security installation. I knew that the heat and air system was installed and fully paid for months ago, and as far as I knew, we had the same security system for the last few years. After calculating over one-hundred thousand dollars in random double charges, I went back to the previous month’s file, noticing double that amount in charges that I knew I didn’t submit. I pulled up folder after folder, going back at least a year, and calculating close to three million dollars in reported charges that didn’t add up to anything I had in my records.

I jumped to my feet and bolted from the office.

“Da—”

My words got caught in my throat and my eyes ballooned at the sight of my daddy, back straight against the wall. The huge man in front of him had him pinned against it with a hand around his neck. His other hand held a gun that he had pointed in his face. A pretty woman with long straight hair and a gorgeous cream suit sat in his chair with a pleased expression on her face as she watched. My first thought was that we were being robbed. Sleighton was one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation, so that wouldn’t be too far-fetched.

When I noticed the gold shoes with red bottoms she had propped up on his desk and the extravagant jewelry she was draped in, something told me that she wasn’t down bad enough to rob a church for money.

“Wait! What’s going on?” I asked, taking a step forward.

“Destiny, what are you doing here?” Daddy snapped, scolding me like he didn’t have a gun pointed in his face.

“Y-You told me to stay late! What is this?”

“Des, just go home. We’re just having a little meeting.” I gave him a blank stare, standing my ground. That may have worked on me when I was younger, but I knew better.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s happening, and why there are random double charges entered in the books?”

“Double charges?” she asked, spinning the chair to face me. Daddy cut his eyes at me like I messed up. “So that’s where the fuck my money has been going, huh Pastor?”

“Reverend,” I corrected. She completely ignored me, rising from the chair and gracefully strolling over to the two men. She gave her henchman a head tilt and he lowered Daddy to the floor and took a step backward. He was still close enough that if he tried anything, his big hands would be back at his neck in an instant, and of course, he still had the gun.

“You slimy, thieving-ass motherfucker! I help you out and you steal from me?” she barked as she raised her hand and smacked him across the face with it. Tears welled my eyes when he hollered out in pain, but I refused to let them fall. I stepped forward, but the man ushered me back.

“Ma’am, I don’t know what’s happening, but I think you’re confused! My daddy is a man of God. He doesn’t steal. Please don’t do this!”

“Daddy?” she asked, brow raised in interest like that was the only important thing I said. “This is your daughter?”

“Y-Yes,” he whispered, lips shaking in fear. “Please don’t hurt her!”

“Hm…” She took a step back and walked around me in a circle, eyes burning into me so intensely that it made me uncomfortable.

“How old are you?” She lifted my chin with a finger and examined my face closely.

“Thirty-one,” I answered, staring straight back at her. Henchman or not, I was not about to let her know how shaken I was.

Once she was done inspecting me from head to toe like a used vehicle, her eyes snapped to mine.

“You can go.”

“I w-what. I’m not leaving without knowing he’ll be okay! No!” Her head snapped back like I slapped her, and her eyes widened.

Obviously, she wasn’t used to being told no.

She snapped her fingers at her security, making him back away from my dad. A menacing grin took hold of her face.

“I may have figured out how you can repay me. I’ll be in touch.”