Scandalous Heroes Box Set (173 page)

“Good to hear. Why don’t you have a seat, and we’ll get started.”

After the last couple of weeks that she’d had, she couldn’t wait to do this interview. As she answered each question, she thought about Keys. Each time she thought about him, her insides knotted.

After the hour-long interview, Eminence felt more confident about her decision to go for this job. What made her happy about it had to with the fact that it had been something she wanted to do for herself. Her mother, although supportive, didn’t influence her decision. Her father and his new wife, Lynette—her new stepmother—had both said they would be there for her, but she had to make this decision on her own.

She’d gone back to work after the interview feeling like if she got the job, she would have been happy, and if she didn’t get the job she would be okay, too. Eminence no longer felt the need to prove herself to anyone. That pressure lifted a significant weight from her shoulders.

After a week of not hearing anything on the interview, Eminence needed to unwind. Before leaving work, she called Jordie, a regular habit now that she liked.

“Hey, Eminence. What’s up?” Jordie always sounded perky like she couldn’t wait to go to a party.

“I’m in desperate need of a drink and some company.” Eminence pulled her purse out from her desk drawer.

“What a coincidence. I just happen to own a bar. Care to come over for drink?”

Eminence laughed. “Love to. See you in about an hour?”

“Sounds good.”

After going home first to freshen up and change, Eminence headed over to Reign. Not to take up needed real estate for guests at the night club, Jordie took Eminence upstairs. In the silence of her office, they could talk without screaming at each other.

“So, what’s up?” Jordie asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Eminence took a sip of her wine.

Jordie stared at her and shook her head. “No. You don’t call me up and say you need a drink and conversation if nothing’s going on. So spill it. What’s up?”

Eminence sighed. “I did the interview at work.”

Jordie beamed. “You did?” She gave her friend a playful slap on her leg. “That’s awesome! And?”

“Still haven’t heard anything.” Eminence shrugged.

“Do you want it?”

Eminence nodded. “Every time I think about it, I really know I can do a great job.”

“Then the job is yours for the taking.” Jordie lifted her wine glass to toast Eminence. She clinked her glass against Eminence’s. “Let me be the first to congratulate you. When they tell you officially that you’ve gotten the job, come back here to celebrate.”

Eminence smiled. “I will.”

“We’ll even have to call ol’ Tank to join us.”

The smile fell from Eminence’s face. She drank a hefty gulp of her wine to avoid answering Jordie.

“Wait. Did something happen between the two of you?” As usual, Jordie could spot a problem from a mile away.

Eminence sighed. “I saw him again.” She shook her head. “I told him I needed to work on myself before I could be any good to anyone else.”

Jordie set her glass down. “That’s actually very mature of you, very different from the girl I knew. He had to respect that.”

Eminence nodded. “I’m sure. I hope. I just miss him.”

“I saw Tank the day after you first came to the club. I told him what you had told me.”

“What was that?” Eminence sat up taller. Just hearing anything about Keys sent a shiver through her body.

“I told him that you said this guy wasn’t the one. I was hoping the two of you would have talked and worked it out by now.” Jordie finished off her wine and set the glass on the coffee table.

“I thought so, too. I went to his house and this woman showed up looking for him.” Eminence would leave out the fact that she wanted Keys to play with her. Jordie might not understand what that meant.

“Did you ask Keys about her?”

Eminence shook her head. “No.”

“You assumed. Again. You have got to stop doing that already. You’re pushing good people away, and Tank is a good man. All he’s ever really wanted besides his business is you.”

Eminence thought about the man. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. “Jordie, I didn’t ask him about it because I did trust him. He didn’t owe me anything. Once he looked into my eyes I knew everything I needed to know. I told him once I got my life in order that I would like for us to be friends. I’m sure he won’t wait for me again.”

“You don’t know if you don’t ask.” Jordie jumped from the couch and padded over to her desk. She plucked a business card from a top drawer and came back to Eminence. “Here. This is Tank’s business card. Call him. Better yet, go see him. It’s not too late.”

Eminence held the card in her hand and stared at Keys’s name on it. She didn’t know if she had ruined her chances with Keys, but she had to find out.

****

“I quit.”

Rosalie’s proclamation came out of the blue as Tank started to unload his boxes in his new office.

“No time for games, Rosalie. We have to get these boxes unpacked and get on with business.” Tank kept moving as he unloaded his printer.

“I’m serious. I quit.”

Tank broke his attention from setting up his office to regard his employee. Rosalie stood by the door with her arms crossed and her laptop in her hand. The scowl on her normally cherubic face let him know that she meant business.

Tank stopped unpacking to give her his full attention. “What’s going on?”

“You fired Dru?” Rosalie cocked her head.

“No. He quit.” Not that Tank felt like he owed Rosalie an explanation on his employees, but since she brought him up, he would tell her the truth.

“He quit when you accused him of stealing. How could you do that? I thought he was your friend.” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“He is. Was. Jordie said she was missing some inventory, then lo and behold, Dru has an empty bottle of what was missing in his apartment. The evidence speaks for itself.”

“Oh, you mean the empty bottle of Cristal?”

Tank regarded his employee for a moment. “You were in on it?”

Rosalie rolled her eyes. “For a smart man, you can be really thick. I bought that bottle years ago. After the club opening, Dru and I celebrated at his place. He never stole anything, and you didn’t even give him a chance to explain.”

At that moment, Tank couldn’t even talk. The same thing Eminence had done to him, he’d done to his own employee, his friend.

“Shit.”

“Yeah, shit.”

Tank glared at Rosalie.

“Uh, sir.”

He ran his hand over his head.

“Did you get my message?”

Tank peered up at Rosalie.

“Jordyna Hampton called to say not to worry about what she told you the other day. She had miscounted.” Rosalie handed the note to Tank. “You may want to give her a call.”

Tank took the pink paper from her hand. “There’s a lot of stuff I need to do.” Calling Dru topped his to-do list. He headed to his private office, but stopped before closing the door behind himself. “Are you still quitting?”

“Depends. Are you calling Dru?”

“Yes.”

“Are you offering him his job back?”

And then some. “Of course. Asking him to forgive me, too.” He added that before Rosalie could inquire about that.

“If he comes back, I’ll stay. If not, I’ll go.”

Tank wagged his finger at her. “You’re a hard negotiator.”

“I know. I would be great the next time you have a meeting.”

Tank smiled. “Yes, you would.”

“Thank you, sir. It’s all I ask.” She continued unpacking. “I’ll take care of the office if you have something you need to do.” She winked.

Tank didn’t know what he would do without Rosalie. If she could help him fix his shattered relationship with Eminence, he would make her partner. For now, he had to eat a little crow and call Dru.

****

Eminence enjoyed visiting with her mother. Their close bond could never be broken. She had to break some news to her. She knew it would go over better face to face than over the phone.

“You want some more wine?” Caryl held up a bottle of red wine.

“No, thanks.” To illustrate her point, Eminence put her hand over her wine glass. “Mom, I need to talk to you.”

Her mother poured some wine into her glass, sat back on couch, and brought her feet up. “Go ahead, baby. Is it about you and Les?”

“That’s part of it. We broke up.” Eminence would leave out the part that Les preferred men.

The news wouldn’t change anything. Now Eminence understood what her father meant when he said that some aspects of his and her mother’s relationship shouldn’t involve her.

“Oh, no. Do you think you two can—”

“No.” Eminence cut off her mother before she could finish the question. “Also I went to Jordyna’s club.”

Caryl remained quiet and took a needed gulp of her wine.

“She told me what had happened the day I saw her and Keys together. I was so wrong about them, and I let too much time go by with this hate inside of me.” Eminence leaned forward and held her mother’s hand. “I also saw Keys. If he’ll have me back, I would love another chance with him.”

“Oh, God.” Caryl covered her mouth. “What are you saying? You forgive the cheating?”

“He didn’t cheat on me. I know that now because I talked to the two of them.” Eminence took a deep breath before she made her other confession. “I put in for that supervisor job in Maryland. I interviewed for it a couple of weeks ago.”

Her mother gasped and held her breath. If Eminence didn’t tell her the results quickly, Caryl will pass out from lack of oxygen.

“They offered me the job, and I accepted. I start there in a couple of weeks.”

Caryl pulled her hand from Eminence’s grasp and stood. “How could you do this to me? To us? I thought you like us being so close.”

“I do. But I also love this company and I want the opportunity to do more. You should want that for me.” Eminence wouldn’t back down from her feelings.

“I always want the best for you. I just can’t believe you’re leaving me.” Caryl’s voice broke. “Everyone leaves me.”

Eminence stood. “Mom, you have got to move on. We both became close based on mutual hurt. I’m tired of hurting, aren’t you? You are letting life pass you by, and you don’t have to.”

“What am I supposed to do? No one else will want me.” She grabbed some tissues and wiped the tears away.

“Love yourself first. Once you do that, you can let others come in.”

Caryl stared at Eminence before she crumpled down on the couch. “I’m so afraid to try something new. If it wasn’t for you, I would only leave the house for work.” She peered up at her daughter. “When are you leaving?”

“Three weeks.” Eminence crouched down next to her. “You can come up to see me anytime. And I’m only a phone call away. You know that.”

Caryl nodded. “I can’t believe how grown up you sound. Here you are telling me to get out there. Shouldn’t I be telling that to you?”

“We’re adults. We can help each other.” Eminence hugged her mother. When she broke from the embrace, she made eye contact with her. “I will need to find a new place to live. Care to join me the next few weekends on looking at some places?”

Caryl took a deep breath and smiled. “I would love to. Maybe we can make a weekend out of it.”

“I would love that.” She kissed her mother on the cheek. “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you, too, baby.” She framed her face. “My grown up girl. So proud of you.”

“So is Dad.” Eminence noticed her mother’s shocked expression. “I talked to him now, too.”

Instead of giving Eminence her standard argument for staying away from her former husband, Caryl nodded. “Good. I’m glad you’re repairing that relationship, too.”

With so many bombs thrown at her mother, Eminence would leave out the fact that she also wanted Keys back and would do anything for a third chance.

“I’ll take that wine now.” Eminence held up her glass.

Chapter Sixteen

Tank sat in the waiting room on the eleventh floor at an office building in Maryland. Since coming back home, he had back-to-back meetings with several businesses. Thankfully business had boomed, which allowed him to not think about Eminence so much. Every spare moment and every dream he had, she appeared. As he waited, Tank thought about her again. This time he cursed under his breath.

“You okay, boss?” Rosalie asked as she sat next to him in the waiting area.

“Yep. Just fine.” He smiled as a way to reassure her.

Rosalie could see through his bullshit. “I can make you some homemade chocolate chip cookies when we get back to the office.”

Tank snickered. “I’m going to get fat with you, you know that?”

“Not fat.” She shook her head. “Cuddly.”

Tank laughed.

“Mr. Tanksley? The group will see you now.” A young man opened the boardroom door and guided Tank and Rosalie inside.

Tank took a couple of steps inside. Every meeting had been the same. Always a group of about two to three people. They would smile, listen to his pitch, and sometimes turn him down. Since he started bringing Rosalie to the meetings, he started getting more yeses than nos.

Tank went down the line of people, shaking their hands. When he reached the third person, she froze.

“Hello, Mr. Tanksley.” Eminence extended her hand to him.

Tank stared at her. She looked damn good. In her suit and her hair up in a bun, she looked like a professional version of the woman he saw that night at the club.

“Mr. Tanksley?” Eminence held her hand up higher.

“Yes, hi, Ms. Dutton.” He had to keep this professional, especially since it looked like Eminence wanted it that way.

“Oh, do you two know each other?” one of the men on Eminence’s side of the table asked.

“Yes, since high school.” Eminence took a seat. “That’s the reason I suggested his security company.” She looked pointedly at Tank. “I trust him. Therefore, I trust his company. He’s great at looking out for people.” Eminence’s voice broke on the last word.

Tank had to corral his strength to keep from leaping across the table and holding her. Hell, he wanted to do more than just hold her. He wanted her. The fact that she had been instrumental in throwing this business his way, he would have to find a way to thank her.