“Somebody’s hungover,” Luna said as she pulled out a chair to the circular table, joining Sutton. The popular Sunday Brunch was filled with Houston’s elite. The cowboy-themed event took place each week and the sisters never missed it. It was girls’ day, a chance to reconnect, catch up, and put business aside to tap into their sisterhood.
“I finished an entire bottle of Brignac Brut solo last night,” Sutton said. Oversized Chloé sunglasses hid the evidence of red, regretful eyes as she leaned her temple against her finger. “I haven’t messed up a job in a long time. I’m meticulous about my shit. From start to finish, we plotted this thing out for months, again and again, and Ashton blows into town to tear it apart without thinking twice. I could kill her.”
“Ashton has always been known to do things her own way,” Luna said, shrugging. “Her way got Daddy locked up. There’s no telling what she fucked up down in Miami or who followed her back here. She’s here for a reason. She’s running from something. I don’t need her bringing whatever that is to our front doors.”
“At least we weren’t marked,” Luna said. “We got out. No harm, no foul, but we need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to get that list. A bitch spent hella bread anticipating that bag. I just bought a Bentley coupe. I need to replenish my bank account. If I had known this job would be a bust, I would have gotten something a little more modest.”
Sutton chuckled. “Your black ass driving around in a Bentley coupe. You live for the stunt.”
“You know it,” Luna countered. She flagged down a waitress. “Can we get four lemon drop martinis?” She held up her Amex platinum card and the waitress swiped it from her fingers.
“Sugar rims as usual?” the waitress asked.
“You know it,” Luna answered. The waitress walked away.
“You really think she’s going to show?” Sutton asked.
“She wouldn’t miss it. She lives to get under our skin. It’s her birthright as the baby.” Luna looked up and as if Ashton had been waiting for an introduction, she walked into the room. The LaCroix girls had always been beautiful and as Ashton and Honor entered together, the men in the room turned to admire them. Honor’s size 18 body was full of curves and the spandex nude-colored dress hugged each one dangerously. She had always been a bigger girl, but her days in the gym and a little lipo in the right places had turned her into the thing fantasies were made of. She was beautiful and a whole lot of woman. Men ogled her every time she left the house. Even men who were seated with little metal bands around their ring fingers couldn’t help but gawk at the sisters with wandering and unintentional eyes. They just shined. It wasn’t just a physical beauty, which neither lacked, but they commanded a room. Their father had taught them to be as noticeable or as invisible as they needed to be depending on the predicament. This day, they had decided to be the center of attention.
“They seem to be getting along,” Luna said, noticing the smiles and laughter floating between them.
“Ashton knows Honor is soft on her,” Sutton said.
Luna reached across the table and grabbed Sutton’s hand. She rubbed her thumb lovingly across Sutton’s knuckle. “She’s our sister. Some rules don’t apply when it comes to her. It’s okay to forgive her, Sutty. Daddy wouldn’t want us to box her out.”
Before Sutton could respond, Ashton and Honor were taking their seats.
“I’m surprised you showed up,” Sutton said.
“I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see that glowering face, Sutty,” Ashton said, sarcasm dripping from her tone. She rolled her eyes and pulled her cloth napkin from the table, setting it in her lap. “Hey, Gadget.” The warm tone came out of nowhere and a huge smile broke across her face.
“Hey, Ash,” Luna replied, blowing her baby sister a kiss. “I should be kicking ya’ ass, but I’m a little happy to see you, so I’ma let that shit you pulled last night slide. How long have you been in town?”
“A week,” Ashton answered.
“And you’re just getting in touch with us?” Honor frowned as she reached for her cocktail.
“I’ve been getting settled. I wasn’t avoiding you.”
“And we just happened to be in the same place at the same time last night?” Luna was skeptical.
“Who was your mark?” Sutton asked, cutting the small talk.
“Straight to the point,” Ashton scoffed. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Sutton sat stone-faced and unmoved by Ashton’s return to town. It was an unexpected and uninvited reunion.
Sutton’s brow lifted in curiosity. “Well?” She had always been impatient.
“An athlete. An NFL prospect that went to school with Lathan Naples. He’s entering the Draft this weekend and I thought I would get my hands on him before his name is called as the number-three pick. You know? Give him that real shooting-in-the-gym feel,” Ashton replied. “Be real ride or die.” She shrugged and smirked as Honor shook her head, laughing.
“This damn girl is so cutthroat and I love it,” Honor said, snickering.
“I learned from the best,” Ashton said. Honor held up her martini glass and acknowledged Ashton with a toast.
“We aren’t out here fucking niggas for handbags,” Sutton said. “Social media has changed the entire game, Ashton. These hoes are out here fucking and sucking to get a coach flight and get clout on a nigga Instagram. There is no real money in using pussy as currency. That’s not what we do. That’s not our endgame. I run a business. We run a multimillion-dollar company. We’re publicly traded, Ashton. A lot of things have changed since you went to prison. You would know that if you had responded to any of my letters.”
“Prison isn’t a place where you hold on to what you miss outside those walls, Sutty. I couldn’t write you back. I couldn’t call. I couldn’t miss you guys. I couldn’t even think of you. My family didn’t exist as long as I was on the inside. You have no idea what I dealt with, what I’ve been through,” Ashton argued.
“And I never plan to learn,” Sutton said coldly, seeing the fire in Ashton’s eyes. The emotion. It was that quality that was dangerous. Ashton couldn’t turn it off. She made emotional decisions and took things personally. It led to errors every time and Sutton left no room for those. “We leave the tricks for the kids,” she schooled. “This is a sophisticated hustle, not amateur hour.”
“You want to explain to me how it works?” Ashton asked. “I’m all ears.”
“We’re problem solvers. Our company is a one-stop shop for investing, management, and public relations. Our clients are some of the richest in the world, and also the most problematic. When we see a solution to a PR nightmare, we handle it. We make sure our clients stay in the good graces of their beloved followers,” Sutton explained.
“Only they have no idea that we’re the ones who kick up dust for them in the first place,” Luna said, leaning into the table and lowering her tone.
“Plant the mouse then sell the trap,” Ashton said, scoffing. “Daddy taught me that when I was four years old.”
“Daddy taught us all,” Honor said.
“I just turned it into a business model,” Sutton said. “So that I didn’t have to see any more of my sisters taken away in handcuffs.”
Ashton leaned in and pressed a coffin-shaped nail into the table. “I want in,” she said. “I want in so fucking bad my pussy’s wet.”
Honor spit out her drink mid-sip as she and Luna burst into laughter. She used her napkin to clean up her mess, but she was so amused that tears filled her eyes.
“I’m not bullshitting,” Ashton said.
“You have a stake,” Sutton said. “You’re our sister, we’d never leave you out. What you don’t have is a job at the company. You’re a felon and you’re a fucking liability. You’ll sit back, be pretty, and collect the money that we make, but you won’t be involved.”
“Sutty, I’m ready. I’m just as capable of hitting corporate licks as I am of hitting street ones,” Ashton said. “I just took down the fucking son of Carter Jones.”
“It would have been more impressive if it was actually Carter Jones,” Sutton responded, not even looking Ashton in her eyes. Her blasé attitude only angered Ashton. Sutton knew it. She didn’t care. She was pushing buttons on purpose to prove Ashton wasn’t ready for the big league.
“Sutty!” Ashton pleaded.
“My answer’s no.” The sisters paused as the waitress came back to the table.
“You ladies ready to place your orders?” she asked.
They took their time putting in their food preferences. Sutton could feel Ashton’s eyes marking her. As soon as the waitress walked away, Ashton was back on it.
“I think you’re going to let me in,” Ashton said.
Sutton scoffed. “Is that right, baby sis? Hell would have to freeze over for me to let you get anywhere near this company.”
Ashton reached for her jumbo Chanel bag and lifted the double flap. She pulled out her phone and AirDropped the file she had stolen from Lathan’s laptop.
Sutton’s phone buzzed on the table. Honor’s and Luna’s chimes went off next. The three grabbed their phones.
“What is this, Ash? It’s redacted,” Honor said.
“It’s the list of names in the secret trafficking group on Lathan Naples’s app. I have the file and I have pictures directly from his laptop,” Ashton bragged. “Your little sophisticated con was cute. I took a more vintage approach. Guess whose method worked better?”
Sutton’s nostrils flared and she scoffed. She hated to be one-upped. It didn’t happen very often, but when it did, she was the sorest of losers.
“How do we know it’s even real?” Sutton challenged.
“It’s real,” Luna confirmed. “I saw some of it before I had to get out of there. The file was too massive to download quickly. How did you get access to his laptop for that long?”
“I put him to sleep and then had my way. Sweet-talked him out of the answers to the security questions. I may not be high tech, but I’m good as fuck at the finesse.”
“What does this list have to do with bringing you in?” Honor asked.
“She’ll give us the original files if I put her on,” Sutton answered.
“That’s a bet!” Luna exclaimed.
“You don’t decide,” Sutton said. “I’m the oldest. Daddy left me in charge. It’s my job to keep us safe. All of us, including you, Ash. You are not ready. What we do isn’t for you.”
“I’ll play by your rules. I just want to get back right with my family, Sutty. You know I can’t sit around and not earn my keep. Let me help.”
Sutton took her time answering. She took her time doing everything. Even with her back against the wall, she never let another motherfucker in the world see her sweat. She sat there, one elbow resting on the table as she rubbed her fingers together in a balled fist. Her tell. She was irritated. She had been doing the same thing since she was a little girl and they knew it was only a matter of time before she exploded.
“Sutty—” Luna began to speak but Sutton opened her hand, putting it up to silence Luna.
“Fine, Ash,” she said, conceding. “Make sure you get that hot pocket checked.”
Sutton then smiled, stubbornly, as the tension melted from the table.
Honor snickered. “Bitch put that pussy on Lathan’s little nerdy ass and voilà!” They laughed as Luna held up her glass.
“Daddy’s girls,” Luna said.
“Daddy’s girls,” they toasted.
Sutton knew she wouldn’t be able to keep Ashton out of their family’s business. She had a right to be involved. Her last name alone entitled her to a piece of the pie. Sutton didn’t worry about any of her sisters the way she worried about Ashton. She was the baby. They were years apart in age. Ashton was almost like her child. Seeing her baby sister sent away to prison was what made Sutton incorporate their hustle. The LaCroix of the past had held court in the streets, starting with her uncle Matee and her father, Milo. Their family’s name had been strong in every major city in the South, but war had brought them to their knees. With a dead uncle and a father in prison, Sutton couldn’t let her sisters follow the same path. Thus, the family enterprise was born. They used their street instincts and focused on the corporate dollar. They were sharks at every table where they sat, and their beautiful faces only helped them lure in prey. Sutton told herself she would keep a close eye on Ashton and an even tighter rein on her. It was the only way to make sure everyone stayed safe.
The waitstaff arrived with four platters of food. It was more than they could ever eat. They had a tradition of ordering one of everything on the menu. They shared the food family-style as the music from the DJ relaxed them. The sisters were always the center of attention and as they turned their table into a party, their energy infected the room. It was like old times. Even after years of separation, the bond and love Sutton had for her sisters hadn’t waned. She would go to war for them on any given day. She feared the day she would have to.
“Ms. LaCroix, I have Lathan Naples here for you.”
Sutton’s pen stopped and she looked up from the third-quarter financial report. “Put him in conference room B and buzz me again in twenty minutes,” Sutton said.
It was strategy. The person made to wait always psychologically conceded. Anything past five minutes established a hierarchy. Sutton wanted it known who was in charge when she entered the room.
She spun in her executive leather chair, the back of it so high that it hid her from anyone entering the room. Downtown Houston was at her feet as she peered out of her floor-to-ceiling windows. Her office sat on the thirtieth floor. She had worked hard to get here. She had spent her twenties being ride or die for drug dealers while she finished her doctorate in business. In her thirties, she had turned on those same cheating-ass niggas and hit licks with her father. From bank jobs to stash houses to art galleries, any job they took on was executed to perfection. She built the LaCroix Group from the ground up, starting with rappers and socialites, hoping one day they could clean all their dirty money through a legit company. Then Ashton and their father were arrested. Their convictions made Sutton go harder, pulling her remaining sisters all the way into the real world and leaving the streets behind. At thirty-nine years old, she was at the top of her game. Forbes and Black Enterprise recognized her as the one to watch. She had never felt more accomplished. The only thing missing in her life was someone to share it with. She had always lived her life by rules. She had deemed men to be distractions. One bad heartbreak at eighteen years old had turned her off the idea of settling down. Dick and disloyalty, that was what she believed a man would bring, and they weren’t worth her slowing down the pace of her success. Her business model was to never stay in one place too long, to always be able to leave anyone behind. Every three years, she and her sisters opened a new office in a new city to avoid extortion charges. Love didn’t fit into that plan. A kid for damn sure didn’t fit. The rules were in place for a reason, but as her fortieth birthday neared, she could suddenly hear her biological clock ticking. She couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the right decisions. Being raised by her father had taught her resilience, making her strong, but she wondered if her lack of a mother had made her too strong. She lacked balance. The empathetic bone that women drew emotion from was absent in Sutton. Things the average woman dreamed about hadn’t crossed her mind her entire life until now. She stood there contemplating her past until her assistant let her know her time was up. She grabbed the manila folder off her desk and strutted out of her office and down the hall. She passed Luna’s office, stopping briefly to speak.
“You need backup in there?” Luna asked.
“No, I’ve got it. Get ready to blow a bag. You call our girl at Saks?”
Luna smiled. “She has the entire winter collection put up for us,” Luna answered.
“And the SEP transfers are scheduled?” Sutton was the type to check then double-check to make sure no one missed a beat.
“Yes, ma’am. Four transfers into retirement investment accounts are scheduled to go out at 9:00 A.M., right after Lathan Naples wires the money,” Luna stated.
“And Daddy’s commissary?” Sutton asked.
“Taken care of.”
Sutton smiled. “Let me go collect the bag, then.”
She entered the conference room and walked around the long executive table. “Mr. Naples, so sorry to keep you waiting. I don’t want you to think I don’t value your time.”
“I’m a very patient man, no worries,” Lathan answered.
He was smug. Sutton liked the arrogant ones, the successful ones, the ones who had elevated so high up on the food chain that they never saw her coming. This would be fun.
She sat and crossed her legs, gripping the arms of the swivel chair. “I’d like to represent your company. I’m sure you did your research on the LaCroix Group. We offer a range of services that could be beneficial to you.”
“I have done some research. Your accomplishments are well noted but I have people in position in-house who are on salary to provide me with the same services you offer.”
“Those people aren’t comparable to what I offer,” Sutton answered.
“My CFO is a graduate of Stanford Business School. My head of publicity graduated summa cum laude from Howard. They’re diverse, bright, and the best,” Lathan bragged. “It’s why I hired them.”
Sutton scoffed and folded her hands in her lap. “Lathan, I’m going to keep this brief. You have a brilliant mind. Your app is genius. It’s the new Facebook, but you have a PR problem,” she answered.
“I have no such thing,” Lathan countered.
“Are you sure?” Sutton asked. She stood and walked to the window that faced the rest of the office. She pulled the string that closed the blinds and then walked back to her seat, picking up the remote control in the middle of the table. She pointed it at the 80-inch screen at the head of the table.
PLAY.
“Harlan Imes, Vincent St. James, Oscar Dockbright, Merlin Rockefeller, Dalton Hilton,” she said, reading from a list of names, his list of names. “Shall I continue?”
Lathan was visibly unnerved.
“I don’t know the significance of those names,” he said, trying to play it cool. “But if you’re done wasting my time…” He stood and Sutton did as well, putting both hands on the table as she leaned forward.
“Sit down, Lathan,” she said. “I have all twelve hundred thirty names of elite gentlemen around the country who belong to your secret group on Connexxxion. A group that traffics underage boys and girls for sexual enjoyment.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. My app is a social media platform. I’m not responsible for the groups formed within its constructs.”
Sutton sighed and pressed another button. The images on the screen caused his eyes to bulge. “She can’t be a day over thirteen years old.”
She enjoyed his panic. The terror that flashed in his eyes equated to dollar signs for her.
“Th-this is extortion,” Lathan stammered.
“This is business,” Sutton stated. “Now take a seat.” They both lowered into their chairs. “Right now, I’m the only person who has seen this. Well, and that pretty little piece of pussy you let into your hotel room last night,” Sutton said.
She saw the regret streak through him.
“Like I said, you’re in need of new PR,” she said. “You’re not here to determine if you’re going to hire the LaCroix Group. You’re here to discuss how much you’re going to pay for our services. We were hired the moment we got our hands on this list.”
“How much do you want?” Lathan asked.
“A twenty-million-dollar deposit and a one percent stake in the app,” Sutton said. Most would have gotten greedy and asked for more, but Sutton understood the valuation of Lathan’s company would only continue to grow and that one percent was worth more than any cash payoff.
“That’s absurd!” Lathan protested, swiping his hand over his head.
“Look at it like this. It’s twenty million or twenty years in a federal penitentiary and your face plastered all over the news. I’m sure your buddies on this list would hate to be exposed. There are some powerful names here. I’m almost certain they would see you as a loose end should you be put on trial for this…”
“I can explain. This isn’t what it looks like,” Lathan hissed.
“Less explanation, more cooperation, Mr. Naples,” Sutton said, flipping over the manila folder and removing a piece of paper. She slid it across the table. “If you’ll sign the agreement and get your superb team on the phone to wire over my money, we can conclude this meeting. I’ll have my attorney fax over a nondisclosure so you feel confident that your little secret is safe with me.”
“What about the girl from last night? She knows. How can you guarantee that she won’t expose the information?” Lathan asked.
“Because she is a partner in this firm.”
Lathan turned toward the door as Ashton walked in. When he realized he had been set up, his eyes pricked with tears.
“I believe you’re well acquainted with my sister, Ashton LaCroix,” Sutton introduced.
“You told me your name was Tracy,” Lathan said.
“And you told me you were a good guy. Turns out you’re an asshole pedophile who deserves a bullet between the eyes. You’re lucky that’s not the route I decided to take. Pay up.”
Lathan signed the document, writing so hard he tore through the paper.
“Now make the call,” Sutton said, nodding to the phone in the middle of the conference table.
Within twenty minutes, the transfer was in. As Lathan exited the room, Sutton stopped him. “Oh, and Mr. Naples?”
He turned to her.
“Shut down the group immediately,” Sutton ordered. He pushed out of the door, enraged.
“Redact Lathan’s name from the list and send it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Sutton said to Ashton.
“But he just paid for our secrecy,” Ashton said, shocked.
“He did, the rest of them didn’t,” Sutton answered. “They’re fucking disgusting. Send it immediately and then meet me in your new office. We’ve got some decorating to do.” Sutton’s high heels clicked against the floor as she made her exit. “Welcome to the LaCroix Group, baby sis.”