“This cannot be possible.” Lauren slammed her purse on the bank manager’s desk. “I have millions of dollars in this bank. My accounts have been with this bank since I was a child.”
“Ms. Trent, I assure you I have been a manager at this branch for almost twenty years. I have never seen you before this day.”
“Because I never dealt with low level employees before. Hell, I don’t come inside of a bank,” Lauren said with disdain. “Bankers come to me, you moron. Someone inside these walls had to help her do this.”
“Help who do what, ma’am?”
“That Sapphire woman. Someone in here helped her steal all my money. I want you to call the police right now.” Lauren grabbed the phone receiver from the manager’s desk and threw it at him. “Call the police…NOW.”
“I will be happy to,” the manager replied as he motioned for security. When the lone officer entered, the manager pointed to Lauren. “Detain this woman.”
“Detain me?” Lauren yelled. “Are you crazy? My name is Lauren Trent and I have more money than you can count.”
“You are correct,” the manager replied as police officer rushed into the office. “Zero dollars cannot be counted. Please remove this person from the premises,” he then said to the officer.
“I want this person arrested. Call my accountant, he will tell you,” Lauren screamed as officers began to physically remove her from the bank. “I want my money back.”
“I think she is having a psychotic episode,” the officer stated. “You may want to have her checked out.”
At ESTY, Lawrence’s morning was not going any better. He was on a call with his accountant when he discovered there were no signs of any accounts with his name on it, other than ESTY.
“What do you mean? You have handled my accounts for years?”
“The business accounts, yes. But it has been years since you contacted us about any personal accounts,” his accountant stated. “I was under the impression that you moved them elsewhere.”
“Moved them! Why in the hell would I have moved them?” Lawrence stood as he yelled. “Millions of dollars of my money is in your control.”
“We have no record of that, Lawrence.”
“Stop saying that. You must have. You supplied all of my credit cards, the mortgage on the house, all five of my vehicles.”
“We do have a record of your family home, the vehicles and the credit cards. Your house is paid for as are the vehicles. I do see you have a substantial credit limit that is in good standing.”
Lawrence breathed a little easier, thinking he was finally getting through to the man. “Thank you, now find the rest of my money.”
“There is nothing more to find, Mr. Trent,” the accountant stated. “That is all that there is.”
There was a knock on the door.
“What is it?” Lawrence yelled.
“Mr. Trent, there are a number of people here indicating you have a 9 am board meeting.”
“We don’t have a damn board…” Lawrence stopped mid-sentence. He had been so consumed with finding his money he had almost forgotten what else that Sapphire woman said. “I have to call you back,” he said to the accountant. “Find my money,” he demanded then hung up the phone. “Bring them in here.”
The secretary stood to the side, to allow a tall slim man dressed in at least a three thousand dollar suit to walk into Lawrence’s office followed by Gia Ferrell.
“Mr. Trent, I presume. My name is Carlton London. I am the founding partner of The Carlton London Law firm. I believe you know Ms. Ferrell.”
Gia smiled. “Hello, Lawrence. I remember once when you and I were much younger you ordered me to get out of your father’s office. I’m here to tell you the same. Karma is a bitch…isn’t she.”
“What in the hell are you talking about, Gia?” Lawrence barked.
“As of yesterday afternoon, Gia, Madeline, Selma, Peyton, Ryder and Owen own 57% of ESTY Corporation. With the controlling interest in place they have made the following changes, a Board of Directors has been established to include all of the aforementioned in addition to Lauren Trent and yourself. A set of bylaws are now in place, with Gia Ferrell as the Chief Executive Officer and you as Chief Operations Officer.”
“When hell freezes over.” Lawrence picked up his phone. “I’m calling my attorneys right now.”
“I took the liberty of contacting them personally this morning with the same information that was provided to you. They are in the outer office waiting for the board meeting to commence. Unfortunately, we were not able to reach your sister to advise her. Do you happen to know her whereabouts?”
Lawrence’s cellphone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw the call was from Lauren. He answered it. “You better get to the office…” He stopped talking and held the phone from his ear as Lauren screamed back at him.
“I’m in jail!”
LT stretched out his arms, allowing Sapphire to roll into his embrace. “This is the day when you leave me as a Lassiter. The next time I see you, we will walk down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Palmer.”
“I know.” Phire placed her arm over his body. “I miss you already.” She kissed his chest.
“Do you know I have seen every side of Sapphire and I love her?However, watching you as Phire in ESTY’s office gave me a hard on like you would not believe.”
Phire smiled as she placed her legs across his body, then sat up straddling him. “I know. I felt it all night long.” She smiled down at him.
His hands roamed her thighs as they talked. “Between you, Mac and Zoe, I have no idea which one of you is more dangerous.”
“I know…right,” Phire exclaimed. “I mean we knew when you hired those two that they were technical geniuses, but man, they pulled off switching those accounts as if it was child’s play. And to hide them from all eyes was just freakin’ awesome.”
“It was mesmerizing to watch them at work,” LT replied. “I’m going to lose them, aren’t I?”
“Probably, however, they will still officially be employees of Palmer Innovations. There is no way I would hire them at The Administration and leave you high and dry. Setting up our systems will demand most of their time. Once it’s up and running, Mac and Zoe will be available for you.”
“After watching them work I have no doubt they can handle both of our needs.”
“Hmm….speaking of needs. We are going to be separated for the next two nights.” Her hands roamed his chest, her fingers circling his nipples. “I’m in need of enough of you to hold me until our wedding night.”
LT sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist, his lips meeting hers as he whispered against them, “I think they have big futures ahead of them. However,” he kissed her throat, “the only future I want to discuss is ours.”
He flipped her onto her back. The double doors to their bedroom flew open.
“Oh, hell no! There will be none of that until after you say I do.” Ruby, followed by Pearl, Diamond, Opal and Jade burst into the room.
LT threw the sheet over their naked bodies as Pearl grabbed Phire by the leg and pulled her from his embrace. Opal stuffed a scarf in her mouth then held her arms over her head as Diamond pulled a dress over her body. Jade bent down to put Phire’s feet into a pair of flip-flops then put a hood over her face. The sisters took her by the arms and literally carried her out the room.
Ruby stood at the door as they passed by, smiled at him and said, “Bye bye now. See you Saturday.” Then closed the door behind her.
LT jumped out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around his naked body then ran into the great room. The front door was closing as he turned the corner.
“Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an extraction like that.” Mr. Green laughed. “They took your woman from you in less than two minutes.”
LT turned. Mr. Green and Granny were sitting at the kitchen table eating.
“Want some coffee,” Granny laughed as she held a cup out to him.