View Park. Angela Winters

even though he didn’t work there.

      “There’s a first time for everything,” Steven scoffed. “And I think this might be that time.”

      He looked back at Michael, the favorite son, who was standing behind him, leaning casually against the bookshelf. It wasn’t Steven’s choice to make Michael his favorite and he would never admit to anyone, not even his own wife, that he was. He’d wanted Carter, but it became clear early on that that wasn’t ever going to happen. It was better this way. Michael was more like Steven: aggressive, hungry and willing to do whatever it took.

      Twenty-nine-year-old Michael was tall and dark, looking like a young Sidney Poitier. Unlike the carefully concealed fire inside Carter, Michael’s flame could be seen miles away. It drove him. It gave him immediate respect from men twice his age. It made him dangerous. It made him the mirror of his father.

      Michael leaned forward with a confident smirk on his face. He was used to this game. His father made it seem like the world was falling apart to light a candle underneath him when he thought Michael was slacking, which he never was.

      “We have seventeen of the twenty,” Michael offered. “It’s just taking a little longer than we expected.”

      Steven stared him down. “I’m disappointed in you, Michael. I thought I raised my sons to never make excuses.”

      Michael blinked, but never lost his composure. There was something about this man that ripped at him. His approval could make him feel like he was king of the world, and his disappointment made him feel like a five-year-old boy. This business deal was the chance he’d been waiting for. He would be the one to take the leading cosmetics company for women of color to the next level…a chain of high-end hair salons and that board of directors seat was his.

      “You’re still on the timeline,” Carter said. “You wanted to take over twenty of the top black salons in L.A. by the first of the year. It’s only September.”

      Steven turned to him, a sarcastic grin on his face. “I love how you use these phrases ‘you’ and ‘your’.”

      Carter rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming next. The almost daily reaming of accusations that Carter didn’t love his father, his family and the family business because he’d decided to be his own man. It was a broken record and he didn’t have the patience for it.

      Steven leaned across his desk, staring pointedly at his son. “You may not work for me, a rejection I have learned to deal with, but you are still a Chase.”

      Carter felt his teeth grinding. Keep your cool, he told himself. He loves it when you let him get to you. “I know, Dad. I just meant…”

      “So,” Steven continued as if Carter hadn’t spoken, “when referring to the success of Chase Beauty, ‘we’ is more appropriate.”

      Carter pressed his lips together noticing the sly grin on Michael’s face. His little brother got a lot of entertainment out of these scenes, and even though Carter loved him more than anyone on the planet, he wanted to sock him right now.

      “Hate to say it,” Michael admitted, “but Carter’s right. And I wasn’t making an excuse.”

      Steven wasn’t getting through to them. They were young, but they were Chases and that meant they had to act more than their ages. “Do you boys understand the point here? My vision was clear. We would buy these carefully selected salons and launch our own chain. The end of the year was the deadline to launch. Not buy the salons.”

      “Dad, we’ve offered them the world,” Michael said. “Performance Salon and Essentials won’t sell. It’s time to get dirty.”

      “Like you haven’t already?” Carter asked. “I’ve heard what you’ve been doing.”

      Michael smiled innocently. He kept very few secrets from Carter. Only sometimes, Carter’s sensitivity to obeying the law made it necessary. “You haven’t heard anything.”

      “How about Matt Leonard and those pictures you threatened to send to his wife?”

      Michael laughed. “You thought that was dirty? I’m surprised at you, man. You ought to know dirty better than anyone. You’re a lawyer.”

      “Michael is right,” Steven said. “We have to—”

      Carter raised his hand to stop his father. “Dad, I don’t want to hear this.”

      “You’re my lawyer,” Steven stressed. “So it doesn’t matter what you want to hear. Besides, I need your help with Essentials.”

      “I don’t do your legwork.” Carter watched as his father’s eyes turned to slits.

      “I’m your father,” he answered back. “You’ll do whatever I tell you to.” Steven’s gaze lingered a little longer on Carter to make his point before turning to Michael. “Michael, your hunger can go too far sometimes. Simple blackmail will…”

      “I’m out of here.” Carter stood up.

      “Sit down, boy.” Steven spoke in that tone that always got the desired result. No matter how big they got, he was bigger. He would never let them forget that, and as Carter sat back down in his chair, Steven knew they wouldn’t.

      “Blackmail won’t do it Dad,” Michael advised. “We’re gonna have to take it to a new level with them.”

      Steven didn’t like it when things got this way, but this was business. He’d learned that the hard way when he started Chase Beauty twenty years ago. He looked at Michael, his expression nothing less than deadly serious. “This needs to happen. So, do what you have to do. Carter will handle Essentials.”

      Michael’s competitive spirit bit at him. He couldn’t figure out why his father seemed to go out of his way to pull Carter in when he could handle this on his own.

      Carter smiled, nodding. “Sure, why not? I’ve been looking for ways to lose my law license.”

      “I’m asking you,” Steven said, “because we have to take the legal route with Essentials.”

      Michael smirked. “You get the easy stuff, Carter, since you’re so soft.”

      Carter got up, starting for Michael, who quickly stepped around the desk, ready for him. With no patience for this, Steven stood up, the mere gesture having incredible power over his sons and they both immediately stopped, turning to look at him.

      “Carter,” Steven said. “Essentials has a shop in View Park and one in Baldwin Hills. They’re both owned by Avery Jackson.”

      Carter shrugged. “Should that name mean something to me?”

      Michael rolled his eyes. “She’s the daughter of our chief of police, idiot.”

      “And she’s not selling,” Steven said.

      “She’s a bitch,” Michael spat. “I’ve offered her twice what her piece of shit shops are worth.”

      “If they were a piece of shit, we wouldn’t be going after them, idiot.” Carter grinned while Michael gave him the finger.

      Steven sat back down, focusing on the thick manila folder on his desk. “Revenue-wise, she’s probably the weakest of the whole bunch. Location-wise, I’ve got to have those stores. I need a way to make her sell, but because of who she is, we can’t use—”

      “Me,” Michael proudly offered.

      Steven placed his hand on the folder and slid it toward Carter. Carter looked at it, but didn’t pick it up, which he knew his father wanted him to do. “What exactly do you expect me to do?”

      “You’re the Harvard lawyer. You figure it out.” Steven shared a stern look with both of his sons. “You need to understand the pressure we’re under. Chase Beauty is our family’s legacy.”

      Carter and Michael both sighed, having heard this speech too