Page 16 of Caden the CEO
“Look, I don’t need to hear this shit. She’s my child, and I’m going to raise her and use her how I see fit. Let me repeat, she is my child, not yours. If you keep acting like you’ve forgotten that, I will kick you out and cut off your access to her.”
“Get real, Tina. If you put me out, who’s going to pay your rent?”
A slow smile lifted the corners of Tina’s mouth. “I’m glad you know that’s all you’re good for. When anything happens concerning my child, you call me so I can handle it. I don’t care if you have to call me a million times. And stop turning her against me.”
A bark of laughter escaped Dru as she shook her head. “How am I turning her against you? By being there for her?”
“By acting like you’re her mother! Keep that shit up and I swear to God I will keep her away from you.”
The only thing that kept Dru from responding was the fact that she knew what her mother was capable of. She’d put her out before, and it was torture trying to get back in. So instead of arguing with her mother, she yielded, reminding herself it would all work out in the end. With the incident report that Principal Ragen agreed to send, Dru was going to start recording her conversations with Tina to build her case for custody of Dreya. Until she got it, as difficult as it would be, she’d have to continue to put up with her mother’s bullshit.
“Kick that shit down,”Caden commanded calmly, palms cupped in the center of him.
With no hesitation, Cezar, his enforcer, kicked Tina’s door down. Three days had passed since he’d paid Dru’s debt to Galloway. Instead of risking making her uncomfortable by calling or texting her, he went to the grocery store to check on her and found out she’d been fired for leaving to take care of something at her sister’s school. That shit broke his heart. If he felt like Dru would take it, he’d hand her seven figures, upgrade her car, and provide a solution to every one of her problems. Since she didn’t trust him to do that, he figured he’d prove he was worthy of her trust by eliminating another enemy out of her life—her mother.
“The hell!” Tina yelled. The sound of her house shoes against tile made Caden smile as he stepped further into the home. She rushed into the living room, holding a butcher knife. Relief settled within her at the sight of him and his men, as if that meant she was safe. “Lorenzo, what are y’all doing here? And who are they?”
“Your daughters here?” Lorenzo asked, ignoring her questions.
“No. I don’t know where the hell they at, but I can talk business. What’s up?” Tina pointed toward the brown couch for them to sit down, and while Lorenzo and Cezar took a seat, Caden stood. Quite frankly, the energy in the house was off, and he was uncomfortable.
“This is Caden,” Lorenzo introduced, pointing toward Caden. “He’s the boss. I’m simply his right hand. You know the legend of him being a ghost and how he only shows up for something really good or really bad?” Tina nodded. Lorenzo smiled. “You’ve done something really bad.”
“A few bad things, actually,” Caden clarified, unbuttoning his suit jacket. “Let’s start with you being a horrible fucking mother.” Tina’s mouth dropped as she weakly sat in the recliner across from the TV. “Outside of you not taking care of your daughters, you sold their bodies. That’s usually a punishable offense, and death is the only form of justice I provide, but since I know that would hurt Dru regardless of how she feels about you, that’s the only reason I haven’t sent a bullet through your skull yet.”
He watched her gulp down her fear as her eyes blinked rapidly. “You lied to my team and told them you were behind on your rent, but we’ve learned your daughter pays that. Now what you chose to do with the loan is your business. I make it a point to let people rack up debt with me because I make more by charging interest. I looked into your records, and since themoment you started working for me, you’ve been hot and cold. Up and down. You buy high and sell quick, or you don’t sell at all.”
“Mr. Caden, I?—”
“During your last pickup, you asked for oxy. Is that correct?” Tina nodded. “You asked for thirty milligrams, and you were told we didn’t sell that because it was laced with fentanyl, and we can’t make money if our customers are dying. Instead, you were given a smaller milligram, twenty dollars a pill. You didn’t pay upfront, but you flipped that shit in two days and came back and got more. How many did you get the second time you came to reup?”
Tina cleared her throat. “Two thousand,” she whispered.
“So you owe me how much?” Her mouth opened and closed. “Forty thousand dollars,” Caden answered. “Now, instead of you selling my shit and making a profit that way, or making deliveries to my other suppliers, you came and asked for a loan. How much did we give you?”
“Twenty-five thousand.”
“That’s how much?”
“Sixty-five thousand, sir,” Tina replied.
“Correct. That’s what you owe me, and that’s not including the fifteen percent interest. With interest added to the loan, you owe me twenty-eight thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars plus the forty. Now I want you to add another hundred thousand dollars to that.”
“What!” Tina yelled, sitting up in her seat. “Mr. Caden, I haven’t gotten any other pills. Where did you get another hundred K from?”
Caden smiled, finally taking a seat next to Lorenzo. “I’m glad you asked. You remember the last sicko you let into your house . . . into your daughter . . . Dreya’s her name, right? Well,when he violated her, Dru decided to exact punishment. The price for that was a hundred bands.
“I paid that debt to Galloway, and now, you have to pay me back. So, when you add that hundred to everything else, you owe me one hundred sixty-eight thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars, Ms. Tina.” As Caden’s knees spread and he leaned forward, he asked, “How soon will I be able to collect?”
Tina’s head tilted and mouth opened partially. She stared at him for seconds on end, as if his words were having difficulty filtering through her brain. Clearing her throat again, she ran her hand down her neck. “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Caden. I guess I’m just confused. You see, I didn’t know Dru had anything to do with Quenton’s death. You’re saying she paid someone a hundred thousand dollars to kill him?”
“Yes, and if you share that information with anyone outside of this room, I will kill you myself.”
“I don’t care about people knowing what she did,” Tina snapped. “I care about you trying to make me pay for it.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” he asked sweetly with a syrupy grin. “It’s your fault.”
It appeared the calmer Caden remained, the more frustrated Tina became.
