Page 121 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)
“Those of us here at the Ellie Solomon Academy work hard to provide a safe space, a warm hug, and a little slice of peace while we serve pie and milkshakes, and hit pause on the rest of the world while…”
“I can’t believe your girl stole Dolly.” Kane leans in close and whispers, “She was mine first.”
“Suck a dick, bruh. She’s mine now. Besides, she’s part-time. We have her on time-share.”
“She doesn’t work even when she’s in the office,” Jess hisses. “She files her nails and yells at anyone who calls and interrupts her.”
Kane sits back and rolls his eyes. “You’re just jealous, Blondie, because Dolly wants your side of the bed. This is what happens when you fall in love with the sexiest guy on the planet. Bitches are gonna get crazy.”
“Can you all shut up?” Laine growls. “Dolly is speaking, and I’m trying to listen.”
“Someone found their sass,” Spence grumbles. “What happened to the quiet chick who minded her own business?”
“She bought a revolver and learned how to shoot,” she hisses. “Wanna test me?”
“Excuse me?” Dolly shields her eyes from the spotlight and glares right at the front row. “Do y’all need to be removed? Because my size eights are ready to start kicking ass. Don’t be so damn rude!”
The auditorium is filled to the brim since this is the first recital this town has ever hosted, and each person in attendance covers their mouths and works to hide their snickers – lest Dolly zoom in and tear them apart.
“Shut the hell up in first row, or get out! Where are your damn manners?”
“Okay.” The curtain moves, and a tutu’d Sophia rushes out amid long,longlegs, long hair tied in a bun, and the sexiest tutu I’ve ever seen in my life. “That’s enough. Why don’t we just get started?”
“Woooo!” Shooting to my feet, I pump my fists in the air and holler for my girl. “Let’s go, Sophia Solomon! Show me what your momma gave ya! Stand on your toes, baby!”
“Can someone remove the man in the first row?” she mumbles. “Please have him escorted off the property and detained in another state.” Shaking her head and trying her damnedest to hide her smile, she turns to the high-tech sound system off to the side of the stage and starts music I know far too well.
I’ve heard it every single day since Soph decided her school would be a reality. I heard the bass rumble through my ceilings forever ago.
It’s the music that’s a little hip-hop, a little choir, and a whole lot of fucking attitude.
Hitting another button while the bass bounces in my chest and makes me smile so wide it hurts, the curtains open on an automatic pulley system and reveal twelve five-year-old girls in tiny pink tutus and the cutest ballet slippers ever.
Lifting to her toes and turning to her troupe, Soph leads her preschoolers in a routine even I could dance now, since I’ve watched her practice it a billion times. They’re pretty terrible at it, and not one of them are in time with Miss Sophia, but Soph’s moves make up for it. My eyes are drawn to her, and when she dances as though she’s on her famous stage dancing like Anna Pavlova and seducing the world over, I settle into my chair and fall a little deeper into love.
I was a dead man once. Long before I ever took a bullet through my head, I was still on death row.
But now I live. Soph lives. And because of Soph, Ellie lives on through a beautiful legacy that’ll never be forgotten.
Turning to the couple who will one day become my in-laws, I smile at Douglas and Althea Solomon while they watch their daughter with tears in their eyes and peace in their hearts.
They live too. Finally, Soph made it so everyone could breathe again.
