Page 8 of The Tempo of Truth
I pulled my damp shirt off over my head.Loud whistles and catcalling followed the movement.I spent so much time in the boxing ring without a shirt on, facing guys built even better than I was, that I forgot having abs and tattoos was worthy of applause in the regular world.
Mino shoved me off balance and rolled his eyes.He muttered, “Show off,” under his breath and followed it up with something in Korean that I was sure was less than flattering.
After I had a dry shirt on, I grabbed my black gym bag and told my friend, “I have to hit the gym.Lev has a new kid he wants me to put through the paces.Thanks for the game.”
Mino pushed his hair back and flashed an easygoing grin.“No problem.You’re the one who has to come all the way to our old stomping grounds to catch up.You know you can find me exactly where I’ve always been.You’re the only one from the neighborhood who made it out and became all international and shit.You’ve seen more of the world than all of us in the neighborhood combined.All I’ve ever seen is the city and the occasional trip to Seoul.And we both know I always fly economy.I’ve never even seen a private jet in real life.”
It was true.I’d been blessed in many ways.Unfortunately, I excelled at squandering any opportunity that seemed too good to be true.There was an undeniable truth when Winnie accused me of doing exactly that.
“The K-1 League is no joke.I’d always wanted a chance to play against them.”The dreams that died on the vine were never far from my mind.However, Mino wasn’t about to let me avoid the reason I dragged him to shoot hoops in the brutal summer heat in the first place.“And I’ve only been on a private jet once or twice.”Dating influencers who wanted to post content showing how big they could ball did have its benefits outside of the sex.
Mino stopped me at a corner with a hand on my elbow.“What are you gonna do about the kid, Ky?I can joke about the situation all day long, but I’m worried about you.Messing around with the wealthy is way more dangerous than mixing it up with criminals and thugs on Lev’s behalf.You’re used to making your own rules.If you start messing with the Hallidays, you’re going to end up following their decree because you won’t have a choice.Starting with gaining nothing by agreeing to be in your kid’s life.No sane person would agree to that kind of restriction when dealing with one of the richest families in the world.You deserve to gain a little something if you’re willing to give everything else up in order to playdaddythe proper way.”
I rolled my head around to pop my neck and release the knots of tension collected there.The motion made an audible sound, and I swore as a tingle shot down my spine.“I dunno, man.When I was a kid, if my mom’s husband had agreed to lose something in order to keep me and her in his life, I would’ve been pretty excited about it.It always pissed me off that it was so easy for him to take that money and run.”I refused to call either of the men who had a brief appearance in my childhood “dad”.The only parent I recognized or needed was Julie Kent.“I don’t think I can go about my life pretending like I don’t have a son just because it might be easier on me.”I wasn’t that cold-blooded.“He’s gonna need someone in his life who can show him how the other half lives.”I laughed at the irony of the other half in this instance being the poor and downtrodden.“I can’t have any kid of mine thinking the world is always going to be private jets and penthouses.I don’t want him to grow up to become unbearable.”
Mino snorted and clapped a hand on my shoulder before we went our separate ways.I said goodbye and jogged across the street.I kept up the run as I turned in the direction of the gym.When I first came back to the city, full of disgrace and embarrassment, I stayed with Mino and a couple of my other friends who still lived in the old neighborhood.I was a professional couch surfer for six months.My mother wanted me to come to France with her and her new husband.She was distraught that I ended up taking the fall for her gambling habit and that I’d admitted to purposely losing games, making me a national disgrace and persona non grata in the football world.I had to decline her offer because I was honestly still pretty disappointed in her, but mostly because I didn’t want to rock the boat.Her new family had zero ties to anything illegal or nefarious.I believed it was best to keep my distance so all the ugly things I covered up for her didn’t come to light.I never asked if she explained to her new husband how things had gone so wrong for me.I figured that was between the two of them and had no effect on me.
It didn’t take long before Lev heard I was homeless and came calling.He offered me a chance to make money training his fighters.It took him even less time to convince me to fight for him off the books.Once I had some money in the bank, I found a tiny apartment near the gym, since that’s where I spent most of my time.Even though it was in a different part of the city than where I grew up, the neighborhood made me feel like I was back to square one and starting my life over.
It took over twenty minutes to reach my destination.By the time the gym was in sight, I had sweated through my clean shirt and had perspiration running down my face.I paused outside the building and took a minute to catch my breath.Before going inside, I took my phone out of my gym bag and flipped it around in my hand.
I’d started and erased no less than a hundred different messages to send to Winnie.
Half of them ranted about her keeping our child a secret from me.
Some accused her of trying to trap me into some sort of twisted relationship with her.
A handful of them begged her to tell me every single thing about my son that I missed while he was growing up.
All of them asked her what exactly she wanted from me.
After all this time, how was it possible for the two of us to still be orbiting around each other?She was the sun, and I was a black hole.
The only message I hit send on was the one telling her I wanted to meet Lowe.
It wasn’t an agreement or acquiescence.It was a plea from the bottom of my heart.
Winnie
“The board is concerned about optics.”
I looked up from the message Ky sent and lifted my eyebrows at the assistant my Uncle Alistair had been training for me to make the handoff of Halliday Inc.as painless as possible for everyone involved.He was an older, African American gentleman, well-versed in corporate culture and hostile company takeovers.He was meant to be my first line of defense against the antiquated board of directors, as well as my right-hand man when it was time to take the training wheels off and I officially took over the family business.For now, I had this stone-faced and very thorough assistant, Jeremiah Bryer, and a handful of mentors on standby, ready to teach me everything they knew about their particular function in the company.
“Are they concerned about the optics surrounding the fact that their new CEO is a single mother?Or are they up in arms that a twenty-six-year-old recent college graduate holds the highest number of shares and no longer needs her family to sign off on major decisions?”Now that both my Uncle Win and my resurrected father were married with children, the shares left were divided and spread equally across the next generation—the same with my Uncle Alistair.Before my last birthday, he was the largest shareholder by far, and every move Halliday Inc.made required his signature.Now that I was in my mid-twenties, all the shares left to me by my mother and grandmother were in my hands, making me the majority stakeholder.I no longer needed to run my decisions through the board of directors or my family if I wanted to make significant changes.I could feel the unease upon my arrival throughout the skyscraper that housed Halliday Inc.’s headquarters.There were a lot of people in this building worried about how this handover was going to affect their interests.
Jeremiah cleared his throat and tactfully looked down at the tablet he was holding.It was hard to miss that he was scrolling through the recent articles that captured my reunion with Ky in the park, which were rapidly spinning speculation about our relationship and asking if he was the reason I finally returned home.Headlines posted he was the father of my son, but that was a far reach since I had yet to confirm or deny Lowe’s parentage.
“All of the above.Everything about you has them frothing at the mouth.However, the news that you might have ties to a known criminal and are actively engaging with someone who has such a problematic past is at the forefront of their concerns.Halliday Inc.is a publicly traded company.More than one board member questioned if you were mature enough to make sacrifices in your personal life so as to not disrupt your professional obligations.”
I rolled my eyes and swiveled the lush leather chair in my new office back and forth with the toe of my shoe.“Did they raise these concerns to my uncles?”
My stoic assistant nodded.“Yes.And the response was what you might imagine.Mr.Halliday threatened to bankrupt any of the subsidiaries that the few detractors are involved with and promised to disrupt their promised dividends.The current CEO told them that anyone who gets in your way or makes things difficult for you for no reason will not see a cent of profit from any of the future projects that are in development.As your uncle is also the president of the board, he can make moves to oust the troublemakers and redistribute their shares as he sees fit.Both your uncles told the board to keep their noses out of your personal life.”He tapped on the tablet with his finger and told me, “The director of our media department is requesting a meeting.She wants to know how you wish to address inquiries surrounding your return and recent events, as well as the flood of interview requests.The director of the company’s PR department would also like to set up a meeting.He wants to plan your corporate image now that you’re going to be in the public eye so often.”He caught his breath and finished the barrage of updates with, “Your security team figured out how your arrival information leaked to the press.They were unaware that the company is still being tracked by one of those websites that record the flight data of private jets to track carbon emissions.It’s meant to keep wealthy individuals and corporations accountable for their environmental impact.Unfortunately, it enables anyone to follow the plane’s location.Chances are, they weren’t there to capture your return; they just got lucky since you changed your itinerary last minute.The legal team is trying to get the jet’s information removed, but it’s unlikely.”
I tapped the screen of my phone and eventually asked Ky where he wanted to meet.It would be best to plan the introduction somewhere private and away from prying eyes.Still, any place that fell into that category would involve Ky coming onto my turf and stepping out of his comfort zone, which I knew he wouldn’t do.Even when he had money from playing football and various endorsements, he lived like he was barely making ends meet.
I wasn’t shocked when he sent the name of a diner located in the neighborhood where he grew up.It wasn’t too far from my brownstone physically, but it was worlds away economically.The restaurant was where his mom had waited tables when they lived in the city.It was also the spot where my grandfather, on my mother’s side of the family, tracked Ky down and started his plan to meddle in my life.I wondered if there was a hidden message in Ky’s choice of location.
Thinking about it gave me a headache, so I agreed but told him my security detail was going to be present—not so much for my safety—but to ensure nothing and no one could harm Lowe.Ky sent back a thumbs-up emoji after giving me a time and date.The conversation stopped there.As always, dealing with him left me feeling both strung too tightly and worn out to the point I wanted to collapse in a heap on my expensive, antique desk.
