Blitz (Emerald City/Black Family Saga Book 1) by Felicia X. Scully Read Free Book Online

privacy? Jeez!” I grab my pillow and hold it over my crotch.  
    Aunt Sheila turns her back but doesn’t bother to close the door. “I thought you were awake. I just wanted to discuss plans for tomorrow.”
    I grit my teeth and stand up making my way calmly toward the door. I close it gently and brace both hands against it taking in a deep breath. “What about tomorrow?”
    “Ray, I’m really sorry. I could have sworn I heard you moving around up here earlier.”
    That gives you the right to just walk in? This is exactly why I don’t miss living at home. The dorm at UDub beats this ranch and my tyrannical parents any day.  
    “I went to the bathroom,” I say, grabbing my sweats from the back of my desk chair. “What about tomorrow?”  
    “The pitch dinner. I know Miss Clarke isn’t well, but we’ve been planning it all this time and I figured there was no harm in going ahead. With some obvious changes, of course.”
    I pull on the last leg of my pants and swing the door open. “What changes?”
    She crosses her arms, looking up at me with one of her bright smiles. They’re usually impossible to say no to, but I get the feeling I won’t have any trouble this time.
    “Well, no matter what’s happened over the past few weeks, I still think Baldwin & Mahr is a great fit, don’t you?”
    I frown. “Yeah, of course I do. I’ve always wanted to sign with Miss Clarke, you know that.”
    “But she doesn’t exactly have the ability to take care of you right now. So I was thinking…” She clears her throat and steps into my room. “I had a conversation with William Mahr yesterday and I think, if you want, you should definitely stick with your original plans with one slight change.” She turns back to face me. “Sign with him, Ray. The draft is coming up, you need the representation and to be honest, Miss Clarke’s contact with you over the years hasn’t exactly been ethical.”
    “She never made a pitch, Mom. You know that. She’s just been a friend.”  
    She smiles so softly that I almost want to just shut up and let her decide, like I always do.  
    I called her Mom for the first few years of my life. It wasn’t until my eighth birthday, after I found out that my real mother—her sister—had died a few years earlier, that I stopped. I never did it to hurt her. Just because I felt guilty about what my mother would think if she ever knew. So I spent the next three years forcing myself to call her Auntie instead. I did the same thing with my uncle. It was him who convinced me calling them Mom and Dad was okay. He said that’s exactly who they were and it’s what my real parents wanted, for me to be with two people who would treat me like I came from them. So I relented. But it was never the same after that. Ever since, I’ve slipped in and out of endearments never quite being able to settle on one.
    “What about that bottle of crystal-studded vodka she sent?”
    “That was a misunderstanding, you know that. And she already apologized. Her assistant…”
    “Oh you mean that one that ambushed you yesterday?”   She reaches up to cup my cheek. “Mr. Mahr thinks—”
    “Mr. Mahr just wants to make money off me.”
    “What difference does it make? It’s the same firm.”
    “That’s not the way it works. If I sign with the firm and not the agent, he can hold me to that. It’s not like he’s just going to sit around and wait for her to wake up. It’s not like he’ll just be filling in. He’ll be in charge of the contract. His firm. And I’ve known Miss Clarke forever. She’s never offered me money or representation, just support. I’m signing with her. I’ve already decided.”
    “She’s in a coma, Ray.” Aunt Sheila throws her hands up.
    “Sydney isn’t.”
    “What?”
    “Sydney Bucco. Her assistant. She’s perfectly fine. And her pitch yesterday was solid, until you ran her out of there before I even had a chance to respond.”
    “And whose fault is that? She wasn’t