“I can’t wait to make him mine.” I smirked, using one hand to pet Princess and the other to like the photo. Subtlety was never my forte.
Savannah might not be the one to wait around, but a man that looked like Yosiah was worth the wait.
Yosiah
“To Yosiah, adding you to the team was the best damn investment we’ve made!” Erik, Roman’s dad, called out, lifting his glass with a smile on his face. The Barnett family’s latest data breach had been taken care of without any casualties.
“I agree! I told you Yosiah knows his shit.” Roman grinned, lifting his glass.
His younger sister Reginae and his brother Ryo lifted their glasses in agreement. Since the last person doing their tech stuff became sloppy and had to be taken care of, Erik was more cautious about who he allowed close to the operation they ran.
“I always knew you were smart, Siah. I never doubted your capability.” Reginae batted her lashes while propping her chin on her balled-up fist and staring at me with a small grin.
“Chill out with that,” Ryo scolded, he lowered his glass and frowned.
“Mind your business.” Reginae rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink.
“You’re my little sister, so you are my business. He doesn’t want you and you need to stop trying to throw yourself at him.”
“You’re such an asshole.” She glared at him.
“He’s not lying though.” Roman chuckled. “Chill your hot ass out.”
I stayed quiet. This wasn’t the first time the brothers came down on their sister. Roman was twenty-nine, like me, Ryo was behind him at twenty-six, and Reginae was the baby at twenty-three. She always had a small crush on me and flirted. I never entertained it or even thought about it. Roman and Ryo knew I looked at her like my own sister and would never cross that line, but that didn’t stop the brothers from giving her shit.
“Anyway.” Erik cleared his throat, giving each of his children a look before returning his attention back to me. “As I was saying, adding you to the team was the best decision we could have made. After the shit show that dumbass before you left, I wasn’t sure how I felt about outsourcing from the family again, but you know your shit.”
“Thank you, Erik. I’m just doing what I know best.”
“Always the modest one, Yosiah,” Michelle, his wife and the kids’ mom, mentioned, stepping into the room. She walked to her husband sitting and leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Sorry I’m late, my meeting ran longer than expected.”
Michelle walked around the table and took a seat. “Good to see you again, Mama Chelle.” I smiled at her. “You’re looking lovely today.”
She snickered. “Always the charmer, Yosiah. I know you give the girls a run for their money.”
I chuckled. “I do a’right.”
“That’s an understatement. Any girl would be lucky to be on your arm,” Reginae mentioned.
Shaking my head, I brought my glass to my mouth.
“Since Mama’s here now, can we eat?” Roman complained.
“Not without saying grace we’re not,” Michelle chastised. “Everyone bow your heads.”
Doing as she said, we waited for her to bless the food before digging in.
The Barnetts reminded me of Banks family fromFresh Prince of Bel-Air. They ran a multimillion-dollar jewelry company that specialized in custom pieces. Michelle handled the financial part of the business but also was a housewife andvolunteered frequently for different charities. Roman oversaw making the pieces, Ryo oversaw the designing process, while Reginae managed their stores. Lastly, Erik was the boss who made sure everything ran smoothly. Not only that but they had a large hand in the diamond trading market. I wasn’t sure how Erik got into all this but it had made his family very rich and well known. My role was to make sure the security on their computers was hack proof. A while ago, someone had gotten into their systems and were able to get exclusive, not released yet, jewelry designs, customer information, as well as get into their finances.
I was at the Barnetts’ house when Erik exploded on someone on the phone about the matter. That was when I offered to help and Roman vouched for me. Since meeting Roman and his family, they’d welcomed me with open arms, becoming like a second family to me.
“Erik, one day you’re gonna have to share the secret to these ribs,” I mentioned after wiping barbeque sauce from my mouth. Dinner was going well; the dining room was full of chatter and laughs between everyone. Growing up as an only child caused me to appreciate the liveliness that the Barnetts always had when all of them were present.
“My granddad would haunt me from his grave if I gave that recipe up.” He chuckled then straightened. “Now I might not be able to give you the recipe, but there is something I can do.”
Erik suddenly sobered. The air in the room became serious. My eyes bounced around the table, noting everyone had gone silent.
“Am I missing something?” I asked, redirecting my attention to Erik.