Page 5 of Caden the CEO
“How do you feel about talking to someone?” Dru asked carefully.
Dreya’s eyes shifted upward as she held a small corncob. “Talking to who?”
Dru smiled. “A therapist. I’m not going to act like the shit you’ve gone through, that we’ve gone through, is normal. I don’t want you carrying this with you in life. Tina may have put you in the position to be violated and traumatized, and though that isn’t fair, it’s going to be your responsibility to heal so you can move on and live a healthy life. What you’ve gone through isn’t normal. I want to make sure you understand that.”
“I can just talk to you,” Dreya reasoned.
“Yeah, but I’m not a professional. I’m going to help you as much as I can, but I still think you should talk to someone, baby sis. I will too.”
Dreya’s chin jutted forward as she inhaled. “Okay. If you’re gonna do it, I will too.”
“Good.” Relief filled Dru as she added, “Also, um, how would you feel about me adopting you? I’d have to prove Tina is unfit,which shouldn’t be difficult at all, but yeah. I can adopt you, and you could stay with me until you left for college. Or even after if you didn’t want to stay on campus. I know initially, you wanted to stay on campus to get away from her, so that part’s up to you. But yeah . . . Is that . . . something you’d be okay with?”
When Dreya burst into tears, Dru immediately hopped out of her chair and walked over to hers.
“Dre, what’s wrong? I’m sorry. You don’t have to?—”
“No, I . . . These are happy tears. I want to. I would love for you to adopt me. You’ve been more of a mama to me than Tina anyway.”
Dru chuckled and hugged her tighter before releasing her and walking over to her side of the table.
“Girl, you scared me. I thought I’d broken you.”
Dreya laughed. “No. If anything, my sissy builds me up.” Her expression softened as she added, “Thank you, Dru. For everything. I know this is a lot, and you didn’t ask for this. You could have left me alone with her to live your life and never looked back. I don’t think I could have made it this far with her without you.”
“Aww, you’re going to make me cry. I love you so much, kid. I got you for life.”
“I love you too,” Dreya replied before returning her attention to her food.
For a while, Dru stared at her sister in awe. She’d gone through far more than any sixteen-year-old ever should, yet there she was, eating with a smile on her face. While Dru hated how comfortable Dreya had gotten in survival mode, she couldn’t wait to put them both in positive, healthy positions in life to see how they both would thrive.
The day was dragging on.Caden had gone to his first pharmacy location to check in and see how things had been going. He sat in on a staff meeting, filled a few prescriptions, and checked inventory to make sure they would have everything they needed. Since he was considering collaborating with a few physical therapists and private practice doctors, his afternoon was full of back-to-back meetings. It was the part of his job that he didn’t like, but more connections meant more opportunities to help people and make more money, so Caden would do what he had to do.
When he opened his first pharmacy, he loved spending his days filling prescriptions, interacting with patients, and doing basic health screenings. Now, business was running so smoothlyhe didn’t have to do anything at all. He trusted his staff at all his pharmacies and held them all to a high standard of excellence, which was why the pharmacies were always so busy and profitable.
Caden’s phone vibrated in his pocket as he headed out to his Lexus. He didn’t bother taking it out to see who it was until he was inside. At the sight of the missed call from Lorenzo, Caden called him back.
“You busy?” Lorenzo checked as soon as the call connected.
“Nah. I’m getting ready to head to the coffee shop for a few meetings. Wassup?”
Lorenzo sighed into the phone. “I know you don’t personally handle loans of any kind, but Dedrick wanted me to make you aware of something.”
“What is it?”
“One of the runners he uses to make deliveries is asking for more product or an advance on her payout. She gave him a sob story about how she’s late on her rent, and she’s trying to come up on some extra cash. Problem is, she doesn’t have the best track record. In fact, she let a nigga run off with her product one night, tryna get some dick. That was the excuse she gave, at least. Only reason we spared her life was because we knew who it was and found him.”
“What did he say when y’all found him?”
“That she owed him and gave him the product as payment.”
“Why is she still even on the team? Her ass should be dead just off the possibility of her giving away my shit,” Caden reminded.
“Because when she’s on it, she’s on it. She’s well-known and has reach. She fucks with a lot of corner boys and old heads who go to her for their pills. She’s just lazy at times and inconsistent as fuck. Right now, she’s in the red. Tina isn’t just a runner; she’s a mini supplier herself. She can finesse them niggas into givingher two or three times the asking price, and she always gives you some of her extra profit as thanks because she knows she be fucking up.”
“If she’s valuable enough for the advance, Dedrick can approve it. Money, not product. I don’t want her sitting on my shit, not being able to move it.”
“Interest?”
