MOTY (The Lady Kingpin Series Book 1) Read online

  MOTY

  The Lady Kingpin Series

  Book One

  J Hoffman

  Dedication

  To my husband, who supports everything I’ve ever wanted to do, who has blessed me with a whole lot of kids, and who has done nothing but be the best thing to ever happen to me. Thank you for this wonderful journey.

  One

  “Jesus Christ, Jonah, you look fine,” she urged, as she glanced back at the line that had formed behind her. Four trophy wives and their anxious, pristine spawns, and counting. She forced her negative thoughts out of her mind and brought them back to her son.

  “It's so…” He pulled at the collar and wiggled against the fabric of a brand-new polo shirt that would definitely belong to him if he continued trying to stretch it. “Stiff!” He whined.

  “It just needs washed, Jonah. Do you like it or not, we need to go,” Natalee Denver continued. She felt her purse vibrate and she began digging through its useless contents. Last month's water bill, three old lip balms, one black pen that had already exploded and dried, one blue pen with a bubble in the middle of the ink cartridge so it didn't write anyway, two pieces of Jonah’s gum, waded up in a wrapper. She waved the device at her son, “I bet this is your father.”

  He rolled his eyes, “Can't we just pick another one?”

  She shook her head, opening her messages. “No, this is the third one you've tried, I'm just going to buy them all and make you suffer in the privacy of your own home.”

  Judah: How's it going, my beautiful wife?

  Natalee: 4 moms and 6 kids behind us. Been here an hour. Gonna scream.

  Judah: Glad I'm 10 minutes from Tulsa.

  Natalee: I'm 10 minutes from Hell right now.

  “Mom!” Jonah appeared from the changing room in his pre-owned clothes. “I want these ones.”

  She eyed the two shirts and one pair of pants he finally decided on, “Seriously?” She tugged on one of the shirt collars. “You literally didn't even try this one on.”

  He rolled his eyes, “I tried it on in there.”

  “Well, why didn't you show me?”

  He groaned and rolled his eyes for a second time, “Can we please just go now? I'm over this.” He waved his hand around, dismissively.

  Natalee tutted, heading for check-out. “Yeah, I'm over your attitude. When does puberty start? Are you having boy-PMS right now?” She turned to flash him a playful smile.

  “Mo-om!” Jonah cried. “Please just shut up!”

  She gasped, bringing her month-old manicured fingers to her mouth. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

  “Only if she makes me,” he grumbled.

  She tousled his hair as they approached the cashier. He dumped the clothes on the counter and worked feverishly to finger-brush his hair back into its rightful place. Natalee noticed him peering back at the dressing rooms, a strange look on his face. Somewhere between anxiety and pain, her son was mentally trapped somewhere she couldn't quite figure out.

  Natalee thumbed through the cards in her wallet, knowing full well she could use any of the credit lines filling it. She decided on the store’s card, to get more reward points. After tapping in her four-digit code, she slid it safely back into her wallet and tucked that safely into her purse. “Do you want to go to lunch?”

  “Yeah, but I'm getting a soda. With caffeine.” He said, hopefully.

  She smirked and ruffled his hair again. “Anything you want, my little chunkamunch.”

  “Don't call me that! And quit touching my hair!” He fought to fix it again.

  “Where do you want to go?”

  “Maybe Git’R’Grub?”

  She nodded, thinking. “Yeah, I could go for their B-B-Club.”

  He gasped excitedly, “What about their cheese sticks!”

  Natalee grinned, “Definitely their cheese sticks.”

  On their way to the parking lot, she caught Jonah repeatedly glancing back toward the dressing rooms, and that anxious look reappeared every time.

  ***

  “So, are we going to ‘Split A Split’, as they say?” Natalee pushed the remainder of her barbeque sauce across her plate with a thick fry.

  “What else do people do when they come here?” Jonah slurped up the last of his Coke and shook the cup, hoping more soda would fall through the ice cubes.

  She shrugged, stacking the dirty plates at the edge of their table. “I was under the impression a banana split wasn't mandatory, but if you insist.”

  Natalee and Jonah built their banana split their favorite way: two deep-fried bananas, two scoops of chocolate ice cream, one sprinkled with fudge brownie pieces, and the other with the house crunchy mix. Two scoops of French vanilla ice cream, one covered generously with fresh, sugar-soaked strawberries and the other, cherries, prepared and distributed the same way. Finally, in the middle, they got one scoop of butterscotch ice cream absolutely swimming in butterscotch sauce.

  Natalee tilted her phone, tapped the power button, and acknowledged the lack of response from Judah. She shoved a large bite of chocolate with brownie pieces in her mouth, she chewed while pointing at her phone with her spoon. She swallowed. “Your father is really aggravating me right now.”

  “Why?” Jonah asked, between bites of the varied choices in front of them.

  “He said he was going to be landing in Tulsa in ten minutes and that was,” she swiped the screen to unlock it, and peered at the timestamp on his last text. “Fifty-seven minutes ago.”

  Jonah shrugged, enjoying the chocolate-soaked banana, “He had an appointment with that guy.”

  “What guy?” She asked, quizzically.

  “You know,” he started, then shoved more banana into his mouth, causing Natalee to shake her head. “The guy with that train.”

  She quickly changed her head shake to a nod, “Oh! Of course. The train, right. I forgot.”

  He nodded his head in agreement, “I know.” He smirked.

  She unlocked her phone again, and tapped out another message, hoping to gain his attention.

  Natalee: How did the train turn out?

  Immediately, his response came through.

  Judah: I see you talked to Jonah.

  She raised an eyebrow.

  Natalee: ???

  Judah: We had a deal. Ask him.

  Her eyes shot back to her young son. “A deal?”

  His smirk turned into a giggle, which soon erupted into a full-blown, boisterous laugh.

  “What?” She sighed, glancing around the diner, hoping they weren't drawing too much attention.

  “Dad just knows you too well.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  She tapped out a response:

  Natalee: He won't stop laughing.

  Judah: Me either.

  Natalee: What the hell babe?

  Judah: It wasn't a train.

  Natalee: What?

  Judah: I had an appt to meet with the photographer for the images of our site. I could tell you weren't listening, so we set up a little test. I was right.

  Two

  Natalee raised her eyes to the ceiling fan, forcing herself to acknowledge the day ahead of her. Her son had a competition that evening for his robot battles, her husband was flying home from picking up an extra flight, and she was exhausted. It felt as if there was nothing on the entire planet that could pull her out of this existential paradox. No matter how much coffee she drank, how many energy pills she gagged down, she just simply couldn’t be fully… There. Her mind was always falling back to bills and duvets and PTA meetings. She had one of those today too, but truthfully, she just wanted to ignore it until it ceased to exist. After a few moments o
f full-on self-loathing, she put her feet on the floor, grounded herself, and rolled her head from side to side to relieve the tension of restless sleep.

  “Mom!” She heard Jonah call from his room. “Where did my new shirt go?”

  “Probably still in the bag, Jone.” She grumbled, rubbing her temples.

  “Well, where’s the bag?”

  She fell back onto her bed, her eyes darted back to the ceiling fan. “It’s still in the car.”

  “I’m not dressed!”

  “Neither am I!”

  He barged into her room so abruptly, the door bounced off the wall behind it. “Well, what am I supposed to do, Mom?”

  She lifted her head to look at her son. “Can’t you just wear it tomorrow? You didn’t even want me to buy it.”

  “I want to wear it now.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  She rolled her eyes and pulled herself back up, this time she pulled her robe from the post of her bed and slipped it on. “Fine, go brush your teeth. I’ll be right back.”

  “I already brushed my teeth.”

  She rolled her eyes again, “Then go eat breakfast.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  She let out a deep sigh and mumbled under her breath, “For fuck’s sake.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and raised her voice so he could hear her again, “Go watch TV.”

  He shrugged and rushed past her, toward the living room. “I’m watching music videos!”

  She slipped on her driveway slippers and headed out the door, she shivered a bit from the sudden blast of cool, fall air, and tightened the grip on her bathrobe. She opened the garage door and started the car with the remote, popped the trunk and pulled out the department store bag they had obtained the day before. Before she stepped back inside, she ensured the heat was on in the car and ran briskly back to her already heated kitchen. She set the bag on the table and yawned as she walked into the living room to find her son. “Go get dressed now, you’re going to be late.”

  Jonah brushed past his mom and headed straight for his room, anxious to pick out one of the new outfits he had given her such a hard time with yesterday.

  Three

  Once he was ready, he met his mom back in the kitchen where she was sipping on a steaming hot cup of coffee, still in her robe and slippers

  “You’re not wearing that, are you?” He eyed her.

  She glanced down at herself and looked back at him, offended. “What’s wrong with this? I’m not getting out of the car!”

  He rolled his eyes and threw his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the garage.

  “You need a jacket.”

  “It’s October, Mom.”

  “Yes, and it’s chilly. At least put it in your bag so I feel like I tried.”

  He grumbled as he pulled his jacket from the coat rack near the garage door and threw that over his shoulder, too. “Better?”

  “Much.” She nodded and set her cup of coffee on the counter.

  They pulled into the school parking lot, she followed the line of traffic leading to the front door. Being the third car back, she adjusted her rearview mirror to see her son. “I love you.”

  He rolled his eyes, “I love you too, Mom.”

  “I hope you have a good day.”

  He rolled his eyes again, “Yeah, me too.”

  She cringed, “Why so glum?”

  He shrugged the way pubescent boys do.

  As they approached the front of the line, a car veered from the opposite direction and pulled in front of Natalee and caused her to slam on her brakes.

  “Dammit!” She smacked the steering wheel with an open hand. “They really need to fix this! You can’t just fly in from anywhere! There’s a PROCESS!” She screamed at the driver in the other vehicle, who waved happily as their child hopped out of the backseat of their minivan. They flashed her a toothy smile as they pulled back onto the road and proceeded with their day. She growled at the empty space in front of her as she coasted forward. After she slid the gearshift into Park, Jonah rushed out of the car and headed to the front of the school without another word.

  A well-put-together mom approached Natalee’s window and rapped on it. “Natalee! Hey, Natalee!”

  She wanted to pretend she didn’t hear or see her, but the incessant knocking was impossible to ignore. She rolled down the window and wished she had brought her coffee with her. “Hey, Dana.”

  “There’s a PTA meeting today.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “3 o’clock.”

  “Yes, I heard.”

  “You’re in charge of snacks.”

  She raised an eyebrow and brought her morose expression in line with Dana’s snark-filled grin. “I brought snacks last month.”

  “Yes, but that was voluntary since Lydia was in the hospital. You were scheduled for this month though.”

  Natalee tried not to roll her eyes, “Shouldn’t Lydia bring them this month?”

  She could see frustration growing on Dana’s face and she briefly enjoyed it. “Well if Lydia wasn’t still recovering from giving birth to twins, I’m sure she would love to trade.”

  Natalee laid her head on the headrest behind her, “Three o’clock. Snacks. Got it.”

  Dana nodded and smiled sweetly, “You’re looking rather dashing today.”

  Natalee rolled her head to the side to peer at Dana again but opted to just roll up her window instead of giving her a response. Once she was out of the drop off line, she glanced in her rear-view mirror and mocked, “You’re looking dashing today.”

  Back home, she sucked down her now cold cup of coffee and proceeded to brew a second pot while she stirred in the typical contents of her second cup. She heard her familiar ringtone coming from her bedroom and she ran to get it but missed the call by mere seconds. She sighed as she dialed her husband back.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  She smiled, “Hey handsome. How’re the skies today?”

  “Cloudy with a chance of kisses.”

  “Just a chance?”

  He paused for a moment, “Home tower tells me there’s a guarantee of kisses in my future.”

  “How soon?”

  “Be there at four fifteen.”

  She nodded to herself and silently plotted out her afternoon. She would need to leave the PTA meeting by 3:45 and take the toll road to get there in time, and if she pulled in at exactly 4:15, and her husband was awaiting her arrival, she would need to take the toll road to the town just after hers in order to make it Jonah’s robot tournament by five o’clock. She chewed her bottom lip and hoped things would go as planned. “I’ll be there, baby.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  She hung up, just as her coffee pot beeped. She was elated to see Judah after 48 hours of little communication. She knew marrying a pilot wouldn’t be easy, and it wasn’t, but he loved his job and she loved him.

  Natalee decided to prepare for the rest of her day. She had about six hours before she needed to be an active part of society. As she sipped her second cup of coffee, she flipped through the channels and settled on the local news. Her phone dinged, and she picked it up. She was surprised to see the message came from Svetlana, the high school exchange student her family had hosted. They hit it off shortly after her arrival and had remained good friends over the years.

  Svetlana: Hey Nat, good evening.

  Natalee smirked, as she responded.

  Natalee: And good morning to you, Svetty. Why such the late hours?

  Svetlana: I want to visit.

  Natalee raised her eyebrows, she hadn’t seen Svetlana in almost fifteen years, but their connection was strong.

  Natalee: When?

  Svetlana: Christmas? New Year’s? Fourth of July?

  Natalee giggled.

  Natalee: Just let me know and we’ll go from there.

  Svetlana: Just kidding, I will be arriving at your local airport on Sunday.

  She gaped at her phone.


  Natalee: Sunday?!

  Svetlana: SUNDAY!

  Natalee: Svet, why didn’t you tell me sooner?

  Svetlana: Honestly, I did not want to tell you until I was waiting on you to pick me up, but since it’s Friday, I figured I would give you some time to fit me into that busy schedule of yours.

  Natalee: You’re lucky. Sunday is my day of rest.

  Svetlana: Maybe you can squeeze me into your lounging time then.

  Natalee: What time?

  Svetlana: Well, that’s the thing…

  She groaned, watching the typing bubbles pop up, then disappear. After a moment they reappeared.

  Svetlana: My flight comes in at 3:40.

  Natalee: In the afternoon? That should be fine.

  Svetlana: Hahaha. No.

  Natalee chuckled and shook her head. “Somehow, I knew that’s what she was going to say.”

  Natalee: You are RIDICULOUS.

  Svetlana sent an emoji of a woman shrugging her shoulders, and that was the end of the conversation. Svetlana knew Natalee would be there, no matter what time she arrived, and Natalee knew she would never abandon Svetlana in a situation like that.

  She shot a text to her husband and let him know about the sudden change of plans for the weekend, or the week, or however long Svetlana was planning on staying. Now Natalee had a new set of things to do before Sunday, which included preparing the guest bedroom because she wasn’t going to stand for Svet paying to stay in a hotel when she had a perfectly fine guest bedroom and bathroom that was rarely ever used.

  Judah responded positively and acknowledged that Svet would not be allowed to stay anywhere else but with them. Excitedly, Natalee ripped the covers off the guest bed and tossed them in the wash. She happily dusted the room, added a few toiletries from her stash to the bathroom, and snapped a picture of the well-lit, cared-for room. She pulled up her messages with Svetlana and sent her the picture with the caption “All ready for you!”

  She didn’t get an immediate response, so she figured Svetlana was probably asleep already and knew she’d hear back from her late that night. Their conversations typically happened this way, sporadic and broken up. That was the only major downfall to having such a long-lasting, long-distance friendship, other than their lack of physical interaction. Svet had wanted to come to the wedding that happened just a few short years after high school, but her own relationships had gotten in the way. Natalee had wanted to visit Svetlana and explore her country, but every time she looked into it, the family voted on vacation in other, more tropical destinations. This would be their first get-together since the summer after graduation when Svetlana was sent back to Russia to continue her studies for the prestigious position her parents were holding for her back home. Natalee and Svetlana swore to never lose contact, and they never did. Judah felt as if he knew more about Svet than he did about his own best friend from high school, who was most commonly his co-pilot, except when either of them picked up extra flights.