Johnson Family 1: Unforgettable by Delaney Diamond

creative pursuits than anyone else he knew. To date, none of her ventures had proved successful.
    He and she had been dating off and on over the past five years. Currently they were off, and he hadn’t spoken to her in a few months.
    “Hey,” he said.
    “Did I wake you?” she asked. She sounded like she was in bed herself. Her voice carried the warmth of slumber, as if she’d been sleeping only moments before. He imagined her pushing her thick corkscrew curls off her forehead.
    “No, I’m wide awake and working on a column.”
    “We haven’t talked in a long time. How’d everything go?”
    She was asking about the tour, but his mind veered to the conversation with Katie and the negative outcome.
    He sat down and dropped his head on the back of the sofa. “The tour went well. I sold a lot of books at each stop, and I’m in Seattle now. I spoke in a packed auditorium at an event a few days ago.”
    “I’m happy for you, baby. Maybe you’ll be able to hit one of those bestsellers lists soon.”
    “Maybe. That would be nice.” He held no illusions about that type of success. He was happy for what success he already had.
    “You don’t sound pleased.”
    “I am.” But the conversation with Katie still dogged him, dousing any excitement he had felt about his trip up until this point.
    “When will you be back in Atlanta?”
    “I have some things to take care of out here. I won’t be back for a bit.”
    “Oh?” She never came right out and questioned him, and he didn’t know if her reluctance was the result of trust or simply that she didn’t want to rock the boat of their off and on relationship.
    “I saw an old girlfriend, and…it turns out I have a daughter.”
    “ Oh. ”
    The quiet on the other end of the line prompted him to sit up and continue. “I want to spend a little time getting to know her better. Katie’s her name. I was with her and her mother tonight, but it was mainly about Katie—not her mother.” Why he felt the need to mention that he had no idea.
    “I didn’t think you’d want to spend time with your ex,” Priscilla said in an overly neutral voice. She always tiptoed around him and his feelings, as if she was afraid of upsetting him. “So she just kept your child a secret from you?”
    “Yeah. We ran into each other and I found out by accident.”
    “How old’s your kid?” Priscilla asked.
    “Eight.”
    “That’s a long time.”
    “Yeah.” Lucas filled her in on the details.
    “Wait a minute.” The slumberous quality disappeared from Priscilla’s voice and he heard the bed linens rustle as she changed positions. “Are you kidding me? Your child’s mother is a Johnson—a member of the family who owns Full Moon beer and the restaurant chains The Brew Pub and Ivy’s?”
    “You know the family?” He had to admit he was surprised.
    “I don’t know them, but I know of them. They don’t make the news often—mostly it’s the oldest son…oh, what’s his name…Cyrus. I saw him on the cover of a magazine once. I stopped to read it because, well, it’s not too often you read about black billionaires. They mentioned how he’s practically been running the company since his twenties, after his father died suddenly. A drunk driver killed him or something. They had a three-year decline in sales recently, but he turned it around with a new marketing campaign. They’re one of the richest families in the country.”
    Lucas was surprised Priscilla had paid that much attention to the family.
    “You’re a lucky man,” she continued.
    “Why am I lucky?”
    “Because they’re super rich.”
    He snorted and walked to the window. He drew apart the drapes and looked out at the urban landscape. “Their money doesn’t mean anything to me.”
    “Are you sure? If you worked your way back into your baby mama’s good graces, you’d be set.”
    He cringed. He couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not. Plus he hated the phrase ‘baby mama.’ “No way am I interested