Spotlight & Giveaway: The After Party by A.C. Arthur

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you A.C. Arthur’s new release: The After Party

Three women form an unbreakable bond in a sexy, suspenseful, and adventurous novel about empowerment and sisterhood through thick and thin.

Venus McGee, Draya Carter, and Jackie Benson are coworkers with a lot in common. They’re smart, independent, driven, and deserving of recognition—certainly more than they’ve been handed by a demoralizing boss. He’s the topic of conversation at their impromptu get-together after the company holiday party, where the threesome fantasizes about a life without him. There has to be an alternative to taking a deep breath and sucking it up. There is. It’s just not the one they expected.

When morning comes, Venus, Draya, and Jackie are blindsided by murder—a twist of fate that brings a startling new challenge to the table and forces them to navigate a hair-raising detour they never saw coming. For better and (unless they can help it) for worse, it’s going to turn their world upside down. What starts as a necessary bond of mutual trust soon morphs into an empowering and galvanizing friendship that Venus, Draya, and Jackie need now more than ever.

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from The After Party 

Chapter 1
JACKIE

“His ass can kick rocks or die. I’d prefer the latter.” Jackie tipped her head back and swallowed every drop of Henny from the glass.
Venus had just finished her drink and now rubbed her finger over the rim like she was contemplating pouring another shot. “I’d prefer he simply lose his job, but if that doesn’t happen in the next fifteen minutes, I’d be okay if he croaked.”
Draya shook her head. Shiny black curls bounced at her shoulders with the motion. “Death’s too good for that petty motherfucka. He needs to suffer, like something painful and prolonged so he gets time to stare at the one he wronged, knowing that they finally got even with him.”
Jackie glanced again at the prim and proper Venus McGee wearing a black velvet dress, Louboutin pumps, and a thick diamond tennis bracelet on her left wrist. In the four years she’d been at Billings Croft Construction, Jackie had never seen a hair out of place on Venus’s head. Tonight was no exception; Venus was a natural beauty with her micro­ mini braids pulled neatly into a bun at the back of her neck. As for Draya … Jackie poured herself another shot before pushing the bottle across the table, stopping it in front of Venus. Draya Carter had a high-yellow complexion with a round, pretty face highlighted by the makeup she expertly applied on a daily basis. She wore only the best weaves and wigs her six-figure salary could afford. Tonight’s curly look was a win. And so were her ample breasts and juicy ass. But that’s where all the good stopped, because Draya’s tongue was as sharp as the tips of her manicured and designed nails. If she didn’t like something someone said or even how they looked at her, she would cuss them so bad and so fast, they’d wish they never crossed paths with her. Sassy and smart­ that’s how Jackie classified her.
She was sitting at a table with these ladies again, similar to the way she sometimes did when they were in the lunchroom at work. Not that they were the types of acquaintances who agreed to meet up for lunch daily, because they weren’t. Or at least she’d never really thought of them that way. It just seemed to work out that on a good number of days in the past year when they were each feeling the stress of working at BCC, they sort of migrated toward the same table all the way in the back of the lunchroom. That’s where the commiserating about their homophobic and immature-ass boss had begun.
“Y’all don’t even understand what I’m tryin’ to tell you.” They didn’t, but Jackie was about to explain. Earlier today, she’d been pushed over the edge where Rufus, their petty and foul boss, was concerned.
“This man told Ellen to keep tabs on me,” she began and sat back in the chair without touching her newly poured shot. “So Ellen is all up in everything I do. Every invoice I approve, every email I send. She even came down to the office today to tell me my vacation time for the summer wasn’t being approved. Can you believe that shit? July is seven months away, but I can’t take a week off in hat month because they’re projecting a busy summer. Bullshit! And she didn’t have to deliver the news face-to-face; our email was working just fine today.”
Dropping her hands into her lap, Jackie frowned down at her pants. While the memo had distinctly said “formal attire” for those attending the annual BCC holiday party, she’d opted for new black khakis with a black turtleneck and a cherry-red wool blazer. The gold watch on her right wrist gleamed.
“She doesn’t even like Rufus.” Draya slid the last olive off the cock­ tail pick in her drink and popped it into her mouth.
“But she does like to kiss ass,” Venus added. She finally took the bottle and poured into her glass for her second shot of the night. “Her father was one of the first investors when Ted Billings decided to start this company. Ellen’s been working here since she was thirty-one and her husband left her and their four kids for a nightclub singer.”
”And now it’s time for her wrinkled old ass to retire,” Jackie snapped. “She gets on my nerves day in and day out.”
“Have you ever thought of approaching Rufus about the situation?” Venus asked. “You know, to find out what his real problem with you is. Because she wouldn’t be riding you so hard if he didn’t approve it.”
Venus was absolutely right. Even though Ellen was as old as the bricks that built this building, Rufus was the VP of operations, which meant that nothing happened in the Fells Point office that he didn’t know about.
“Oh, that’s obvious.” Draya reached for the bottle and poured the golden-brown liquid into her empty martini glass. “Rufus doesn’t like any woman who’s not checkin’ for him. Which you dearly are not.”
With a you-know-what-l’m-talkin’-’bout nod in Jackie’s direction, Draya returned the cap to the bottle of liquor and immediately lifted the glass to her lips.
“I don’t wear a note on my forehead” was Jackie’s reply. Because she didn’t. While she’d dropped any shame of being a gay Black woman a long time ago, she didn’t mess with anyone on the job on a personal basis. So to her way of thinking, that meant her sexual orientation wasn’t any business of anyone at BCC.
Draya shrugged. “Yeah, but you’ve got a vibe.”
Venus nodded. “She’s right. Everybody knows. But I didn’t think anybody cared.”
Yeah, right, that wasn’t how things worked. “Welcome to my world.” Jackie took another swallow and let the liquor slip slowly down her throat. An hour ago, she’d been ordering Cokes with a splash of Henny. Then Rufus had arrived, and she and Venus agreed they didn’t need a filter tonight. Draya had insisted on her pretty-girl drink until a few minutes ago.
“He approached me in the parking garage one night a couple months back. I was just getting into my car, about to close the door, when he came up on me. I told him I was off the clock, but he wasn’t tryin’ to hear that. This bastard leaned inside, put his hand between my legs, and asked point-blank if l’d ever tried dick, because if not, he’d be willing to give me a lesson.” Jackie cleared her throat and wondered for a few seconds if she should continue. Did she trust these two enough? Hell, it wasn’t like she had anyone else to share this type of shit with, so she might as well. “I grabbed my Glock outta the glove compartment and set it on my thigh, a few inches from where his hand was, and asked him if he’d ever tried hot lead up his ass. Those beady brown eyes of his bulged, and he jumped back like he’d been burned.”
Venus’s eyes went wide. “What? You pulled a gun on Rufus? He could’ve called the cops and told them you threatened him.”
“You could sue him for touching you inappropriately,” Draya said, totally ignoring Venus’s panic-laced comment. Draya had slowly lowered her glass to the table while Jackie talked and was now looking at her, one elegant brow lifted. “He’d be fired for sure, and you’d get a good chunk in a civil suit.”
“You a lawyer now?” Venus asked.
Draya rolled her eyes. “No, and neither are you. Just because your daddy used to be one doesn’t mean you carry his degree by default. But”-Draya put a lot of emphasis on that word-“I know a lawyer, and he knows how to win these types of cases.”
These two had known each other for a while, but judging by the low-key tension that always buzzed between them, Jackie wouldn’t exactly call them friends. In fact, she might’ve thought they were enemies if it weren’t for those impromptu meetups in the lunchroom. Almost like the three of them were drawn together for one reason or another. Truthfully, she figured the reason they continued to appear at that table on the same days was because the two of them were just like her-outsiders.
“Does your lawyer friend know how to get me another job as facilities manager, making what I make, in the city that I love? Because if not, I don’t want any parts of suing anybody. I’ve worked hard for my life here. The last thing I want is some high-profile lawsuit dragging me for filth, because you know they always go after the so-called victim instead of the bastard committing the offense.” Jackie sighed. “Plus, when I pulled out of the garage that night, I did think he was gonna send the cops to my house to arrest me. You know Rufus is a punk-ass. I was sure he would use my one slipup to have me fired and prosecuted, but he didn’t. I don’t know why; I just tried to act like it never happened, until Ellen started ridin’ my ass.”
“She’s right about the lawsuit,” Venus said. ”And there’s no doubt Rufus would play dirty. He’d definitely get the police involved the moment he found out you’d contacted a lawyer.”
Jackie nodded. “Exactly, and I’m not tryin’ to go to jail for him or anybody else. But I did get a kick out of how scared and pathetic he looked in those moments after I threatened to shoot his ass.”
“Good!” Venus lifted her glass. “Let’s toast to scaring the shit out of Rufus and bringing him down a notch, even if in private.”
Draya rolled her eyes at Venus and then turned her attention back to Jackie. “He didn’t call the police because he didn’t want you to tell anybody that he hit on you and you turned his ass down. Rufus can’t stand rejection. But now he’s harassing you through human resources. That means they’re probably building a case against you. Preparing for when they finally fire you.”

“That’s precisely what they were doing.” Jackie had been thinking about that since the morning after she’d threatened Rufus, when Ellen appeared in her office. “She already got me with one complaint from Felix-you know, the maintenance guy that’s been here forever.”
Draya and Venus nodded.
“Supposedly, he told Ellen I was asleep in my office. Ellen calls me to her office and threatens to write me up, but I was like, nah, get Felix up here and call Rufus in on the meeting too. I wanted Felix to look me in the eye and tell that lie, ’cause there’s no way I could sleep in that uncomfortable-ass chair in my office.”
“Did she set up a full meeting? Because you do have the right to face your accuser.” Venus frowned.
“Hell no. Two days later, Felix retired and moved to Florida to be with his daughter and grandchildren.” And that write-up had gone into Jackie’s personnel folder without her signature.
“Speak of the bitch,” Draya mumbled seconds later. Then she lifted her glass to take another slow sip.
“Good evening, girls. Isn’t this a fabulous party? Rufus really went all out this year. You three be sure to thank him for being so generous.” Ellen stepped closer to the table wearing a too-tight black sequined dress with a white jacket and a necklace made of small Christmas lights. The dress made her look like a glow eel, and her high-pitched, sugary-sweet voice grated on Jackie’s nerves the second she began to speak.
“The holiday party is a corporate function.” Venus was the only one to meet Ellen’s gaze.
Jackie gripped her glass and stared down into the liquid as if it were somehow going to save her from saying something she shouldn’t say to the woman who circulated her paycheck.
Venus continued. “And Rufus actually hates it. He told me so two years ago.”
Ellen didn’t like to be corrected or, in this case, rebuked. “Times and people change, Venus.”
Venus shrugged. “If you say so.”
There was a quick huff, and Jackie imagined Ellen’s cheeks turning bright red. Her cool gray eyes were probably narrowed by now, those spindly webs in the corners crinkling even more. Venus could get away with saying a little more to Ellen without repercussions because Venus’s father, Councilman Donald McGee, represented the district, and thirty-five years ago he’d been instrumental in getting Ted Billings his first city contract, which, in turn, started this company.
“At any rate, I’m sure that bottle wasn’t made available to you at the bar. And it’s in bad taste to have it sitting out in the open while you guzzle it down.” Ellen didn’t quit, which was just another thing to hate about the woman.
She was well beyond retirement age and yet she still showed up every morning with the sole intent of making as many employees of the company as miserable as she possibly could.
“Why don’t you have a drink with us, Ellen?” Draya asked.
Jackie wasn’t sure when Draya had taken such a big gulp of her drink, but there was barely any left as she offered the glass to Ellen.
“Disgraceful. You’re in a management position, Draya. You should be setting an example for the others,” Ellen snapped.
“Others” meaning Jackie, because even though she was a manager in duties, title, and pay, Ellen continued to treat her as if she were at the bottom of the barrel at BCC. Draya worked in finance, and Venus worked directly with Rufus as a senior project manager.
“I should be enjoying this party like every other grown person in this room is entitled to do. So why don’t you relax for a change and go on over to the bar to get yourself a drink.” Draya’s red-painted lips tilted at the corners as she continued to stare up at Ellen.
Jackie contemplated saying something or, at the very least, looking at the woman, but the Henny called to her, and she answered by tossing her head back and emptying her glass again.

Excerpted from The After Party by A. C. Arthur with permission from the publisher, Montlake. Copyright © 2021 by A. C. Arthur. All rights reserved.

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Meet the Author:

A. C. Arthur has worked as a paralegal in every field of law since high school, but her first love is and will always be writing. A multiple-award-winning author, A. C. has written more than eighty novels, including those under her USA Today bestselling pen name, Lacey Baker. After years of hosting reader appreciation events, A. C. created the One Love Reunion, an event designed to bring together readers, authors, and other members of the literary industry to celebrate their love of books. A. C. resides in Maryland with her family, where she’s currently working on her next book, or watching Criminal Minds. For more information, please visit www.acarthur.com.