35. Four
Four
“You want to dissolve the grant?” Morning asked, and I nodded. “As in take it away so that none of the recipients get anything and you take control of the property?”
“They get it,” I told him as I moved through my office.
Ever since Cori told me of her plans a few days ago, the only thing I wanted to do was make sure it happened.
The first thing I had to do was get her the deed to her building.
Technically, I didn’t own it; she did, but she didn’t know that.
All the paperwork presented to her and the other recipients stated that the grant’s executers owned the property for a specific period.
The first course of action was dissolving the grant that she thought owned it.
I don’t care how Morning did it, but I wanted it done before I picked her up later.
“Man, this shit will take like two seconds. All I have to do is send them the real paperwork and not these fake ass documents you had me draft up and give them.”
“Then, do it,” I told him. I stared out of the window in my office and watched the people below me move. It was a cloudy day, raining on and off. Typically, I worked all day, but today I was getting out of here early. I wanted to spend time with Corinthians.
“When do you want the paperwork delivered?”
“ASAP.”
“It’ll be done today. I will have someone from my team drop off the locals, and anyone out of state will be delivered first thing in the morning.”
“No, everyone’s delivered by mail carrier,” I told him. Morning didn’t know my connection to Cori. He chalked her getting the grant up to pure luck, since she received it before Nine’s role in Cross’ life was revealed to everyone.
“Why?” he asked. “I can deliver Corinthians’ to her on the way to the arena.
Pyrite has me looking over some documents for his players.
” That was some bullshit, but I didn’t say it.
Pyrite may have needed Morning to look at some paperwork, but he didn’t have to go down to the arena to do it.
Morning just wanted to see the Queen's new head coach, Diara LeBlanc.
“I want it done; I have other plans,” I told him. There was no need to go into detail because it wasn’t his business.
“Alright,” he agreed. “I have the real paperwork here, waiting. It will be done.”
“Appreciate it,” I replied, then moved back to my desk. I sat down and then placed the phone on the desk. “I’ll holla at you later.”
“Bet.”
The phone flashed, indicating that Morning had hung up, and I sat back in my chair. I didn’t know what I wanted to do today, but I knew it had to be something to make Corinthians laugh. I loved hearing her laugh; the way that shit vibrated through my body was like no other feeling.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see Trey’s number on the screen. I swiped the screen.
“Yeah?”
“You in KC?” he asked. His voice was rough, like he was either hoarse from a cold or yelling.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Why?”
“Robert knows,” he replied. I sat up, my face twisted in anger, and I stared at the screen. “He made some calls, asked a few people to look for you. I think he was doing his normal check-in, but then word got back that you were in KC. Now he’s walking around with an attitude and shit.”
“Is he here?” I asked already knowing the answer. Robert wasn’t dumb enough to step foot in KC. Not if I were here. He knew if he did and I caught him, I’d kill him.
“Nah, not yet at least,” Trey answered. “He pulled some strings though; I’m being sent back to KC.”
Now that did surprise me. Not only had Robert steered clear of me, but he’d kept Trey and Eight away too.
We’d originally thought Trey’s transfer was due to undercover work, but we learned the truth almost a year into his move.
Robert had pulled strings to get him sent away. We don’t know why, but he had.
“When do you come back?” I asked. I hadn’t seen my brother in almost four years. I needed to see him, lay eyes on him to make sure he was still the same man that had agreed to do this fuck ass shit. I needed to make sure my big brother was still in there somewhere.
“A month or so,” he replied. “I just got word this morning. My supervisory agent is getting on my nerves with her needy ass.”
“You should’ve never fucked with her,” I chuckled and shook my head.
“You don’t gotta remind me of a drunken night that changed my life,” he said.
“Drunken night?” I reared back, and my brow went up in surprise. “Nigga, you were drunk for the year y’all was fucking around?”
“I was drunk for longer than a year,” Trey replied.
I know he wanted it to sound like a joke, but a part of me knew he was telling the truth.
She was trying to prove her loyalty and thought that fucking with Trey would be the way to do it.
He said it was just sex; she had other plans.
She wanted him to marry her. Her feelings were hurt; he didn’t marry her.
“You alright, Trey?” I asked, knowing he was going to say yes, so I wouldn’t worry. I would do that anyway.
“I don’t know, Four,” he answered.
“What do you need?”
“Purpose and Reason.” The line got quiet, then he chuckled. “But it’s cool, li’l bro. I got this. You good?”
“I’m making it,” I said. I pulled up the search program that Nine had created and started typing. “I’m figuring some shit out. Making moves that I’ve been needing to make for a long ass time.”
“You need my help?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I told him, shaking my head. “I think I got it for now.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah…” I said as I typed. “You know what? Nah, I do have a question. I don’t know if you know because you were moving so damn much back then, but it’s worth it to ask.”
“What’s up?”
“Do you know who Corinthians baby daddy is?” I asked him.
“It was just random as hell that she popped up pregnant. If Robert was watching her like that, then there has to be something, anything about her baby daddy.” The line grew quiet, and I looked over at the phone to make sure he was still there. The timer showed that he was. “Trey?”
“She didn’t tell you?” he finally asked. His voice was clear, the hesitation obvious as hell. Trey knew how short my temper was, so I chalked up his hesitation to him not wanting me to go off.
“Nah, we just started talking for real,” I told him. “What do you know?”
“Not shit,” he answered.
“Nothing?” I asked, slightly surprised. “He doesn’t have shit on it or the nigga?”
“Not that I know of, but then again he’s kept me in the dark about some shit since I been gone,” he replied. “When I’m back in the fold, I will find out what I can.”
“Alright,” I said, nodding. “Same time next week?” We agreed to check in weekly by phone or text.
“Always,” he said. “Love you li’l bro.” The phone flashed, showing he hung up, and I turned back to the computer.
I was coming up blank on who her baby daddy was, but I’d also never pried before. I always assumed he would be her husband and couldn’t bring myself to look into it. If she was happy, then I would be good. I knew better now, so that meant I needed the information. And I would get it.
***
“Two days in a row?” Corinthians asked me after she opened the door.
“You trying to make this a habit?” She smiled at me, and I shrugged.
I stepped into the doorway, right into her space, and she looked up at me.
Over the last few weeks, I made sure that I was a constant in her life.
I showed up to her shop, brought her lunch, and we met at the gate at night for a quick talk once Judah was asleep.
Yesterday I’d cooked dinner and stopped by the shop to bring her some.
I knew she worked late on Thursdays, so I used that as an excuse to see her.
We’d had dinner in her office; no words exchanged the entire time. We just enjoyed each other’s company.
“Is t-t-t-that a p-p-p-problem?” I asked her as I searched her eyes. She bit her bottom lip and smirked. She was just as nervous around me as I was around her.
“No.” She shook her head, then put her hand on my chest to push me back.
Once she cleared the doorframe, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
“We need to talk, though.” I nodded, giving her my full attention.
“The last time we saw each other, we agreed to be strangers. They couldn’t know we knew each other; our past was wiped clean. ”
“I r-r-r-r-remember.”
“You’re making it difficult to be strangers,” she said, and I lifted my brow. “Let’s not pretend that we don’t have chemistry; it's obvious.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I wasn’t ever going to pretend when it came to her and my attraction. I was surprised that no one had pointed it out yet, but I knew it was coming.
“You don’t see a problem with that?”
“No.”
She stared at me, slowly blinking as if she were waiting for me to say something else. I didn’t have shit to say. We were strangers; that was fine, but that wasn’t stopping me from pursuing her.
“You don’t care that our families will ask questions, assume that we are more than just friends?
” she asked, and I shook my head. I didn’t point out that my family knew how I moved.
That I was intentional with everything around me, so if they saw me pursuing her, they would know that I wanted something more than just surface-level.
I didn’t do random hook-ups, and I didn’t bring women around them. “No?”
“No.” I stepped into her space again. I cupped her jaw; my thumb brushed across her bottom lip. “Do you?”
“I have Judah,” she breathlessly answered. “He is the most important person. I’ve never brought someone around him. He only knows family. If he sees us, he will have questions that I don’t know how to answer.”
“Y-y-y-y-y-you want m-m-m-m-me to s-s-s-s-stop?” I asked her, hoping that she didn’t. I couldn’t handle it if she did, but I’d respect the fuck out of her decision. I’d kill a few niggas to filter my anger, but that was something I’d work out in therapy later.