Chapter 10
One Week Later…
This week has been super busy.
Not only were orders coming in back-to-back, but my employees must have thought I wouldn’t fire their asses. They were calling out left and right, which caused orders to be delayed and my anger to flare.
I knew that when my father gave me this position, I would have to do more than just oversee the distribution.
I would have to oversee the employees, mergers, orders, and finances.
Although Moses was in charge of that, I still felt the need to go behind him to ensure he got the count right.
That nigga loved to get high and party too much for me not to go behind him.
On top of all that, my father was pressing us to find out who robbed his truck. The two people who Mo and Mike had working the trucks still had yet to be found.
I was tired of this shit.
I knew today was going to be the day I sat my father down and told him to cancel the street shit. It wasn’t necessary anymore, and it was putting us at a larger risk.
“Good morning, Mr. Crawford. Corina Evans is here to see you,” Chase spoke over the intercom.
I pressed the button to reply. “Send her in, Chase.”
I was confused as to why this woman wanted to see me. Rarely did we speak to the CEOs of our realty company unless there was a board meeting. Why she was at my office at ten in the morning?
A few moments later, Corina stepped inside my office, seemingly walking better than the last time I’d seen her.
“Good morning, Mr. Crawford.”
“Hello, Ms. Evans. What can I do for you?”
“May I?” she asked, gesturing to the chair in front of me.
“Please,” I replied.
“I know it’s unlikely for me to be here without asking for a meeting, but this was sort of important.”
“I’m listening.”
She cleared her throat and looked at me nervously. “Well, those lofts on 23rd... Someone wants to buy the building and made an offer that you wouldn’t want to refuse.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
“I already have a buyer,” I told her.
“Not to impose, but what are they offering?”
I frowned. “I don’t understand why that’s any of your concern.”
“The person who’s offering to buy them threw out a large number. I just wanted to see if I’m wasting my time.”
“Twenty percent more than I purchased them for. Since I’ll be using a contractor to remodel them, the buyers are offering twenty on top of the seventy thousand I paid for them.”
She reached inside of her satchel, took out a sheet of paper, and slid it across my desk. I waited a minute while staring at her before I picked up the paper, scanning over it. The number three followed by six zeros was enticing. Those lofts weren’t even worth that much.
“Who’s the person of interest, and where are they from?” I asked. I had to know who was crazy enough to want to purchase those lofts for that high-ass price. If they were some out-of-towners, I was going to instantly shut it down.
“She’s a club owner and owns a car service. Ms. Arieana Logan.”
My eyes stayed glued to Corina with a stoic expression on my face, but inside, I felt a warm feeling wash over me.
Miss Mean Ass with the juicy pussy .
I hadn’t spoken to Arie in a week after we had sex, and I left the following morning after our session. I wasn’t trying to ghost her, but when I tried to wake her and tell her I was heading out, she was comatose. Instead of trying to get her up, I straightened up, cooked her breakfast, and left.
“Hmm. Interesting. Let me think on it. I’ll get back to you at my earliest convenience.”
Corina fiddled with the strap of her satchel as she sat in front of me, still, staring off in deep thought.
I snapped my fingers to get her attention. “Enjoy the rest of your morning, Ms. Evans.”
She snapped out of it. “Oh! I’m sorry. Thank you for your time. I really think you should consider—those numbers are very good.”
She stood and left my office as quickly as she came. Something about her seemed off to me. From the moment I met the chick, she looked like she had some shit going on with her. Only time would tell if she was going to reveal what that shit was.
Switching gears, I looked back down at the paper.
The very thought of that juicy pussy, mean girl had me thinking about our night together.
I did just as I said I would do and turned her ass every which way but loose.
Her moans, cries of ecstasy, and girly tenor let me know that she could indeed be soft, submissive—tamed.
I hated to admit it, but I liked her. I was almost sure that she hated me, though.
I left her in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.
I did, however, leave my number with the message that read “You’re welcome.
” I’m assuming she didn’t like that because I never got a call from her this week.
Knowing her mean ass, she never would use it.
I needed to know why she was trying to pay that much for those lofts. I was assuming she wanted to rent them out, but three hundred thousand for the decaying buildings was crazy. I knew she made money from her club, but having that much to blow intrigued me.
The knock on my door, followed by Moses, Michael, and Harvey, brought me out of my thoughts.
“What up, clown? Ya ass been ghosting us for a week now,” Harvey said, taking a seat in front of my desk.
“Us? I see these niggas every other day,” I told him, pointing at Mike and Mo.
“But saying fuck me, though.”
I laughed. “Harv, get your emotional ass out of my office.”
“I’m saying, though, nigga. I head back to SC tomorrow and feel like you ain’t been around much.”
My eyes squinted as I looked at him. “Have you not been with your fiancée?”
“Yeah, and you been with her girl ,” he countered, tilting his head a little with a smirk on his face.
“Say what?” I asked.
“You left out of that restaurant quick as fuck after she left. So, I tracked your location and found your ass in Commerce. Harv’s girl said her girl owns a cabin up there. We want to know the details of what happened because she’s been dragging you all week,” Mo offered to share.
“Dragging?”
“Dragging, smearing your name, etcetera. What happened between y’all at the club to have her so mad at you, bro?” Mike asked.
“I’m not about to talk about this here. You niggas got work to do.” I pointed at my brothers. “Bye.”
They sucked their teeth while moving toward the door.
“Punk ass just don’t want us to know that shorty was right about you blasting off after two pumps.” Mo laughed, and Mike joined in.
They left my office as I sighed and looked at Harvey.
“Look, bro… I need you and shorty to get along. You’re my best man, and that’s Paige’s maid of honor. Y’all are going to have to collaborate on some shit, so I don’t need y’all to be at odds.”
I smirked. “I don’t have an issue with her. She’s just mean as fuck and needs somebody to tame that attitude.”
He laughed. “Why’d you follow her?”
“Because she was disrespectful, and I had to show her who has the balls and who doesn’t.”
“I heard she almost killed you…”
“Possibly, but she didn’t, and she never will.”
Harvey nodded with humor on his face. “A’ight, Si. All I know is that when I get back from SC next week, you two better be ready to start helping out with the wedding. Moms and Pops are coming up with me to meet her moms. Ya ass better be available too.”
“Not you coming in at the eleventh hour, making demands. You better hope I even show up!” I joked, attempting to get under Harvey’s skin.
“You know what it is, my nigga. You don’t want those types of problems.” He stood and headed toward the door.
“But on a serious note, I am willing to pay for the wedding if Poppa Lou needs any help. I do know that it’s tradition for the father of the bride to foot the bill. But if he needs any help with anything on his end, I don’t mind helping, especially since I see you are really serious about her.”
“I’m more than serious, my G. If you hadn’t ghosted the dinner last week, you would have seen it.
But I’ma let you make it. Just... take it easy on her sister.
Whatever you’re thinking, I’m encouraging you not to play around with her if you’re not trying to go all in.
My baby told me her heart is filled with ice.
Don’t want you getting hypothermia trying to thaw it out. ”
“Have a good day, Harv. See you next week.”
“Nah, see me tonight for drinks. You look like you could use one. Plus, we get all access to Club Lucid. Free bottles and VIP service. I need to holla at y’all about that one situation.”
I nodded. “A’ight, but I ain’t fucking with them drinks.”
“Why?”
“Nigga, I’m straight. The drinks on your birthday had me doing stupid shit. I’m cool on all that.”
“Fine, no drinks. But just come chill wit’ ya boy before I leave. You can at least have a beer or two… unless that’s going to have you on a two-pump minimum too.”
“Aye, fuck you, for real!”
He laughed as he saluted me and left my office.
“MJ!” I called from my bedroom while I slid my feet inside my black Jordan Fours. I stood from the bed, snatching the blankets and sheets from it. “M?—”
“I’m right here, Pop,” he replied, appearing in my doorway with his Nintendo Switch.
“Did you brush your teeth?”
“Yeah.”
I walked up to him. “Let me see.” He cheesed, showing me his smile, looking like his moms in that moment.
“Good. Is your auntie here yet?”
“Yeah, she’s downstairs. We’re about to go in the theatre to watch Scream Six .”
“Oh, really?”
“Yup!”
“Since when do you like scary movies?”
“You late, Pop. I’ve been watching scary movies with Auntie Piper since her first time watching me.”
“I guess I am tardy to the party, huh?” I chuckled. “Anyway, don’t stay up too late, man. And no more junk food tonight.”
“Aww, Dad! We need snacks for the movie.”
“You should have saved the snacks you ate earlier for later, then, kid. Come on,” I told him, turning him at the shoulders and guiding him out.