Mahogany 2 (Soul Ties #5)

Chapter 1

MAHOGANY

With a light smile, I finally shook his hand, after standing there for God knows how long.

It took Tami clearing her throat for me to move.

When our hands met, there were tingles. They felt the way those sparkling fireworks looked.

Fizzly. Yeah… his touch was fizzily. Our eyes met and I stayed there a minute.

Felt safe too. Comfortable. A little too comfortable.

For a split second it was almost as if we weren’t at Couture but at Pandora’s instead, standing at the bar.

Not much had changed about him over the years.

His beard was thicker, and he’d picked up a few more pounds.

In all the right places though. Crescent was solid.

I wondered how effortless it would be for him to carry me around a room, dick buried…

“It’s nice to finally meet you too,” I professionally responded, snapping out of my nasty thoughts, looking away.

As comfortable as it was to stare into his beautiful browns, it doubled as intimidating.

Turning, I introduced him to Tami who wore a grin so big that all four of her dimples were showing. “This is my assistant, Tamia.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Carter,” Tami said, shaking hands with him.

As real as Crescent’s hand felt in mine a minute ago, I wondered if I was imagining shit.

It couldn’t be him. I had to be tripping.

I was in such disbelief that I crossed my arms over my chest and pinched the inside of my arm.

I could’ve been dreaming. Stress and fantasy could have pulled me so far from reality that dreams…

they felt real. That happened before. Fantasy, blurring in with real life.

Got so trapped in the fantasy of being loved properly that I psyched myself into believing I was actually getting that.

Stress, coupled with fantasy and desperation could have created the illusion of him…

right? Wrong. This was reality. It was actually him.

In the flesh. Five years later, a day after my birthday.

God has a very dark sense of humor, doesn’t He? Crescent, Judah, and Duke. All three. The man I fucked, the man I wanted to fuck, and the man I married… in one fucking building. I needed to focus but my God that was hard as hell to do. Wouldn’t it have been for you?

Aside from a Tems track playing at a low level from the surround sound system, Couture was quiet.

Usually, there would be laughter, phones ringing, chatter, regular office stuff but not today.

Today it was eerily quiet, and it had nothing to do with it being a Saturday.

I wasn’t the only one on pins and needles.

The whole team was. I’d had five meetings about this one meeting specifically.

The team knew what securing a contract as substantial as this one would do for their lives as well.

I eat; we all eat. But I needed them to lighten up so instead of just introducing them to Tami, I introduced the rest of the team to them too.

Pivoting, I turned to lead them to the receptionist desk.

The minute Claire noticed us coming, her cheeks turned beet red.

With a smile, I raised my brows as a way to relax her.

Her face softened and she smiled. She was comfortable as the minority at Couture, but us, plus six big black men heading her way? Yeah, I’d be nervous too.

After introducing everyone to Claire, I moved on to the rest of the team who met me with the same surprised look.

Like I said, I wanted them comfortable. Not only because I felt a little bad about making everyone nervous about the meeting but because I had very high hopes and I wanted them to get used to this.

Crescent Carter and his team. They were going to be seeing more of them.

“Nice to meet you all,” Armani su—Crescent said before pivoting to introduce me to his team. “Rahmir, Titan, Orion, Judah, and Bryce. Respectable men of Skylight Industries. We’ll go over titles after.”

After? After what? Was he already confirming what I’d been stressing over for the past two weeks? Locking eyes briefly, I gave him a light smile before turning my attention to the men he’d come with.

My eyes lingered longer on Judah, wondering if he had anything to do with this meeting.

For some reason I wanted to curse him out.

What the hell was he doing here? How was this even happening?

It didn’t make any sense. But then again, shit, nothing in my life ever had.

I had a baby at fifteen. Nothing in life ever went as planned for me.

So, I honestly shouldn’t have been as shocked as I was. It was just… what type of coincidence?

Stepping forward, Judah extended his hand. The minute I grabbed it he slickly ran his thumb over the top of it and nodded.

“Nice to meet you Mahogany,” he said, adding emphasis on my name.

I hadn’t seen Judah in months. The last time I saw him I was sitting at the bar, nursing a Manhattan, watching people fuck.

He wanted me on all fours in his VIP suite, but at this point, I was done participating.

Had only visited Pandora’s for a stiff drink and to watch.

When I told him I was done, he didn’t like it. Wanted to fuck me bad as hell.

Before I stopped participating at the club, Judah was my emergency dick.

Who I looked for when there was nothing else appealing to take my frustrations out on.

And taking my frustrations out on him was what I did.

I fucked him. After that initial timidness fell off, I gave him everything I gave Duke.

Was a real freak. Let him fuck my face, let him nut all over me.

Judah could do to me what other men in the club couldn’t.

He got the whole Mocha experience. I sucked his dick like I loved him.

Seduced him. Made him fall for the pussy so good that he wanted to hook up outside of the club.

That night, he asked for my number. Wanted my name too.

Tried to get personal but I didn’t go for it.

Told him I kept the club, at the club. Had to.

My life as Mahogany was already hectic enough.

Imagine me actually having a real affair?

One that didn’t exist only when I was at Pandora’s.

Hell, I could barely handle that life. Things would have gotten really messy, and Duke probably would have found out about my dirty little secret a long time ago.

Anyway, Ju respected it. Didn’t press too hard, and after chilling with me for a few, ended his night with someone else.

“Nice to meet you too, Judah,” I said with a light smile.

He didn’t hold on to my hand for too long. Didn’t let his gaze linger. Didn’t do his infamous wink… none of that. Just moved along, speaking to Tamia, while I shook hands with the rest of the team.

Speaking of… they were fucking beautiful.

The whole team. They had this…thing about them.

Individually. They stood out in their own way.

But one thing they had in common was that thing good looking black men have—swag.

They were doused in various shades of brown, dressed in tailored designer suits, with an array of beard types with bright, unique smiles and firm handshakes.

After offering Crescent and the team refreshments they declined, we made it to the elevator.

Crescent’s eyes never left me. For a brief moment, I wondered if he remembered me like I remembered him.

Of course he didn’t. Couldn’t have. I had on a mask—he didn’t.

Even with a mask, I might’ve remembered him because it was the feeling that stood out to me.

I wondered if I was a feeling for him too.

Probably not. Doubted it. If I was, I doubt he would have left the way he did.

If the encounter for him was as intense as it was for me, he wouldn’t have left.

Not without a name and number he wouldn’t have.

Did I feel a little slighted? Silly? Stupid?

Yes… I felt all of those things. Pitiful even.

For five years I thought about him, and he probably didn’t think about me once.

Anyway, instead of standing there stuck in my head, feeling sorry for myself, I participated in the light small talk he was trying to create to fill the silence.

“I see you’ve been in business for quite a while.

You ever had six big black niggas show up on your doorstep?

Or is this the first time?” He boldly asked, with a light grin.

I was caught off guard but shit… should I have been?

This was the same man who’d embraced me at a bar in a sex club.

Still, that was then. We were getting ready to start a business meeting.

Something told me he was himself, despite where he was at.

He was dressed professionally in a sharp ass suit and tie but there was this underlying ‘hoodism’ there.

All of them had it. I could tell off rip, not just from the comment he’d made, that they got it out of the mud.

I giggled. “No,” I paused and shook my head. “Never.”

I’d never had ‘six big black niggas’ show up on my doorstep, but I’d definitely worked with a couple of hood niggas. The local rappers I did business with, a few obvious drug dealers… you know. But they never showed up like this. Deep, dressed in suits.

“It’s a first for everything, huh?” Judah said, probably referencing the first time I squirted on his face, wetting his thick beard up.

With a squint, I shifted my gaze from Crescent to Judah. “Absolutely.”