Chapter 7
The wee hours of the morning greeted Cashmere as she tossed and turned in bed. After another long day of making sure shit was in order, Cashmere had come home and crashed early. Now, here she was, up and looking stupid.
With a huff, she pushed the covers off her and rolled over so she could reach her phone.
“Shit,” she uttered as she squinted her eyes at the bright screen.
It was close to three in the damn morning, and she felt wide awake. With a groan, she got out of bed and used the bathroom before she made her way down to the kitchen.
She smiled when she entered her favorite room in the house.
To have her own kitchen stocked with her favorite foods felt like the biggest blessing.
It was where she spent a lot of her time when she was home, even if she wasn’t cooking.
She enjoyed watching her kitchen staff move about and interacting with them.
In fact, it was because of them she even knew how to cook.
Cashmere never had a mama or grandmother to show her the ropes in the kitchen, so when she finally got her first apartment, she felt lost on how to feed her and Ivoree.
They ate out a lot at first, but when they moved to this home and hired a kitchen staff, Cashmere learned how to feed her baby sister.
That right there might have been her greatest accomplishment.
Cashmere moved to the refrigerator and opened it. There was plenty of food in there, which made it hard for her to make a decision. Indecisiveness caused her to stare into the soft glow the refrigerator provided for a few minutes before a voice behind her caused her to jump.
“We can’t keep meeting like this, Precious.”
Cashmere whirled around with her hand clutched to her chest. “Shit. I swear on everything I’m buying you a damn bell to wear around your ankle. Make that a part of the damn job description. Must wear a fuckin’ bell.”
Savio laughed as he moved further into the kitchen. “Ain’t gonna happen, ma. I like movin’ in silence.”
“What are you doing up, anyway? This is even early for you.” Cashmere crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly aware that she only had on a pair of boy shorts and a small T-shirt with no bra.
Her nipples poked through the fabric, and she wished she had a robe to cover up with because she saw the way Savio’s eyes kept traveling down her body.
A shiver caused the hairs on her arms to stand at attention as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“Couldn’t sleep. Thought I might come get a midnight snack.” He nodded his head toward the refrigerator.
“Great minds think alike. I couldn’t decide on what to make.” Cashmere stepped to the side and gestured for him to have a look.
He grabbed the refrigerator door and looked inside. “Easy choice.”
Cashmere watched as he grabbed the flour tortillas and a block of cheddar cheese before he closed the refrigerator.
“A quesadilla?” she asked with her head cocked to the side.
“Somethin’ like that. It gotta be made in a specific way though.” He leaned over and turned the oven on.
Cashmere’s brows dipped, but she let him rock. She watched him move around the kitchen like he’d lived there for years. While the oven pre-heated, he shredded some cheese and put foil on a baking sheet before putting four tortillas on top.
He slid the tortillas into the oven and then turned to sit next to her at the island.
“You forgot to put the cheese on.” She pointed at the pile of shredded cheese sitting on a white plate.
“Patience, Precious.”
She shook her head. “You really are impossible, you know that?”
“I know like hell you ain’t talkin’.”
“Touché.”
“Why you say that anyway?”
“Because you keep callin’ me Precious even though I told you not to.”
“Can’t help it. You are precious.” He gazed into her eyes for so long she couldn’t help but look away.
“How do you know though? How do you know I’m worth keeping safe?” She hated the vulnerability seeping through her tone, but she was curious to know what he saw in her.
He took his time thinking about her question before he responded.
“I think it’s because I recognized right away that you been living to survive.
I know what that looks like because that’s how I lived up until I got released from prison.
The day I inhaled free air again, I told myself I wasn’t gonna do that no more.
It was time to live for real, not for survival. ”
Cashmere thought about what he said. He wasn’t wrong.
She had only really lived to survive. Even after becoming filthy rich, she was always up and dreaming up the next hustle, the next bank roll, the next shipment .
. . She never wanted to be without again, so she became obsessed with making sure she wouldn’t.
It left no room for living for peace or for fun.
It left no room for a break. Exhaustion constantly tugged at her, but nobody ever seemed to notice.
Nobody besides this man sitting beside her who she’d only known a few days.
“Why does that make me worth protecting?”
Savio shrugged. “I figured if I was the one to keep you safe, then it would be one less thing off ya plate. You could use that energy toward something else. If that’s my one good deed with this second chance I get, then that’s good enough for me. Trust me, you’re worth it.”
He stood up and walked over to the oven as she stared after him. Cashmere had never had someone see her so clearly before. Not only did he see her, but he also wanted to help her with nothing in return. She didn’t know what to do with that.
Lost in thought, Cashmere watched him sprinkle cheese onto the tortillas before he put them back into the oven.
“What are you doing to live? Not for survival, I mean,” Cashmere asked, genuinely curious to know how someone even went about that.
Savio peered at her. “I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m starting with appreciating the small things. Fresh air, a good gym session, laughing with Twizz, meeting new people.”
His eyes seemed to look through her when he spoke that last part.
Cashmere looked away. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“If you keep your word on that, then it means I’m doin’ my job right.” Silence fell between them, and Cashmere allowed her mind to wander for a couple of minutes before his words pulled her away from her thoughts. “Do you always wear diamonds to bed?”
He fingered the necklace around her neck. His thumb grazed her collarbone, and she gasped. Playing it off, she cleared her throat and shrugged. “Only when I’m really tired and forget to take them off.”
She fingered the necklace, loving the coolness of the gems against her fingertips.
Jewels were her addiction. Not only were they her favorite thing to steal and distribute, but they were also her favorite thing to own.
She had a whole section in her closet just for jewelry, and she constantly added to it.
Within the next year or so, she would need a room just for her jewelry.
He hummed a response before he got up again and pulled the food out of the oven. Savio cut the tortillas and then put the triangles all on one plate before sliding it over to Cashmere.
“My favorite childhood snack.” He sat next to her and grabbed a triangle.
She peered down at the plate. “An open-faced quesadilla?”
“Just eat it.” He chuckled before he took a bite, almost finishing the triangle completely.
Hesitantly, Cashmere picked up a triangle of tortilla and cheese, surprised by how crispy it was. She took a tentative bite. Her brows rose in surprise. “This is good.”
“You ain’t have no trust in me.” He nudged her arm.
“I didn’t, I won’t lie. I mean, who hasn’t had a tortilla with cheese in the microwave? I thought that’s what you were on.”
Savio shook his head. “Nah. Has to be done in the oven. It does something to the tortilla that makes it a hit, for real.”
Cashmere nodded and reached for another piece of Savio’s favorite childhood snack.
They ate in silence until the plate was empty. Cashmere stood to put the plate in the dishwasher. When she finished, she turned to Savio. “Thanks for sharing a midnight snack with me.”
Savio stood and yawned. He walked up on her and did his signature move, trapping her between the counter and his hard body.
“Any time, Precious. You need some help gettin’ back to sleep?”
Cashmere’s eyes bucked as she searched for something to say.
This man felt dangerous in the best ways, and she wasn’t sure what to do with the attraction that simmered within her.
He was stubborn and bossy, but a part of her secretly loved that about him.
It turned her on. That scared her. Feelings scared her.
Despite her fear, she had the strongest urge to lean up on her tiptoes and kiss his juicy lips.
“I-I’m good.” She slipped under his muscled arm and rushed out of the kitchen.
His laughter filled her ears as she fled. When she got to the safety of her room, she sank against the door and tried her best to still her rapidly beating heart, completely unsure how she would navigate staying professional with her new bodyguard.
Shopping had become Cashmere’s favorite pastime. Savio preached the night before about not living for survival. When Cashmere shopped, that was her small slice of doing just that. It was the only time she really spoiled herself.
“Can I get this, Cash?” Ivoree asked as she held up a tennis bracelet with emeralds glittering around it.
Cashmere gazed at it for a second so she could assess it.
Finally, she nodded slowly. Her baby sister had great taste, and that was a good thing because Cashmere hated to tell her no.
She would, though, if her sister had picked something out that wasn’t of quality.
Ivoree deserved nothing but the absolute best.
“Have them ring it up. I don’t think I’m getting anything from here,” Cashmere said as she looked inside a glass case that held glittering earrings.
“What you gettin’?” Twizz asked.