Chapter 22
Sade
“That man hated resistance, and unfortunately for him, I came with plenty of it.”
One month later, and Vaughn St. Clair still managed to irritate me almost every day.
The crazy part was that the project looked amazing.
Crown Heights was finally starting to come together for real now. Walls finished. Lighting getting installed. Furniture arriving. The vision was becoming real, and every time I walked through the property, I felt proud of what my team was building.
That pride was the main thing keeping me there.
The amount of money this project was bringing my company made the stress easier to swallow. I had expanded my team within weeks. Bigger payroll. Bigger opportunities. Bigger connections. Everybody around me kept saying this project was about to change my career permanently.
Still didn’t make Vaughn easier to deal with.
A month around that man taught me one thing fast.
He liked control.
Not in an obvious loud way either. Vaughn moved calmly most of the time, but underneath that calmness was somebody who expected things to move his way automatically. He wasn’t used to resistance. Definitely not from women. I could tell.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t built to just nod my head because a man had money.
Now, I was back on the site, on a Tuesday, trying to do my job.
“Can somebody tell me why these samples are still sitting here?” I asked while walking through the west side units that morning.
A few workers looked around before one of them finally answered.
“V said wait before installing.”
I frowned immediately. “Wait for what?”
Nobody answered.
That already irritated me.
I looked toward Denise, his property manager assistant, who stood nearby scrolling through her tablet.
“Did he tell you why?”
“He wanted final approval first,” she answered carefully.
I looked around the room again.
The samples had been sitting untouched for almost two days.
Two days wasted.
I rubbed my forehead slowly before speaking again. “Okay, no. We’re behind enough already. Start installing.”
The workers hesitated.
I already knew why.
Nobody wanted to get caught between Vaughn and me anymore.
“I said start,” I repeated calmly.
That finally got them moving.
A few minutes later, Laila walked in holding coffee. “Good morning to you, too, boss.”
I grabbed the coffee from her hand immediately. “Thank you.”
I took a sip of coffee while watching the workers finally start moving around again.
About thirty minutes later, I heard his voice behind me.
“Why are they installing already?”
I turned around.
Vaughn stood there in all black as usual, hands in his hoodie pockets, expensive shades covering his eyes even though we were inside. A couple of workers immediately looked away.
I pointed toward the samples. “Because they’ve been sitting here too long.”
“I told them to wait.”
“And I overruled it.”
Laila quietly walked away.
Vaughn stared at the wall for a second before looking back at me.
“You overruled it?”
“Yes.”
“Without talking to me first.”
I crossed my arms. “Because every time I try to talk to you lately, you act irritated.”
He frowned. “Maybe because you keep making decisions on my project without asking.”
“Didn’t you tell me that you didn’t pay me to ask questions?” I corrected automatically.
“That don’t mean you get final say.”
I looked around the room briefly before lowering my voice a little. “Vaughn, the material was approved already. It doesn’t make sense holding everything up over unnecessary delays.”
“You think everything unnecessary if it ain’t your idea.”
I blinked once.
Okay. He was testing me.
“And you think you own the room because you pay for it,” I shot back.
At this point, the workers probably needed therapy from dealing with us.
Vaughn took his shades off slowly, finally letting me see his eyes. They were low, red, and tired.
“You always gotta challenge muthafuckas?”
“No. Just you.”
“That’s a problem.”
“No, the problem is you keep hiring professionals and getting mad when they act professional.”
One of the workers suddenly got very interested in unpacking boxes behind us.
Denise looked exhausted already.
Vaughn stepped closer, lowering his voice enough that it felt more personal than professional now.
“You know what your issue is?”
I looked up at him. “Please enlighten me.”
“You need some dick, with your stuck-up ass.”
I laughed softly in disbelief. “I bet you wish you could give it to me. I would never.”
His eyes stayed on mine a second too long before he finally looked away first.
“Do ya job,” he muttered.
“Been doing that since I started, and you know that.”
He rubbed his beard again, clearly irritated, before walking off.
I watched him disappear down the hallway before exhaling hard through my nose.
“He fine, but baby…” Denise said lowly beside me.
That made me laugh despite myself.
“See? Even Denise is tired of y’all,” Laila said, reappearing magically once the argument was over.
“I’m tired of him,” I huffed.
Laila laughed, “Yeah, okay.”
The workday stayed tense after that.
Around lunch, I walked into one of the finished units to check furniture placement when Vaughn walked in behind me, holding his phone.
“This table is too close to the window,” he said.
I looked over briefly. “It’s not.”
“It is.”
“It literally isn’t.”
He stared at the setup for another second before sighing.
“You always got an answer.”
“And you always got a complaint.”
He looked back at the table again. “Move it over a little.”
I rolled my eyes, but moved it anyway.
“There. Happy?”
“Very.”
I laughed dryly. “You annoying.”
“And you difficult.”
“Yet here we are.”
His eyes flickered toward me again.
That same strange, heavy energy passed between us for a second before Denise walked in and asked Vaughn something about permits.
Perfect timing, honestly.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted mentally more than physically.
I grabbed my purse and tablet while Laila walked beside me toward the elevators.
“You know what I noticed?” she asked.
“What?”
“Y’all don’t even argue normal.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Most people argue and leave each other alone after. Y’all argue and keep finding each other again ten minutes later.”
“We work together.”
“Yeah, okay. I know you, girl.”
I sighed. “You say yeah, okay to everything.”
“Because you be lying to yourself.”
The elevator opened, and we headed downstairs.
Once we stepped outside, I immediately spotted Marcus waiting near the curb in his black Range Rover.
Laila noticed too.
“Ohhh,” she dragged out dramatically. “Look at your man.”
“That is not my man.”
“That’s definitely somebody man, might as well be yours.”
I laughed while Marcus stepped out.
“You exhausted?” he asked after kissing my lips.
“Yes.”
“I can see it in your face.”
Laila grinned. “Take her somewhere nice before she curse somebody out today.”
Marcus laughed softly. “I got her.”
I shook my head. “Please stop making it seem like I’m terrorizing people at work.”
“You are,” Laila said immediately.
Marcus opened the passenger door for me while I laughed.
Before getting in, I looked back toward the building one more time.
That was when I saw Vaughn outside near the entrance.
Just standing there.
Watching me.
Something about his expression threw me off for a second.
Not angry.
Not even irritated, really.
His face looked unreadable, but his eyes were darker than usual.
Almost empty.
I looked away first and got into the truck.
Marcus climbed in beside me a second later and pulled off into traffic.
A few moments passed quietly before he finally spoke.
“That’s him?”
I looked over. “Who?”
“The dude you work for.”
I glanced back briefly through the window. Vaughn was still standing outside, now lighting a blunt.
“Yeah.”
Marcus looked ahead again, one hand resting on the wheel casually.
“Hm.”
“What hm?” I frowned slightly.
He shrugged. “Because he a bad businessman.”
That caught me off guard immediately.
“Why would you say that?”
“My brother tried doing business with him recently.”
I turned toward him more. “Your brother?”
“Yeah. Randy Jewel.”
I blinked. “Who?”
Marcus looked surprised for a second. “You never heard of Randy Jewel?”
“No.”
He laughed softly. “That’s probably a good thing.”
“Why?”
“My brother is into commercial real estate. Big money stuff. He tried partnering with Vaughn on something recently.”
“And?”
“Vaughn turned the deal down.”
I frowned slightly. “Okay…”
“Over ego,” Marcus added.
That made me look at him again. “How do you know?”
“Because my brother told me.” He shrugged. “Said Vaughn, smart as hell, but emotional.”
That word sat with me immediately after the type of day I just had.
Emotional.
Marcus glanced over at me briefly. “Why are you looking like that?”
“Nothing.”
“You defending him already?”
“I’m not defending anybody. I just never heard of your brother.”
“You’ll hear about him eventually. Randy is loud when he feels disrespected.”
I laughed. “Clearly.”
Marcus smiled and reached over, resting his hand gently on my thigh.
“How about we don’t talk about work anymore?”
“That sounds nice.”
“You hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Good. Dinner at my place.”
I leaned my head back against the seat, finally letting myself relax a little.
And honestly…
After the kind of day I had, Marcus felt peaceful.