Chapter 1 #2
Her name falling from his lips almost sidetracked Nhuri.
Had it not been for how sinfully fine he was, she would’ve forgotten about him gawking at her like she was a special drink on the menu.
His voice was powerful yet soothing as well.
Just the perfect pitch to lull you to sleep or to an orgasm and through it before delivering another.
Nhuri shook away her lewd thoughts. She was on the clock and getting paid a more-than-excellent hourly wage to serve drinks, so that’s what she did.
She jumped right back into her role as a sweet bartender who was dead tired and asked him a question.
“Long day?”
“Try long week,” Shyriq told her.
Nhuri’s eyes scanned the numerous bottles of brown liquor in search of one of her favorites. Thanks to her late father, she too loved a dark drink on the rocks. Preferably whiskey—the Nine Oak brand. Grabbing the round bottle, Nhuri held it up for him to see.
“This is one of my favorites. It’s strong enough to make you reconsider but smooth and slightly sweet, so you’ll finish the glass and be glad you did.”
Shyriq’s head nodded forward, encouraging her to pour him a glass. No plastic cups were given at such an event. The glass tumblers had Autumn and Cane’s names across them in a fancy white cursive font and were gifts to their guests. Nhuri could only imagine what the wedding would look like.
Handing him the glass and a napkin, Nhuri waited to see what he thought.
It was her turn to stare, and she did so without shame.
Her dark brown eyes trekked every inch of him—and there was a lot.
His large, manicured hands and feet were a true reflection of his height.
Shyriq was tall as hell, at least compared to most people.
Not Nhuri, though. She guessed that he stood about six feet four to her five foot ten stature.
Shyriq’s height wasn’t what made him stand out, nor was it his inviting walnut-colored eyes and smooth cinnamon-hued complexion.
It was his precisely lined mustache that led to a thickly shaped beard that stretched outward from his face instead of down.
It was a good three inches, and Nhuri knew it was soft to touch just from her eye examination.
It looked as soft as his lips, which pressed firmly into the rim of the tumbler.
Nhuri unknowingly held her breath as he almost consumed every drop of the amber liquor.
She never wanted to be a glass so bad in her life.
Homed in on every move he made, she swallowed hard at the thick veins aligning his hand as it cupped the glass.
Ice clinked gently as Shyriq whirled the remainder and nodded his head. He approved, and Nhuri exhaled.
“Great taste. Thank you for choosing for me,” he told her.
“No problem. Glad you enjoyed it,” Nhuri replied. “I’ll be here all night if you need another.”
Shyriq kept that in mind as he fetched his wallet.
Pulling out a crisp hundred-dollar bill, he placed it in her jar.
Nhuri watched the transaction with a tight chest before her eyes connected with his.
She was silently asking him why he’d tipped her that much, but dared not utter the question.
She didn’t have to because, again, Shyriq could hear her thoughts.
“For holding up your line. Have a good night,” he told her and walked off, finally letting other guests into her space.
Surprisingly, Shyriq wanted to tell her she was off the clock for the rest of the night so he could pick her brain.
Not about business, but to find out who she was.
How she became a bartender and what she knew about whiskey .
. . his brand to be exact. Nhuri had no idea who the man was she’d just encountered, but Shyriq was sure she’d never forget him.
Running a family-owned business wasn’t for the weak.
Shyriq’s schedule for the week was unusually busy, but he knew why.
It was peak season, and their company was in high demand.
Rarely did he have a day where his mind wasn’t on the business, and today was one of those days.
Inside his office at the Great Hendrix Co.
headquarters building, Shyriq sat towering over his desk with squinted eyes focused on his desktop screen.
Stop squinting and put those glasses on, Shy.
He heard his mother’s voice without her being physically present.
Reaching inside his fifty-inch natural oak desk, Shyriq grabbed the blue lens frames and slid them onto his face.
They’d been there since the last time he wore them, which was weeks ago, and the reason a headache was making an appearance.
Shyriq exhaled, feeling the strain ease up immediately.
Hours spent looking at reports, emails, business proposals, sales, and a plethora of other information was how Shyriq kept their million-dollar business afloat, becoming the first millionaire in their family.
The duties didn’t belong solely to him but his family and employees as well. Everyone contributed to GHC’s success.
The Hendrix family was the first Black family in Missouri to own a whiskey distillery.
Shyriq’s great-grandfather, Richard, had come into a nice amount of money in the mid-nineteen-forties and knew he wanted a business to pass down to his children’s children.
Richard Hendrix had kept his word and did just that.
He passed away when Shyriq was thirteen.
By then, he had lived a life that was pleasing not only to himself but also to God as well.
Richard enjoyed the fruits of his labor, along with his wife.
Long after, generations would eat off of what he built, and Shyriq would ensure it.
He’d been attached to his great-grandfather’s hip when he learned to walk at nine months.
By age seven, Shyriq knew every step it took to produce whiskey, down to the names of the ingredients he studied as if they’d be on a spelling test.
Many assumed the business was handed to him, and in a sense, it was.
Shyriq had been the one to take Great Hendrix Co.
from a successful moneymaking company to a million-dollar one in less than four years.
When he became the owner at twenty-seven, he gave himself three years to expand to the next level and hit that million-dollar mark.
Beyond the connections it took to get there, Shyriq was disciplined.
There wasn’t anything he wanted that he couldn’t get, no matter how long it took.
Once he had his mind set on a goal, he didn’t stop working toward it until he achieved it, and that’s how he’d been his entire life.
So, even though it wasn’t likely for him to be at the office on a Wednesday evening, here he was, reading over a contract that needed minor corrections before he signed his name.
Minor mistakes led to major problems, and Shyriq wasn’t a fan of those, even though he had the money to solve them.
He preferred for things to go accordingly the first time.
Meticulously, his eyes scanned the document before he sent over the email.
It gave precise instructions on what needed to be changed, and he hoped, for their sake, that they would follow them.
Just as he shut down his computer for the day and exhaled, the phone on his desk gave a low double beep, indicating that the front desk was trying to reach him. Shyriq glanced at the stainless gold watch on his wrist. The hands displayed five thirty-five. He hit the speaker button and spoke.
“Yes?”
“Cara is on line two, sir,” Lamont, one of the male interns, told him.
Shyriq couldn’t help but wonder what Cara wanted and how she knew he was at the office. Timing was everything because had she called a minute later, she would’ve missed him.
“Thank you. Put her through,” Shyriq told him before picking up the phone. “Cara, how are you?”
“Mr. Hendrix, hi,” she rushed out. “How are you?”
“Great. Wrapping up my day. What can I do for you? Did something go wrong during the meeting?”
As the marketing director for GHC, Cara was out of town on a three-day business trip that was vital to the next step Shyriq wanted to take for the company. She’d been with them for over a decade, having witnessed many of the ups and downs. Yet, they were still striving and at their best right now.
“No, no,” she rushed out as she exited the elevator, heading toward her hotel room. “The meeting went amazing, actually. I’ll be emailing my minutes over within the hour.”
Shyriq was happy to hear that. “That’s what I like to hear.”
Cara got to her reason for calling. “I know you’re a busy man.”
“I am,” he agreed.
“And I apologize in advance, but I need a favor.”
Shyriq almost chuckled. He wasn’t new to doing favors, but it was a rarity for someone to come right out and ask for one. They’d typically beat around the bush, so for Cara to be asking, he knew it was something personal.
“Is this favor business related?” he asked.
“Yes, and somewhat personal. Something is wrong with Natalia. I’m not sure what, but I can sense it. I would check on her myself, but I’m out of town.”
“Isn’t she with you?”
Cara hesitated with her reply. “No. I didn’t want to bother you with something I thought I could handle. She canceled at the last minute, so I’m here alone.”
Shyriq leaned back in his chair and extended his legs.
Natalia was right under Cara as the research marketing manager.
She’d been in the position for five years now and was damn good at her job.
She was better than good and had been a key component to certain deals being offered and closed on over the last few years.
Even though Shyriq was the owner and employed hundreds of people, he didn’t move how most people expected someone of his caliber to.
Nor were his work ethics those of other million-dollar companies.
Working for a family-operated business could be tricky, especially with the rumors Shyriq has heard about his family over the years.
Yet, many of the employees were long-tenured, received the best benefits, got paid holidays off, and bonuses that were raved about for months.
While Richard’s mission was to secure his family’s legacy, Shyriq wanted the same for those who worked for them.
Comfortability and making an honest living was a priority to him.
In doing so, GHC operated like one big family.
So he could understand Cara’s concern. What she expected him to do was the question.
“Can’t you give her a phone call?” he questioned.
“I have. We talked before I left, and I could tell she was holding something back. Until I can lay eyes on her, it will bother me.”
Shyriq could tell by Cara’s slightly cracked voice that it would.
To someone else, doing a wellness check on one of his employees may have been beneath him.
Not to Shyriq. He didn’t know Natalia personally but was very fond of what she’d brought to the company.
To ease Cara’s worries, he added the reminder to his note’s app on his phone.
“I’ll stop by to check on her. Is she married?”
Shyriq didn’t want to walk in on something that may have been a domestic situation.
Sometimes, people wanted to keep things to themselves.
Checking on another man’s wife was something he promised never to do, and he prayed it wasn’t a situation where he’d have to lay hands on a man for disrespecting a woman. Shyriq would gladly do so.
“No, but she does have a boyfriend and a daughter. Please don’t tell her I called you.”
“I won’t. Don’t forget to send the minutes over from the meeting,” he told her, removing his glasses and tucking them in his desk before standing.
“I’m pulling them up now. Thank you, Mr. Hendrix. I really appreciate this favor.”
“No problem,” he said. “See you when you return.”
He sent a text message to his assistant requesting Natalia’s home address.
Shyriq hoped this one favor he did wasn’t a mistake.
Before he could make it to the elevator after closing his office door, which automatically locked, his personal cell phone rang.
Seeing his lawyer’s name gave him an instant headache. One he’d successfully dodged until now.
“King, I hope you’re calling me with good news,” Shyriq answered.
“I wish I was. Xena is requesting spousal support.”
Shyriq’s nostrils flared. Nothing in this world could ruffle his feathers more than someone who fucked with his money and intelligence. Xena had to be out of her rabid-ass mind to think he was paying her when she cheated on him.
“Absolutely not. Her lawyer is as delusional as she is for even moving forward with that notion. It’s not happening,” he stated calmly.
“Unless you can prove she committed adultery, it will happen.”
Shyriq gritted his teeth before relaxing his jaws.
He knew Xena was trying him by requesting spousal support because she knew he didn’t have proof of her cheating.
Not yet, at least. He never wanted to use his money as a weapon, but she left him no choice.
The price he was willing to pay to get her out of his life for good was one she’d never be able to pocket.
“What do I need to do on my end?” Shyriq asked.
Dennis King was a beast at his job, and Shyriq knew he would do everything possible to win this case.
Xena was in way over her head, and although he was over the ordeal, Shyriq wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of fucking him over again.
He’d given her the world, and she tried to tour it with another man.
If he had it his way, Xena wouldn’t be doing it on his dime anymore.