Chapter 21
Andrès
THREE MONTHS LATER
“The scope of what you’re proposing isn’t going to work. At this rate, they will be more than five hundred thousand over budget, and that’s not what we told them we would do,” I declared, shoving the folder across my desk.
“I know, Drè, but they must go up if they want the best. There’s no way that we can get Gaines and Co onboard for anything less than this. If we try to go around this, we’ll be cutting prices where we can’t afford to cut prices.”
I finger combed my beard and nodded. “You’re right, Greg, and the last thing that we’ll ever do is knowingly expose them to liabilities and a string of lawsuits.”
“I know that Gaines and Co are the best, and they want the best for this project, but—”
“Actually, they’re not the best. They spend a ton of money on advertising and image to make them appear that way and buying contracts that are high profile, but they’re not the best.”
He frowned at me. “You sure?”
I chuckled. “Trust me. I’m very familiar with the construction industry.”
“Through PMP work like this?”
“Not just this, but through my past. Tell you what, give me a sec,” I declared, reaching for the phone.
He nodded and sat back in his chair as I dialed a number that I had recently become familiar with.
“Arnold, wassup?” I listened to the older man, and I laughed as he talked junk about getting older.
I ran into him about a couple of months ago at a construction site, and I took him to lunch.
I thanked him for having the courage to do what he did all those years ago.
He told me that he did not understand. I explained that had he not fired me, my back wouldn’t have been pressed against the wall, and I wouldn’t have learned what all I was made of.
He said that he was just glad to see that I had come out on top winning, and I’d told him that I owed him.
“Remember that favor that I said I owed you?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, it’s time for you to collect. I have a job that I’d like for you to look at. The budget is one point twenty-five mill’, and that’s the very top of their budget. The people they wanted to do it, won’t do it for less than two.”
“Send it over. I’d love to look at the specs.”
“You’ll have it in less than twenty minutes.”
We made small talk a bit longer and ended the call.
“That’s pretty cool. I never thought about Staten Brothers being a contender. They usually work smaller projects.”
“No, they work large ones too; it’s just that they don’t go for the high-profile ones. They’re a good resource to keep in your pocket.”
“How do you know him?”
“Remember that story that I told at orientation about getting fired from my good job?”
“Yeah.”
“That was the good job.”
He whistled just as a knock came at my door. I looked up and saw my beautiful wife standing in the doorway, wearing a denim, ankle-length dress. “Sorry to disturb you, but I have an urgent matter about the CTO position I need to discuss with you.”
“Come on in. We were just wrapping up this meeting,” I declared, standing to signify the end of Greg’s and my meeting.
He stood as well. “Thanks for this, Drè.”
“No problem at all,” I replied as he headed toward the door. I watched as he greeted my wife and then exited my office.
Kalliope walked into my office, all swaying hips, glowing skin, and tiny belly bump. “Hello, gorgeous,” I greeted, meeting her halfway.
“Hey, baby. I’ve been trying to figure out which direction we should go. We had a little hiccup with the background check, but I’m willing to work with this guy, if you are. He’s got all the experience that we need, and his references checks out and only had excellent things to say about him.”
I walked past her after kissing her upturned lips, and I closed and locked my office door.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, walking back to her and leading her to the couch.
She eased down as she explained, “He has a record. Nothing like prison, but he was arrested for domestic violence.”
I had just kneeled in front of her and was reaching for the hem of her dress when I stared up at her. “What? And you want to hire this guy?”
She nodded. “I do. You have to hear the story.”
I lifted her dress up and to her hips as I spread her legs. “I’m listening.”
“He went home early from work one day because he left something at home. He was heading back to work after he picked up whatever, but he came in on his wife and his best friend having sex. His wife was a housewife, and their kids, an infant and a toddler, were asleep in the nursery.”
“Damn,” I replied, sliding her panties aside and slipping a finger inside. “I hope he beat the fuck out of that nigga.”
“He did. He beat him so badly that he was in the hospital unconscious, and he was in there for a week before he was released.”
“So, what’s your concern?”
“He spent a week in jail before the victim dropped charges willingly. He just finished a messy divorce, a year ago, and he has shared custody of the . . . mmm . . . oohhh, kids.” She moaned as I stroked her wet flesh.
I slid her panties down her legs and propped her leg on the arm of the chair. She was glistening and already swollen, ready for me. I had another meeting in a little under fifteen minutes, so I was limited as to what I could do, but it wouldn’t stop me from pleasuring my wife.
I didn’t think that I could ever grow old of saying that, especially as it related to Kalliope. She arched her back off the couch when I slid two fingers inside. The sound of her nails digging into the leather arm of the couch rent the air.
“Drè, baby.”
“Yeah, sugar?” I leaned closer and shoved her other leg up until her foot was planted on the couch. When my lips connected with her flesh, she had no more words to speak.
I licked through her slit and then sucked on her lips one at a time.
“Mm, baby,” she groaned, cupping her breasts that were already growing larger. “Fuck!” She wailed.
I chuckled and slid my tongue along her lips before I added my fingers to the mix again.
The loud slurping sounds of me eating her pussy floated in the air, and my dick wrenched in my pants in glee.
It was too bad that I would have to disappoint him because I knew that there wasn’t enough time for me to satiate him too.
I would sacrifice my pleasure every time to make sure my woman was good.
Her legs slid off the arm of the couch and the couch, and they locked around me. She scooted down just enough to make sure that her entire pussy covered my nose and lips, but I didn’t mind at all. I was a happy-ass nigga whenever I was drowning in my woman’s pussy juices.
Whereas she had been worried that us working together wouldn’t be a good idea, it was the best idea that I had come up with besides returning to claim her.
I pulled my tongue out of her and scissored her pussy while I sucked her clitoris. She gripped the back of my head with her hand and shoved me further into her flesh. I pulled back.
“Baby, ain’t enough room for me and the babies in that pussy,” I chided.
The day that we learned we were having twins, I had celebrated that entire week. She was sick of my black ass, but I didn’t care. I knew I was right about that, just as I knew that I had gotten her pregnant.
She giggled and then whimpered. “Please, Drè. I’m right there on the edge, and I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“Turn around, baby.”
“For what?”
“Get on ya knees on the couch, ma.”
She did as I asked and jutted that fat ass in the air.
“Fuck,” I groaned, kneeling behind her. I wanted nothing more than to see my hard dick disappear between those big juicy globes.
I would make up for it after the meeting.
As a matter of fact, I would call it a day and take her home early so that I could fuck her all the rest of the afternoon and evening.
In the interim, I spread her ass cheeks, slipped my finger into her pussy, and buried my lips in her ass.
“Oohhh, shit, Andrès Sebastián Jones.” She purred in a thick, slightly muffled voice. Her legs quivered and her ass shook as I licked and sucked her asshole. Juices dropped from her pussy, down her leg, and onto my couch.
My mouth ate, and my fingers fucked her, and in her state of delirium, she couldn’t form an intelligible word. A series of warbled sounds dripped from her lips as I sucked her back door.
When I finally stood, she was sprawled half on the couch and half off the couch. I headed into my private bathroom and washed my face and brushed my teeth. No sooner than I finished, my desk phone rang, alerting me that it was time for my next meeting.
I walked to the phone and answered it. “Roshanda?”
“Yes, Mr. Jones. Your one o’clock is out here waiting for you.”
“Set him up in conference room C. I’ll be right there.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call, grabbed a blanket and pillow from my closet, and walked back to the couch.
I lifted my wife into my arms, spread the blanket out, and placed her on the couch properly.
“Stay here and get some rest. I’ll finish this meeting, and then we’re heading home for the day,” I instructed, lifting her head to place the pillow underneath.
“Don’t you have any more meetings?” she asked while I pulled the other half of the cover up over her.
“Only meeting I have is with my CHRO. I need to inform her that she can’t be walking around looking fly as fuck in her denim dress with that slit up the side. It makes her man wanna fuck in the middle of the day.”
“Drè.” She moaned. “I’m tired.”
“That’s why I said stay here and chill. I’ll be back, and we can go home and fuck all night. My shit stiff as concrete,” I muttered.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“It’s all good. With yo’ sexy, pregnant ass self,” I remarked, smacking her on the ass.
She giggled and turned to face the couch. I headed out of my office only to see that Roshanda had returned to her desk, and she was wearing a smirk.
“Do you need me to get her some water bottles for when she wakes up, Mr. Jones?” she asked with a knowing smirk.
“We’ve got some in the refrigerator. They made sure they restocked my supply last night,” I replied, walking down the hall to the conference room.
We didn’t discuss it, but Roshanda had become accustomed to me putting my wife’s ass to sleep in the middle of the day. Business was great, my relationships were becoming healthy, finances were excellent, and life was good.
I was a brother who had traveled a long road, but I couldn’t complain.