CHAPTER 5
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Samir
I knew who she was before she ever stepped foot in my office.
The application had told me enough.
Name, number, address.
That address was what caught my eye first.
Quay’s spot.
The minute I saw it, I already knew this had to be his woman.
Ain’t no way in hell a female was putting that address down unless she was tied to him somehow.
At first, I almost passed on her just off that alone.
Quay already owed me money, and I wasn’t in the mood to play around with nothing attached to him unless it benefited me.
Then I started thinking.
If his woman was online filling out applications for a driving job, that meant one of two things.
Either she was stupid.
Or she was desperate.
And desperation made people useful.
So, I told them to bring her in.
What I wasn’t expecting was for her to walk through my office door looking like that.
Yeah, I figured Quay’s woman would be decent. A nigga like him usually kept something nice on his arm.
But Kales?
Kales was fine in a way I ain’t see coming.
Pleasantly plump, soft in all the right places, pretty face tired down by stress, and eyes that looked like life had been beating her ass all week but she still wasn’t ready to lay down.
She carried hurt and attitude at the same time, and that combination did something to me the second I looked at her.
I leaned back in my chair and let my eyes drag over her slow.
Damn.
Quay had been hiding something worth looking at.
When she caught me staring, I licked my lips and smirked.
“Yeah?” I said. “You here about the job?”
She stepped all the way into my office and closed the door behind her. “That depend. You the one hiring?”
Her voice had attitude in it.
That just made me want to look at her harder.
“I am,” I said.
She stood there for a second like she was trying to read the room and read me at the same time.
Smart.
My office wasn’t loud, but it spoke for itself. Dark wood. Leather chairs. Money all through the room without being too obvious about it. The kind of setup that let a person know this wasn’t no little side hustle being run out the back of somebody mama house.
And me?
I already knew what she was seeing.
Black button-up, sleeves rolled just enough to show my watch and tattoos. Fade fresh. Beard lined perfect. Face cold. Mouth mean. The kind of man most women looked at twice, even when they knew better.
She shifted her purse higher on her shoulder. “The post said private driver. Cash paid daily.”
“It did.”
“And what exactly would I be driving?”
I folded my hands over my stomach. “Packages.”
Her eyes narrowed right away. “What kind of packages?”
I smiled, slow and cold. “The kind you don’t ask about.”
She folded her arms across her chest, and I had to keep my eyes from dropping too long. “So basically you want a courier.”
“I want somebody who can follow directions,” I said.
That hit her wrong, just like I knew it would.
Good.
She looked like the type that had been talked down to enough lately. That frustration was sitting close to the surface already. All I had to do was touch it.
“And what directions would those be?” she asked.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk.
“You pick up what I tell you to pick up. You drop it where I tell you to drop it. You don’t open the packages. You don’t ask questions. You don’t get curious. You do your job, and you get paid.”
She swallowed, but she ain’t back down.
That was interesting.
Most women in her position would’ve already been halfway to the door. Scared money never stayed in the room long. But Kales? She stood there, taking me in, weighing the risk against whatever pressure was sitting on her shoulders.
Need was louder than fear right now.
“What if I’m not comfortable with that?” she asked.
“Then leave.”
I said it plain.
No comfort in my tone.
No fake softness.
She looked down for a second, and I could almost hear her thinking. Rent. Bills. Pride. Survival. Whatever storm had pushed her to me was bad enough that she stayed silent instead of storming out.
That told me everything I needed to know.
“The first run pays up front,” I said.
Her eyes came back to mine. “How much?”
I named a number that would make saying no feel stupid.
There it was.
That pause.
That little crack in her expression.
She needed the money bad.
I licked my lips and watched her. “That enough?”
She hesitated before asking, “Why pay that much for one delivery?”
I smirked. “That right there sounds like a question.”
Her jaw tightened.
I could tell she ain’t like my tone, ain’t like the way I was looking at her either, but money got a way of making people swallow what they normally wouldn’t.
“Look,” she said, “I just need to know I’m not about to get caught up in no crazy shit.”
I laughed low. “Baby, if I wanted to get you caught up, you wouldn’t be in here asking me about it.”
She didn’t smile.
Didn’t melt.
Didn’t even blink much.
That made me grin a little wider.
“What’s your name?” I asked, even though I already knew.
“Kaleasha but everyone calls me Kales.”
“Pretty name.” I smiled.
I reached into my desk, pulled out a pad and pen, and slid them toward her. “Write your number and address.”
She looked at me like I was stupid. “If you saw my application, then you already got both.”
Now that made me smile for real.
“Write it again.”
She held my gaze for a second like she wanted to challenge me, but then she took the pen.
I watched her write.
Slow and careful with pretty handwriting.
I already knew what it was, but watching her hand move across that paper while knowing exactly whose house she was going back to made something dark curl low in my chest.
“You got a car?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“You know how to keep your mouth shut?”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Do you know how to stop talking to me like I’m slow?”
That got a short laugh out of me.
“Nah,” I said. “But I do know how to pay on time.”
She looked like she wanted to cuss me clean out.
Instead she asked, “When do I start?”
“Now.”
She blinked. “Now?”
I grabbed my phone and sent a quick message. “Package will be brought to your car in five minutes. Drop-off address goes to your phone when you pull out. You make the delivery, you bring me confirmation, and you get paid.”
She took a slow breath. I could see the fear in it, but I could also see the determination fighting harder.
She needed money, and fast.
That was exactly why she was here.
“If this turns into some bullshit,” she started.
“It won’t,” I cut in.
Then I let my gaze slide over her again, slow enough to let her feel it.
“At least not for you.”
Her face tightened, but she didn’t say nothing else. She just turned and walked out.
And I watched every step.
The room got quiet after the door shut behind her.
I sat there for a second with my thumb brushing over my bottom lip, thinking about the way she looked, the way she carried herself, the way hurt had made her sharper instead of weaker.
Then Tariq came in.
He closed the door behind him and looked at me. “She gone.”
I nodded once.
“That’s Quay’s girl,” I said.
His brows lifted. “You sure?”
I slid the paper across the desk.
He looked down at it, then looked back up. “Damn. That is his spot.”
I leaned back in my chair. “Told you.”
He smirked. “So what now?”
I looked toward the door she had just walked out of.
“Now I think I found my new driver.”
Tariq crossed his arms. “Because she need money?”
I smiled, slow and mean.
“Nah. Because her man owe me.”
That shut him up for a second.
Then he asked, “You think she know who you are?”
I laughed under my breath. “If she did, she wouldn’t have walked in here by herself.”
“And if Quay find out?”
That made my smile spread a little.
“He will.”
My voice came out cold enough to chill the whole room.
Because I already knew Quay wouldn’t like none of this.
Wouldn’t like his woman coming to me for work.
Wouldn’t like the fact that I was the one putting money in her hand when he couldn’t.
Wouldn’t like the way I had looked at her and knew right away why he kept her close.
And that was before she even opened her mouth.
Tariq leaned against the wall. “You playing with fire.”
“Ain’t no fun in safe shit.”
I stood up and adjusted my watch, then walked over to the window.
Right on time, I saw her crossing the lot and getting into her car.
Small little thing. Nothing fancy.
Probably one bad month away from giving up on her.
Just like the woman driving it.
She sat there for a second before pulling off, and I found myself smirking again.
And from the look of things, life had just pushed her straight into my hands.
By the time she made that first drop, one thing was already clear.
She might’ve walked into my office just another desperate woman looking for quick money.
But she was leaving as something else.
Mine to use.
At least until Quay paid what he owed.
And maybe even after that.