Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Laikin
O n the way to the Pierce Motors Stadium Racetrack, I got a surprise call from Brett, asking why I didn’t mention picking up his sister and nephew the other day. “Bro, you of all people, know when it comes to your family, I will always come through.”
Brett grunted, barking at something in the background. “Man, Amena is so hardheaded. You can't tell her nothing.”
I hadn’t had the chance to sit down long enough to catch up with him because of practice.
“True.” I heard laughter from Kayne.
“Kayne’s over here now watching his favorite shows. Already have a few chicks who want to babysit.”
“Don’t tell me you're pimping your nephew for dates.” I laugh at his idea of getting a woman, especially when people think I’m the playboy out of the two of us.
“Shit, he’s handsome like his uncle. Gotta let the ladies know what the future kids will look like.”
“Boy, you stupid. Did Amena get her car fixed?” I stopped in the reserved section for staff, removed my keys, and took my bag out of the back.
“Pops has his friends looking into it right now. Happy she got away from the fuck up husband of hers.”
Something about his words caused me to clench my fists, ready to ride out to Atlanta to kick his ass for touching what’s mine. “Did he hit her?”
“From what she says, he never hit her, but I put nothing past Virgil.”
Displaying my badge, I walked through the doors of Pierce Motors racing stadium, throwing a hand up at a few employees. Being a high-profile athlete came with perks, but everybody treated me like a normal guy. I appreciated it because the world put out too many lies.
Virgil and Amena’s relationship surprised everybody. When I was younger, I know I played games, but when we decided to be together, I committed to our relationship. Somehow, she got it in her head that I was dating around—or maybe the friends she had talked her into wanting to break up. After we ended, she sprinted off to be with Virgil, and suddenly she was a wife at twenty.
Putting work in the forefront, I decided to no longer fall in love and focused on my career to get to where I am now as one of the highest paid racing drivers in the world. Both our parents still hung out from time to time, but I stayed away until a birthday celebration came up.
“Virgil’s still putting on a show like he’s a happily married man, lying through his teeth right now.”
I came off the elevator with security in front of me. “What’s he saying?” I approached Malik’s office door, thanked the security guard, and winked at his secretary. She smirked and pushed the button on her desk to let me enter. I left my bag on the side of the door and slouched down in the chair. Malik stopped typing, glared at me and shook his head.
“Same as usual, He’s working for the people to deflect from talking about his family.”
“Let me call you later. I made it to the track. I’m about to get some runs in before Malik loses his mind.”
“Tell Malik thanks for the tickets.”
“For sure.” I smiled at Malik, put my cell in my pocket, and leaned back against the chair, having a stare-off.
A grim expression marred his face. “Three different blogs want to run a story about you dating some model who was caught leaving your hotel room with no shoes, her hair all over her head, and in a Pierce Motor shirt.”
I held a spark of delight in my eyes because Malik acted like he wasn't out here fucking around before he got married. Hell, a few times, we swapped women. Malik’s been a great friend, and I hated to stress him out. Becoming the CEO of a billion-dollar business was a lot of pressure in general, but when you're a Black family-owned business, your expectations to succeed are higher.
“I hear you, Malik.” The groupie mentality from women in the racing industry is big, in all sports really, but something made it extra crazy when it came to driver.
“Do you? Only so much Sarai can clean up. We’ve learned from Kash how it turned out.” The tense lines on his face relaxed.
I scratched the side of my head and sighed. “Promise, I will get a better handle on my personal outings.”
“Glad to hear we're on the same page. Now, before you go to practice, we want to have you do a commercial.”
“Who is it for and how much?”
Malik passed a stack of papers to me. “A jewelry company is interested in you.”
“Jewelry?”
“The board thinks it would be a good look to bring in more female viewers. Women love jewelry and since you’re single, it gives the illusion to that demographic that you’re?—”
“Attainable.”
“Exactly.”
A devilish look crossed my face. “Basically, you want me to lie.”
“Never say never.”
“Shit. I will leave marriage for you, Kash, and Jackson.” I named off his older brother who started the company and signed me to the franchise as I flipped through the documents. I got to the amount of money they’re offering and whistled.
I stroked my cheek, ran both hands to the back of my neck and clasped them together. “Five million.”
Malik’s free hand moved to grab his cup of coffee. “One day’s work.” He clapped his hands together in amusement.
With a surprise in my voice, I blew my lips together. “A national campaign.”
“Come through after practice. We're going to a birthday party.” Malik and Kash kept a small circle of friends. Not too many people get the chance to say they’re friends with multiple billionaires on paper, but who act like normal people in front of you with the same problems.
I drummed my fingers on top of his desk. “For whom?”
“ Essence , Sarai’s friend.”
I flung my hand out. “Sarai is going to start her shit.”
“Sarai can speak for herself, and yes, we have shit to discuss, Laikin.” Sarai slammed the door behind us.
The slap to the back of my head was our normal routine when I pissed her off with my personal dealings that get me noticed by the media. “Hi, Sarai.”
Malik stood and reached for her hand to sit in his lap. “Babe, you're pregnant, no stress.” For a married couple, they were more like best friends and he never let Sarai felt like she was alone in raising their child, while they both had high profile careers. Her brown skin glowed under his admiration.
Sarai leaned her back against Malik. “Laikin, why do you make my work harder? We discussed you being more discreet.”
“Sis, I promise to behave.”
“Stop lying,” Sarai snickered and Malik raked his hand over her pregnant belly.
“How far along are you?”
“Six months. Oh, that reminds me. The invite is coming in the mail.”
The moment Malik snatched up Sarai, she made a big improvement in his life. Her cousin tried to scam Malik by making false harassment accusations. Sarai worked as his Publicist and got him the best team to find out the truth, which was all about jealousy of Sarai and Malik’s relationship. Once they became a solid team Sarai began fixing up not only his life, but his office, making it more layered, with a husky oak table, a carpet to match the drapes, and showcased art pieces on the walls. “Since when do men hang out at showers?”
“Since now! It’s a co-ed shower to find out what we’re having,” Sarai informed, standing up and walking around the desk in front of me.
A lopsided grin turned into a full-blown victory smile. “Can’t I just get you a present and call it a day?”
“Nope.” Sarai slipped her phone out of her skirt pocket, typing away.
I rose from the chair and slapped hands with Malik, holding onto the contract with my other hand, and faced them both.
“Sarai, what do you think about the jewelry company, Maze, asking me to do a commercial?” I bent down to pick up my gym bag.
“I told Malik to get the offer, something simple to make you look softer to the public.”
Malik held the door open for her to leave. She gently patted me on the arm, and Malik chuckled like a child who was watching his friend get in trouble.
“Women love me no matter what, not my fault.”
I walked alongside Sarai, stopped in front of the elevator, and pressed the button, waiting for the doors to open.
Sarai moved with grace and confidence. “Love and sex are two different things, sir.” Sarai ignored me, going to her office.
“Sex is all I need!” I shouted and a few gasps spread throughout the floor, making all the women stare at me.
A beautiful woman hiked up her skirt, put her hands on her hips, and offered, “I can help you with that.”
I leaned against the wall, twirled my finger around for her turn in front of me. “I bet you can.”
“Laikin!” Sarai screamed my name, making me jump as the elevator dinged. I climbed inside, stretched my hand up pretending it was a phone and mouthed call me .
* * *
Hearing the roar of the cars lined up against the side ready to take off, I checked my gloves and helmet, and walked up to my favorite girl I like to call Princess.
“Talbot, Princess ready?” Stepping into the sun filled afternoon to do a few laps always gave me a peace of mind.
Giving him a fist bump, he stood back, and I climbed into the car, checking all my equipment.
Talbot stalked to the front of the car and lowered the hood. “Princess is ready. Are you coming out tonight?”
“Malik told me about the party, but I need to rest before the big day.”
Talbot smirked, which meant he knew that I was bullshitting him. Meeting him through Kash and Malik made him a brother from another mother. Often, he’d be out with me on some of my adventures at the clubs. The camera only wanted a shot of me, and he liked to be in the background.
“Rest my ass. You have plans to get some ass tonight?”
Although at my big age of thirty, I should be thinking of marriage and kids I was not letting the past drown me. Responsibility came with those attachments though, and right now, I was curious to travel and expand my brand and investments so I could retire by the time I hit fifty with no cares in the world.My phone rang suddenly from my passenger seat and I picked it up and saw Brett's name on the screen. Before I pulled into traffic, I put him on speakerphone.
“He better need something important,” I mumbled to myself.
I pulled up to the light and asked, “Hello?”
A small voice came through the phone. “Laikin.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Kayne. Where are you?”
Feeling like I was in trouble, I smiled at Kayne checking on my whereabouts. “At work, Kayne. Where’s your uncle?”
“He said I can call you.”
A question lingered in Talbot’s eyes.
“Okay, are you good?”
“I want to see you, and Mommy said you're probably working.”
A knot caught in my throat. Amena was put on the backburner of my mind after I dropped her off. The second I walked out of her parents’ home, I’d made my mind up to not look back, which would only get those same old feelings started again. Hearing Kayne calling looking for me made me smile.
The worry on Talbot’s face turned up a notch as he listened in on the call.
“Buddy, where’s your mom?’
“Mommy’s working too.”
I felt my lip twist in a snarl. “Working where?”
Talbot tapped on his watch to let me know it was time to get started.
“I don’t know.” Kayne laughed at something and the phone rustled in the background so I pulled it closer to my ear.
There was a sweet edge to her voice. “Hello?”
“Amena.”
“Sorry he called you. I told Brett to keep him off the phone,” she explained crisply.
I could hear my voice brimming with distaste. “Is that all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Kayne said you informed him I’m too busy to talk with him.” It nearly took me a split second to remember we’d talk on the phone often during school. Amena had strict rules growing up. She wasn’t able to go out past eight pm, and on the phone, I’d snap a lot thinking it was unfair. With her son wanting to call me, I’d hate to have that same feeling again.
Amena tried to speak in a neutral tone. “Laikin.”
“Keep your personal feelings out of it.”
“Excuse me?” she snapped.
“Kayne’s a kid. If he wants to hang out, I don’t mind.” No, I never planned on spending all my time with the kid, but he was pretty cool when we met, and I could see that he needed a friend.
“Laikin, we used to be friends. I’d hate to curse you out about my child,” Amena continued in a biting tone. I heard background noise from a TV.
“Friends, right. Amena, I have to go.” Not waiting for her to respond, I hung up and tossed it to Talbot to put in the bag, then secured my gloves.
Signaling I was ready to go, everybody moved to the side and I pumped the gas waiting for the countdown to begin.
“Show them what you got,” I mumbled to myself and took off on the track at a high speed, watching the times on the clock maneuver for another few laps before coming back to the garage. Going to get cleaned up, I left the car with the team to check over and showered before meeting the guys.
* * *
“To the new season, bro! You looked good out there,” said one of my pit crew members and best friends, Colson. He was holding a bottle in the air and letting a stripper dance on his lap. After my test runs, we decided to kick back, have a few drinks, and see some ass before my schedule got too busy.
I threw another stack at Remy, the head dancer, and watched her turn around with her ass in front of me. I slapped her ass a few times as she sniggered and crawled back in my lap.
She flipped her long red hair to the side. “Come home with me.”
I caressed her cheek. “Remy, we both know you. It ends up with you running.” The soft curves of her hips in the black thong held a hidden treasure.
I ignored the roll of her eyes and pressed lips. “That was one time, Laikin.”
“One is too many.” A flash bulb went off, which caused me to move her to the side, hop up from the couch, and grasp the sneaky photographer that got in our section. I glared at the security guard who was not doing his job and shoved the guy toward him.
“You motherfuckers never leave me alone!” I slammed the camera on the ground and stomped on it as another camera went off, letting me know that his boys had snuck inside.
I smashed the camera on the ground until it broke.
“Ah shit,” Colson uttered, knowing I hated photographers. Being in the spotlight came with perks, and I handled it well and did the normal interviews and magazines, but constantly getting in my personal business was off-limits.
“Aye, man, you owe me for that,” the photographer spat, trying to grab the broken pieces. I waved for the main bodyguard, Lee, to get him out of here.
“Take him out and make sure he’s squared away.”
I passed him a few dollars to pay him off and reached for the bottle to take a sip, then grasped Remy and brushed against her ear.
“You going to put in work tonight?”
She shivered in my arms. I bit my bottom lip, stared down at her curvy 5’6” frame, and ran my tongue against my lips.
“My boy, we're out.” I slapped hands with Colson, letting him close out with the other crew, and left the VIP and headed down the stairs to our waiting cars. Tonight, I went out with a driver since I knew someone would be coming home with me. Remy and I stumbled into the backseat to avoid more exposure. My driver held the door open, and I helped her hop in, not wasting time.
“What about my clothes?”
“Fuck those clothes. I got you.”
Remy tried to kiss me on the lips, and I moved my head to the side.
“Are you still not going to kiss me on the mouth, Laikin?” Remy's voice sounded like someone had vacuumed a parakeet out of its cage.
“Remy, we’ve been down that road. I don’t do the kissing thing. If you can’t handle the situation, you can get out.”
I leaned forward and tapped the partition to tell my driver to wait when he started the car to leave.
Remy grasped my arm. “No, baby, I just thought we meant more to each other.”
“Since when?”
“Damn, I thought since your dick has been down my throat a few times, you could kiss me on the lips.”
“Remy, I don’t even kiss your pussy. We fuck and that’s it. Anything beyond that will not happen. Are we staying or going?”
Ignoring my warning, Remy got on her knees and unzipped my pants. I tapped the partition and motioned for the driver to leave the strip club.