Chapter 3
Her skin was gorgeous. As dark as mine. In just a thin purple G-string, sweat glistened off her body as well as glitter. Her long hair was light purple. Sleek, not a single strand out of place. Her face was mean in that way that said she was about her shit. I loved this demeanor.
We caught eyes and I tipped my head toward her, going and slipping a fifty in her panties.
Lovely’s Lounge was the best gentleman’s club in all of Atlanta. I wasn’t here for pleasure, though. I did all my important thinking at Lovely’s. After a lousy breakfast with my pops, my mind was racing. My fists seemed permanently clenched. And I couldn’t shake my anger.
The fresh stab of betrayal wouldn’t leave me. It was sticky. Soot under my nails. Following me every step I took.
I couldn’t let it go, no matter how hard I tried.
One thing was certain. I was not going to my parents’ house for dinner Friday night.
BLVCKJVCK wasn’t open all week, just Thursday through Sunday, and I never missed a night.
It wasn’t for the party, but to make sure things ran smoothly.
See, Pops relied on me to show up and take care of things, leaving him able to sit back at home and enjoy time with my mother. Funny how he forgot how things went.
I rolled my neck. Needing to release this tension and quick.
The room was dim and Wale could be heard coming through the house speakers.
The warm hues of black, purple, and blue lights created a calm ambiance.
It was early, so no one was here yet. The girls were practicing, getting comfortable and into their zones.
Hosts were taking chairs off tables, and the bartender was getting glasses ready.
In a couple more hours, this place would be alive with the upper echelon coming to see the best.
“She’s ready for you,” a hostess came and told me. Her hair was black and it brought out the black in her eyes, holding my gaze as I turned from Purple.
“What up, Athena?” I greeted her, leaning over to kiss her cheek and be polite.
Athena took the lead and began heading toward the back. “Not much, haven’t seen you in a minute.”
I watched the sway of her hips as she walked, admiring them. “Been too long.”
She tossed a smirk over her shoulder, as if she could feel my stare. “Uh-huh.”
We went down a long red corridor, the red-light district, before she stopped in front of a thick security door and pulled it open.
“Don’t be a stranger,” she said as I slipped on by her inside.
Regina Knighton was at her desk, leafing through a binder. Behind her a series of screens were up, showcasing the main floor and the private rooms Lovely’s offered.
Instead of sitting in one of the two leather chairs before her, I took a seat against the wall opposite her desk on the plush chaise lounge and made myself comfortable, undoing my shirt sleeves.
“The purple one is new,” I spoke up.
Regina smiled a little, going and shutting her binder and standing from her desk. The dark, form-fitting lace dress she wore captured my attention at once. She’d never been a dancer, but I didn’t have to use my imagination to envision what her body looked like beneath her clothes.
I was twenty-two and she was thirty when we first hooked up. The oldest woman I messed with. The only one who taught me anything. It wasn’t love, but it did wound my ego when she cut me off, when she got her fill of me and dismissed me. When she gave me a dose of my own medicine.
It took a minute, but we remained friends, because Regina was smart, an ear I could always go to outside of Cesar: a confidant.
“Want me to bring Cleo in here?” Regina offered as she rounded her desk and came over to me. I could smell her the closer she came, the perfume pulling me under a spell.
I was a man, but I wasn’t that man. Being aroused wouldn’t fix my problems. One could say it was where my problems stemmed.
My eyes fell on the particular screen that showcased Cleo in action. She was winding her body along a pole, hypnotizing those in view. “Nah, I’m straight.”
“I don’t see Cease out there,” Regina said as she glanced back at the screens.
I made a face. “He somewhere helping Gusher move.”
Regina came back to me, confused. A brow arching upward. “Gusher?”
“You never forget your first squirter,” I joked.
It was a moniker we’d fell upon one night when Cesar was telling me about this woman he’d taken home from the club.
“I turned that shit into a fountain,” he’d said. “Oughta call her Gusher.”
From there it had taken on. Because he’d gone and hit again, and I couldn’t blame him.
Some men, they were selfish from various conversations I’d had here and there, not caring if their partners came or not.
Me, I made it a goal, because nothing stroked my ego more than watching women become undone and consumed by my dick.
Watching their faces twist into anguish as they were in the throes of ecstasy.
Causing a woman to squirt? Top-tier shit. I wanted all that glory. All that rain.
Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It’s a wonder either of you get any pussy with your mouths.”
I opened my arms out, emphasizing my stature. “I think we both know I’m nice.”
She smirked as she went behind me, her hand running up my arm until she was massaging my shoulders. “What’s up, Poppa?”
I relaxed and let her work her magic on me. She knew how to make me feel good.
“Mmm.” I hummed, closing my eyes and trying to forget.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” she insisted.
Just like that it all came rushing back. “Pops fucked me over.”
“How so?” She was kneading her fists into my back, trying to work the tension away.
“My birthday Friday.”
She leaned over, her soft lips close to my ear. “I know.”
“And the only thing I want? The club. But he won’t sign it over because he doesn’t think I’m ‘mature’ enough to handle the power,” I told her. I steepled my fingers, staring out at the array of screens before me, watching various girls prep Lovely’s Lounge.
Regina kept on massaging me. “And what are you going to do about it?”
I sighed, thinking of the one thing that could change everything. Once I did it, there was no going back. “Tee been trying to go in with me on a project.”
Regina paused, catching on quick. “Tee Money? Your father’s rival?”
Tee ran another nightclub in Atlanta called Chamber.
It was also a happening spot for the young Black social crowd trying to have a good time.
He and my father had been rivals since I was a kid.
At one point, Tee’s place was more popular, until I grew up and helped my father turn Lounge into BLVCKJVCK.
It was a competition, and we were currently number one in town.
A few months back Tee had approached me when I was out running errands. He was old school, simple, and about his paper. He didn’t like my father, but he knew where the creativity lay: me. He mentioned turning Chamber around, or creating something new, and being willing to give me a percentage.
Naturally, back then, I’d said no. But of course, I hadn’t known my father wouldn’t give me what I wanted come all this time later.
“Precisely,” I responded. “At least with Tee I’d have a say, a share.”
Regina went back to work, remaining quiet. It was unlike her, and I knew she was thinking.
“What?” I probed when she’d been silent for too long.
“Is this what you really wanna do?”
It wasn’t, but Pops had forced my hand. After all that I’d done he had the nerve to say I wasn’t ready. That left me with no choice really. I could wait for the throne, or I could make my own. “Don’t have a choice.”
Regina patted my back. “Yeah, you’re not going to do it, though. So, I’m going to let you vent.”
Frustrated, I sighed, fearing she was right. “Why you say that?”
“Because you love your dad, and you’re loyal to your dad, and you’re not about to betray him like this.”
I was loyal, and I did love my pops, but he’d stuck me in the back first.
Regina kissed my cheek, squeezing my shoulder before coming and planting that nice ass on my lap. “You’re going to be patient, Z. Success means nothing with no one in your corner. You’re young, you still have time to become the boss you’re destined to be. But do it the right way.”
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her in my grasp, feeling her energy, and yet, I was still upset.
I went home and got my new house keys from the front desk before stopping inside my condo and changing into my workout clothes to go and hit the gym. Talking to Regina had helped, but I was still reeling, and if hitting the bag a few times didn’t work, I knew Cease would come through.
“Eaze!” Cesar greeted me with a handshake and a hug, pulling me in and patting my back. “So how we feeling?” He leaned down, as if he weren’t already shorter than my six-two, grinning up at me, being silly. “How’s it feel to be a CEO? Do I call you boss now?”
As if a switch had been hit, my fury refueled and I was back to square one.
I shook out my durag, trying to distract myself. “Nope.”
My tone gave away my attitude and Cesar lost his smile. “Damn, what he say?”
I met his gaze flatly. “That I’m not ready. That I should be trying to settle down than be in the club. That he needs more time to consider.”
Cesar whistled, looking at the ground. “Shit.”
“Indeed.” I put on my silky and focused on tying it. “Don’t matter though. I got another idea.”
“Word?” Cesar prompted.
The sound of clinking metal and the echoes of workout music could be heard all throughout Phat Fitness.
It was still early in the day, so it wasn’t particularly busy this Monday.
No one was around where Cesar and I stood by the weights.
In the mirror beside us, I could see I held all of Cease’s interest.
“Tee been wanting to work with me. I think it’s time I step out and become my own man,” I announced. “Make a new club and take over Atlanta’s nightlife.”
Cesar’s brown eyes enlarged. He took a step back, uneasy. “Tee Money?”