Luxe
Two weeks later
I had given Savion all the information that I had on the painting.
It’d been two weeks, and I was ready to go back to my normal life.
Every time I looked up, Ghost was there.
He was quiet and kept to himself, so it was kind of like he was invisible.
That probably was the best part. He wasn’t in the way and didn’t stop me from handling business.
I descended the stairs, finding Ghost standing by the front door like he was every morning.
“He still don’t have an update?” I asked as I opened my Birkin that was on the table and switched my items into my Louis Vuitton tote.
“He sent some men over to Argentina. He’s waiting to hear something.”
“Got it.”
I’d been asking Ghost for updates because Savion didn’t ever want to tell me anything whenever I asked him about it.
He was acting as if it was some huge secret or something.
I felt like I should be kept in the loop, because it was my life, but I handed over everything to him because I hated doing detective work.
I didn’t even do all that digging when it came to a man.
I paid people to do that shit for me. If there was something that I needed to know about a man, I used my discernment or let it come to me in a dream.
Ghost opened the door for me, and we exited the house.
Somewhere along the lines, he talked me into letting him drive me around.
It was weird, because I’d been driving myself since I was fifteen.
Daddy taught me how to drive and then bought me my first car for my sixteenth birthday.
I’d never let any of his men drive me anywhere.
Ghost was so adamant, I just stopped fighting him when I realized there was no winning when it came to him.
I hopped into the back seat of the Escalade.
Ghost shut the door and jumped into the driver’s seat.
As he pulled away from the house, I checked my emails.
I always tried to stay on top of them because they’d build up, and then it would take days just to get through all of them.
My company was doing great. People knew I was their go-to person if they wanted the best of the best, so there were always new people trying to work with me.
The way my trust was set up, I didn’t just take on any client. They had to be heavily referred or go through a vetting system. Even then, some people slipped through the cracks and jeopardized me.
The truck came to a halt. When I looked up, I noticed we were sitting in the drive-thru line of Ellianos. Ghost knew that I needed my morning coffee to get me through the first half of my workday.
By the time he pulled up to order, he stopped at the window instead of going up further for me to order my drink like he been doing.
“What can I get for you today?” the woman asked when she opened the window.
“Let me get a large caramel Frappuccino with extra caramel,” Ghost replied.
My mouth dropped to my lap. I was shocked that he remembered my order. Well, I guess it was bound to happen with me repeating it so much.
He paid for the drink, and she shut the window. I peeped him peeking at me through the rearview mirror.
“What?” I asked, not knowing if he wanted a treat or something for remembering my order.
The woman came back with my drink. He handed it to me, and I roughly rubbed his head, and then said, “Good boy.”
Ghost whacked my hand away and pulled from the building.
The rest of the ride was silent. It didn’t take long to make it to my office.
Brielle stood outside at the curb with her iPad, awaiting my arrival.
I opened the door, and my pump touched the concrete.
My ponytail tugged, and I fell back against the seat.
I gasped.
“What I told yo’ ass about touching doors and shit?”
Ghost stepped out the truck and rounded to my side. He shut the door and then opened it back like a lunatic. I was speechless.
Brielle stood there with wide eyes, but she didn’t utter a word. She’d been working for me so long that she knew not to interfere in my business. She of all people knew that I could handle myself if need be.
I climbed out the truck, and Brielle fell in stride alongside me. I felt the stroke of her hand against the nape of my neck, fixing my hair that Ghost had fucked up.
“The background check that you were waiting for came back this morning,” she said as we entered the building. “Also, Mr. Glassco called. He wants you to do a job for him. He said that he didn’t want to discuss it over the phone and asked to set up a meeting with you.”
“Okay, get on it,” I said as we stepped onto the elevator.
“Right.”
From my peripheral, I saw her typing something on her phone. We rode the elevator all the way up to the top floor. It dinged and the doors opened, displaying Luxury Acquisitions. It never gets old seeing my logo on the wall whenever I come into the office.
Brielle followed me to my office that looked out at the Downtown Montgomery skyline with my floor-to-ceiling windows. Rounding my desk, I took a seat in my teal chair and placed my belongings on the desk.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Brielle said from the doorway and shut the door behind her.
Ghost’s ass was probably somewhere in the lobby lurking, waiting for something to happen like always.
I would give him that. He always gave me my privacy whenever I was in the office.
I didn’t have to worry about him breathing down my neck.
Once he found out that I had weapons all over the office as well, it allowed him to breathe a bit better.
One thing my brother Wicked always taught me was that if you stayed ready, you didn’t have to get ready. I was always prepared for the worst.
My butt stayed glued to my chair most of the morning. When lunch time rolled around, I decided that I wanted to get some fresh air and go out and grab me a bite to eat instead of having something delivered.
Picking up my phone, I dialed Ghost’s number.
“Yeah?” He answered on the first ring.
“Have them bring the truck around. I want to go to lunch.”
“Okay.”
The call disconnected, and I powered off my iMac and then gathered my belongings. When I exited the office, Ghost was standing by the elevator, waiting for me. He pressed the down button and continued to stare at me as I stopped at Brielle’s desk.
“Hold all my calls. I’m going to lunch. I’ll probably be gone about an hour.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Brielle nodded.
Ghost held the elevator for me. I stepped underneath his arm, getting a whiff of his cologne.
That man knew he always smelled excellent whenever he came around me.
Probably the best smelling man that I’d ever seen in my life.
I’d been wanting to ask him what he wore, but I also didn’t want him to know how much his scent impacted me.
Ghost seemed like the type that would get bigheaded after a compliment.
He stood in front of me, towering over me as we rode the elevator down to the first floor. My eyes shut as I deeply inhaled his scent. It should be a crime to smell this damn good and be this fine. Lord.
The dinging of the elevator was what brought me from my thoughts. We stepped off, passing everyone in the lobby as we made our way to the exit. The truck was waiting for us at the door when we got outside.
“Luxe?” I heard someone call my name. By the time I turned around, a box was shoved into my arms. The guy kept walking down the sidewalk.
Ghost looked back and snatched the box away from me.
He opened the back passenger door of the truck and shoved me inside.
Before I could even blink, Ghost had shut the door and crossed the street to the other side before opening the box.
From the softness of his facial expression, I could sense that it wasn’t that much of a threat. Ghost jogged back across the street and got in the driver’s seat. He exhaled before turning to me and said, “It’s just flowers.”
“Flowers?” My brow arched to my hairline. I hadn’t been talking to anyone for someone to go out their way to give me flowers. “Is there a note?”
“No.”
“Strange.”
“Where are you going for food?”
“I was actually thinking about Water Works. I have a taste for one of their burgers.”
Ghost nodded and pulled away from the curb.
Water Works was this rooftop restaurant at the top of the Trilogy Hotel. A few months ago, I stumbled across the place when I was walking downtown. I liked to come at night so that I could enjoy the view, but it was cool in the daytime as well.
Valet grabbed the truck while we went inside.
“How many?” the hostess asked soon as we stepped off the elevator.
“One,” I responded.
She looked from me and Ghost and then grabbed one menu. That was normally the reaction that people had whenever we went to a restaurant. Ghost wasn’t there for leisure. He always stood off to keep an eye on our surroundings while I ate.
“Dining inside or out?”
“Outside, please.”
I followed her out onto the rooftop, and she took me to one of the tables near the back. I took my seat, and Ghost stood tall behind me while I stared at the menu. It wasn’t like I didn’t already know what I was about to eat.
“Your waitress will be right over to take your order.” Her eyes bounced back to Ghost. I just know she was trying to figure out who I was supposed to be since I had security with me.
Most people from our world knew exactly who I was whenever we crossed paths, but then there were the random people who just assumed that I was someone important to be walking around with a bodyguard.
“You not hungry?” I asked Ghost over my shoulder.
“I’m good,” was the only response I got. I’d never seen Ghost eat anything since he’d been around me. It was like he was just surviving off air and saliva.
“You really need to start eating something. It’s not healthy to be going all day on an empty stomach.”
“Hi, I’m Whitney,” the waitress said, interrupting me. I hadn’t even noticed that she walked up to the table. “What can I get started for you today?”