He threw his hands up. “I’m not trying to get off into your business, bro?—
“That’s exactly what you doing tho’,” I cut in.
“Aight peep,” he paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I notice shit. That’s all bro.”
“Here you go,” I said with a frown. “You noticed what, J?”
He laughed. “You know I’m in the business of reading people.”
“I don’t need to be read, nigga.”
He threw his hands up again. “I can’t help it. Call it a gift from God, brodie.” I shook my head and he continued. “Like I was saying… I notice shit. I noticed a shift in you as soon as you shook hands with girl.”
I drew back with a frown, sucking my teeth. “A shift?”
He made a face. “Yeah, nigga, a shift. Then you tell us you taking the project on and don’t want us to work with her at all.” He laughed. “You ain’t never been that protective over a female we in business with.”
I shrugged. “Mo—Mahogany’s cool. The contract is important to me. I didn’t want you niggas hounding her. Nothing more, nothing less.”
He twisted his lips up at me. “Yeah aight. That sounds like bullshit, my nigga. I ain’t gon’ lie.”
I took a deep breath and stared over at him. “Fuck is all of this about, Judah?”
“Ain’t seen that sparkle in your eye since…” he paused. “Since before… you know. No homo but… I’m liking what I’m seeing. That’s all. I ask about girl and about the business end of things because a lot is on the line and she is married. So?—”
“Don’t worry about what’s going on. I got it.”
He squinted. “You can’t tell me not to worry about what’s going on when I’m the director of ventures and partnerships, bro.”
I sucked my teeth. “Now niggas wanna throw titles around.” I laughed. “This don’t sound like a business conversation.”
He laughed. “Aight, aight. Look… it’s both. Feel me? I just want to make sure you know what you doin. You know what you doin right?”
I took a sip of my drink and studied Judah. He wasn’t coming from a place of being nosey. I knew this because I knew him. Regardless of where he was coming from, I didn’tfeel comfortable disclosing anything personal when it came to Mahogany and I. Not because I was ashamed or wanted to keep her a secret but because I respected her. Mahogany was serious about her reputation. It wasn’t my place to say anything about us to him, even if he was coming from a stand-up place.
“I don’t know what you talkin about, talking about sparkles in my eyes and shit… but we’re good. Everything with business is copacetic.”
“Wasn’t a couple weeks ago when she was off the project,” he pointed out, steady smirking. “Look bro… your business is your business. I know you and you won’t say shit but… game recognize game and whatever's going on looks good on you. No homo.”
I didn’t say anything else. Not about Mahogany, at least. I walked back over to my desk and switched the conversation to the meeting I had coming up. As I sat across from Judah, discussing the plans for the next investment, I thought about the last time he was invested in what I had going on, personally.
Judah slida gold envelope across the desk, and I stared down at it. “Fuck is this?”
He shrugged. “A little stress reliever.”
I slid it over, closer to me before picking it up. Engraved on the front of the envelope was my name. I brushed my fingers over it and shifted my eyes up at him. He reached for his drink, took a sip and nodded towards the envelope. “Wait to open—aight then.”
Before he could tell me to wait to open it, I tore into it. I pulled the card out and sat back against the chair as I read over it with dipped brows. “Fuck is this?” I asked again, addingemphasis on is. Because what the fuck was it? Shit read like an invitation to a club. An exclusive one that was clearly by invitation only. When I got to the line about 'wildest fantasies' I knew then that that’s exactly what it was.
I looked up at him. “Nigga.”
He shrugged. “Like I said... stress relief. I tried to tell you to wait to open it so shit wouldn’t be weird.” He laughed and went for his drink again.
“My daughter just died and you give me an invitation to a sex club?”
He didn’t say anything. Just looked over at me with worried eyes. Nova Ray had been gone for five months now, and every day had been spent with my head underneath water. I was drowning in grief, barely making it.
“It’s not just an invitation, bro,” he said. “It’s an escape and from where I’m sitting you can use one.”
