I also wasn’t dumb enough to call him out on it right there. To question his “investors” in front of my own staff, I would have had to explain how I knew what I knew. I was not about to say, “Well, a crew of organized criminals who bankroll my campaigns told me your money is funny.” Besides, information like that is leverage. You do not waste it on a dramatic moment over lunch. You keep it in your pocket for when you really need to squeeze somebody, when a vote is close, when a contract is up, when you want something they are not ready to give. As long as I was the one who knew Sincere was lying and did not say it, I stayed useful to everybody.
“Fine. But how does this community benefit?” I went on. “What do they get right now, not just after everything is finished and the rents go up?”
Sincere leaned in a little. “Construction jobs with local hiring written into the contracts, in addition to the set number of units priced lower than the rest, so people from the neighborhood can actually apply and qualify, and the community space in the building that is reserved for local programming, not just private events. I’m willing to also include a few retail spaces where we will prioritize neighborhood businesses first before we ever consider chains.”
Davis nodded a little at that. Rodriguez looked at me to see how I would play it.
“Written where?” I asked. “Because nobody in my ward trusts verbal promises. If we are going to calm people down, I need this spelled out somewhere I can point to.”
“In a community benefits agreement,” he said. “We can draft one. We can put in real numbers and targets. I am not saying we will give everybody everything they want, but I am not afraid to put what we are actually committing to on paper.”
Smiling, I nodded once. “Great.”
“So, what else do you need to solidify your support?”
“You loop my office in early, not after you already made decisions. You give me clear numbers I can take back to people, this many affordable units, this many jobs, this many slots for neighborhood businesses.”
He held my gaze, thinking, before replying, “We can work with that. We’re putting up a lot of time and money, so I’m not letting a few protests kill it.”
We talked more about details. Rodriguez talked about a rough timeline. My policy director suggested monthly check-ins with a small group of residents so they felt like they had a seat at the table.
By the time the meeting ended, I hoped that this would be enough to please Rico. “Jobs for the neighborhood” meant I could slide their construction crews and trucking companies onto the recommended vendor list. “Local businesses” in those storefronts meant I could quietly point Sincere toward coffee shops, convenience stores, and security firms that were really The Crown’s people on paper. My office being looped in early meant every big move touched my hands first, which meant it touched theirs if they wanted it to. On the surface, what we agreed to would calm the protests. Underneath, it gave me ways to feed The Crown.
They’d complain that I hadn’t forced Sincere to cut them in directly. That’s what Rico wanted, but I couldn’t sit in a public restaurant, as an alderman, and start talking about “my people” needing ownership in the deal. Sincere was too smart to agree to that, and I was too smart to leave a trail that tied me and The Crown together on a major project the media was already watching.
What I could do was quieter. When they heard I could steer subcontracts, recommend “trusted local partners,” and slow or speed permits, they’d understand I’d opened doors for them.
We stood, shook hands, and promised to follow up this week.
Sincere reached out his hand one more time. “Good talking, Alderman.”
“You too, Mr. Bellamy.”
As he walked out, I realized he wasn’t just some dude in a suit the Cartiers used to be their front businessman. He understood money, public anger, and how to use both. He knew how banks thought and how blocks moved. He didn’t scare easy, and he didn’t talk too much.
That was a problem.
Men like that were hard to box in. If I squeezed too hard for The Crown, he had the brains to go around me, to anotheralderman, to the media, to anyone hungry for a “local Black developer versus dirty politics” story. And if I didn’t squeeze enough, The Crown would start wondering if I was more loyal to my office than to them.
Sitting between a man like Sincere and a crew like The Crown was how people ended up on murals and in investigations.
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
Ever since we walked out of Langford’s office, Sienna had been on a nigga’s heels with nonstop text messages, pictures of outfits asking which one I liked, and even nudes.
This “arrangement” was her shot at exactly what she wanted: a man with money, a name with weight, and access to a world her daddy could not buy her into on his own. I saw the hustle and respected it. I had my own reasons for agreeing. As far as I was concerned, as long as I got to hit that pussy and this helped the project, everybody won.
By eight o’clock, I was parked in front of her house. It was a big brick house on a quiet street with a huge lawn and a circle driveway.
Minutes after I sent her a text that let her know I was there, the front door opened and Sienna stepped out with a short body fur, shorts barely covering anything, thighs out, and thigh-high boots hugging her legs. Wasn’t a hair out of place. She looked like one of those rich, beautiful women I followed on Instagram. That shit had my dick rock solid.
Finally, I was fucking with a woman who had her own money. She didn’t need me to save her. All she wanted was my rep and some dick. That was new, and it felt good.
She slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. Her scent filled the car. It was soft and sweet, but not childish, with notes of citrus, vanilla, and something floral under it.
“You smell good,” I said.
She tipped her chin, smiling. “Thank you.”
