Then, I heard the sliding doors open behind me. Mula stepped out, and the weight I didn’t even know I was holding fell right off me.
He looked relaxed. Not as heavy as he did when he checked Hurricane. His beard was sharp. His fade was clean. His chains caught the candlelight in all the right ways.
He wore black jeans and a monogram Dior collar shirt unbuttoned just enough to let his gold and diamond chains rest on his chest. On his feet were Dior shoes, and a pair oflight brown Cartier frames over his eyes pulled the whole look together. He lookedcomfortable. Like a man at peace.
He looked like he owned this mountain we were sitting on.
I stood up to greet him, and he walked right into my arms, like I was the only thing that ever made him stop moving.
“What’s up, baby? You smell expensive, and you look good,” he said as he took me into his arms. I felt his hand rest on my ass, giving me chills.
“Thank you, you look good and smell good, too. What you wearing?” I asked.
“Baccarat.”
We disconnected our hug, but before we sat down, he pulled me close again and kissed my lips.
“Get used to this because I like being affectionate,” he told me.
I blushed. “Okay, boo.”
We sat down, and Mula opened the bottle of D’usse that was on the table.
“So, can I ask questions now that you are more relaxed?”
I reached for the champagne because I didn’t want dark liquor. I was looking too classy to be drinking the usual hard liquor I loved. I could rest in my femininity and drink out of a flute glass.
“My bad about the way I came at you earlier. That nigga just had me tight, but yeah, you can ask your questions.”
“I understand, and I never knew he owed you so much money. I didn’t know he was broke either. He always has money and pays everyone else.”
“That’s not your fault, but I don’t want to talk about what happened. We gon’ have a good time while you’re stuck here.” He sipped his liquor from the bottle.
“I’m looking forward to it, but tell me the truth. Did you purposely fall out with Hosea to bring me to this house?”
“Lowkey, I did… him scrambling to get my money will keep him out of the way. After he pay me my money, you can go back to that nigga, but I doubt you’ll want to after being with me. You scared?”
“I’m not going back to him even if I gotta be alone. I’ll never be scared of anything while I’m with you.” I shot him an assuring smile.
It was crazy how life worked. I never thought I’d be in the hands of the man I wanted, but I didn’t jump the gun. Mula and Hurricane were beefing, so he was probably only using me as a pawn. I was going to move accordingly to spare my heart, but I wasn’t turning down anything he offered me when it came to this house.
Mula finally went to get our delicious food. When he had it all set up, I opened the heated containers and put food on the clear plates in front of us. We had filet mignon, smothered potatoes, collard greens, and a chocolate fudge cake.
“That looks so good. I can’t wait to eat some,” I said, almost drooling over the cake.
“I know you got a sweet tooth, that’s why I added it for dessert.”
“Thank you.” I blushed. Mula knew a lot about me, and I was glad he did because we could move past the getting to know each other stage.
As we ate, we talked more. Mula asked interesting questions, especially when he brought up the things I liked to do.
“You still be drawing and making your own clothes? I used to see you in custom shit, especially your swimwear. Now all I see you in is designer. I still remember you made everyone’s swimwear for your twenty-fifth birthday.”
“That dream died a long time ago. I still draw when I can, but Hurricane used to always tell me my shit wasn’t going nowhere.”I sipped my drink as I thought about all the red flags I had ignored.
“Well, you know I do more than this drug shit. Present me something, and I can probably plug your swimwear in stores. Get back to you, lady. You ain’t got shit to worry about no more. I like a woman with a talent.”
I blushed. “Thank you for noticing that I have talent.”
