“So, is that what you want? You wanted me to be available to take you on dates and shit?” The question had her pretty eyes rolling into her head.
“I want you to act like you want more from me than what’s between my legs! You can’t expect to just come around whenever you want and fuck me, then disappear and only pop up when another man has my attention!” Her hands balled up at her sides, and I almost laughed at how comical that was. She was five foot nothing and bucking up on me like she wanted to take off on me.
“I’d hardly call the two niggas I caught you withmen,sweetheart.” I stopped short of telling her exactly why I thought so when she let out an aggravated groan.
“That’s the least of your worries, Valentino! I’m telling you I needmorethan what you’re trying to give me, and the only thing you can do is talk about the next nigga! You’re not perfect! Just because you look good and have money and have a way with my body doesn’t mean that you can treat me however you want!”
It took everything in me not to tell her that all those reasons were exactly why I could. Obviously, that wasn’t going to be the right answer, and I didn’t want to upset her any more than she already was. “What you want me to do? It’s not like I’m staying away just for the hell of it. I’m a busy nigga, so there will be times that I can’t come over here and pet your head just because you want me to!”
The way her eyes bucked let me know she wasn’t feeling what I’d just said, but I wasn’t lying. I had my hands in many pots, and I was still trying to find my damn money. It wouldn’t make any sense to stop in the middle of my work just to drop in on her. At least that’s not how I’d ever conducted business, but at the same time, I hadn’t had a woman I was willing to claim as anything more than pussy. Every woman before Essence knew what the fuck they were getting themselves into, and they were cool with the way I did shit. She was clearly one of those clingy ones who wanted more time and attention than I could promise to give her.
“Well, you and I both know I don’t have a problem finding a nigga who can.” She rolled her neck and put her hand on her hip, playing that tough shit up.
“You bold as fuck right now ain’t you?” I couldn’t help chuckling at her act. She was just on the verge of tears a second before and now she was trying to boss up on me.
“Get out, Valentino!” she shouted, pointing at the door dramatically.
“No, you don’t even want me to leave. I’m starting to think you like to argue with a nigga, so I can fuck the attitude up out you,” I teased, grabbing the front of her shirt and pulling her to me. As expected, her soft ass molded against me, and I leaned in for a kiss. “Say what you really want, Essence.”
She didn’t speak, but she didn’t push me away either. Her ass wanted me, and the way her lips turned up for me was further proof. Putting her out of her misery, I brought my lips down on hers and slipped my tongue in her mouth, making her whimper. She was always so hot and ready for a nigga, I knew she was soaking the seat of her panties. Deepening our kiss, I grabbed a handful of her ass, but she let out a squeal and pushed against my chest. Pulling away from me, she narrowed her eyes angrily.
“You’re not gonna fuck your way out of this. Take your ass back to wherever you’ve been this long!” she snapped, and my jaw tightened. She was really acting like I hadn’t just caught her ass cheating on me, but I didn’t have time for this shit.
“Bet,” I grunted, turning on my heels so I could leave. I was already late meeting Mauricio after fucking around with her. Heading out to my car, I shot Will and Ace a head nod before pulling away and going back to the casino.
As soon as I reached my office, I checked the time and saw just how fucking late I was, but the sound of someone clearing their throat stole my attention. Frowning, I turned around to see Mauricio and two of his henchman lounging in my shit like they paid bills. “It’s about time you got here. I didn’t take you as the type to be on CP time,” his lame ass joked, but when he saw that my expression wasn’t changing, he stopped laughing.
“Who the fuck let you in my office?” I wanted to know because they were definitely getting fired. It seemed like everytime I turned around, one of my employees was doing some incompetent shit.
“That’s not important. I’m only in the office because it’s the more comfortable place to wait unless you provide a waiting room.”
Snorting, I rounded my desk to the safe, so I could get his ass out of my office. I kept my back turned to him while I punched in the code and grabbed the envelope with his money inside. “I don’t give two fucks about you being comfortable. Next time, wait on the floor or some shit. You know this was out of pocket,” I told him and tossed the envelope on the desk.
I waited while his goon weighed it out and gave him a nod, so he knew it was all there.
Mauricio stood slowly. “Until next time,” he said, not acknowledging what I’d said about waiting in my office.
As soon as he was out the door, I started looking around to make sure everything was still in its place and that his short ass hadn’t left anything. Despite the agreement with my father, I didn’t trust that little nigga for shit, and that only had me more suspicious of him.
“Vega?”
“Who the fuck let that nigga Mauricio in here?” I snapped when Arnez appeared in my doorway, looking stupid.
His expression was genuinely confused, and I had to resist the urge to slap the fuck out of him. The nigga was supposed to be the head of security, but every time I turned around some. Shit, was going on right up under his damn nose.
“I don’t know, I was on the floor trying?”
“Where’s Santana?” I cut him off when I realized his ass didn’t have answers.
“He, uhhh. He left not too long after you, sir.”
The amount of people around me not doing what the fuck they were supposed to was part of the reason I couldn’t be onEssence’s ass like I wanted, and I started to call her ass so she could see. Shaking my head, I pulled my phone out and sent my brother a text to get his ass back. “Go find out who the fuck let that funny talking ass nigga in here!” I angrily looked around my office, even though I’d already checked everything for tampering before making my way out into the hall behind Arnez.
Since I was late with Mauricio, I was even later for the count, and I needed to get out there. I moved across the floor quickly and let myself into the room where only three other people were at a time. The two older ladies who exchanged money for chips were sitting at the window, doing their job. When they saw me, they both spoke. Not wanting to be rude, I spoke back but didn’t chat them up like normal since I was on a mission. Reaching the last door in the room, I ducked inside where a man was putting money into a money counter and nodded in approval at the amount. We were slowly digging our way out of the hole that being robbed had put us in, but I would’ve still preferred my shit back. Tray didn’t have us any closer to finding the hacker, the white family, or who was behind the robbery. His ass kept either coming up on dead ends or sending us on blank missions, which was also eating up a lot of my time.
Satisfied with the count, I left in search of whatever goofy muthafucka let dude in my office and scanned the floor for Kya. Her nosy ass saw everything and obviously didn’t have a problem telling it. I spotted her at the bar, loading a tray with drinks, and made my way over.
“Hey, Mr. Vega?”
