“And I can,” I jumped in, getting annoyed because even though I was in charge, he always only had smoke for me. Santana’s ass was sitting right there, scrolling on his damn phone. Although we were equals in this shit, our pops was only focusing on my role. It had always been that way, and I was used to it since Santana was the baby of the family, but at the moment, I wasn’t trying to hear that shit. “I been handling shit, and this isn’t any different.”
“Well, act like it! If too much time passes, muthafuckas gon’ think you’re weak, and then we’ll have a whole new set of problems on our hands! Next, it’ll be more than just those greasy haired Italians in our shit, and that’s not something we’re equipped for.”
That caught Santana’s attention, and he finally lifted his head with his face screwed up. “Fuck we still paying them muthafuckas for anyway?” he asked, and my pops’ neck craned in his direction for the first time since sitting down.
“To keep the peace! We’ve been over this! Since our operation isn’t the kind that feeds many, we need to keep shit cordial until we get one that does!” our pops snapped frustratedly.
Just like me, he was all about the money, so the drug and gun business wasn’t some shit he’d ever been interested in. In his words, it was a lot of money, but there was an almost equal or greater level of death involved in both. I couldn’t lie; it made perfect sense to me except in situations like this. The fact that we didn’t have the numbers to stop the Italians from digging in our pockets was considered a loss to me, just like the one we’d taken last week. Sure, keeping their palms greased ensured our business continued to thrive, but after years of that shit, even I felt like we needed to renegotiate our terms. Now wasn’t necessarily the time for that shit, though.
“I been told you we need to hop deeper into the game. We’re gonna always be prey to muthafuckas if we don’t switch shit up” Sosa complained and I let out another sigh.
“Why don’t you and this nigga worry about finding our god damn money from our main business before you tryhoppinginto some other shit.” My pops huffed, standing to his feet before heading to the door. “The word has already gotten out about the hit, so if Mauricio asks, let him know we have everything under control, and once the drop is finished, go find that nigga Bear.”
As soon as he left the room, I hit Sosa with a side eye. “Nigga, what the fuck was that? He was already on one. Wasn’t nobody tryna hear a lecture.”
“He gone, ain’t he?” His ass shrugged, and my mouth went slack at how fucking goofy he was. Opting not to keep entertaining him, I returned my attention to my computer screen and had to do a double take. It had been two weeks since I’d left Essence in Dubai, and because of all the shit I had on my plate, I hadn’t thought about her at all. Did that mean I didn’t immediately recognize her or remember how well her pussy gripped my dick when I saw her strutting into my casino? Hell, no! Before we even made it to her room, I’d planned to see her again, but clearly business had gotten in the way. Seeing hernow had her right back on my radar, and I got stuck for a minute watching her sexy ass look around in amazement. She was just as beautiful as I remembered and just as put together.
Once again, she was fully made up, but instead of the curly updo, she had long straight hair with a part down the middle. My eyes traveled down her body, instantly getting tight at how much cleavage she had showing, and the high ass split of the black dress she was wearing. She’d definitely gained the attention of more than a few patrons. I moved to the edge of my seat watching their heads turn in her direction, but I was damn near foaming at the mouth when I saw bitch ass Maxwell walk up and lock hands with her.
“What the fuck?”
The way they interacted let me know they weren’t just meeting but were pretty fucking familiar, and I instantly didn’t like that shit. Maxwell was one of those lawyers who only defended criminals and got them off every time. His connections to such criminals gave him access to shit that regular upstanding citizens didn’t have access to, like my fucking casino. Until now, I never had a problem with him besides thinking he was an annoying, pompous jack ass, but I didn’t mind as long as he was spending money. Seeing him with Essence, though, that shit turned my indifference to contempt in thirty seconds flat.
Before I could come from behind my desk, one of the cocktail waitresses was knocking on the door to tell me that Mauricio had arrived. I’d forgotten all about that nigga, but the reminder instantly snapped me out of my jealous daze.
“Fuck. Go ahead and send him in,” I told her, turning to the safe behind my desk chair. “Make sure shit running smooth on the floor for me, and I’ll be out there in a few, so I can check the counts.”
“Man, don’t think I don’t know you’re just sending me out there so I won’t say shit to dude’s bitch ass.” Sosa grunted frombehind me even as I heard him sliding backward in his chair to go do it.
“At least you know.” I absentmindedly counted the $100 bills that were tucked inside a cash bag to make sure it was all there. We still hadn’t even partially recovered from the robbery, and I’d been funneling in money from my home safe just to fund the floor, which was how Mauricio was even about to get paid. I knew within the month we’d just barely be on track, but I didn’t want Sosa getting us into some shit and having Mauricio asking questions. Plus, if he started some shit, that was just going to hold me up from catching Essence, and I definitely wasn’t trying to have that.
Thankfully, he carried his ass on without dragging it a minute or so before Lexie brought Mauricio and his men in. I was sitting at the desk by the time they entered, and I stood to greet him with a handshake. Just like my pops said, he was greasy as fuck. The son of a made man, he went around doing collections with a gang of security because his father knew he couldn’t handle much else. I couldn’t deny that he was a certified fuck up. Goofy ass nigga was still walking around, dressing like the muthafuckas inGood Fellas,from the shiny ass suits to the oily ass hair. His ass was comical, but I bit back my laughter and greeted him with a blank face. “Mauricio.”
“Vega.” I didn’t miss the inflection in his voice saying my name, but I was on a mission to get rid of his ass, so I ignored it instead of calling him on it.
Handing over the cash bag, I started to move from behind my desk, hands casually tucked in the pockets of my slacks. “It’s all there, so we’re good until next month.” I nodded, hoping he’d count that shit and carry his ass on, but obviously he had some other shit in mind. Instead of answering, he handed the bag off to his little henchman and watched as the man quickly set the cash on a scale.
Giving a stiff nod to confirm what the fuck I’d said still didn’t get Mauricio out of my office, though. His eyebrows lifted in surprise, damn near touching his hairline. “Oh, I thought maybe because of your little issue last week you might’ve been short.” He feigned embarrassment, covering it with a chuckle, but I didn’t find shit funny.
“Is that why you brought two more of these beefy muthafuckas with you?” I snorted. “As you can see, that wasn’t the case, so can you kindly take your money and get the fuck on?” My patience had run out, and coupled with the slick ass shit he’d said, I knew it was time for him to go before I lost my cool. He didn’t seem at all fazed by the disrespect, though. Still grinning cunningly, he threw his hands up.
“Okay, don’t pop me, Fifty Cent!” His weak ass joke fell flat when I didn’t join in his laughter. I didn’t know what type of niggas he was used to, but I didn’t find humor in muthafuckas using micro aggressions. If the stakes weren’t so high, I’d have knocked his short ass off his feet. I let him make it, though, crossing my arms with a sigh. “You don’t get it? You know Fifty?never mind.” He tossed his hand dismissively. “The Costa family thanks you. See you same time next month.” Tipping his head, his ass finally exited with his flunkies following closely behind, and I didn’t even wait a full minute before I left in search of Essence.
I made it to the main floor and scanned the room, quickly finding her at Maxwell’s side, looking bored as he entertained possible clients. He was so engrossed in his conversation that when she tried to get his attention, he swatted her off like she was a fly bothering him. Obviously, he’d only brought her as arm candy and had no intention of acknowledging her past showing her off. Her forehead wrinkled at the dismissal, but she didn’t snap on that nigga like I knew she wanted to, likely because she could sense she was in a room full of criminals.
My feet were moving toward her almost involuntarily, and because she was looking in the opposite direction, I was able to get close enough to smell her sweet ass perfume before she turned around and noticed me. Recognition had her red painted lips falling apart as she blinked rapidly, and I saw the moment she stopped breathing. For a second, it looked like she was going to try to run, but I wasn’t having that. Wrapping my hand around her forearm, I blocked her exit and grinned.
“Damn, sweetheart, you look even better than I remember.” My eyes roamed her body, and I licked my lips like I could still taste her there. That shit snapped her out of her trance, though, and the same nasty look she’d given Maxwell was directed at me. She discreetly snatched her arm from my grip and took a step back.
“Do Iknowyou?” She looked me up and down with disdain before haughtily turning her head away.Oh, she calls herself having an attitude,I thought, grinning as I pressed against her.
My lips were damn near touching her ear as I leaned in close. “You got jokes, huh? Bet you’ll know me when I have you bent over my desk, fuckin’ this attitude up out you.” Her little shocked gasp was funny as fuck, and she twisted her neck, narrowing her eyes evilly.
“Tuh! I wouldn’t let you near my pussy again! I don’t know where you came from, but I’m here with a nigga who actually wants to date me, so carry on about your night,Valentino!”she hissed lowly, not realizing that shit was actually sexy as hell to me.
I didn’t mention that she’d been the one who was on that one-night shit or that she’d lied and said she didn’t have a nigga. That still wasn’t a concern of mine. I glanced over at Maxwell, who was now paying attention to our exchange but hadn’t left the conversation. Clearly, we were two different types of niggas because not only would Inotleave my woman to chop it up witha bunch of niggas, but I definitely wasn’t going to have one as close to her as I was and not break his fucking face.
“Who, Maxwell?” I scoffed, making her eyes widen. “I’m ’bout as worried about that nigga as you. Say you’ll meet me by the bathrooms over there, and I won’t smack the fuck out of him right now.”
