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I could hear the smile in Yoli’s voice. She was feeling Reign, but Reign wasn’t entertaining it at all.

“Now, what’s your problem?” demanded Topaz.

“Apple—”

She rolled her eyes. “So unprofessional.”

“This nigga can call you ‘Thickness’ and tell you that you’re pretty, but I can’t call you ‘Apple?’”

“You not special like me,” Yoli taunted.

“Shut up, Yoli,” we said simultaneously.

Topaz was right. I shouldn’t be calling her that. She assumed I did because of her clear, apple-green eyes or the apple products she used in her hair. But it was nothing that innocent. I called her that because she looked so fucking round and juicy. Like now, in her burgundy button-down that revealed just a little of her plentiful cleavage and the fitted, black pencil skirt that hugged her thick hips and thighs, she was mouthwatering.

She was also taken. But what my Apple saw in the weak, ho ass nigga she was dating was beyond me. She’d been with him over a year and thinking of him having a place in her heart and in her bed made me sick. I didn’t give a fuck about him—if she’d given me any opening, I would’ve jumped on it. But she was clear about her boundaries. She was also loyal, so she stuck beside him. She respected her relationship, and as much as I hated it, I had to respect that.

Reign walked in a few minutes later, calm and composed in a cream suit, her tablet tucked against her chest and her face giving away nothing. Behind her, Yoli walked in cheesing so hard I could smack that silly grin off her face.

“Close the door, please,” Topaz said.

Yoli did it immediately. That was one of the things about Topaz. She wasn’t the CEO. Her name wasn’t on the door or the contracts, but when she spoke in that tone, people moved. That included me, apparently, because I stood there with my arms folded, waiting on whatever she was about to do.

“Reign, did the Hayashis seem upset when they left?”

“No,” Reign answered. “Mr. Hayashi was pleased with the numbers. We invited them to dinner, and they agreed. His sons both asked for some follow up information.”

Topaz looked at me. “So, the clients weren’t unhappy.”

“They had to wait,” I said.

“For a couple of minutes,” she shot back.

“In an empty reception area.”

“Because Mira called in, Kenji stepped away to do something for one of your managers, and Shenay had to use the bathroom because she is pregnant, Saadiq. Pregnant. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. She put up a sign, security was present, and she came back as quickly as she could.”

My jaw tightened. “That front desk is the first impression of this firm.”

“And the first impression of this firm cannot be that the CEO will terrorize a pregnant receptionist because she had a bladder emergency.”

Yoli made a noise like she was trying not to laugh.

I cut my eyes toward her. “You can leave.”

“Nah, I’m invested now,” she shot back.

“Yoli,” I warned.

She lifted her hands and backed toward the door. “A’ight, a’ight. But for the record, I stand with Thickness.”

“Get out.”

She winked at Topaz before slipping out. Reign remained by the door, still holding that tablet like she was waiting for further instruction. Topaz turned back to her.

“Please send the Hayashis the revised projection packet by two o’clock. Make sure the dinner reservation is confirmed for six-thirty and ask if there are any allergies or dietary restrictions we need to accommodate.”

Reign nodded. “Already on it.”