Page 11 of Mister President

He became my mentor and invested in me so I could invest in others. The money I used to get my first several commercial and residential properties plusN.E. Arthad come from him. In exchange, he had a share in the firm, and I helped train his investors and also made bids on businesses on his behalf. It meant a lot to me that he trusted me with his investments, and so far, I hadn’t steered him wrong.

After checking a few emails and gathering the files, I headed out. Declan had arrived with balloons and flowers for Fiona since it was her first day. They made plans to have lunch together, then he decided to walk out with me.

“How’s she doing so far?” he asked as we stepped onto the elevator.

“I haven’t been here long, but she made a good first impression. I’m sure she’s going to be fine.”

“Good. I’m counting on you to take care of my baby girl while she’s in your care.”

“Come on, D. You know I got her and you.”

He nodded his agreement before changing the subject, and we made small talk as we continued down. Before going our separate ways, he mentioned a company he wanted me to look into for a future investment. I agreed and decided to call Fiona to have her write it down for when I came back. Until EJ was good, I would only have the mental capacity to work on meetings with buyers and gallery owners on Neko’s behalf. Everything else would have to wait.

As I suspected,Amanda ended up staying all day, even though I insisted I could handle it. EJ had a little energy at the start of the day, but the more he purged, the weaker he got. I entertainedhim by reading to him and watching TV until he went to sleep. At that point, we took turns checking on him when we heard him in the bathroom and getting whatever he needed. She warmed up the broth I’d gotten him, and he drank a little of that. Thankfully, he was able to keep it down, so that was a good sign.

I wasn’t expecting her to fix us dinner, but I appreciated it. I loved soul food, and Amanda could throw down in the kitchen. Her ass was the reason I had to get as serious as I did in the gym years ago. I’d gained a lot of weight and was determined to turn it into the lean muscle I had today. As we feasted on fried chicken, sweet potato cornbread, a turnip and mustard green mix, and rice and gravy, my soul was at peace.

I didn’t realize I had been staring at her until she chuckled. “What are you looking at?”

For a few seconds, all I could do was blink. Shaking my head, I lowered my head to my plate.

“You’re beautiful.” I wouldn’t tell her I was thinking about how my little girl would look with her long lashes, long and thick natural hair, high cheekbones, and pretty golden undertone.

“Thank you, Elias,” she cooed. “I guess I can leave now since he hasn’t thrown up in a few hours. You didn’t want me here anyway.”

I chuckled as I chewed a thick piece of cornbread. “It’s not that I didn’t want you here. I just wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t putting work above him.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried about that. It wasn’t like I was doing anything. I didn’t mind coming to help you with him at all.”

“You being here did allow me to take the meetings I needed to, so thank you.”

She smiled. “No thanks needed. We’re a team.”

Yeah…When it came to our son. That was always the case. If only we could be a team when it came to each other too.

7

Fiona

Wine Down Wednesday

The set upat Charlene’s was cute. It was a wine bar owned by Mia that Elias used for what he called Wine Down Wednesday. I’d learned from one of the women I’d gravitated toward that the weekly mixer was how Elias kept his floor close and in good spirits. Everyone from our floor was in attendance, and all food and drinks were paid for by Elias. The kindness and gesture made me like him more.

Of the women I’d ingratiated myself with, Olivia was the quickest to gossip. Shayla and Ivy were more reserved about what happened at work, but they shared facts about themselves freely. If I had any hope of gaining information about Elias, it would come through Olivia. I’d been encouraging her to drink more, which made her even looser with her lips. So loose, Shayla and Ivy had left us to sit at the burgundy and gold bar.

“So,” I said, “tell me about Elias.”

“What do you want to know?” she asked with low eyes and a wide grin.

“Is he single? Does he have kids? How friendly is he with other women at the office?”

Her eyes widened as she gasped. “Oh…You like him?”

“Maybe, but I want to know what my chances are first.”

Her expression was playful as she took another sip of her wine. “I don’t know if he’s single or not. I think he is. If he isn’t, his girlfriend has never come to the office before. He does have a son though. As far as him being friendly…I mean…he is. I think you mean flirting, though, right?”

“Right.” I agreed with a nod.

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