Page 38 of Emergence and Ascendance

"She offered twenty percent above the asking price."

"That much?"

I nodded, annoyed and impressed by how she played things. The property was worth fifty percent above market because of the potential to make money once it was developed.

"Put in a higher offer instead of showing up here to harass my damn wife." His tone was light but still laced with a protective edge.

"I'm going to fall back. For whatever reason, getting the property is important to her."

"Then why do you want to crash the meeting?"

"He's on a pussy chase." Ezekiel laughed.

"Oh hell no." Jhorie shook her head and glared at me.

"Why the fuck would you tell her that?" I smirked, cutting my eyes at Ezekiel.

"Am I wrong?"

Definitely not wrong…

When I didn't respond right away, he laughed and shook his head. "That's what I thought." He turned to his wife. "I'm about to head out. Hit me up when you're done and we can grab lunch. I'll come get you."

"I can meet you."

He gripped her chin and kissed her like I wasn't standing there. "You're more than capable but I said I'll come get you."

She blushed and rolled her eyes. Shit like this was when I felt the void the most. The disloyalty from Aja cut deeper when I witnessed the people I cared about in love, but truthfully, aside from the first year of our marriage, we never really had this.

"Love you."

"Love you too and if you decide to help his ass out, make him pay. Isn't it time for annual donations?"

"That's fucked up," I mumbled and Christian shrugged, unbothered, before he left with their son.

"Oh, he's right. I was just finishing up our donation letters. Might as well save me the postage for you." She smiled and held her hand out.

"I don't walk around with checks. Who the fuck even uses them?"

"You're right, but I have your card on file. Two fifty sounds like a good number."

"I hope you mean two hundred and fifty dollars and not thousand." I glared, knowing exactly what that number was. Shewas upping my last donation by a hundred grand and actually I didn't mind. The money went to a good cause but damn.

"You want in on the meeting or not?"

"Your ass hasn't been an Omari that long, Jhorie. You shouldn't be strong-arming people like this."

"This has nothing to do with me being an Omari. I'm an advocate for the people by any means necessary."

"Yeah, you've been married to Ez for too long."

She grinned and shrugged.

"There's coffee and bagels in the break room. Make yourself comfortable. Everyone should be here in an hour or so. I have some things to take care of before we get started. Oh, and you're explaining this to Zoree and Samiya. If they don't agree, it's a no go and the donation still happens."

The way she walked off like she already knew my decision amused the fuck out of me. Mostly because she was damn sure an Omari now but also because she was right. I walked my ass right to the conference room and prepared to see Scotlyn's face when she walked in. She would power through the meeting because she wanted the waterfront property and there was no way in hell she would back down. Regardless of how beautifully she'd submitted to me last night, Scotlyn was very much a confident and capable business woman. She could handle her own and I looked forward to watching her boss the fuck up the way I knew she could.

Zoree Kincaid was the first one to show up. After I asked for persimmon to sit in, she stared at me for a minute then angled her head to the side.

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