Page 18 of Heart of a Savage
It was close to ten at night, and the crowd was starting to thicken. The combined birthday and bachelor party was sure to be lit. I was mentally counting how much money I was going to make tonight when a knock came upon the door.
“Come in!”
The door opened, and Zyaire, one of the security guards, walked in and closed the door to drown out the music. “Good evening, Ms. Arie.”
“Hey, Zy. What can I do for you?”
“Corina just rolled up.” It took a minute for me to register what he’d said, but when I did, a laugh sputtered from my belly.
Zyaire shook his head with a smirk on his face. “No pun intended.”
“That was definitely a fucking pun. You ain’t shit.”
“I really wasn’t trying to be funny... It just slipped out.”
“Sure it did. Anyway, send her ass in. I know she better be coming with some good news, or her ass gon’ be sitting on nubs. Pun intended.”
We laughed. “You got it.” He turned to leave, but I stopped him.
“Wait. Can you help me really quick? I need it.”
He turned around, came over to me, and wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. He slightly lifted me as I heard the bones crack in my back, and I sighed in relief. He then gave me a tight hug and kissed my cheek before letting me go.
“You need to relax. Sleeping in chairs and on couches will have you at the chiropractor. You’re here damn near every night. I’m sure your bed misses you.”
I shook my head and smiled. “Thank you, Zy. You’re the best.”
“Anything for you, Ms. Arie.”
“Okay, you can go. Make sure your team is on point tonight. It’s going to be a full house.”
“I’m on it.”
He walked his sexy ass out of my office as I walked over to my minibar and poured myself a shot of 1800 Silver. If I mixed business with pleasure, I’d certainly allow Zyaire to have his way with me.
A few moments later, Zyaire opened the door, and Corina rolled into my office with a walker. Zyaire closed the door behind her, and she rolled herself to my desk as I sat behind it.
“I assume the reason you’re here is because you have some good news.”
“I do. I got the position.” She seemed happy about it, but I didn’t care.
“Congratulations. What else?”
She looked at me, confused, before she finally spoke. “Well… I should be able to sign over the deed to the lofts soon after they are bought. I just have to wait until Mr. Crawford officially hands me the reins. I overheard him saying that he was going to buy them. Then, we can start the process of payment?—”
“Whoa... What do you meanpayment?”
“Th-the cost for the lofts. You said you wanted to buy them.”
“I never saidbuy, Corina. I saidgiveme the lofts.”
“But... You’ll need to buy them from us. I don’t want this to come back on me. He’ll want a profit from the money he’s going to spend on those lofts. I don’t want to lose my position after I just earned it.”
Earned?
“Corina…” I said, closing my eyes to reel my emotions in. I didn’t like her. She was a snake. She got a man killed because she wanted to become a partner in a real estate company. Her jealousy led her to pay for a man eight years her junior to be murdered because he was the better choice to run the company. For that, I would never fucking respect her nor trust her.
“You didn’t earn shit. You killed a man to get where you are, so please… cut it the fuck out. Maybe you didn’t comprehend what I was saying the last time we ran into each other. So, let me make it clear… I want those lofts on 23rdStreet, a few miles from Downtown. I don’t give a fuck how you get them, but youwillget them, then sign that deed over to me with no cost to me. Got it?”
