Page 13 of Mahogany 2
Luna laughed. “Yeah, that would work... if they didn’t have a problem with traveling across eight mile?—”
“There is a solution to every problem. That’s easy,” I interrupted. Shit was very easy. I’d pack every last one of them muthafuckas in sprinter vans if need be. “You just want something to complain about. You need me to handle the planning shit, Lu? Shits easy, low key.”
She gasped. Dramatically, too. As if I’d threatened to do something to one of her cats. Luna was a cat lady. Loved them muthafuckas. Didn’t have kids but had three cats she treated like children. Ugly ass hairless Siamese cats at that.
“Don’t play with me, Cres! I can handle it. And it’s not easy. At all,” she answered. “You handle the food, and I handle everything else. And since you want them at the compound, you need to be there to make sure they don’t fuck anything up. Sinceyou got a solution for everything. I want to see you try to controlthem.”
I hung my head a little with a light chuckle. “I got it.”
With that, we said our I love you’s and hung up.
About two hours later,I was parking in the lot at my newest investment—a hotel. I had several investments—mainly bars scattered around Michigan, laundry mats, and a few chain restaurants like Little Caesars and McDonalds’—but this one was special to me.
After parking, I grabbed my things and hopped out. It was a nice ass day. Warm, around seventy. A little too hot for the three-piece suit I had on but because I was on business, I jumped fresh in a tailored Armani and a pair of Ferragamo loafers.
The location the property sat on was primal. Downtown Detroit. In the heart of the city. Not too far from Hart Plaza, The Little Caesar’s Arena and Comerica Park. So, there was a lot of hustle and bustle going on. It wasn’t as secluded as I would have liked for it to be, but it was good. The building held a lot of character, and I couldn’t pass up on it. A lot of people would’ve taken one look at it and passed up on it.
It was run down and needed a ton of work. Feigns had pretty much gutted it of all the metal, the heating shit, and everything in between. So, I was practically starting over. I didn’t let that deter me, though. Obviously. I viewed investments with a special pair of eyes. This one especially. To the naked eye, this was a waste. For me? It was a goldmine. It still had its antique flare to it. A lot of the original craftsmanship was still in place, adding just the charm I needed for the hotel. By the time I was done with it, the wait list for booking was going to be long as shit.
“Good morning Mr. Carter,” greeted head of construction, Louie, yelling over the loud power tools, once I walked inside.
I nodded at him and grabbed the hardhat he handed me. “Good morning, Louie. How’s everything going? What you got for me?” I yelled.
I hooked the hat on and put on a face mask before I turned my attention to the rest of the building. From where we stood, there wasn’t much to take in. The air was coated in sawdust, as was most of the material. There was still a lot of work to be done, but since starting the project four months ago, they’d made a nice amount of progress.
“It’s coming along beautiful. You see? We’re working bossman,” he joked.
“Yeah, I see,” with a pause, I extended my hand for another handshake. “‘Preciate all of the work you and the team do, Louie. Ordered lunch?”
He nodded. “We did. Should be here around twelve. Thank you, Mr. Carter,” he added with a light nod.
I nodded at him and walked off, heading toward a small crowd gathered by a massive wall I had big plans for.
“You’re early—I appreciate that,” I said to my new interior designer, Mahogany, walking up to the team.
Mahogany whipped her head in my direction and adjusted her hardhat. “Good morning, Mr. Carter. We just got here about fifteen minutes ago.”
I extended my hand, and she paused, briefly looking down at it before finally placing her hand in mine.
“Good morning, Ms. Mills. You’ve been taken care of since you arrived, haven’t you?”
“Mrs. Mills-Morris. Or… Mrs. M. Whichever is easier for you, Crescent,” She corrected before nodding toward Gale and Nina, my assistants. “Yeah, it’s been great. Nina and Gale havebeen extremely helpful in the subject of Crescent Carter and Skylight Industries.”
I turned my mouth down and raised a brow. “Is that right?”
“Absolutely. I told her… you’re fairly easy. Black on black on black… on top of a little bit of matte black and you’re happy,” Nina said with a laugh.
“Oh. And a couple of touches of what’s that other color you love so much?” Gale asked, feigning ignorance.
Nina snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “Black.”
We laughed and Mahogany’s lingering eyes wavered the minute I caught them.
She did the same thing when we met about a week ago. Shied away whenever I caught her looking at me. Was slow to shake hands. But as soon as she accepted it, it was as if it was meant to be there, it fit so good. Dainty. Soft. Delicate. Feminine. Just like her. She wasn’t just those things though. Mahogany was a powerhouse. A force to be reckoned with in the interior design lane which was why she was mine. I only employed the best and she was top tier. Not just her designing, her in general. Her smile was infectious. Her energy? Light and airy, heavy in the sway of her curvy hips. She was a woman. Atruewoman. Smelled good. Looked good. Felt good. Potent. Striking. Alluring. When I met her, I wasn’t surprised by her track record. She was hard to say no to. One look in her eyes and you were under that spell. That’s what she was. Spell bounding. It was in her eye contact. It was in her essence too, but her eyes?Feline. Magnetic. Hypnotizing.
Like a woman. A fucking woman.
It’d been a minute since I encountered one of those. I fucked with bitches and hos, dealt with my fair share of females. But a woman? Shit. One like her? Who owned the floor, the walls, and the air she stood in? Never. Not once. Only thought about them and saw them portrayed in movies. Never had I been face to face, hand in hand, energy to energy with one. Shit felt amazing.Being in her presence. Being bound by it. It was… fucking… infatuating.
