Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
“I’ll always be controlling at fifty-two percent. They’ll take a quarter each of the rest.”
“Are you okay with giving up forty-eight percent?”
“It means they’re tied to the operation, and since I never want to lose any of them, abso-fucking-lutely.”
Marcus smiled.
He then asked, “And are they in position to give you enough to buy the building?”
“Luke and Mace are. Hector and Vance are going to get second mortgages on their houses, though Sadie might circumvent that for Hector. She’s got the cash to give him. He’s just gotta stop thinking with his dick and let his woman be a part of their financial situation.”
“Regardless if Hector figures it out, no way around it, with all of them investing, more weight lands on you,” Marcus surmised.
Lee nodded. “I can’t fuck this up. They do that, too much is riding on it.”
“That isn’t your problem.”
“It is when it’s family.”
“Yes, true,” Marcus whispered.
“So what would you do?” Lee asked.
Well.
Damn.
This wasn’t about Daisy setting this up.
This was about respect. This was about the fact that Lee thought highly of him and honestly wanted his advice.
And Marcus felt something else he hadn’t felt in a long time, unless Daisy was making him feel that way.
Good.
“You, nor those men, are stupid, Lee. I believe there’s a part of them that’s investing in you because they believe in you, and they know you’re solid. But they also have women and families, or they will, so they’re not going to do something to put those important parts of their lives in jeopardy. To end, they believe in this as an investment. They believe it will have fruitful returns. And I believe they’re right. Take on these partners. And buy that building.”
Characteristically, Lee thought on this for only half a second.
And then he said, “That’s what I’ll do. Thanks, man.”
“My pleasure.”
Lee looked over his shoulder at the door, then to his watch, then to Marcus. “Close to quitting time,” he noted.
“You’re my last appointment.”
Lee grinned. “Wanna go out and get a drink?”
For a second, Marcus didn’t move.
Then he started laughing.
“Daisy?” he asked.
Lee started laughing too. “Gotta say, Marcus, when she marched her stonewash-denim-clad ass in my office and told me to be friends with you, I was half scared of her, half wondering if someone time warped me back to middle school to Mrs. Zhang’s class, a real ballbuster, when she made me be friends with all the kids who didn’t have any because, ‘You’re a leader, Mr. Nightingale. Lead.’”
Marcus kept laughing even as he said, “Please don’t worry about it. I’m not a friend type of person.”
Lee wasn’t laughing at all when he replied, “Yes you are.”
Marcus’s amusement ceased as well.
“If I remember correctly,” Lee said, “you had Jet’s back. And Roxie’s. And Ava’s. Wait, back up, you started with Indy’s—”
Marcus interrupted. “Your point is taken.”
“I’m not sure it is. It wasn’t missed, Marcus. This isn’t about you bein’ one of those kids from Mrs. Zhang’s class. This is about you already having a crew, but you leave us hanging.”
Marcus said nothing because he didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t even know what he was feeling.
What he did know was what came out of his mouth. “You had Daisy’s back.”
“Damn straight,” Lee returned. “And that shit’s never happening again, but if she needs me, you need me, I’m there. Any of the men will be there. And that won’t earn an invoice. Invoices don’t happen when it’s in the family.”
Marcus turned his head and looked out the window.
Lee gave him a second.
And then he urged, “Come have a drink. My sister’s getting married. I overheard just a hint of Indy’s plans for her bachelorette. That shit hasn’t even happened, and I already need fortification.”
Marcus looked back at Lee.
And then he made a decision.
“Let’s go.”
Immediately, Lee smiled.
Marcus returned it.
Several hours later, Marcus walked into his and his wife’s bedroom.
Daisy was on the bed with a plethora of magazines, her journal, a stack of self-help books (something she always bought but never cracked open) an open, partially-eaten box of Godiva, a glass of rosé on the nightstand, the bottle in a marble sleeve along with it, a pile of pillows stacked behind her and her phone to her ear.
She spied him, said quickly, “Gotta call you back, Shirleen, my man just got home.”
She hit the screen, tossed the phone on the bed and stared at him.
He reached a hand to his tie, walking to the foot of the bed.
“I’m sorry, darling. I know I texted I’d be late, but just to fully explain. Lee and I got to talking. So we decided to stay for dinner.”
She bounced up and magazines, books and chocolates went flying when she raced across the bed and threw her body into his arms.
As ever, he caught her.
She smiled down at him, “Has my man accepted his membership in the Hot Bunch?”