“Aww, that’s sweet. Do you watch my show?”
Her palm caught her snicker. “No. I used to be obsessed with your dance videos. I always thought it was beautiful seeing a black ballerina who liked to twerk.”
We shared a short laugh before I said, “Thank you.”
“Do you ever think you’ll dance again?”
“Only God knows,” I replied while leading her out the door.
I didn’t mean to be rude. I just didn’t want to spend another minute going down memory lane. Any time someone spoke of my years as a dancer, I was reminded that I exchanged my passion for profit. I let an injury consume my confidence and acquired fame for things that brought me no peace.
Chapter 3
Ishmael
Sometimes Ass Nigga
I had been sitting behind my desk for five hours, trying to break into the Traffic Management System in another state, and I still hadn’t figured it out. The traffic signals in most cities were on a timer, so Shiloh asked me to hack into the server and override what was in place. We didn’t want to risk any driver from Loh Wheels getting caught at a red light once off the highway, so we needed as much control as possible.
“Knock, knock.”
I glanced away from my computer when I heard Shiloh enter my office. The smirk on his face and the laptop in his grasp made me raise a brow. “Everything good, Loh?”
“You tell me. Looks like you need a break.”
My head jerked back. “You know me better than that. I would rather push through instead of taking a break and struggle to find my groove again.”
Shiloh’s gold grill came into view as he got comfortable in a chair across from my desk. He didn’t say much, but I knew the look of admiration stemmed from my growth over the years.
Twelve years ago, Shiloh and the Sons of Eshu stepped in when my one-on-one fight turned into a bunch of pussies tryingto jump me. When all the dust settled, Shiloh hired me to handle small jobs around his strip club. However, when I turned eighteen and he learned about my black-market computer skills, he asked me to work as his executive assistant. The job title threw me off, especially when he mentioned hacking. The wordassistantrattled my confidence. Nevertheless, I learned being the right-hand to a man who ran a delivery service that transported drugs was much different than I assumed. I also learned about the six-figure salary.
“I’m working, Shiloh. What do you need?”
“Wow. Niggas in their feelings about something?”
My back fell against the office chair. “My bad. I just have a lot . . . never mind. You know when I lock in, I don’t like the outside noise.”
“And that’s why I want to talk to you. I have a job for you if you want it.” Shiloh leaned forward and intertwined his fingers. “I know outside of the warehouse, you have your freelance hacker shit going on, but you deserve to have something legal with your name on it. Eshu’s Shield is in motion, and I know I’ve been trying to convince you to join the team, but I’m thinking bigger. I want you to have stock in the business.”
“Shiloh, do I look like a bodyguard to you?”
He laughed. “I’m not one to judge another nigga, but the glasses don’t take away from your stature. I’ve seen you in action. Get on your Superman shit.”
“Why me? I thought Draco was thinking about moving down here to handle the firm.”
“I can’t trust many other people to do it. Not only have you worked with me for years, but you’ve also been a part of my squad. You’ve had your hands on my money and been around my kids. I trust you with the reputation of our business.”
“Damn. After you put it like that, how can I say no? I have never even thought about being a bodyguard, let alone owninga firm. I would have to do the job to understand how to run the company.”
Shiloh whipped his MacBook open. “I’m happy you said that.”
I felt my face rumple with skepticism. “Oh, Lord. Here we go.”
“Get yo’ panties out yo’ ass, Ishmael. I haven’t told you what’s going on.”
“You’ve said enough. I should’ve known you were up to something when I saw you were in the warehouse before me.”
“Man, don’t make it seem like I don’t get to the money before the sun comes up.”
