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“Women can be snakes, too, Mr. Roe. I’m grown enough to know what I’m doing.”
As she walked out, Damian was yet again walking in. For the first time since Rose began working there, he spoke to her.
“Bye, Rose,” he stated flatly.
“Fuck you, Damian,” she barked in reply. Once she left, he closed the door behind her.
“I love it when the trash takes itself out,” he commented dryly, taking a seat across from my desk. “So!” He clasped his hands and leaned forward. “Is this the point when I get to say I told you so?”
“Touché.”
“One day, you’ll start listening to me.” He opened the portfolio in his hold and slid some paperwork across to me. “I knew you were pissed after losing that last property, so I spent the weekend exploring some spots, and found this abandoned property. It’s in Queens. I figured you might be interested in flipping it. Not many people are looking at it right now. I searched and called around a bit to get more intel on it. Might work for your dream or whatever.”
He talked so calmly about going out of his way to find me a property to look at as if it wasn’t a big deal, but I knew it was. Damian didn’t straight-up say when he cared about people, but his spending the weekend to help me out demonstrated that he cared about me.
I smirked. “You love me, don’t you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t make it weird.”
“Okay, I won’t, but…” I kept smiling ear to ear. “You do, don’t you?”
He stood from his chair. “I’m done talking to you.”
“I love you, too, Damian,” I called out. Even though his back was to me, I could feel him rolling his eyes.
“Oh, by the way—that woman who got stood up called the office. Said she wanted to meet with you briefly tomorrow. I told her you probably didn’t have time to—”
“Red?” I asked.
“What?”
I shook my head. “I mean, Aaliyah? She called?”
“Yeah. Said she needed to have a conversation with you if possible, but your schedule is packed and—”
“Cancel my morning meeting at nine. Call her back and let her know she’s more than welcome to stop by.”
He cocked a brow. “You never cancel meetings.”
“Well, tomorrow I will.”
I didn’t know why, but the idea of seeing Aaliyah again seemed much more important to me than some morning call. Ever since she’d come back into my world, I hadn’t stopped thinking about her. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing okay.
20
Aaliyah
I spent the night researching Connor, and I was floored by what I found. I’d had no clue he was so powerful. Not only had he built himself an empire from the ground up but he also made sure to give back tenfold to the different communities as he succeeded. It was hard to find much personal information due to him never doing interviews.
From what I read, it seemed he was a stand-up guy with morals that he stood by—which held true to how he’d appeared a few years ago. Giving back to the community seemed to be high on his priorities, and that intrigued me. Jason wasn’t as big on giving back in the same way as his business partner had been, though it might’ve been because Jason grew up privileged. He hadn’t struggled a day in his life when it came to his finances. From what I’d read, it seemed as if Connor had to fight tooth and nail for every cent that fell into his bank account.
The next morning, I found myself standing in front of Roe Headquarters with nerves in the pit of my stomach and a bouquet in my hands—because what do you bring to a person who you are about to beg to give you an exclusive interview? Red and white roses, of course. The pack of chocolates under my arm was a backup plan, too, if he didn’t like the flowers.
After I called Connor’s office, asking if I could meet with him, I was surprised he was so quick to give me some of his time. From what I’d read, he was a pretty busy man, and I had no doubt I’d taken more than enough of his time over the past few days.
My mind was running in extreme overthinking mode as I rode the elevator up to Connor’s office. The moment I walked through the doors, the receptionist looked at me as if I were insane holding the flowers and box of chocolates.
“Hello, how can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m here to see Connor.”
“You’re Aaliyah?”
“Yes. Should I wait out here to—” Before I could finish my thought, the door that led to Connor’s employees’ offices and his own opened up. A tall, somber-looking man stared at me. His all-black suit matched his charcoal black eyes. He was built, his arms pressing against the fabric of his business shirt, and the dark earrings that pierced his ears tied together his whole vibe. To put it frankly, the man looked terrifying, the kind of person you did not want to piss off because he could end your life with one stern look—the complete opposite of Connor’s bright, welcoming feel.
