I pinned her with my gaze. “Why does it matter to you?”
Albany folded her arms over her breasts. “Still didn’t answer my question.”
“I do live here,” I replied.
Hendrix snorted. “Barely.”
A couple of years ago, Granny purchased the commercial property. While it was once an office building, she’d made the decision to transform it into residential space. Once the project was done, she’d offered all her grandchildren units, which I’d accepted with no hesitation. However, I’d declined to live in the condo full-time. I preferred to get out of the city to my place in Novi, Michigan. The northwestern suburb of Detroit was close, yet far enough to create much-needed distance from my family.
The proof was in the interactions I’d had with certain family members today. It was Monday, so I knew I’d see many of my cousins. What I didn’t expect was most of them to walk over and strike up a conversation, mostly about my actions at the fundraiser. Jackson wasn’t a favorite cousin by a long shot—for anyone.
Even his siblings didn’t seem to care for him—or anything else for that matter. When my cousin, Amelia, strolled through the lobby, she spent the entire time cackling with her friend, on speakerphone, about the guy she’d had sex with last night. Common courtesy wasn’t her strong suit, and just like her brother, she spent most of her workday getting paid for bullshit tasks doled out by their father.
The only person I hadn’t run into today was Jackson. Good thing, because any interaction would’ve ended with my fist against his jaw. It was bad enough that he’d goaded me into losing my temper, but he’d continued acting like a damn victim all day. According to Erica, who stopped by to see me on her way to her apartment, he’d shown up for a meeting with a turtleneck on. During a heatwave. Of course, when sweet Mrs. Jeffries from Accounting asked him why he was wearing a sweater in eighty-eight-degree weather, he’d given her a whole sob story about being choked for simply asking me if I was okay.
Fuck him.
“I know you keep an apartment somewhere else,” Albany said. “There’s really no need for you to still be here. Boston told me he dropped my stuff off an hour ago.”
Our classmate, Boston, owned the moving company Granny had contracted. He’d always had a crush on Albany and never missed a chance to show off when he thought I wasn’t looking. Earlier, his punk ass casually mentioned he wanted to take her out. No surprise he called her after finishing the job. Probably talked her ear off about his new Range Rover and condo on the Detroit River, too. That’s just how he operated.
“He also mentioned you had a bad attitude,” she added, a mischievous gleam in her brown eyes. She knew what she was doing, just like she knew I couldn’t stand that snake-ass muthafucka. “I can’t believe you slammed the door on him.”
Hendrix barked out a laugh. “He probably deserved that shit, Albany. You know Boston is a damn clown.”
My guy.It didn’t matter what happened, wrong or right, Hen was going to have my back. “Exactly,” I agreed. “You should be thanking me for making sure he didn’t drop anything valuable. You know he’s clumsy as fuck. And he was hanging around waiting to ask you out.”
“And?” she said with a shrug. “I’m single. Maybe I wouldn’t mind going out with someone like Boston. He owns a successful business. He’s not a fuck boy. He’s—”
“A clown?” Hendrix asked.
Albany rolled her eyes. “No.” She punched Hendrix’s shoulder. “He’s a gentleman. He goes to church every single Sunday, serves on the usher board and everything.”
Hendrix cracked up dramatically, nearly falling on the small couch he was leaning on. “That’s funny. I just saw him at the strip club last week.”
She arched a questioning brow. “What were you doing at the strip club?”
“Minding my own business,” Hen replied nonchalantly.
“Still,” she pressed, “Boston was paid to do the job. You shouldn’t have treated him like that, Wes.”
“Batchelor Corp values Black and local businesses,” I retorted. “That’s the only reason he got the job.”
Albany blew out a frustrated breath. “Whatever. You can go home now.”
“Iamhome,” I insisted. And I was sure I’d be staying downtown for the foreseeable future.
“I hope you don’t think you have unlimited access to me now that I live here. I’ll walk out that door and take my chances with Granny.”
“I’m sure you will.” I folded my arms over my chest. “We have to make the best of this situation, though. The sooner we figure out Ms. Tea’s identity, the sooner you don’t have to be around me.”
Who am I kidding?Now that she was here, I had no intention of letting her go again. I knew it the moment she’d taken pity on me at that fundraiser, offered me an ear, and a little understanding. I wanted Albany Latia Keyes. And I was willing to walk through fire to make her mine again.
“Excuse me?” she exclaimed. “We? How many times do I have to tell you?Wedon’t work together.”
“Do me a favor?”
“I know you fuckin’ lying,” she said incredulously. “Why would I do anything for you? Because I was nice to you one or two times?”
