“I got caught up doing paperwork and other bullshit at the club last night,” he offered, watching her take a sip of her cup of joe. “I woke up in the fucking office. I’m sorry, baby.” Pouting his sexy, soft-pink lips, Gannon took a couple of steps toward her, wrapping both arms around her slim waist.
She was a different kind of fine. She actually looked her best with no makeup, like right now.
“Let me make it up to you.”
“Well, I have to keep an eye on Mille, so we are gonna have to find something for us all to do,” she explained.
Gannon and Mille were cool, but he wanted alone time with Minx. These days, they weren’t getting much of it, and with Rose now back, he had a feeling she would be less available with him hanging around. Rose, Minx, Finn, and Luna were a unit. The four of them had game nights and played basketball together, shit that Gannon never became a part of. They were a clique, and sometimes he did envy it and want to be a part of it. He watched from the sidelines for a long time. He low key always wanted to be in their inner circle, yet remained the odd man out, until Rose left.
“I heard the carnival is in town. We can check that out,” Gannon suggested, watching both of Minx’s brows go up.
She hadn’t been there in ages. It was ironic that Rose was back in town just in time for it as well. The last memory of one she had was with him.
“Sounds good. I can call Luna and see if she wants to come. I’m gonna eat breakfast first and get ready for the day. You wantsomething?” She checked with him as he knelt over and pressed his full lips into hers.
“Shit, you,” Gannon answered sexily, making her moist between her legs.
“Mmm, well, I’m starving so that is going to have to wait, plus it’s just weird with Mille and Rose here.” Minx crossed her eyes, and Gannon pulled away.
“What’s weird about it? I’m your nigga,” he argued, and she rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean, Gannon. Don’t start your shit on me and Rose,” she advised before he could further question her statement.
“Why can’t Rose keep an eye on Mil and me and you hang out? We haven’t had a chance to be alone in like a week.” Gannon was behaving like a kid who couldn’t get what he wanted.
At this point, he was thirsty for his own woman because he’d been spending so much time away from her. Keeping his arms draped around her, he studied her face.
“Rose just got back. I was hoping we could hang out and catch up. The carnival is perfect since I haven’t been in forever. So can we do that and not make this into something else it’s not?” Minx queried, pouting her sexy mouth.
Gannon found it hard resisting her charms. She was fine, her body was banging and natural, and she was feisty, which he didn’t always like. He knew, in time, Minx would become submissive. She didn’t have a choice when he locked her down with the ring to match.
“A’ight, fine,” Gannon reluctantly agreed as Max descended the stairs behind them.
Gannon let go of a sigh and released Minx.
“G, what’s good? You here early.” Max welcomed him.
“I’m gonna go eat and give you a minute to talk.” Minx turned on her bare heels and traipsed down the hall toward the kitchen.
Gannon watched after her for a while until Max dragged him from his impure thoughts. Max knew the power women had over men. His daughter had these fools around here captivated at an early age, so it was no surprise to him that Gannon found himself smitten with her after a few business dinners.
“Everything good?” He questioned, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
Today he was business casual, which meant legal shit was going on. Any other time, he was still dressed down in jeans, a T-shirt, and his Notorious biker vest that he and his entire crew owned. Today wasn’t the day for that version of Max, so instead, he exuded elegant in a Tom Ford ensemble.
“Yeah, dealing with the club and handing it over to Stillwell. A nigga been putting in a lot of late hours. Now Minx nagging me about the shit. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“The thing about trying to balance work and family, it’s never easy. Trust me, it took me a long time to get right. Mila and I had to go through our share of shit. We still have our days where she has to remind me to take a step back and make sure I am present for the important stuff. Mil is growing up. He’s into sports and shit now. I have to be there for him, cheering for him, being a dad.” Max broke it down for Gannon, who nodded in understanding.
“I get it. I’m still young though, and building my empire is taking time and dedication too. I thought if anybody understood that, it would be Minx.”
“Minx is… a livewire. She goes through life to the beat of her own damn drum. She’s been that way since she was born, but it got worse after—” Max caught himself as an image of his oldest daughter bounced into his head.
He missed Mickey on a regular. She was even more wild and carefree than Minx. Minx only became that way when she had Mickey around. Once she was gone, Minx dangled off the edge, and lived there now. Everything she did, she did because of the adrenaline it gave her. Gannon knew the story. You had to live under a rock around the town not to know what happened to Minx and her sister when they were kids.
Minx never talked about it with him though. It was the one thing she kept hidden, and he’d tried forcing it out of her plenty of times. She would shut down, or blow up, and then they would sweep it under the rug again. Somehow, he knew that she did talk to Rose about it. He didn’t like that part, where she could voice her fears and all that other shit to him, but not Gannon.
“You are good for her. You’re solid. Minx needs that,” Max responded. “I got this meeting at city hall today. Perez and a bunch of other officials want to discuss regulations and some other shit. I don’t know what the hell it has to do with me, but I’m going to go and find out. I’m gonna set Rose up to handle shit on Hillside. Maybe that will lighten the load and give you more time with Minx.”
