Page 32 of The Need to Know

“I took a chance on him.” Alannah looked off, a goofy smile on her face. “I just…rolled the dice, I guess.”

Her metaphor hit me hard in the chest, leaving me pulled back in time, pinned to a night consumed by black and gold.

“Good for you, Ali.”

“I’ll try to come back down at some point,” Alannah promised. “Hopefully by then things pick up for you. Don’t hold yourself emotionally hostage for Corey. There’s a perfect man out there for you.”

“Maybe,” I said, noncommittal.

“Okay, enough about men.” Alannah clasped her hands together. “Take my advice, no matter what comes, put good energy into the world. The universe will thank you later.”

I liked that. I needed that. “Look at you, teaching me something.”

“Got to! We’re sisters, Nas, we have to guide each other,” said Alannah. In the background, I heard a door shut and a man’s voice call out. The warm smile that arrested my sister’s face was breathtaking. She came back to me. “Gotta go, but we’ll talk soon.”

I blew her a kiss. “Love you.”

She pretended to catch it and tuck it in her heart. “Love you more.”

We hung up and I set my phone down on the coffee table in front of me.

The house was quiet and Scorsese was stretched out asleep.

Alannah had read me like a book. I wasn’t taking chances, and I was holding myself captive after my ex broke me. Life was going good for me, but I was lonely.

Roll the dice.

Biting my thumb, I formed a plan as I gathered my remote and found The Godfather trilogy online to stream. It was a gamble, but maybe if they were a masterpiece, I’d have a reason to text him.

Business was booming Sunday night. The club was packed and we had a great view from the office.

I was behind the desk, watching the monitors and giving instructions to Knox via his earpiece. Cesar was sitting on the edge of my desk, going over some numbers. After the busy weekend—a six-figure weekend—we’d had, I was looking forward to sleeping in a little come Monday.

“It’s a madhouse tonight,” Cesar said as he glimpsed at the screens behind me, and at the mass of bodies across them. “You just made your pops a lot of money.”

“It’s what I do best.” I grinned as I turned around and faced him fully. Friday night had been a killing. Once word got out that a celebrity was in the building, everybody rushed to BLVCKJVCK. We were the number one night spot in Atlanta and Georgia for a reason.

A few arguments and fights would break out on occasion, but it wasn’t reoccurring enough to make people fear for their lives. There were a few rappers and their crews who would stop by and clearly be holding, but respect was mutual and nothing ever popped off.

I grabbed the bottle of water I’d pulled from the mini fridge we kept in the office and held it up. “To another good run.”

Cesar tipped his head in honor of the toast and I took a swig. It was a good weekend, and now I had to make plans to top it come next weekend. I wanted to get started on planning the Ladies’ Night event with Paisley. That was sure to bring in a lot of money. She was extremely likable and fun, the women and men would love to come see her. I just needed to lock down a female DJ to also push the theme.

More than likely, I’d let the first hundred ladies get in for free, which would probably guarantee a line. This event would be classic.

“I’ma slide up out of here early,” Cesar spoke up as he glanced down at his watch.

It wasn’t even that late into the night yet. “What’s up?”

Cease was bashful for once. “I got somebody at the crib. I don’t want to be here all night.”

“Gush?”

“Leslie,” he said, sounding serious.

The name didn’t ring any bells. “Who?”

“Her name is Leslie. We deading that Gusher shit. That’s my lady and her name is Leslie,” Cesar clarified this without a hint of a joke on his face.