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“How much do you need?”
Confusion covered her face as she looked up at him. “Huh?”
“How much money do you need?”
Chuckling, Denali wiped her face as she stepped out of his embrace. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t help me.”
“Just tell me how much you need.” He grabbed the notice from the table. “Are you behind on any other bills?”
“A few credit card bills. I had the cable cut off because they watch streaming services anyway, but I kept the internet on. That’s not due for two weeks. The utilities and water are included with the rent, so those are late too. I’m making this check stretch as far as I can, but I don’t know what’s going to pop up this month. That’s what has me so anxious. I won’t get paid again until the end of the month.”
“Aight.” Blaze licked his lips and wobbled out of the kitchen. “Hold on.”
Unsure what Blaze was up to, Denali grabbed a bottle of Port to try to soothe her nerves. As she sat at the kitchen table, she reminded herself that everything was going to work out. A lot of her stress was because of the anxiety of worrying about things going bad in the future. Besides being late on her rent, there were no pressing issues in the present for Denali. It was the thought of what could happen in the future that had her heart palpitating. No matter how many times she told herself not to overthink or expect the worst, that did nothing to quiet her mind.
A few minutes later, Blaze was returning with five stacks of cash. She looked at the band around them that read two thousand dollars, confused as to where he’d gotten ten thousand dollars from. He told her after the shooting his construction job fired him since he hadn’t been working there for long, and before that, he said his attitude and wavering emotions was because his money was funny. Now, he had ten thousand dollars just lying around to give to her?
“Are you back in the streets?” she asked. “Because if you are, you need to tell me. You promised me that you wouldn’t risk going back to prison again, Blaze.”
“I didn’t get that from selling drugs.”
“Then how did you get it?” He didn’t answer her. “Are you gambling now? Is this from a woman?”
“Why does it matter where I got it from? I got it and you need it, so it’s yours.”
Her head shook as she battled within herself. Clearly, something was up. If he wasn’t back in the streets, could he have stolen the money? As morally pure as Denali wanted to be, she needed the money.
“Just tell me if you got this doing something illegal.”
“No, Denali.” He chuckled. “The money is clean.”
“So someone gave it to you? Did you get this from a woman?”
Yet again, at the mention of a woman, Blaze’s mouth twitched. She released a deep breath as she grabbed the money. There was no point in her being disappointed. They weren’t in a relationship. If Blaze was dealing with a woman that had money like that, so be it.
“Thank you,” she said before placing a kiss to his cheek. “I’m going to deposit this in the morning.”
“It’s cool. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Her heart squeezed as she watched him leave the kitchen. Denali had no idea what in the hell Blaze was up to, and now… she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.
??????
The next day, Denali’s thoughts were all over the place. She didn’t technically have to go to work because they weren’t getting a new shipment of clothes in for three days, but Harmony told her she could come in anyway and help her select new pieces for their summer collection. That gave Denali something positive to look forward to, because it allowed her to showcase her styling skills. She hadn’t planned to work for Harmony for as long as she had. In the beginning, the goal was for her to own her own boutique. But life and children put her in a position to need to make money quickly. There was no space for dreams.
When she returned from her lunch break and saw Elite leaned against the counter, she smiled. He was looking fine as hell in his form fitting black t-shirt and slightly baggy jeans. The simplicity of his clothing was offset with a gold diamond necklace and watch that she was sure was probably worth more than her car. Her eyes lowered to his feet, which were covered in a pair of exclusive Eminem X Carhart Air Jordan 4s that she knew costed over thirty thousand dollars.
“Hmm,” she mumbled quietly, impressed with his style.
The average person wouldn’t know how much money he was walking around wearing unless they knew the value of jewelry and shoes, and Denali liked that finesse. She couldn’t stand an overly flashy man who used his money to prove his worth. It was clear at this point that Elite had wealth, but Denali didn’t really care about that. His heart seemed to be pure, and he was kind and considerate, and that’s what she cared about most.
Her ordeal with Blaze had her looking at financial stability in a completely different light. Never again would she be with a selfish or stingy man. He didn’t have to be a millionaire, but he would also have to be man enough to make sure she and their family didn’t have to struggle.
“Hey, friend,” she greeted, causing him to stand upright and put his phone in his pocket.
Her smile widened at the sight of his. His thick, wavy hair was in individual plaits that came down to his armpits. It was silky and dark, and she couldn’t wait to run her fingers through it. His mustache goatee combination housed a soft-looking set of pink bowtie shaped lips. There was a small stud in his nose, and he had bushy brows that hovered over deep-set, honey-colored penetrative eyes.
“Friend?” he repeated, handing her the bouquet of red roses that were next to him.
