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“Speaking of meeting with the buyer, I’ve invited Sydney to go with us and if she’s coming, then Booker will be too,” I confide.
Batista lifts his brow. “Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like Sydney, but this might be a little premature.”
“I don’t think so. Do you know the bullets she used on Smitty were non-traceable?”
Batista’s eyes widened. “No shit?”
“No shit,” I chuckle. “I was surprised when she told me that. So, in return for letting her go with us, she would give me the name and number of her contact. On a business level, she might have more practical resources that could be useful to us.”
“In that case, where are we picking her up and at what time?”
Sitting back in the chair, I reply, “Picking her up depends on which one of your vehicles you drove today.”
“The Range Rover,” he says.
“Good, then we will be picking her and Booker up at Morgan Enterprises at noon.” I turn my wrist to check the time. “It’s already a little after nine, so we’ll leave at eleven-thirty. Until then, meet me in my office in ten minutes so we can go over the files Mallory gave us.”
“Will do,” Batista says as I pick up my briefcase, then stand.
Standing before him, I ask, “Please play nice with Booker. I know there is some kind of tension between the two of you, but I ask that you be the bigger man today.”
“I’ll try,” he returns.
I leave his office, going to mine. It’s located on the other end of the hall.
Batista came less than ten minutes later with the files in his hand. We went over the pros and cons on acquiring the property to develop into a smaller scale of Blue Bayou. When it was time for us to leave to pick up Sydney, I was on board with purchasing the building. After having a conference call with our accountant and commercial attorney, I gave them the go ahead to contact the real estate developer to close the deal. I had all the confidence in knowing the property will be the latest venture for DeLuca Management.
Before leaving the office, I told Mallory once she was through with her work, she could take the rest of the day off. She graciously thanked us as we entered the elevator. While I inserted my key, Batista called down to the valet to have his SUV waiting for us. Valet knew we take precedence over other customers, so when we walked outside, Batista’s matte gray Range Rover was waiting out front.
On the way to Morgan Enterprises, Batista and I talked about how we would like to have the new building renovated. Although it will be a part of the Blue Bayou, I wanted it to be different. While keeping with the color scheme of Blue Bayou, this new casino needed its own identity. Maybe I could get Sydney to help us with that.
When we were ten minutes away, I texted Sydney to let her know we would be pulling up shortly and the color of Batista’s Range Rover. She returned a text back saying they would be ready when we got there.
As Batista turns into the circular driveway of the two-story building of Morgan Enterprises, Booker steps out of the building first, holding the door open for Sydney. Shit, she looks amazing as always. Today she’s wearing a rust-colored sleeveless mock turtleneck and a pair of black wide legged dress pants. Her hair is pulled back into a stylish ponytail, and she has on a pair of sunglasses that match her attire. With her walk of confidence, every step screamed Boss. Yes, I definitely made the right decision to make her mine. Her energy matches mine so much that it’s uncanny.
I jump out when Batista parks, going around to open the back passenger door.
“Thank you, Domencio,” she says before kissing my cheek, then sliding in.
“You’re welcome.” I return before closing the door.
“What the hell?” Booker says, confused as I smirk at him.
“I will be riding in the back with Sydney, and you will ride in the front with Batista. Do you have a problem with that?”
Before he can answer, Sydney lets down her window, telling him, “Booker just get in the front.”
He stares me down before saying, “Yeah, whatever.”
He doesn’t move until I start to walk in front of him. At the passenger side I open my door, then get in. Booker shakes his head, but finally gets in. Once everyone had their seatbelts on, Batista drove off. I take Sydney’s hand in mine. I’ve been thinking about this moment all morning and her smile towards me lets me know she had been doing the same.
Sydney and I remained quiet as we listened to Batista and Booker go back and forth about the Range Rover. Booker thought the SUV was played out and Batista needed to move on to something more modernized. I had to agree with Batista when he told him a Range Rover could never go out of style. This is one of the sleekest SUVs a person could own. But the kicker came when Batista asked Booker since he appeared to be a connoisseur of luxury SUVs, what type did he own. Booker looked straight ahead, then answered, “A Lincoln Navigator.”
Luckily, we’ve stopped at a red light because Batista peers at him. I know at any second, he would burst out laughing but I hope he can keep it to himself.
As the light turns green, Batista focuses back on the road as he pulls off. “Navigators are good SUVs. I had one before I upgraded to this one.”
My mouth drops as I expected him to rip into Booker, but Batista did say he was going to try and be the bigger person. I’m proud that he held his tongue because shit could’ve gone differently.
