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The hotel’s designated butler, Larry, welcomed us at the entrance. He took our bags and placed them on a cart.
“Mr. Valentine, we have your suite prepared, and dinner will be ready shortly.”
“Thank you. This is Ms. Patterson. She has unlimited access to my account during our stay. Whatever she needs, please don’t hesitate to provide it for her.”
I felt Averie tighten her grip on my hand. I didn’t even acknowledge it. She is probably on some “I can take care of myself” kick I don’t care to hear.
“Ms. Patterson,” Larry tipped his hat to her. She smiled in return.
We followed Larry up to the penthouse suite. I enjoyed the amenities the hotel offered, but it was also close to the Stars operating offices.
“The maid will be in to unpack your bags while you are enjoying dinner. Is there anything else you need from me before I go to the kitchen to check on the food?”
“No, Larry. Thank you.”
He disappeared behind the door to the kitchen.
“El, I don’t need you to pay…”
“Stop.” I interrupted. “I am only going to say this once. I am a man. I don’t know how to be anything but a man. If I ask you to come somewhere with me or do something with me, then I am paying, period. To challenge me on this point is to challenge my manhood. Don’t challenge my manhood and I won’t challenge you. If you want to invite me somewhere and pay, then, by all means, do so. I don’t want to have this conversation again.”
I needed to be firm with her, so she understood my position. I love that she is independent and can take care of herself, but with me, she doesn’t have to. We stood staring at each other for a few minutes before she turned to look around the room.
“This suite is beautiful.”
“That’s it? We’re changing the subject?”
“I don’t have a rebuttal,” she shrugged. “We understand each other,” she smiled.
“Yeah, it is nice. Let me show you something.”
I led her over to the wall of windows that faced the Uptown area of Charlotte. The view was spectacular. I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She molded into my frame.
“Can you see the stadium in the distance?”
She nodded.
“Mr. Valentine the food is ready,” Larry announced.
I turned my head and spoke to him without breaking Averie and my connection.
“Thank you, Larry. After the baggage is handled, I won’t need you or the staff for the rest of the evening.”
“I will let them know. Thank you, Sir.”
I turned my attention back to the window.
“That’s the current Stars stadium. It was built in nineteen eighty-eight, making it one of the oldest stadiums in the league. There are about seven that are older out of thirty. That means that basically, every other organization has invested the money into building a better experience for the team and for the fans. One of my first ideas, when I bought into the team, was to build a new stadium. Tear down this old monstrosity and create something new, innovative and something that fits into this city which is experiencing a resurgence of life. The majority owner didn’t want to invest the money. Instead, he wanted to fix what we had. That was the first clue I was going to take ownership of this team.”
“Take ownership?”
“Yes. See that row of brown buildings beyond the stadium?”
“Yes.”
“Those buildings are sitting on some of the property I purchased. I purchased twenty-five acres of real estate. I plan on building a state of the art facility after I acquire the majority shares of the team.”
“The majority owner is looking to sell?”
