Page 18 of The Don’s Virgin Obsession

They didn’t see me sitting in rooms I wasn’t getting paid to be in, listening, learning contracts before I ever had one in my name. My father made that clear early. If I was going to do this, I needed to understand it first, without expecting anything back.

They didn’t see me balancing everything at once.

School in the daytime. Drove an Arrowhead water truck in the evening. Late night, I was in the streets making money. I learned how to move in different spaces without letting one mess up the other.

That’s why none of this ever felt new to me.

I built it.

The degrees came after. Real estate development. Finance. I didn’t like asking the same question twice. If I touched it, I understood it.

By the time I stepped into my father’s company for real as CEO when he got sick, I wasn’t learning anymore.

I was already sharp.

That part has never been my issue. It was women.

Now I had a line of women wrapped around my building because I made a joke on Alana’s podcast, and my social media influencer and publicist sister made it a thing.

I sat at the head of my conference table, eating eggs, grits, bacon, and toast, watching Vanessa move around the office like she had just launched something major.

She always been like that.

Extra when she was excited.

“You see this?” she pointed toward the glass. “Do you see this line?”

“I see it.”

“I told you this would hit.”

“You told me it would be funny. You ain’t say I’d have a crowd outside my office before nine.”

She smiled. “They came dressed too. Some of them brought resumes.”

“That’s on you. You made it look real, you conduct the circus.”

“It is real. We just didn’t think it would be this real.”

I kept eating.

“I got meetings. I’m not about to sit in here all day doing this.”

“You don’t have to. Just a few. Give them something for social media.”

I looked up at her. “You wanna keep your job?”

She grinned. “A little.”

I shook my head.

The first one sat down and started talking before I asked her anything.

That told me enough.

Everything she said sounded practiced. Loyalty. Peace. Submission. All the words women throw out when they think it’s what you want to hear.

I let her talk.