Page 75 of The Don’s Virgin Obsession

Sade looked at me. “You need something?” she asked, smiling.

“Yeah, you,” I smirked.

“Stop it, Vaughn, I’m hungry.”

“I know. I was wondering if I could borrow you for lunch. Wanna talk business.”

She looked at Laila and laughed.

“Should I?” she asked Laila.

Laila shrugged. “That’s up to you. You were going to be the third wheel to me and hubby.”

Sade looked at me. “What’s on your menu?”

“Mexican.” I knew that was her favorite.

“You got me there.” She smiled.

“I know the way to your heart.”

She side-eyed me. “Yeah, sure.”

We walked Laila to her car, then went to my office, where food was waiting, and I had the works for her.

We walked in and started opening the food pans.

“Damn, you want me to be bigger than I am,” she laughed, grabbing a plate. I had everything we needed for taco salads and street tacos.

“You ain’t big, ma. We gon’ give the rest to the ground’s workers.”

We made our food and sat down.

As we ate, I started the convo.

“We’re ahead of the curve thanks to you and your crew. We can probably be doing the grand opening in less than two years.”

She smiled. “That sounds lovely. Your crew has been doing their thing, too, with the flooring.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but just a lil constructive criticism from my dad. He says cool down with the soft colors. MEN are going to live here too.”

I bit into my steak burrito, which I would regret later.

She started crunching up her taco salad and giggled. “I’ll slow it down. Order some black interior.”

I nodded, but my eyes went to the small gold-and-diamond crucifix necklace she was wearing.

“You used to always wear that necklace in high school.”

She touched it softly. “How do you remember that? You hardly saw me. I was in an all-girls school.”

“You don’t remember anything like I do. You forgot my school was down the street. Me and my crew used to sneak up there. I complimented you all the time.”

She laughed. “I try to forget that era in my life. But my mother gave me this necklace three days before she was murdered. She gave me a ring too,” she said the last part softly, almost childlike.

“I remember that. My parents watched it every day on the news, so I saw it. You know, dude works in our field? I just turned down somebody on his team who tried to buy material from me. I don’t play like that.”

She glared at me. “Really? I haven’t seen him in decades. I was hoping he was dead.”