Page 145 of The Need to Know

Sloan was smiling, flirting, completely enamored by Paisley.

I came back to Pops as it hit me hard in the chest, shocking my system viscerally. “Nothing.”

Quizzically, he angled his head. “Excuse me?”

“The value of a dollar…” I realized. “…is nothing.”

A proud smile washed across Pops’s face as a gleam passed through his eyes. “Took you long enough.”

I was happy, excited mostly, to start this new venture, but at the same time I felt empty. Drained. Off my game. I was about to gain a lot of money with this new nightclub, but for once in my life, that wasn’t enough. “Yeah, it did.”

“The value of a dollar is nothing,” Pops repeated. “You can’t buy time, love, happiness, peace, or a healthy spirit. There is no true value to a dollar, because there are some things money just can’t buy.”

Nastasia didn’t care about money. Wasn’t impressed with the shiny and expensive things, and really made it a point to school me and take me out.

“Doing this line of work can be time consuming. It brings me peace to have your mother to come home to. Naomi’s very grounded. She didn’t need the moon and the stars, and it’s because of that I wanted to give it to her. All the money in the world couldn’t replace her.”

I’d always admired my parents’ marriage and love, even if for a time I couldn’t understand it or relate. Now, I could.

I brushed a hand over my head and blew out a breath. “New York is beautiful. Multicultural. Busy. Up my alley. But at the end of the day, I got some business to handle back in Georgia before I make any decisions to move.”

Pops held his hand out. “Then let’s go do some paperwork.”

Because I felt so much and I couldn’t hold it in, I reached out and hugged my father tight, squeezing my eyes shut, shaking a little as he patted my back. To have his belief and support, nothing beat that feeling. Nothing beat having my father proud of me and inspired by me. For so long I’d worked hard for this feeling, and now that I had it, I was on cloud nine.

Well, almost.

The ink was barely dry before I got on a plane to head back to Georgia. I had a lot going on, but I knew what I wanted and I was willing to do whatever it took to make it work.

Nastasia and I hadn’t spoken in over a week. Something that was way too long for us.

I didn’t waste time rehearsing pretty promises, or orchestrating a romantic trap. Tuesday morning when I woke up, I got myself together and drove straight to Shéc.

It was early, they had just opened their doors, and no one was inside. No one shopping at least.

Right away, I caught sight of Paisley and an older White man in a dress shirt and tie. They were facing the left side of the store, staring at a wall.

“We can cut out the entire wall to expand the space, or, we can cut out a single door,” the man was telling Paisley.

Paisley glanced at the wall in question. “We still want our own identity, but a doorway would be perfect. That way they can come to and from, or potentially shop together.”

I didn’t know what to say, because I already knew what this was. In the far back, at the checkout counter, Nastasia was standing attending to something. Once her eyes landed on me guilt set in and it all but confirmed my suspicions.

A smirk formed on my face and I couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

But first, I had to get through the bodyguard.

“Uh-uh.” Paisley held her arm out, trying to block me from getting to Nas. “What you doin’ here?”

“Got something I need to fix,” I said.

Paisley sized me up, not impressed by the looks of it. “You didn’t even come with flowers.”

“She can’t be bought,” I reasoned.

Paisley clicked her tongue, but said nothing as she got back to discussing business with the contractor.

I made my way around her and down to Nastasia who was inching away from the counter. The act brought a smile to my face. She had some explaining to do.