Her smile slightly faltered as she looked at me and back to Bruno before she cleared her throat. “Of course, Manny will guide you at the elevators.”
Bruno nodded before grabbing my wrist and pulling me in front of him towards the elevators. What the hell was going on? Why were we meeting somebody about renting out an office space. Where is Mr. L? My mind raced with a thousand questions, but my gut was telling me to keep my mouth shut.
Once we made it to the elevators, a tall Asian man, I’m presuming was Manny, stood with his arms crossed behind his back. He had on a black polo t-shirt that was tucked in to black jeans with a matching bomber jacket. His chestnut brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and I couldn’t help but notice the tattoo on the side of his neck - a snake baring his blood coated fangs.
If we hadn’t spoken to the receptionist, I would have assumed he was just another man waiting to get on the elevator. From how he was dressed, compared to other elevator attendants, there was no way he worked here. Especially with his all black Air Force Ones on his feet. Hell, he looked like he was ready to beat somebody ass instead of ensuring other guests arrived at their proper locations.
Manny examined us as we approached him before placing a hand over his ear, showing the gun discreetly tucked into the front of his waistband. I realized thathe had on an earpiece and the woman at the receptionist was providing him instructions to lead us to that advisor. Was he a part of security, too? It would make sense to have undercover security posing as a regular client. With a quick nod and affirmative to the walkie talkie on his wrist, he pressed the button to call for the elevator.
We stepped on the elevator, and I watched as Manny pulled out a badge from a pocket inside of his jacket and scan it over a kiosk that was located under the elevator buttons. After the scanner lit up green, he pressed the number for the top floor. I opened my mouth to ask where we were going but thought against it. Not only did I not want Bruno trying to choke me again, but I didn’t want any problems with Manny. From the way his eyes were roaming over me, I couldn’t tell if he wanted to pistol whip me or bend me over. Either way, I stared down at my shoes and avoided eye contact with him.
Chapter 15
Addison
After passing all of the other floors, we finally made it to the top floor, which is usually the executive suite for the owner. Now that I thought about it, Bruno had to give the receptionist a secret phrase to get access to Mr. L and Manny was most definitely a part of the security team. I bit my inner cheek to surpass my laugh. Of course, Mr. L would have all of those obstacles just for someone to see him.
Once the elevator doors opened. I noticed an average size white man, probably no taller than 5’7, with sandy blonde hair sitting in the lobby. He had a scruffy beard which was braided and tied on the end with a rubber band. He looked up at us and smiled, showing off his white teeth that had diamonds incrusted on the bottom row.
“Yo, what’s good, baby?”
Bruno pulled me off the elevator and inside of the room before walking up toward the man. Bruno grinned before grabbing the man’s hand and pulling him in for a quick hug.
“X, my boy, just trying to get this money and keep these hoes in line.”
“I feel that 100%.”
Bruno tilted his head towards me. “This heifer been getting on my damn nerves for the past year and I’m so ready for Mr. L to get rid of her.”
Oh, I know this muthafucka didn’t!
“Man, I wish Mr. L would have let me watch over her,” X said as he licked his lips and stared at my chest. “But then again, Mr. L knows best. I mean, we been best friend since high school and he knew my ass would’ve had my tongue deep in her booty as soon as I would’ve been put in charge.”
I scrunched up my eyebrows as nausea rolled through me. I looked around the room to see if there was something I could throw. If they thought they could sit here and be disrespectful to me and I wasn’t going to say anything, then they had me fucked up. I balled my hands into fists and glared at the ground. I took in a deep breath to calm down because at the end of the day, it was them two against me. Bruno already had no problem choking me and I didn’t know what kind of man X was, but I’m sure if he worked for Mr. L, he was just as bad.
Bruno threw his head back and laughed. “Man! See Xavier, that’s why you not in charge of the merchandise, especially not the pure ones.”
Xavier shook his head as he chuckled. “No arguments there, but you know what? I’m not complaining since I get first dips with the used merchandise.”
What the fuck? How long have these sick fucks been manipulating and selling off individuals? I clenched my jaws as I dug my nails into the palm of my hand.
“Anyways,y’all came to see boss man?” Xavier asked, pulling a blunt out of his jacket pocket.
Bruno nodded as he tucked his hands into his pockets. I watched Xavier light his blunt and take two long drags before passing it to Bruno, who mimicked the movement. Xavier walked over to a closed office door and knocked. I could hear a low grumble coming from the other side before a deep voiced snapped.
“Man, what you want now?”
“Yo, Bruno is here with Little Bit.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Ever since Mr. L called me that when I first met him, everyone else thought they could too. There was nothing about me that was considered little and they knew that but continually gave me that nickname. I mean, I had wide hips, triple D breasts, and wore a size eighteen. I was a grown ass voluptuous woman. If I really wanted to, I could probably beat Xavier’s ass. Hell, I was just pushing 5’8’ and towered over him a good an inch. I tucked in my lips and looked down at my feet to hold back a laugh.
The office door finally swung open, and my jaw dropped. The first thing my eyes immediately landed on was a topless woman who was on her knees in the middle of the floor. Her long black hair exposed her smooth olive complected back as she attempted to put her bra back on. I squinted my eyes to see if I could get a better look at her profile, but my vision was blocked when Mr. L stepped out. I swallowed as I took in his 6’2” and sturdy build. He looked the same as he did when we first met. Even though he was cruel, I had to admit the muthafucka was fine.
As he tugged on his shirt, I noticed that his Caesar taper fade, which was freshly cut, showed off a very descriptive tattoo going down the side of his neck. I slightly squinted my eyes and realized the image was the head of a cobra that wore a largecrown. Blood dripped down its mouth as it buried its two fangs into two different dates. I wonder what the two dates represented.
“Miss Addison, I almost forgot how breathtaking you were.” Mr. L’s sultry voice filled the room. “Don’t get me wrong, the pictures you send to your new owner are great, but baby girl, they do not do you justice.”
“I’m saying! Little bit is bad. Let me just lick her toes one time,” Xavier begged.
