Love Redeemed, Book 4 (17 page)

At the table, conversations
flow. I can tell these guys enjoy getting together. Once again, Azmir displays a different persona with this crew. It isn’t as guarded as with
The Clan
and not as poised as with Mark and Eric. With Jackson and Lenny, he’s more talkative while holding court. It never matters to me who Azmir is; I enjoy all facets of him. They all rev up something deep within that can’t be matched by anyone else.

“I thought you were going over to Atlantic with Mike Kyser, Len?” Azmir pose
s to Lenny.

“I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know, man. Still weighing my options, you know?” Lenny replie
s as he stretches his arm to the back of Mia’s chair. She smiles contently and I can tell she’s deeply in love with this man. “The industry has changed in the short time since you ran the halls. Jay’ll tell you.”

That comment cause
s me to question once again:
Who was Azmir in the music industry?

“Yeah, I saw it coming. Money’s drying up,” Azmir replie
s.

“Yeah, dudes switching up their hustle, but still in the industry in some way. I’m sure you see this every day, Jax,” Lenny thr
ows to Jackson, who’s being served his second course.

“Not really,” Jackson respond
s.

“What? You ain’t pick up Quincy’s portfolio yet?” Lenny ask
s aghast.

Jackson t
akes a long sip of his tea before answering, “Still weighing my options,” with a tight jaw, indicating he doesn’t want to discuss it.

Lenny’s dubious eyes sh
oot over to Azmir who smoothly shakes his head, communicating for him to drop it.

“Jax will decide what he wants to do when he’s ready. I have every confidence that he’ll make his decision based on what’s best for him,” Azmir inform
s.

Jackson d
oesn’t reply, just takes another gulp of his drink, training his eyes in the distance on a squint. It makes me take notice of his handsome features. He’s about a shade darker than my complexion with a narrow masculine face. Jackson’s eyes are some exotic shade, just darker than hazel. His long nose works well with his high cheekbones and long lashes. His shoulders are broad and he appears to be fit. Jackson’s a good looking man, but too young for his friend, Evelyn. She’s impeccably fit herself, but clearly will be applying for social security any day now.

Karl brings in bread and sets two bowls of it on both sides of the table. I try to think of something to say to change the course of the conversation. The tension
is now thick.

“So, Mia, I’ve caught your
remarkable accent. And your gorgeous features are just as striking. Where are you from,
if you don’t mind me asking
?” I note as Mia’s taking a sip of her drink.

She
smiles excitedly as she tries swallowing the contents of her mouth. She’s nice, and busty with bountiful curves in all the right places. She appears to be beautiful inside and out. I decide right away that I like her.

“Santo Domingo,” she smile
s graciously. “Thank you. And I can see Divine has excellent taste and loves clase de culo!” She stretches her arms wide then pats the rear of her hips for emphasis. I know the comment of me having a big butt is made with endearment, so I stifle my giggle. I can’t believe a woman has me blushing.

“Shiiiiit…” Lenny mutter
s beneath his breath.

I turn to Azmir who sh
akes his head while wearing a smug grin. I guess it’s a man thing, but it makes me feel uneasy considering his lady is sitting right here with us now. I quickly get the impression that his antics are not only familiar to her, but tolerated as well.

Lenny
goes to his phone that apparently has alerted him of a text because I then hear him call out, “This Jay, yo. He said you ain’t have to invite him.” He chuckles.

“I told his ass a
bout it right after I proposed it to Jax a while back. He said he’d be out the country,” Azmir explains, somewhat annoyed, somewhat lighthearted as Lenny types away.

“He said he’ll be in town next week and to clear your schedule for him. He know
s he gotta wait weeks to get on your books now that you’re a corporate CEO and all!” Lenny croaks out on a laugh, finding their exchange beyond funny.

Azmir wave
s him off with his hand. You can tell this is their relationship. I’m getting to know Azmir more and more. And I’m enjoying it.

“
You two must be really close,” I observe aloud and find my gaze decidedly on Lenny.

“Yeah…
D and I grew up together in Bedstuy and been tight ever since,” Lenny explains as he finishes his texting conversation. “And when he made his way out here to L.A., my brother and I came out, too. He set me up with a job at
RCA
records when they were running things. And it just went from there.” He shrugs, and for the first time, not giving me hooded eyes.

I t
ake this opportunity ask about his history in the music industry. It’s been killing me to learn why he’s so revered there.

“So
, you were acquainted in the record industry?” I pose as a question to Azmir.

As much as I tr
y to conceal it, Azmir can pick up my true inquiry. “When you grow up with well-known hip-hop artists, you kind of get to know their circle. Me, with my hustler’s spirit, I made friends with every mover and shaker that I could.” Azmir raises my hand and kisses the back of it. I’m glad he didn’t follow my seating arrangement and sat at the other end as the head. He even insisted that I kept my seat at the head. “It was fun…a good waste of time while I was trying to find myself.”

“And not just rappers, there’s lots of talent out of the BK,” Lenny correct
s. “Remember when Spike was shooting
Do the Right Thing
, back in ‘88-‘89, on Quincy and Lex?” Azmir nods. “Yo’, that shit was mad fun! They tried to keep us out the area, but we snuck in the warehouse and hid out for hours just to see what was going on.” I notice the nostalgic smile that crests up Azmir’s face. “Brooklyn was fun back then.” That last comment is made dolefully. Azmir’s eyes collapse into his lap, clearly in the moment with Lenny.

I ha
ve so many follow up questions to that, but settle on, “So, where’s your brother, Lenny?”

“He’s in ATL
,” Lenny answers with a mouthful.

Oh!
“Is Liz your sister?” I ask, recalling my easily-made-friends with the woman with spiked hair from the party in New York last summer. The one who informed me of Tara’s cheating on Azmir.

“Yeah,” Lenny confirm
s. “I forgot…she told me she met you.”    

Okay…now I’m making connections. It
’s good to see that Azmir has a structure other than the Harrisons.
What a bunch they are
.   

“So, Evelyn, do you still have your dance schools in Long Island?” Azmir ask
s Jackson’s guest—because it’s hard to reference her as his date when likely she’s old enough to be his mother and mine.

“Yes. We just closed on a new property near the water. Membership has been expanding leaps and bounds,” Evelyn smile
s.

So she
’s a dancer?

I notice how Jackson d
oesn’t even acknowledge her statement as he delves into his food.

“Rayna dances. She belongs to a school herself,” Azmir
beams.

“Really?” Evelyn’s eyes li
ght up. “What type of dance do you do?”

“Well, it’s more like what I’m into,” I offer a disclaimer. “I’ve not been formally trained
, but I’m instructed by a well-trained dancer. And I do a little bit of everything, from hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, salsa, and even a little tap.”

Evelyn’s
brows arch like a grandmother waiting to be impressed. She isn’t rude, just…mature.

“Oh,
was she…” Jackson asks, clearly just hit with revelation. “…the dancer at your birthday party?”

I
chuckle and Azmir nods his head proudly. I feel giddy all over again and have only had about two sips of my pinot noir.

“Ooooooh!” Lenny crie
s. “I missed that one, yo.”

“That was
a great performance,” Jackson comments in a way that isn’t suggestive.

“
Thanks, Jackson,” I nod graciously.

“
I wish I were there to see it,” Evelyn murmurs, wearing a moue as she peers over to Jackson.

He ignore
s it and continues, “I remember the look on D’s face when you hit the stage. I thought we were gonna have to end the party right then and there!” We laugh.

I turn to Azmir who
, in his own way, is blushing at the memory.   

“Oh, shit! Are these…” Lenny sa
ys before biting into the cornbread. “…Momma Dee’s?” he exclaims.

I smile
haughtily at Azmir who is now looking to me for an answer. He goes for one himself and bites into it. I find myself envying the bread.

Down, girl!

“Damn. And they taste fresh out the oven,” Azmir murmurs. After clearing his mouth, he moves closer to me and whispers with furrowed eyebrows, “How were you able to pull this off?”

Gi
ddy, I shrug and whisper in return, “I’m
that
chick,” then employ the smug grin I’ve picked up from him.

“I see,”
He chuckles. “Indeed.”

The rest of the
dinner is great. My menu of seafood and chicken goes over well, and Momma D’s cornbread was the icing on the cake. I’ll have to thank her again for agreeing to ship them out here. Now, it’s time for my next surprise. As if on cue, LaSean enters the dining room to inform me that the great room is now ready.

“All right, everyone. Let’s move this party to the living room,” I call
out to the group.

Oblivious
and tranquil, Azmir takes me by the hand a leads the way. Those trustee electrical currents hit my spine. I thought they’d get old someday soon. I was clearly wrong.

What
Azmir isn’t expecting is our musical guest, seated behind the baby grand piano, starting a jazzy tune. Before we’re deep into the room, Azmir turns his tall frame towards me with wrinkled brows. But it’s the wonderment in his eyes that takes my breath away. He’s pleasantly surprised and I’m thrilled by that. I bite my bottom lip, slightly embarrassed all of a sudden. My heart’s elated. Thankfully, I don’t have to speak, as our entertainer kicks the show off.

“Good evening, folks. I’m h
ere to serenade you tonight, hopefully, to add to the romantic holiday ambiance.” The keys from the piano bellows melodiously. “I’ll be your entertainer for the next few hours. I go by the name of Ragee and I’m honored to play my chords at the,” he cranes his neck, stretching his eyes over the great room. “…massive home of one Azmir Jacobs,” he transitions into a mellow version of
Winter Wonderland
.

After experiencing his awesome talent last summer at his listening party, I had to throw him a bone and hire him for tonight. Azmir’s budget for this event was astronomical in true A.D. fashion
, so there was plenty of room for his fee.

Ragee
goes on to introduce his two background singers who are all dressed in black, just as he is. When he belts out
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
I know I’ve made a great decision in including him to entertain our first “official” guests.

Not even midway into the song, Azmir turns me around and takes me into a dancing stance as he
leans down and buries his face in my neck, inhaling deeply. I melt into his lanky frame instinctively, wondering how I could ever leave his enfold, even to pee. His delicious cologne does things to me, prompting me to want to do things to him that are indecent.

During
our circular movements, I can see Lenny and Mia in an embrace. He’s whispering—apparently—salaciously in her ear as she quietly giggles. It’s hard not to get caught up in romantic realms with the sparkling, white clustered lights I had hung throughout the great room and terrace.

Well, at least that’s what I
’m thinking until I see Jackson and Evelyn, sitting apart, but certainly engaged in the performance. There’s a strange set of dynamics between those two. Jackson seems sad. Like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. He’s articulate, extremely handsome, polite, and…dejected. I can’t wait to ask Azmir about him
and
Lenny.

My attention
is taken when Azmir swipes his long pinky finger in the crack of my cheeks and wiggles it. My eyes flutter and my spine shivers. I moan into his chest. Then slowly, I peer up into his eyes and immediately note they’re smoldered.

“I love having your back exposed. I can pull you against me and still get my fill of your skin in front of mixed company.”
His brandy-hinted breath turns my nipples taut. I want to suck his tongue right from his face.