Triplets Make Five

And the look on his face made my heart sink to my toes.

When the elevator doors opened, I dashed out. I ignored the sounds of him yelling after me as I scurried through the lobby of his apartment building. He’d never know what it was like. He’d never know the fear of losing your home. Of losing the roof over his head. Of having to cope with living on the streets or in an apartment with four other people just to make it work.

I ducked into a cab and threw money at him as he pulled up to my apartment complex. I stumbled up the steps, wiping my tears from my eyes before I poured into my home.

Well, it’d be someone else’s home soon. So in a way, it wasn’t really mine to begin with.

If I was going to lose this condo, then I should at least make enough money so I can try and afford something else. Even though I had the day off from both jobs, I called both to see if they had anything available. Luckily the club had a spot. I got changed for work before I packed my bag. I had a new show-stopping number prepared. I needed a way to escape my emotions. I needed a way to become another person just for one night. I needed to get back to the independent woman I was. The one with dreams and aspirations and plans that had been set in motion.

Not the blubbering, sleazy, pathetic woman I’d turned into now that I’d been seduced by some hot-shot rich bitch who was about to take away my home.

But, I couldn’t get my emotions out of my head. I felt them weighing on my chest as I walked backstage, I had to wear waterproof makeup just so the tears that rimmed my eyes wouldn’t run, and I had to use concealer in order to cover up the bite marks he’d left on my neck.

Even with as angry as I was, I missed him.

And I honestly didn’t know what to do with that.

16

Foster

I yelled after Ella and that’s when I knew she’d heard me. When I saw her standing in my living room dressed in her clothes, I had a feeling she’d heard at least some of my conversation. Depending on how long she’d paid attention, she probably heard numbers that made her spine shiver. Numbers that were at least twenty thousand dollars over what we’d originally agreed upon for the remodel. That was the deal I’d cut with the tenants: they wouldn’t pay for the entire space, just the money it would take to remodel to their specifications. With all the amenities they could tack on, the update itself could cost them upwards of sixty thousand dollars.

I didn’t feel the need to charge them for anything else because of the rest of the building we could sell for profit.

But, the moment she dashed from that elevator and didn’t stop at my voice told me she’d heard. She’d heard everything, and she was probably scared. Every part of me wanted to go after her. Every atom of my being reached out for this woman who had entranced me so much. I’d taken her in every way I had only imagined up until this point. I had the imprint of her body pressed into the glass of my home while her juices stained my hardwood. That room would smell like her for weeks, greeting me like an old friend every time I got back home from work.

The issue was, I wanted the scent to be connected to her. I didn’t just want her memory, I wanted her body. I wanted her dreams and her passions. I wanted to hold her close to me and wake her up with my tongue between her legs. I wanted to go to every show she performed just so I could cheer her on from my shadowed perch.

I wanted to comfort her in her time of worry and fear. I wanted to let her know that I wouldn’t allow her to lose her home. That I’d do everything within my power to make sure nothing was stripped from her that didn’t need to be. She was a beautiful woman. Full of life and passion and power beyond her years. Her ruby red lips might tug at my cock, but her voice and her eyes tugged at my gut.

I had to get into the office. If I had any hope of helping her out the way I wanted to, I couldn’t go after her.

And that dichotomy fucked with me all the way into my office.

“Holy shit, Foster. You’re finally here,” Dave said.

“If you call me by my first name one more time, you’re fired,” I said. “Now, why the hell can you not figure this out with the financial team?”

“We won’t turn a profit off those condos if we sell them to them only for the work we’ll put into them. For some, we might even lose money.”

“Alright. We still have 60 percent of the fucking building to sell for as much fucking profit as we want. What’s the big deal?” I asked.

“The big deal is the investors aren’t going to invest if they’re only going to turn a profit for 60 percent of the building. They might as well only give you 60 percent of their original investment offer!”

“That’s what they said to strong arm you, Delilah!”

“Oh, we’ve gone into girl’s names now?” he asked.

“You’re acting like one. You’ve been my project manager for six years, and you mean to tell me you can’t handle a boardroom full of fat, rich, whiny white men?”

“You won’t turn a profit,” Dave said. “Do you not understand that?”

“Not everything is about profit, Dragonlord!” I exclaimed. “Sometimes it’s just about doing what’s fucking right!”

The entire accounting floor was stunned silent at my outburst. And, honestly? I was, too. My father was a money-driven man and passed down onto me that same mindset. If it didn’t make him money, then it wasn’t worth his time. The issue was, the building would still turn a profit on 60 percent of the building. It’s just that we could also do something wonderful for the community in the process.

“New York City is dying,” I said. “It’s dying and it’s taking all the lower income households with it. The families who raise three kids in a one-bedroom apartment just so the father can chase after his dreams. The four roommates residing in a studio apartment just so they can work off their student loans before going to some university around here and digging themselves into more fucking debt. We come in with our wrecking balls and scream at them to move before we bulldoze their lives. We erect taller, nicer buildings that are more out of their price range than ever, then we expect them to just find another place to stay. Where the hell’s the fairness in that?”