𝟼 𝙿𝙼

Cherish was relaxing on the couch. She had some candles lit, her music playing, and was sipping on some wine. She was still doing a little work. Being a mother of two and running multiple businesses was tiresome, but worth it. Time to herself was rare, since it used to be just her and her kids. Whenever someone visited her, they would give her a break, but other than that, being a mother never stops, and a businesswoman came second.

She could always work from home, which was a plus. It wasn't required for her to be at her stores, she just loved to be hands on. She only accepted doing personal designs for celebrities. As much as she wanted to do it for regular people as well her time was limited. Her stores were all filled with her women, men's, and lingerie line. Her new store that's opening will have all including her children's line, but it'll have new designs. This will be the biggest store she has.

She spent a decent amount of time at her store today making sure everything was coming together perfectly and making sure it'll be finished before her grand opening. She was having a small fashion show the day of her grand opening just to showcase her new line. She hired Yazmine and another stylist to do the hair of the women that'll be modeling and Paris and two more artists for Makeup. Paris was always flakey, so she had a backup makeup artist to take Paris's place on standby just in case. She love her best friend, but business is business and Paris would use that friend card in a hot minute.

She was loving the turnout of her new store so far and couldn't wait to open it. She already hired her staff, which was one less thing she had to worry about. The love and support she gets is a blessing. People actually love her clothing line which brings tears to her eyes every single time. To just turn 26 and already have 10 stores with different locations was a big accomplishment to her. To become a multi-millionaire was a big accomplishment.

"Perfect. Thank you, Lisa." Cherish hung up her phone. Despite being Cherish's assistant, Alisa had become a friend to her. Though, Cherish knows all about mixing business with pleasure, Alisa was damn good at her job and kept it professional during work hours.

Hearing a knock at the door, Cherish got up. She was only wearing a tank top, with no bra, and some small pajama shorts. She peeked out the peephole in case it was someone she needed to grab her robe for. The central air was blasting, so it was cool in the house.

Once she saw who it was, she opened it. For some reason, a smile made its way onto her face. "Hey, you're early. I thought you said you were coming around 7 or 8?"

"I guess I couldn't wait." Priest licked his lips while his eyes took her in. Just from that look, her nipples hardened. He smiled when he noticed how much of an effect he still has on her.

"Come in. Take your shoes off at the door." She moved to the side. "Your feet bet not be stanking."

"Stop playing with me. You know my shit was never stanking. You used to rub these motherfuckers." He chuckled, but was serious. He stepped in and was hit with a sweet smell. He had to admit that the inside was way bigger than it looked on the outside.

"Negro bye. Don't say it like I was just out here rubbing feet for the hell of it. You treated me like a queen, so I reciprocated the energy and treated you like a king." She smiled.

"Yeah, you did." He smiled back.

"You know ma dukes and pops mad you're back and didn't tell them."

"I feel bad that I shut them out. I miss ma and pops. I gotta go see them. Me and ma have a lot to catch up on." Cherish loves Priest's parents as much as they love her.

"Mhm. To gossip about motherfuckers." Priest laughed.

"Mmcht! Don't do us. We don't gossip, just sip the tea that's presented to us." She chuckled.

"If you say so." He shook his head. "This is a big ass guest house, though. I see you got the mood set and shit. You were waiting on me." He licked his lips.

"I am not thinking about you, Priest. I needed some me time before you came. I was relaxing while doing a little work." She chuckled. "And yeah, it is. My aunt said I could stay here for as long as I want. I plan on having a house built, which would take a while, so I'm grateful for her. There were no houses available and condos are too high these days. I don't care how much money I have, I'm not wasting any. I thought about staying in a penthouse suite. But again, that'll be wasting money."

"Built? Look at you."

"Where I move to next, I plan to stay there for a long time. I prefer not to keep moving house to house with my kids. When I moved away years ago, I started off living in a hotel. Then a condo. I upgraded to a two-bedroom house, then eventually moved into a three-bedroom house. Now, here."

"You know I have a Real estate business. I can hook you up. Even with the penthouse suite."

"You do?"

"I like to diversify. I have a few Real estate businesses in different states. I'm opening a casino in Vegas and I got one here. I'm the only one with a black-owned hotel here. Got six youth centers in different states. Then I got the best spot in town. Kind of like a three in one. A club, a bar, and restaurant. The lower level is where the club is located. You could order wings and fries since people love club wings. The second level is the restaurant part. It's enclosed with soundproof glass, so the music from the club don't interfere or anything. Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then there's the third floor which is where the bar is. If people wanna chill out, have a drink and listen to music without it being all loud then it's the perfect setting."

Despite Priest having a restaurant of his own, Crystal always wanted to eat out at fancy restaurants. The type of restaurants that gives you little to no food for a $200 dinner.

"That sounds so amazing. I'm proud of you, Priest. I always knew you'd grow up from the streets. You were destined for more than that."

"Thank you, I appreciate that. If I haven't told you already, I'm proud of you too. I heard about you accomplishing your dreams. I just hate I missed it. 10 stores is dope." He walked closer to her.

"Thank you." She reached her hand out and traced one of his braids. "I see you grew your hair out."

"Yeah." He looked down at her.

Here they were, just staring at each other. She wasn't about to blame it on the wine. Everything inside her was screaming to bust her legs wide open, but she knew better than that. It just wasn't the time for that.

Clearing her throat, she started to speak. "So, um—"

She was cut off by Priest leaning down and kissing her. Her attempt at pushing him away ended up with her gripping his shirt to pull him closer. He slid his tongue into her mouth and she happily accepted it while moaning. Gripping her booty, he lifted her up, causing her legs to wrap around.

"W-We can't, Priest." She bit his lower lip as he held her against the wall.

"Why not?" He grabbed her neck and kissed her deeply. By grabbing her neck, he noticed the chain around it had lifted. Pulling it up, he saw the engagement ring he got for her. He looked at the ring, then back at her.

"Just because I took it off my finger doesn't mean I stopped wearing it." She swallowed deeply. "I probably should give it back."

"You still love me?" He looked into her eyes.

She really didn't know how they got here so fast on their first day seeing each other after 6 years. It felt a lot like no time had passed.

Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. "I can't answer that."

"How come you can't? If this about me being in a relationship, I'm not. Things were over a long time ago on my end, but I verbally ended it."

"That's not it." She sniffled. "Let me down, we really need to talk about something important."

Instead of listening to her, he carried her over to the couch. Sitting down with her, so she was positioned on top of him, straddling his waist. He reached out and wiped her tears, and she knew this probably would be the last time he'll be so caring towards her. This secret was about to change everything.

"What is it?" He asked. "Why you crying, mama?"

She reached over and grabbed her phone as he watched her actions. She sighed deeply before showing him a picture of Honesti. "This is my two-year-old daughter, Honesti."

Priest looked at the picture and smiled. "Damn, man. She really is your momma twin. You said they had different fathers. Where hers at? That nigga must be white from the color of her eyes."

She hit his shoulder while rolling her eyes. "If a white man ever slide inside of this, he gotta be one of them types that's invited to the cookout. Even then, I'm not sleeping with no white man."

He laughed because she was serious. "He's black, believe me. But she doesn't have a father. Just a bastard that had some cheap ass condoms on him. Anyway, I'm not proud of this, but he was a one-night stand. I was drunk as hell and that's no excuse, but I was careless. After I found out I was pregnant; I reached out discreetly because he's in the NFL. He tried to pay me off to get an abortion, then sign an NDA. Long story short, he wanted nothing to do with my baby, so I had him sign over his rights, which he did with no hesitation. It's his lost. Anyone who meets her falls in love with her. She's just the sweetest little girl anyone could meet, and she stay doing the funniest things."

He was feeling some type of way that she wanted to keep a stranger's baby but aborted his baby without blinking. Still, he couldn't help but smile as she talked about her youngest daughter.

"And your other daughter?"

"That little girl is my heart. Both my daughters are. She's beyond smart. Get a lot from her father. I swear, she does many things just like him. The way he likes his food and sometimes eats it. The way she smiles. The way she brushes her teeth. She's a sweetheart, but often mugs a lot. Sometimes I just stare at her because she's his twin." She looked at Priest who was staring at her. He was so confused about why she was crying. She went to a picture of Malaysia then showed him. "Priest... this is Malaysia Honour Blackmon, our daughter.