“Yes. I mean yes ma’am.”

  “Naverone is good.”

  “Okay, Ms. Naverone.”

  Nick had to grin. What could Naverone have done to make a six-foot, six-inch forward in the NBA fearful of her, he wondered.

  “Just Naverone.” She smiled. “I’m your protection now Jason. When things hop off and you need help, I’m your first call.”

  He glanced at Nick then back to Naverone. “You work for me now?”

  “No, I work for Nick. Since you are someone he represents, that means you are under my protection now.”

  Jason half smiled. “For real?”

  Naverone nodded. “For real,” she almost laughed.

  “Well…” Jason hesitated, then took a step towards her. “Can you find people?”

  Naverone shrugged. “Sure I can.”

  “You need help with something, Jason,” Nick asked, concerned.

  “Well, kind of.”

  “Let’s take a seat at the table. Who do you need to find?” Nick asked once all of them were seated.

  “Umm…it’s a girl.”

  Nick and Naverone glanced at each other. “A girl, Jason?” Nick asked.

  “She’s hot, Nick. I mean man, she’s bam…bam..bam.” motioned in the air with his hands the outline of a woman’s body. “And she got the face, you know, the kind in magazines and shit.”

  “Watch your language,” Naverone cautioned.

  “Oh, sorry.” He lowered his eyes.

  Nick grinned. The kid Ty called “terror on wheels” was actually a pretty decent young man.

  “And she can sing…man she got a sweet rap, but the other night I heard her singing. Man, she should trash that rap and just sing, you know what I mean”

  Naverone tried to hide her smile as Nick spoke. “You like this girl?”

  “Man, she got it like that.”

  “Okay, well, what’s her name,” Nick prompted. “Maybe we can arrange an introduction.”

  The young man who was sitting and still felt like he was standing looked at Nick with wonder in his eyes. “You think you can do that…for real?”

  The excitement in the young man’s eyes made Nick feel good. It was like experiencing puppy love all over again. “Tell us her name and we’ll see what we can do.”

  “Lil Tay, from the other night. Man, if I could get a chance with that, I swear I’ll never give you any trouble Nick.”

  Jason was so excited he never saw Nick’s face drop at the mention of his niece.

  Naverone was doing all she could to keep Jason’s eyes on her until Nick could straighten his face. She kicked him under the table, but it wasn’t Nick legs she kicked, it was Jason’s.

  When he looked down, she motioned for Nick to change his expression.

  “You know, I think I’ll work on that for you Jason.” Naverone stood to leave before she actually laughed out loud. “In fact I’ll work on it while you meet with Nick.”

  Nick glared at Naverone as if he could kill her. “You know Lil Tay is probably out of the country on tour,” he said more to Naverone than to Jason.

  “Awe man,” Jason slumped, “It’s all good. I’ll wait on that. She’s worth it.”

  “We’ll see,” Naverone said, as she walked out of the office laughing.

  “You think she will do it?” Jason asked Nick.

  Nick walked over and picked up the young man’s file. “I’m sure she will try. I thought your parents were coming with you today.”

  “They felt I could handle the information on the endorsements.”

  “Are you ready for that responsibility?”

  “With your guidance, I’m sure I can make the right decisions.”

  The young man was well mannered. However, Taylor was his niece and ballers had a reputation. “Well, let’s get your mind on business, what do you say?”

  “Okay Nick, show me what you got?”

  It turned out Jason, the one he expected to bring drama, was the easiest of the day. His lunch with Jarrett Bryson brought on a new dimension to the meaning of celebrity. They’d reserved the private room at one of Nick’s favorite restaurants, The Rendezvous, so they could discuss the upcoming year and contract negotiations. However, getting to the private room was a journey. The existence of Twitter and instant messaging was turning out to not be their friend.

  Nick and Sylvia stepped out of the car to a crowd of about twenty women standing outside the door. Garland Simmons, the owner, was doing his best to control the crowd. Sylvia pulled out her cell and pushed a button as Nick made his way through the crowd. When he reached Jarrett, he was patiently signing a woman’s arm with a black marker.

  “Excuse me, ladies. Thank you all for stopping by to see Jarrett. I’m afraid I have to pull him away now.”

  There were moans as the crowd began to move forward. Sylvia stood between the women and the two men. “Mr. Bryson will be happy to take a picture with the first five people willing to give us your email address or number to text. We also have two tickets and after-game passes to the next game for a lucky winner. Follow me.” They ran behind Sylvia like children after candy. Nick guided Jarrett.

  “She’s a keeper.” Jarrett smiled as he followed Nick and Garland into the private room.

  “You better know it.” Nick smiled as he looked over his shoulder at the crowd. “She’s worth her weight in gold.”

  “Mr. Brooks.” Garland seated the men on the balcony, which overlooked the entire restaurant. “I apologize for the inconvenience. The moment Mr. Bryson stepped out of his car, he was recognized. One call led to another and another and it was on after that.”

  “You handled it well,” Jarrett praised the young man.

  “I appreciate you saying that. May I get you gentlemen something from the bar?”

  “Water for me,” Jarrett replied.

  “Same here.” Nick nodded. “And a sweet tea for the lady.”

  Garland nodded. “Casey will be your waitress. She will be right out with your drinks.”

  “Thank you.” Nick nodded, then looked up at Jarrett, who appeared to be unfazed by what had just occurred. “You realize the crowd is going to double within the hour. We can leave out the back if you like.”

  “It’s not a problem. I believe your assistant stated I would take pictures with some of them.” He shrugged. “It shouldn’t take long.”

  Nick liked the cool demeanor of the man and wondered if anything ever got to him. “When do you head back to New York?”

  “I’m making a detour to Miami for a few days, then I’ll go back.”

  The waitress appeared with the water and took their orders. Nick thanked her and turned his attention back to Jarrett. “What do you want in this contract?”

  “To play ball. Give the fans a few more years. Close my career out with the team.”

  Nick nodded. “Ten years, guaranteed base, signing bonus, award bonuses for each milestone, perks.” He shrugged his shoulder. “Sounds like a good starting point.”

  “Do they have good burgers in this place?”

  “The best.” Nick grinned. “You take the works?”

  Jarrett smiled. “The only way to do it.”

  In that moment Nick learned something about Jarrett Bryson. He was a humble man. Talking money made him uncomfortable. “Casey, we will have number two with the works and a salad for the lady.”

  “Got you covered,” came the reply.

  Nick closed the electronic tablet he traveled with and decided the best way to connect with this man was to simply have a conversation. “How’s the family?” The relief on the man’s face was clear. Nick listened as he talked about family, then a little politics. By the time the food came, the topic eventually turned to women. “How do you handle all the attention?” Nick asked as he bit into his burger.

  “I try to keep things simple,” Jarrett replied as he shook his head while eating a fry. “I don’t deal well with drama or the crazy antics.” He took a drink. “The other night at the hotel, I walk in my room and there’s a woman butt naked in the bed.”

  “What?” Nick wiped his mouth with a napkin as he laughed at Jarrett. “What did you do?”

  Jarrett huffed. “Turn around, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind me. I hung out with Justin for the rest of the night.”

  “Justin Hylton?”

  “Yeah, we go way back.”

  “What night was that?”

  “Saturday. We had a few beers, laughs. I stretched out on his pull-out.”

  Nick nodded, taking in the information and storing it for later. “I met with him this morning. He’s good people.”

  “One of the best in the game.” Jarrett nodded. “The man loves his wife. I envy the man. I’ve seen him shut down beautiful women at the drop of a hat. He leaves no door open and lets them know his wife is his life.” Jarrett looked down at the crowd. “What he has is real. That, down there, is not.”

  “You have to know what real looks like so when you find it, you know to grab it and hold on for life.”

  Jarrett looked at Nick and smiled. “You probably will not get ten years from the GM. If he bucks, I’m good with five.”

  “If he bucks, I’ll get him to seven, but there will be a price to pay in incentives.”

  Jarrett nodded. “Send me the specs when you put them together.”

  Nick nodded. “So does your nephew play ball?” And just like that Nick had won over Jarrett Bryson.

  By the time Nick arrived home, it was well after midnight. He pulled onto his street which consisted of three homes, his, his brother James’ and a few miles down, the personal home of the President of the United States, JD Harrison. His end of the estate did not have the guarded gate with the Secret Service ready to greet you. However, there was a security gate, which opened when his vehicle was within a certain range. Once he drove through the gate, it would close and lock behind him. He was tired and did not bother to drive around to the garage. He parked in the circular driveway and entered his home through the front door.

  Outside the gate, a respectable distance from the entrance, Ericka sat inside her vehicle watching and making mental notes about the property. She stayed out of range of the agents posted only a few miles down the road. Once Nick returned to his office after his lunch and photo session with Jarrett Bryson, she came here and parked. The success of her plan depended on research. Isaac Singleton may not understand the intricacy of a con, but she did. And she simply did not know enough about Nick Brooks. Today she learned a little more by watching him from the time he arrived at his office that morning. People seemed to genuinely like the man. She saw him walking three major clients out to the black sedan he had transporting them to the office. Of the three, she believed the most volatile was the kid, Jason Whitfield. Both Bryson and Hylton had more money than God. If a couple of millions disappeared, they probably would not notice. But a young kid just coming into money would count every dollar. According to Cannon, if Singleton wanted a public spectacle, it would come from the kid.

  With her plan in place, it was time to make contact.

  Chapter 3

  E

  ricka dressed carefully for today. This was going to be her first official connection with Nicolas Brooks. From what she could gather, he liked his women sweet and sassy, which meant she didn’t have to change much. Well, she had to admit she wasn’t exactly sweet. That disappeared at fourteen, when her first boyfriend decided to share their one sexual encounter with the entire school via video. Her mother deemed her a whore and shipped her off to California to live with her aunt…a distant aunt. From that point on, she would be the first to admit she was a bitch. Her aunt taught her everything there was about looks. If you were pretty, you could get just about anything you wanted. She used the knowledge to the fullest

  Exotic was what her first producer boyfriend called her. She was the product of an African-American mother and a wealthy Italian father who also happened to be married and was a real estate investor. She couldn’t help but be captivating. From her mother she acquired a body that stopped traffic and from her father the warm olive-tone skin coloring, that made it look as if the sun kissed her. She had his coal black eyes and from both a hair texture that allowed her the luxury of going natural when she wanted, or simply flat-ironing it to take it straight. The producer boyfriend brought her a Mercedes Coupe at the age of sixteen. Oh, high school boys couldn’t do anything for her. If you wanted to take a ride with her, you had to have a bank account, in your name only, with seven figures or more.

  After a few years, producers became boring and she moved up to movie stars. While their pockets were deep, their vanity was unbearable. No one or nothing could be more beautiful than them. When she walked in the room on the arm of a star and received more compliments than he…well that was generally all she wrote. But hell, she couldn’t help it..it was what it was…deal with it.

  After getting smacked around a few times for being more beautiful, she decided, men with no looks, no talent, but enough brains to buy the ones with looks and talent were a better choice. What she found was a gold mine. With them, she didn’t even have to sleep with them. All she had to do was be on their arms so they could tell the other old men they called friends, that’s my side. Ericka would smile, wave or give a kiss on the cheek and then sit back and watch her bank account grow.

  Like mother, like daughter, she told her mother once when she came for a visit and her mother criticized her lifestyle in front of her little brother. They were having dinner when her mother asked if she had found a respectable job. Ericka replied she was doing okay. Sleeping around waiting for a man to give some of his hard earned money is not doing okay, her mother said. Ericka watched as Bobby bowed his head as if the food on the plate had suddenly burst into action.

  “You slept with my father who was a wealthy executive and got pregnant with me. When that well ran dry, you did it again with Bobby’s father. At least, I’m not bringing home any bastard children.” With that, her mother threw her out and told her she was never to return. She didn’t, but she kept in touch with Bobby.

  Bobby was a good kid. He did things the right way. He got shafted when it came to his father. Mother never told him who his father was, but Ericka knew. She’d always wondered how mother paid for the house, kept food on the table, and them in nice clothes. William Singleton paid for it all. They didn’t live like his real family, but Bobby did okay. He never questioned Mother, although he brought it up with Ericka a number of times. But, like or dislike her mother, she would never tell what was not her business. The answer would come out one day…it always did. Until then, she would be there for her brother no matter what. If what Cannon suspected was right, she was not going to allow anyone to take what was legally Bobby’s. Not even the great Isaac Singleton.

  Ericka pulled into the parking space behind the Brooks-Pendleton offices. A glance in the mirror confirmed she had the look she needed to get in the door. The clean, professional, if she ever had to do a nine-to-five, look. Little makeup, hair pulled back into a stylish bun, a black and white sheath dress that revealed little skin, but fit just right to get attention. Four-inch heels and a classic black and white clutch finished the look. She stepped out of the vehicle with her game plan in mind. Just moved to town from Atlanta. Don’t really know too many people. Since she had been treated poorly at the event this would be a perfect opportunity for him to make it up to her. Every woman needs a big strong man to show her around. That usually pulled the corporate type. Yes, she had her game plan in mind.

  Ericka’s walk from the parking lot to the front of the building proved she had on the right outfit. The appreciative second glances made her smile. She opened the door and stepped into the spacious long foyer that had burgundy and tan Persian carpeting, and white columns strategically placed throughout. On the wall to the right in the shape of an arch was the name ‘Brooks–Pendleton’. Ericka walked in that direction and stopped at the double doors. Under the arch were framed pictures of their current clientele, from the ceiling to the floor. Perusing the display, it was clear Brooks-Pendleton’s client were a virtual who’s who in sports. Her eyes settled on the young man she planned to use to get Singleton what he wanted. “Get the money,” she said as she opened the door and walked through.

  A receptionist sat at an oval-shaped desk with the name of the agency engraved on the wall behind her. Nothing could be seen from the foyer. To the right, there was a door with the name ‘Pendleton’ above the opening and to the left was a door with the name ‘Brooks’ above it. Each had a key-code bar for entry. The office was a little more secure than what she imagined. She made a mental note. Most of her dealings with Nicolas Brooks would have to take place at his home.

  “Good morning.” Ericka smiled as she greeted the receptionist. “I’m here to see Nicolas Brooks.”

  “Good morning,” the very attractive brunette replied. “Do you have an appointment with Mr. Brooks?”

  “I do not. Please give this to him. I’m certain he will see me.”

  The woman smiled as she picked up the telephone. “Your name?”

  “Ericka Edmonds.”

  “Ms. Edmonds, please have a seat. I will see if Mr. Brooks is free.”

  Ericka stepped into the reception waiting area, which offered an assortment of coffee, tea, drinks, water or snacks behind a bar with four stools around it forming a semi-circle. To the left were two large leather chairs that would easily accommodate the larger frame of a male athlete. On the monitor above the bar ESPN was on with the latest scores from the games the night before. She placed her purse on the bar and prepared a cup of tea. Taking a seat at the bar stool on the end, she crossed her legs and slightly turned her body away from the door as she waited for Nick Brooks’ secretary to arrive.

  “Ms. Edmonds,” the rich voice echoed through her as she turned to find Nicolas Brooks in all his fine glory standing before her. Normally a tuxedo adds to a man’s mystique in a James Bondish kind of way. Saturday night with all its glitz and glamour took away from this man’s charm. Nicolas Brooks, dressed in black slacks, loafers, and a crisp white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, had a down-home, Southern charm and wholesome good looks. Were those brown eyes that bright, his skin that smooth, his lips that thick before? Ericka thought as she looked up at the man. Stop it, her mind raced. This is a target, just like any other.

 

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