Page 42 of Mr. Blackwood

“Swallow,” I ordered with my hand on her neck and the other hand putting my dick away.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Blackwood.”

I squeezed her throat while she struggled to swallow my cum. When I finished, I stood and pressed the resume button for the elevator to move again.

We arrived in the garage, and I led her to Creed, who waited for her in my Mercedes.

After I buckled her in, I looked down into her eyes and whispered, “Good night.”

“What are you doing? You’re not riding with me?”

“I have some unfinished business to handle tonight, sweetheart. We’ll talk later.”

17 – CAMILLA

ONE WEEK LATER

I had no idea how much “later” Jabari was talking about when he left me in the parking garage the night of the gala. Something had been off about his attitude after he returned from taking a phone call no sooner than we arrived.

Yet, minutes into the evening, his normal persona had returned. He had been as attentive and affectionate toward me as usual, and charming with the other ladies. I noticed that when men were in the vicinity, Jabari could be a bit abrupt, almost bordering on rudeness. Still, men seemed to flock toward him and devour his attention and his company.

I hadn’t expected him to send me home alone that night. After getting me all worked up, I knew that he was going to take care of my body the way he normally did. I was looking forward to a night of kinky sex, but that wasn’t to be had. Although the elevator excursion could be counted as such. I hated that he had edged me and sent me alone without having an orgasm. The only orgasms I’d had were by my toys in the days following the gala, and they were nothing like what Jabari did to me. They were inefficient and left me hungering for so much more.

The man had power, and that type of power could be scary. I had no idea he owned the building we’d had the gala in. It was a beautiful twenty-three-story building constructed of black glass and steel.

I was afraid that someone would start the elevators again and the doors would open. Although I hadn’t wanted to be caught, part of me felt like it would be exciting, which was why I hadn’t mentioned the possibility of security watching us on camera. Learning that he controlled the elevators, too, wasn’t just scary but downright sexy.

I was drawn to the darker parts of Jabari and the authority that he had, all the while knowing that if he learned the truth about what I was after, he could destroy me. The more that I got to know the man, the more I wanted to know, but not to use it against him—just to protect him.

I had paid for the information that his father gave me, but not to use it in my magazine. Knowing that I was falling in love with Jabari, I knew that I needed to know the truth about him. After all, how could I protect him if I didn’t know the ghosts that I was protecting him from? How could I be with him? There was no mistaking that he had ghosts.

Most CEOs that I met wanted to be featured in the magazine. They looked forward to highlighting their brand and business, if not themselves. Yet, he shunned every single interview requested of him. Only a man with secrets did that. It also made sense why Sullivan Investments desperately wanted his story printed.

The things his father, Samuel, told me, while they were shocking, had made sense. He told me that Jabari came from the streets. He said that Jabari had been a big-time drug dealer working for a kingpin. He also said that Jabari had killed his brother, Malik, and a lot of other shady shit he had done.

Samuel stated that Jabari’s mother had died of a broken heart, and that he had turned to alcohol when their firstborn was murdered. He said that Jabari, whose real name was Jamal, had walked away from everything, including a woman he had vowed to love and protect, Shenobi Quarterman. That was where the name change had come from, him walking away, but he hadn’t been able to escape his father.

Hearing those things from his father made me realize that I didn’t know Jabari at all. As much as I wanted to believe that I did, the truth was, he had gotten to know me without letting me know him. It made me want to know him even more.

I stepped off the elevator early in the morning and headed to my office suite. I missed Jabari, but Frankie had said he was out of town on a business trip and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. I hated when he left on certain business trips because he was always out of pocket during those times. I didn’t hear from him at all, and yet I craved his voice, his touch, and the taste of him.

I slid my key into the lock, but it didn’t turn. I tried it again with the same result. This time I pulled the key out and looked at it, because I wanted to make sure that I had the correct key. I did; it was the only blue one on my keyring. I slid it back in and tried one more time with the same result.

This time I headed back to the elevator to take it to the basement where building maintenance was located. When I stepped off the elevator, I headed to the receptionist’s desk.

“Good morning. How can I help you?”

“I’m in suite fourteen-C, and my key isn’t working this morning.”

“One minute. Let me call the maintenance supervisor so that he can determine what is going on.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

I took a seat on the couch opposite her desk and looked at the stack of magazines. Interestingly enough, several of them featured buildings that Jabari owned. Not surprisingly, as I flipped through them, none of them had information about him or pictures of him.

“Ms. Valentine,” a short, light-skinned, heavyset man with glasses greeted me.