Then Sasha smiled. 'Stop looking like that.' Her smile turned into laughter. 'I was just playing with you. Listen, honey, I am so proud of you and the way you handle yourself now. Jada, you have come so far. You’ve been ready to fly solo for a long time.'
Sasha was Jada’s madam. Even though she hated the word, she was her pimp. That’s where the money was, not laying on her back with her legs in the air. Jada was giving Sasha two, sometimes three grand a week. 'If I were to get a couple of girls working for me, I could pull in five, six grand a week.'
From there, Jada put together her team: Diane, Bella and Simone. Their target group was the new rich-the ones who just stumbled into money-the ones who don’t quite know how to act now that they had it.
'Ballers,' Diane said.
'I’m talking about music industry insiders, rappers, music producers, actors, movie and television producers, and of course ballers,' Jada told her new team. And from there Jada West worked her way to the top.
It was 8:00 p.m. sharp when Black and Victor arrived at Jada’s apartment. They went up in the elevator and Black rang the bell.
'What do you want me to do?' Victor asked.
'You wait here. Make sure nobody comes in on me,' Black said.
'Just stand here; that’s it?'
'That’s it,' Black said as Jada opened the door. As she always did every time he saw her, Jada looked phenomenal. She was dressed in a black Herve Leger armor trim dress with a single strap across the shoulder and a string of pearls.
'Good evening, Mr. Black,' Jada said and smiled.
'Good evening, Ms. West.'
'Please come in,' she said and stepped to the side to let him pass.
Black walked in the apartment and looked around. 'Very nice place you have here, Ms. West.'
'Thank you, Mr. Black. Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?'
'Thank you,' Black said and watched Jada as she walked toward the bar to fix his drink. He liked Jada- admired her style. Aside from being one of the most beautiful women he had ever met, Jada West had class.
Jada returned with his drink and sat down next to him. 'Remy Martin VSOP, right?'
'You remembered. I cannot help but be touched. But in your business, I’m sure little things like that are part of the job,' Black said and Jada smiled.
'That’s true, but I think it’s more than that. I want to remember the things that are important to you.'
'So what I drink is important to you?'
'You’re a very important man, Mr. Black. For more reasons than just business. Everything about you is important to me.'
'You flatter me, Ms. West.'
'You don’t have to be so formal, Mr. Black, you can call me Jada.'
'Why don’t I just call you Miss Kitty,' Black said.
Jada giggled and as she usually did, Black enjoyed the sound of it and the smile that came with. 'Nobody has called me that in years,' she said and thought back to the night she met Black. It was the same night she met The One.
Black was sitting at a table in the corner with the club’s manager, Bruce-Bruce, when he caught Jada’s eye. She was just about to make her way over there when she was surrounded by three men hollering, 'Miss Kitty, Miss Kitty,' and dropping money at her feet. Without taking her eyes off Black, Jada took off her outfit and went to work. When the song ended, Jada picked up her money and went back to the dressing room.
When she returned to the floor, Jada looked around the club for Black, but she didn’t see him. Jada was startled when a deep and sexy voice said, 'Miss Kitty, right?'
'That’s me.'
'I enjoyed watching you dance,' Black said.
'Thanks. You a friend of Bruce-Bruce?'
'I guess you could say that.'
'I haven’t seen you here before, so I guess you’re part of The One’s entourage.'
Jada remembered that Black flashed a smile and she got wet. 'Not exactly. I own the company that manages The One.'
'Oh really,' Jada said, knowing that Black was somebody she needed to know. They talked for a minute after that, and then Black left the party.
Black looked at Jada and smiled. It had the same effect on her that it had the first time. Her mind began to drift but she caught herself. She had important business to discuss with Black. When her issues were behind her, then she could think about indulging her passion. 'No, Mr. Black, I think I’d prefer it if you called me Jada. I left Miss Kitty back at the club years ago.'
'Okay, Jada it is, but only if you call me Mike.'
'I’d like that,' Jada smiled and Black thought about how much he wanted to strip her out of that Herve Leger black dress and bend her over the closet piece of furniture, but he remembered that she invited him there to talk business.
Black took a sip of his drink. 'So, tell me, Jada, what did you want to see me about?'
'I have a problem that I need your help with,' Jada began.
'What can I do for you?'
'You see, there’s this guy that’s trying to shake me down.'
'What do you mean, tryin’ to shake you down?' Black asked even though he had a good idea.
'It began about a month ago. One of my girls was out with a client. After they had sex and she got ready to leave, he beat her up.'
'Was she hurt badly?' Black asked and finished his drink.
'Bad enough that she couldn’t work for a couple of weeks until her wounds healed. A week later the same thing happened again. Same pattern, new client, took the girl someplace secluded, beat her after sex,' Jada said and took Black’s glass from his hand. She went to the bar to refresh his drink. 'A few days later I was at The Pen- Top Bar amp; Terrace inside the Peninsula Hotel having dinner with a potential client, when this man sits down at the table with us,' Jada said as she poured.
'What did he want?'
'Once he scared off the client, he told me that he was my new partner,' Jada returned with the drink and handed it to Black. 'He said that he was responsible for what had happened to my girls, and if I wanted it to stop that I would give him twenty percent.'
'What did you tell him?'
Jada laughed. 'I basically told him to kiss my ass, and I got up and left.'
'Since we’re having this conversation, I take it that it didn’t stop there.'
'No. I figured if we tightened up and did a better job of screening our clients that at least the girls would be safe, and I would deal with this clown and his threats. But then he began catching them before they got to the clients or after they were finished.'
'Your girls don’t have security?'
'Some do. They have men that drive them to their appointments and pick them up afterwards, but he targeted the ones that don’t have any type of security. He came here last night and caught me in the elevator.'
'He didn’t hurt you did he?'
'No. He just wanted to make his point and scare me.'
'What he say?'
'Same thing; my problems go away for twenty percent.'
'Don’t you have security?'
'No.'
'Maybe you should get some,' Black advised.
'No,' Jada insisted. 'I don’t need security. I need Mike Black,' she said and moved close to him.
'Me? Why you think you need me?'
'Do I really need to answer that question?'
