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“Y’all close?”
“Very. He can be a little overprotective, but he’s always been there for me.”
“Overprotective how?
“You’ll see when you meet him,” she said with a smile.
I laughed.
“Now you’re making me nervous.”
“You should be.”
She’s the only child and a girl at that, so I knew that she wasn’t bullshitting me, but honestly, I was looking forward to meeting her dad. Even this conversation was nice. We had spent time over the past months discussing school or my family, and it was refreshing getting to know more about her people. Well, her dad who was her person. I put my arm around her shoulders.
“What does he do for work?”
“He owns a real estate development company.”
“Okay. Like houses and stuff?”
“Houses, apartment buildings, hotels, commercial properties. His company develops them, and he keeps ownership of some of them.”
I looked at her.
“Hold on. Your daddy owns property?”
“Yes, MJ.”
“Like, a lot of property?”
“A decent amount,” she said with a light chuckle.
Something clicked in my head, and I looked toward her front door. Then I looked back at her.
“Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“This building.”
She pressed her lips together, already smiling. I pointed toward the floor dramatically before opening my mouth.
“Hayes Residences.”
“Yes.”
“Your last name is Hayes.”
“Yes.”
I sat forward.
“So, this whole building belongs to your daddy?”
“Yes,” she nodded.
I stared at her for a second.
