Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Jada

The 1000M.

Good freaking Lord.

Just standing outside of Creed’s apartment made me feel like I was way out of my league. I should have told his driver to take me back home once we pulled up to the front entrance.

Creed lived in one of the city’s most opulent and impressive apartments that had just recently opened.

“This way, ma’am.”

I followed closely behind the driver who had picked me up, and I tried my best not to stare at the amazing building.

My shock started when the car I had gotten into cost more than a year’s worth of rent, and now, walking through the 1000M where the elite of Chicago lived, I was struggling to breathe.

We stepped into the elevator, and he pressed the last button and scanned a card.

The seventy-second floor.

The penthouse.

I tried to control my breathing, but I was ready to have a panic attack.

What in the hell was I doing in an elevator at the 1000M headed to the penthouse? What freaking fairytale had I fallen into?

“I’m Jada, by the way,” I awkwardly announced. I should have introduced myself when I met the driver, but my shock had taken over. I pressed a hand to my chest. “Jada,” I repeated. I was talking like a cavewoman.

The man nodded. “Jax, ma’am.” He had to be in his fifties with perfectly coifed silver hair, a strong jaw, and a kind smile. He was wearing black slacks, a white button-down shirt with the first button undone, and black dress shoes. He looked like a man who knew how to take care of himself, especially with the slight bulge at his back that I had assumed was a gun. I should have been shocked, but I kept in the back of my mind that the Banachis were mafia. Well, the rumor was that they were mafia, and Tatum had more than verified that with everything she had told me. Plus, normal people didn’t have someone like Candace after them.

“Thank you for picking me up and driving me. And also for taking me to the penthouse.” My voice cracked on the last word, and I swallowed nervously. “You drove amazingly.”

He cleared his throat and nodded. “It’s my job, ma’am, but you are welcome.”

I leaned toward Jax. “I’ve never been to the penthouse before. Hell, I’m pretty sure I’ve never said the word out loud before.”

Jax smiled warmly. “It’s an experience, ma’am. Mr. Creed just recently moved in.”

“He’s nice, right?” I motioned wildly. “Creed, I mean. I only talked to him for about five minutes, and now I’m going to his penthouse. If I had told my mother ten years ago what I’m doing right now, she would have freaked out. These days, she probably wouldn’t…” My words trailed off, knowing I was about to reveal too much to Jax, who likely didn’t care.

“She wouldn’t what?” Jax asked.

I shook my head. “Uh, nothing.” I knew I was about to freak out because I never talked to anyone about my mom and was about to spill everything to Jax. “She would be fine with me being here.”

The doors slid open, and Jax motioned for me to go first. “PH4, ma’am.”

I glanced back at Jax. “You’re not coming with?” I asked frantically. Sure, I had just met Jax, but I felt like we were in this together now. I was just supposed to go to Creed’s apartment on my own?

Jax laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think Mr. Creed would appreciate me tagging along, ma’am.”

“Do I call him Mr. Creed?” I whispered.

“Just Creed is fine, gorgeous.”

My eyes bugged out, and I froze. Creed was behind me, and I had zero clue what to do. The urge to jump back in the elevator with Jax was damn strong.

The elevator dinged, and the doors attempted to close, but they couldn’t because I was standing in the way.

“Jada,” Creed called.

I closed my eyes and tried to find the will to move. “Yes?” I whispered.

“Did you want me to move dinner out here?” Creed asked.

The elevator dinged again, and I opened my eyes. “I think I would be more comfortable at the McDonald’s,” I confessed.

That even made Jax smile.

I needed to get off of this elevator.

“I ordered in dinner, but we can get something different if you want,” Creed offered. “Just as long as we let Jax get back to work. Plus, other people probably need the elevator,” he chuckled.

Right.

I bowed to Jax. “Thanks for being nice to me. And driving. And bringing me up to the penthouse.” My voice again cracked. “Thanks.” I stepped out of the elevator, and the doors slid shut on an amused-looking Jax.

I guess I wasn’t the normal guest Creed had.

“Would you like to come inside?” Creed asked from behind me.

I gulped and slowly turned toward him. “I suppose staring at the elevator doors would be a boring night, huh?”

“I’ve had worse nights than that.”

My eyes slowly took in Creed.

He was wearing dark wash jeans and a baggy white t-shirt, and he was barefoot.

I had never taken notice of any man’s feet before, but god help me, Creed’s were doing it for me. I didn’t know what it was about them, but I couldn’t stop staring at them. Maybe it was how I was standing on the seventy-second floor of the 1000M, the fanciest apartments in Chicago, and Creed was just standing in front of me like some normal man.

“Jada,” Creed called.

My eyes snapped to him, and I pasted a smile on my face. “You have feet.”

Creed looked down at his feet and wiggled his toes. “Uh, yes. When I’m home, I like to be comfortable.”

Made sense. I just didn’t need to announce to him that he had feet. Was I going to be a bumbling idiot all night?

He stepped to the side and motioned for me to move. “I’m just down the hallway.”

I fell in step beside him, and we walked into his apartment, where he had left the door open. I stepped inside and struggled not to drop my jaw to the floor.

I knew the penthouse would be impressive, hell I’m sure the studio apartments were impressive, but I didn’t expect it to be so warm and welcoming. The place was modern and sleek, but it also felt homey. The walls were painted a warm tan color with lots of pictures and paintings on the walls.

“Uh, come on in. The kitchen is to your right.”

We moved to the left, and I couldn’t help but stare. “This place is huge,” I gasped. “Do you have the whole floor to yourself?” We walked past a wet bar, a bathroom on the right, and a huge pantry after the bathroom until we walked into the kitchen.

“There are actually four apartments on this floor. This is one of the bigger ones.”

Of course it was.

My god.

I didn’t even want to know how much his rent was because I’m sure it was ten times what I paid for what I thought was a spacious two-bedroom in Irving Park.

My apartment was like a shoe box compared to Creed’s.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked.

“Uh, oh, a Coke?” I asked. I’m sure I should have asked for a glass of wine or a dry martini, but I wasn’t that girl. You could put me in a penthouse, but I was still going to drink Coke.

I moved to the wall of windows by the dining room and looked out at Lake Michigan. “What a view,” I sighed. “And look, you can see the Shedd Aquarium.”

Of course, Creed had an amazing view.

And further to the left was Soldier Field.

Lord have mercy. This was absolutely insane.

“Dinner will be here in ten minutes.” Creed moved next to me and handed me my Coke.

I gratefully took it. “Thank you. I hope you didn’t go to any trouble for dinner. I really am fine with a burger and fries.”

“Good. I’m not much of a cook, and I just ordered from the bar on the corner. Jax was on the way to get it.”

I cringed. “And I kept him captive in the elevator.”

“I don’t think Jax minded it. I’ve never seen him smile so much in all of the years he’s worked for us.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “When you say us, you mean…”

“Banachis,” Creed clarified. “He’s my driver when I need one and security.”

“You need security when you’re home?” I asked.

Creed nodded. “The building has good security, but I like to have my own people in place. Murphy, Apollo, Princeton, and Leo also have security with them when they are home.”

“I guess you can never be too safe, huh?” What kind of life would it be always to have someone watching to make sure you were safe? “Was Jax with you the other day?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed anyone with Creed, but it wasn’t like I was looking for someone.

Creed shook his head. “No. Sometimes, it’s nice to be on my own. Running to the bookstore didn’t necessitate having Jax with me. And security hangs back when I’m with one of the guys.” He motioned around. “Would you like a tour before the food comes?”

I nodded and cracked open my soda. “Lead the way.” I took a sip of my Coke. “I’m ready to be even more in awe.”

The kitchen, living room, and dining room were all one big room with an amazing view of the lake. In the corner behind the couch was another sitting area where I could easily see myself curled up with a good book while the sunset was in front of me.

The living room had a large olive-green couch flanked by two dark brown recliners. A ginormous flat screen was on the wall, and a large coffee table was in front of it. “I think you could see your TV from the lake,” I laughed.

Creed shrugged. “I like to see the whole picture. When I moved in, the TV was the first thing I purchased.”

“Did you decorate this all by yourself?” I asked.

“Uh, yes, but also no. I have a decorator, but I had my hand in almost everything he bought. Ralph decorated my last apartment and was beside himself when I told him I was moving into the 1000M and wanted him to decorate.”

I would have been beyond impressed if Creed had said he decorated this whole place himself. It would have taken me years to decorate.

“When did you move in?” I asked.

“Uh, a little more than a month ago.”

“So this is all still pretty brand new to you, huh?”

Creed nodded. “You could say that. With traveling and whatnot, I think I’ve stayed here ten nights.”

Imagine having enough money to afford to live here, but then you couldn’t even be here because you were always working.

Off of the kitchen was a patio I could picture myself sitting on every morning while I drank my coffee and took in the views. Again, if I lived here, I would have never left.

There was a half bath off the kitchen, and then down a short hallway was the master bedroom that had the same view as the living room.

“If I lived here, I would never leave,” I marveled.

“Some days, it’s hard to leave, but that just makes it that much better to come home to.” Creed showed me the master bathroom and huge walk-in closet.

“This is insane,” I laughed. “You have to know that, Creed.” His clothes only took up a quarter of the closet, and that was having everything pretty spread out.

He smiled and headed back down the hallway past the front door. “Laundry,” he pointed to a closed door. “And then two more bedrooms and my office,” he motioned to three doors down the hallway. “Each bedroom has its own bathroom.”

Three bedrooms, an office, and three and a half bathrooms.

Yeah, this place was insane.

What was even crazier was there were three other apartments on this floor.

A knock sounded on the door, and Creed opened it to Jax with our dinner.

Creed took the bags with a thank you to Jax, and we headed back to the kitchen. He set the bags on the large kitchen island, and I pulled out one of the chairs.

“Don’t want to sit at the dining room table?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I need some sense of normalcy,” I explained. “A burger and fries right here sound good.”

Creed nodded. “Whatever you want, gorgeous.” He pushed the bag toward me and took the seat next to me. “I never sit at the dining table either, but I figured I would offer. It only gets used for Thanksgiving. The rest of the time, it just collects dust.”

“I normally eat on the coffee table in front of the TV,” I laughed. “I think if I had a dining room table, it would just collect random clutter.” I pulled two containers out of the bag. “Are they both the same?” I asked.

Creed nodded. “Two burgers with the works and fries.”

Sounded perfect for me. Thank god. I wasn’t sure I would know what to do if Creed had some fancy schmancy dinner for us.

“You don’t seem as mad at me anymore,” Creed said after we got our food situated.

“That’s because you shocked me with your penthouse, and I don’t know how to think right now,” I confessed. “I figured you lived someplace fancy, but this is even more than I thought.”

Creed shrugged. “I lived in a condo in Lincoln Park before this. I decided to live the high-rise life when they announced the 1000M.”

“So you sold your condo to live in the penthouse.” Moving on up.

Creed shook his head. “I still own the condo. I plan to do some updating on it and then rent it out.”

Jesus criminy.

The man owned a place and also lived here. I couldn’t imagine having a life like his.

I was damn proud to own the bookstore and have my apartment.

Creed was on a different level.

“I keep thinking I’m at my limit of being shocked, but then you open your mouth and just blow me away even more,” I laughed. “I think we need to talk about something normal.” I took a bite of my burger and moaned. “That is the best burger I’ve had in ages.” I shouldn’t have been surprised that Creed would even get amazing takeout.

“I’m glad you like it. I discovered Ree’s my first night here and try to order from them whenever I’m home.”

I nodded and wiped my lips. “It’s good.” I popped a fry in my mouth. “So, why don’t we talk about how you happened to wander into Happily Ever After the other day?”

Creed cleared his throat. “Well, that wasn’t a coincidence at all.”

I raised an eyebrow. “No, you don’t say.”

Creed chuckled. “We keep an eye on the place, and I decided to pop in.”

“I knew you guys kept an eye on the place, but I figured that was only when Tatum was working, and usually it’s Murphy hanging around in the shadows.”

“Yup, that’s how it normally is,” he agreed.

I pushed my plate away and turned toward Creed.

I wasn’t dumb.

I wasn’t Creed’s type.

The bookstore wasn’t a place he would hang out in.

Now that I knew who he was, I knew he had an agenda the second he walked into the shop.

“Okay, cut the shit, Creed. What the hell are you up to?”