Page 19 of Certified Pressure 3 (Certified Pressure #3)

“Boy, you play too much.”

“I ain’t playin’, girl,” I said, walkin’ in behind her, my dick pressed to her ass.

Inside was all white marble and gold accents and fresh flowers on every table. The waiter led us to a private corner on the terrace, and I pulled Toni’s chair out before sittin’ across from her. The view overlooked the skyline, buildings sparklin’ like they was dipped in diamonds.

She glanced around. “This nice as hell,” she said, her eyes shinin’.

“You deserve nice,” I said simply.

She looked down, smilin’ to herself. “You really somethin’ else.”

“Oh yeah?” I replied, unable to keep my eyes off her.

The waiter came back with champagne and fruit. I poured for her first, then for me. She took a small sip and licked her lips. “It’sa lil’ strong but I fuck with it,” she said.

“You’ll get used to it mama.”

They brought out plates of chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits and omelets loaded with crab and cheese. The smell alone had me hungry. I cut a strawberry, dipped it in cream, and held it out. “Open up.”

She leaned in slow, her lips partin’ just enough for me to slide the strawberry between ‘em. When the juice slipped down the side of her mouth, I leaned in and kissed it off, then caught her lips with mine. I started tongue-kissin’ her right there at the table, slow and deep, savorin’ the taste of the strawberry and her all at once.

“You got these people starin’ at us,” she said, bitin’ her smile.

“Let ‘em look.”

We kept eatin’, talkin’ about music, about the night before, and other random shit’. She had that energy that made everything feel easy. I could be sittin’ anywhere with her and it would still feel like the right place.

A lil’ while in, she looked up from her plate, her eyes soft. “You always like this?” she asked.

I looked back at her, one eyebrow up. “Like what?”

“Like this. All sweet and romantic and shit?” She said, laughin’.

I laughed low and shook my head. “Nah. I ain’t like this with everybody. I keep tellin’ you, you special. You must like when I talk that shit.”

“Hell yeah nigga. Now special how?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. She was funny with it, and that’s what I liked about her.

She ain’t have no shame in wantin’ to be fed compliments.

She loved that reassurance, and truth be told, I loved givin’ it.

I liked makin’ her feel secure and lettin’ her know she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

“You just got a way about you, baby. You loud, funny, real as hell, but you still soft in the right places. I like that I can calm you down and make you soft. It mean a nigga doin’ somethin’ right.”

She didn’t say nothin’ for a second. Then she smiled again, her eyes glassy in the sunlight.

“You really be talkin’ that shit.”

“I mean every word,” I said, grabbin’ her hand and kissin’ the back of it. “I don’t play when it come to you.”

She let out a cute laugh that was shy but happy.

“You gon’ fuck around and make me fall deeper in love with you. I mean crazy, cut ya dick off if you cheat on me love.”

“That’s the plan,” I said, bringin’ her hand up and kissing the back of it again with a slow grin.

For a minute, she didn’t speak. She just looked out at the skyline like she was thinkin’ about somethin’ heavy. “I can’t lie,” she said finally. “I’m nervous about meetin’ your people. I don’t know how they gon’ feel about me.”

I frowned. “What you mean?”

“I mean you come from money, Lo. Real money. You, Renza and Pressure be movin’ like royalty for real, like y’all belong to real princesses or some shit. I just don’t wanna walk in there and feel like I ain’t enough, you know?”

I took her hand again, rubbin’ my thumb over her skin. “Toni, look at me.”

And she did.

“I ain’t never been the type to chase what look good for other muthafuckas. I’m not lookin’ for no princess. I’m looking for a queen… and I already found her.”

Her lips parted. “You serious?”

“Dead ass,” I said, still holdin’ her gaze.

She leaned back, smilin’ for real this time. “I love how straight you be with me. You don’t sugarcoat nothin’.”

“I don’t got to. I say what I feel.”

She laughed under her breath, shakin’ her head. “You somethin’ else, Lo.”

“I’m your somethin’ else.”

The waiter came back with another bottle, but I waved him off. I ain’t need no more champagne. I was already drunk off how Toni looked sittin’ here.

After a while, I said, “I been thinkin’ about gettin’ my own crib. I’m tryna move out that mansion.”

Her eyes widened. “For real?”

“Yeah. Me, Pressure, and Renza been livin’ together since we was eighteen.

That’s family, but we grown now. We been through a lot, and we built a lot.

I’m proud of that, but it’s time to bus’ a move.

I got ‘Lo Motion runnin’ smooth, and my workers handlin’ the heavy stuff, so I can finally focus on me. ”

‘Lo Motion had become one of the biggest exotic car customization companies in Trill-Land. I started it young, straight out the mud, just me and my tools in a small garage. Now I had full teams workin’ under me.

I’m talkin’ real professionals. We outfit bulletproof whips, build custom interiors for Trill-Land elites, and design luxury fleets for the country’s top dogs.

Most of Pressure and Renza’s cars was my work.

Their armor, their trim, their engines, everything.

I built the brand from scratch, and now it was one of the most sought-after names on the island.

Of course, I helped my cousins out with the shit, but I also had my own bag.

Toni tilted her head. “It’s so crazy how really built your whole company from scratch.”

“Out the mud,” I said. “Ain’t nobody give me nothin’. I worked my way up.”

Her eyes brightened. “You don’t ever brag about none of that.”

“Ain’t no need to. Real moves speak for theyself.”

She smiled. “I like that.”

“I bet you do.”

She sipped her drink. “So if you move out, you tryna get a spot by yourself?”

I looked at her over the rim of my glass. “I’m tryna get a spot with you.”

She blinked. “With me?”

“Yeah… Eventually. I’m talkin’ about somethin’ nice that will be our space and peace.”

Her face broke into a slow grin. “You tryna make me blush in public.”

“I ain’t tryna. I’m doin’ it.”

She laughed, and leaned forward on her elbows. “Well, we might as well start lookin’ now, cause I’m with it.”

I smiled. “Say less.”

We sat at the table a while longer, talkin’ about what kind of house we wanted. She said she needed a big kitchen, and I said I needed a view. She wanted plants everywhere. I said she could fill it with all the flowers she wanted, long as she kept that smile around too.

When brunch wrapped up, I helped her up and walked her back to the car. I kissed her cheek before she could open the door, then smacked her ass again just ‘cause I liked the sound she made after.

“Kay’Lo,” she laughed, coverin’ her mouth.

“What?”

“You don’t act right in public.”

“I act how I feel.”

She was still laughin’ when I closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. Once we pulled off, the music filled the silence, some slow Key Glock track that set the vibe. She sat angled toward me, her hand restin’ on my arm.

As we drove, I thought about my parents.

My pop, Kwame Mensah, was the middle child in the Mensah line, right between my uncle Kojo and Uncle Asa.

He was the one who built TrillNet. It was the crypto backbone that powered the country’s entire digital system.

The man was a genius, a quiet one too. He handled the kind of data most nations couldn’t even access, and he had his own deals runnin’ under the surface, selling limited access to global surveillance streams. It made him rich beyond measure, but he never moved loud.

He carried his power with a calmness, and that’s where I got that same vibe from.

My mother, Treasure Mensah, was the opposite kind of powerful.

She was soft-spoken, spiritual, one of the most sought-after doulas in Trill-Land.

She helped deliver celebrity babies, guided women through motherhood, and still managed to make a home for all of us.

Pops and Ma was bougie, yeah, but they was real.

They loved me hard and proud, and I knew they would love Toni too.

I glanced at her while she looked out the window, the wind catchin’ her hair.

“You good?” I asked.

She looked over and smiled. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“Good, ‘cause you don’t got nothin’ to worry about. My folks gon’ love you just like I do.”

She reached for my hand and held it in her lap. I brought it to my lips, kissed it, and kept drivin’.

The closer we got to the estate, the calmer she got. Her smile stayed steady, and I felt it in my heart that this was right.

By the time we hit the long road toward my folks’ mansion, everything felt like it was fallin’ into place.

‘Cause far as I was concerned, Toni already belonged in my world.