Page 4 of Lucci

The sounds of my Yves Saint Laurent heels tapping marble floors echoed through the home that I was showing my client.

Waving my hand toward the fireplace in the living room, I gave him a big smile.

“This three story home has seven bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, a theatre room, finished basement, and six fireplaces. There are cathedral ceilings and a balcony on the third floor. There’s a heated saltwater pool, a pool house, basketball court, private entrance, helicopter landing pad, and enough garage space to park eleven vehicles. ”

My client was entering his third season in the NBA, and he was looking to purchase a home in the area.

Our first stop was an exquisite home that would run him $7,500,000.

I had a total of five houses to show him and the cheapest one was $6,200,000.

I could stand to make more than $200,000 in the least, so I prayed he purchased one of the homes.

Real estate wasn’t an easy field to dominate, and luxury real estate was even harder to get into especially being a black woman.

Thankfully, there was a whole lot of money in Diamond Cove and people buying $100,000,000 homes wasn’t uncommon at all.

The more expensive the house the better the commission meaning I could go months without selling a house and not panic.

The house was spacious, and I made sure to point out all the intricate details, so the viewing took a while.

Each time I turned to face Chad and caught him ogling my body, I resisted the urge to frown.

Chad was married, but his wife wasn’t with him because she was at home on bedrest, eight months pregnant with twins.

We spoke a few times over the phone, and she told me all the features she wanted in a home.

Chad took videos of each home we viewed, and she was going to assist him in making a decision.

He was a man and not just any man. He was a man in the NBA.

I wasn’t sure if he cheated on his wife or not, but if he did, he damn sure wouldn’t do it with me.

“What do you think?” I forced a smile once we’d toured every inch of the home.

“I like it. I like it a lot. The fact that it already has a barber room is what really did it for me, but of course, I have to at least look at the others.”

“That makes absolute sense. Luckily, the second house is literally only five miles from here, and the home sits on a lake. That view is amazing. After you.” I waved him ahead, so I could close and lock the door behind me.

It was pathetic that each time I turned my back to him I knew he was gawking at my behind.

Some men had no tact, and that was sad as hell.

Imagine me being at home big as hell and miserable from carrying not one but two babies inside my body while the father drooled over his real estate agent.

Men like Chad made me never want to risk my life pushing out any man’s kids.

Chad got in his Jaguar, and I got in my Hellcat.

I loved my car, but I was seriously thinking of getting a second vehicle.

Maybe a BMW or a Benz truck. Despite the fact that I was a real estate agent, I was still renting.

I had a plan in place to buy my dream home and while I stacked my money to do that, I could live a little and get another car.

My current rent was $2,400 a month. I estimated the mortgage on my dream home to run at least $3,500 a month.

Once I saved around $175,000, I was going to buy my home.

The plan was to put $100,000 down, of course, I needed money for the closing costs, and I wanted to have six months’ worth of mortgage saved.

If I kept grinding hard and selling at least three to four houses a month, I knew I could reach my goal in less than a year.

I had already been saving for a year and a half.

While my car sat idle at a red light, I opened the email notification that had just come through. I had listed a house for $5,300,000, and someone had completed the contact form to view the property. “Lucciano Culver,” I read the name aloud. “Lucciano,” I repeated.

My first thought was that maybe he was Italian but then Lucci’s face popped into my head.

I had assumed that Lucci was maybe just a street name.

I’d never encountered a black man named Lucciano.

It didn’t really matter who wanted to view the home, but I still chewed on my bottom lip as I contemplated calling Lauren.

I was less than a mile away from the second home when I bit the bullet and called.

Lauren owned a bakery, and she did accounting on the side.

During tax season, my girl made excellent money.

“Hey boo.” Lauren sounded out of breath, and I could tell she was moving around.

“Hey. I won’t hold you long, I just have a quick question. Do you know Tyler’s brother’s real name? Or their last name?”

“I don’t know Lucci’s real name, but Tyler’s last name is Culver. Why what’s up?”

“I just got an email from someone named Lucciano Culver. He wants to view one of the properties that I have listed. That name just kind of stood out to me.”

“That has to be him. Kiandra had to have surgery on her ear, but I think she was released from the hospital yesterday. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s trying to buy her a house as an ‘I’m sorry I got you shot the fuck up’ gift.”

“That is not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny. I’m being dead ass. I doubt that his car was randomly shot into, and I know the shooter’s beef wasn’t with her. She took two bullets for that man, and got hit in the ear with fragments of a bullet. He’d be buying me way more than a house.”

I arrived at house number two, and Chad parked directly behind me.

I knew we’d be together for at least another hour and a half, and I was ready to get the viewings over with.

Prayerfully, his wife liked one of them, and we could get the ball rolling.

If I had to find another set of houses for them, I was going to scream.

“Alright crazy lady. I’m showing Chad the creep houses today, and we just arrived at house number two.”

“Ewww. Have fun.”

“Bye, girl,” I giggled.

Chad wasn’t the most handsome man around, but he was rich.

If he was single and a little less arrogant, he might be worthy of flirting back with, but the fact that he had a woman made him even less attractive than he already was.

I loved money, but I worked for my own. I would never be so desperate or thirsty for money, love, or kids that I lusted after another woman’s man.

So for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why I was nervous about seeing Lucci again.