Page 23 of Into the Blue (Shades of Vengeance #1)

“Rocky, I need an update.”

It had been weeks since I felt safe to contact Liezel. She’s been holding everything down admirably, but I was the brains of this whole operation. I couldn’t wait any longer to check in with my team.

“I’m still following the plan as outlined. He’s noticing just how big the problem in Colorado is for him now. We can’t let up.” It was something I was counting on him to take issue with. The direction he took was outside instead of repairing from within.

I, more than anyone, would agree with him not repairing the partnership with the Lafayette family—only because Junior was still in charge. My shoulder ached recalling what it was like to dangle from that pipe the last night I saw him.

What he did to me was confirmation that this man had absolutely no understanding how to be a leader. He did not deserve anything that had been afforded him including, but not limited to, Blue Dupont.

I didn’t need further convincing when he turned my perfectly profitable club, The Chrome Flame, back home into what it is now.

The gratitude I had for my foresight was never something I took for granted.

I was able to get so many girls out of there before they got hooked on that shit and either lost their lives or became indebted to the monster, himself.

The work I’m doing was in large parts a fuck you to Junior, and Senior for that matter, but also showing how undervalued we, as women, were. Dancers are more than just products, but we’re people too. People who hold far more power than they would like us to believe.

“So, just keep going as normal? ”

Though she can’t see me, I nod my head. “Yes. I’m gonna see him tonight when he gets back, so I won’t be able to call you for a while. He’s reluctant to leave me alone after… Junior.”

Lee sighs on the other end of the phone before she adds, “It’s kind of sweet. Are you sure you can keep this up?”

“What?” I scoff, though it feels forced and a little fake. “You think him being somewhat decent is gonna ruin the mission?”

“Ruin it? No. But falling for him will make this much more complicated. He eliminated Jimmy Lafayette and Dejuan Jones. Jay Shorn is also MIA right now. It seems that he’s killed or made them all go missing.

” She pauses and I consider her words. She delivers the next line with a punch.

“You are the common thread for all of them.”

“Falling for him?” I echo back to her and my thoughts begin running. “He’s protecting his business the only way he knows how.”

“Or… Or he’s protecting the woman he has feelings for.”

Grimacing down at my phone, I don’t like what she’s alluding to. “Be serious, Lee.”

“I am. None of his actions fit the profile we made for him. He would never do this for a woman.” I sit back on the bed that he’s given up for me to sleep in.

He gave up his room, so I would feel comfortable recovering here.

I’m not going to point that out to Liezel while she’s already on a roll.

“We couldn’t identify any consistent partners over the last four years.

The only woman he is seen with repeatedly is his real estate agent and the relationship is not at all romantic. ”

“I’m not falling for him,” I say, but the words taste more false. “I want to partner with him.”

Maybe partner is a more fitting word in more ways than one.

Falling for Blue is like being weighed down by the finest luxury all while gasping for air below water. The truth of what he is steals every good thing I’ve held onto about myself. Every little thing that I promised myself, I’d never compromise on.

How can I be a good person when I know how red my hands are by loving this man?

Falling into Blue? I shouldn’t.

Should not.

Does him saving me, giving me the life I want, excuse all the lives he hasn’t spared?

There’s good in him.

I know it.

But there’s bad beyond measure.

I know he’ll never truly share how deep the blue goes. None of that matters because he’s claimed me as his.

Once you’re in the blue, you’ll never get out again.

I know that his empire wasn’t built on strictly legal means and neither will mine.

Blood is already running and I’m directly responsible.

We aren’t in this business to win awards.

We’re in it to make money.

As long as I have the upper hand with him, I can at least make sure that I keep my life now.

I decide to change the subject altogether. My feelings for Blue and his feelings for me are completely inconsequential to the job. “Are you staying safe? I miss home so much. I miss you.”

My starring role as Rapunzel in this tower was vital for the story. I could complain and be honest about how much I hated being stifled in this house under his protection, but I needed to remain the helpless little woman in his eyes in order to keep his trust.

He can’t know my true intentions for being here.

I couldn’t go back to Atlanta now anyway. I knew that was where Junior was holed up to avoid Blue. Coward.

The birds chirp idly from her porch. She must be smoking before her shift. Normally, we’d be sitting there together. “You know Lidia never lets me out of her sight. I might as well say she’s my personal bodyguard.”

A little chuckle escapes my lips. “And you want me to face facts? You’re not doing it yourself.”

Her exhale is a brief moment of static on my end. She’s definitely smoking without me. “You’re right. She is my personal bodyguard.”

I laugh at her obliviousness. “Pot meet kettle. ”

“Couldn’t tell what you’re referring to. My regular has been feeling very generous, since I’ve been with the flog. You think I should start demanding to be called Mistress or Domme? Mistress Lee does have a good ring to it.”

“Gets my vote.” I cross my legs under myself as I settle back onto the couch. “You could finally use some of that fetish wear. Surprised you have money for food with how much there is.”

“A girl’s gotta have hobbies,” she laughs. “Don’t worry about what I’m doing in my free time.”

“You could be making so much more if you truly offered yourself as a Mistress. OH, I know who would enjoy being your test dummy. I guess, test subby is more accurate.”

“Ruben isn’t that willing. I feel like I’ve been training him to be more submissive. The flog was just on a whim—”

“No, Lee. I meant Lidia.”

“Lidia?”

“Yea.”

“No. That’s not a thing.”

Lidia had worked at the club long before Liezel or I started on the pole.

She is a staple in The Chrome Flame and for good reason.

Strong, takes no shit, and keeps the girls safe.

Especially, those of us who were in high demand.

But there is only so much that she could do against new ownership without losing her job.

I knew for a fact that she had a soft spot for Lee. When Junior started spewing his shit into the club, Lidia was the first outside of Lee’s door to make sure none of them touched her.

None of the coked out patrons and none of Junior’s men who were passing it around like candy.

“Come on. Studs like to be dominated, too. You’d be so good at it,” I assert.

“I don’t think so. I’m not ready. Plus I have all this on my plate with you.” She’s not wrong. With my Rapunzel status, she’s having to take on more than she usually would.

“Not for long, I—”

“Racquelle,” Blue’s voice calls me from the front room. I didn’t think he’d be home already.

Hurrying into the bedroom, “I’ve gotta go. I’ll text you okay?”

“Okay. I love you! Be safe! Safer than last time,” she scolds.

“I will. Bye,” I say, ending the call and lying on the bed waiting for Blue to come find me.

As usual, his energy reaches me before he does. A shiver rolls down my spine as I recall how I came in this same spot last night with his instruction.

“You didn’t hear me?”

“I was just taking a nap.” A nap? Really? I sigh at the bad lie and ask, “How was your trip back?”

“Too fuckin’ long,” he whines. He drops the designer bag from his shoulder onto the ground and flops onto the bed. His head rests in my lap. It’s not sexual but certainly proprietary.

His long hair fans out onto the covers separating us and I run my fingers through it. He groans and while the sound of his voice at that level is inherently sexy, I don’t get the feeling it was meant to be.

“You’re gonna make me fall asleep,” he comments as I continue playing in his hair.

“Maybe you should sleep.”

“Nah. It’s not sleep on my mind.”

“Tell me what is.” Maybe I’m prying but if I can get any additional information from him while he’s relaxed and unguarded, then I’m going to.

“This trip didn’t go how I expected.”

“You were just visiting your brother…” I hedge. “He wasn’t happy to see you?”

He doesn’t flinch, but there is a moment’s pause where he must have forgotten that’s what he told me he was doing in Colorado. I, of course, know different.

“Nah. He wasn’t. I’m thinking that I shouldn’t have even gone. I’m more pissed than I should be about it.”

“Family is hard. ”

His eyes blink open, “Your family is?”

I suck in a breath before blowing it out. “I think that maybe it will get easier over time to acknowledge that my mom is no longer here, but it gets harder I think. I have my club family, but being here it’s not the same.”

“What happened to your Ma?”

“Overdose,” I say simply and then wipe the corner of my eye. “You never really get over the could-haves. She was still so young. I know we joke that even at eighty-two, they’re still a baby. But she really is gone too soon. She wasn’t even graying yet.”

He wipes another tear from my eye. “Mine neither. She was the only good thing about this house. Sometimes I hear her callin’ my name to come inside or to put the dishes away.”

“Is she who gave you the nickname?”

“Blue?” he questions, adjusting himself to be more comfortable in my lap. “Nah. She was the last person to call me by my given name.” He considers that, looking off into the distance. “She hated Blue.”