Page 43 of Into the Blue (Shades of Vengeance #1)

There’s deep buzzing that mimics the one in my skull when I step through the guarded door to the more heavily guarded room.

There are men in every corner to keep an eye on the inmates plus extras in-between.

I’m impatient as I wait for the line of men to enter the room.

This is the very last place that any of us wants to be.

The weight of how I've failed Dupont is very apparent with my presence here. How could my second-in-command fall to this fate?

How did I let it get this bad?

There’s families here to visit loved ones that are incarcerated. There’s elderly visiting young men. And here I sit, waiting for Redd.

He is the last person that any of us could have guessed would be locked up. The least violent, usually choosing to hack your shit into oblivion or whatever the fuck it is that he does on his computer.

He may have been the one to teach me to fight and still continues to teach now, but it’s very rare to see him doing anything outside of the gym.

Well, he won’t be doing anything for the next eighteen months. He screwed us all over when he took those shots in broad daylight with too many witnesses. They’ve got to make an example even if it is a far shorter sentence than he deserved for premeditated murder.

I can understand his motives, but I don’t have to agree with them.

Creating an understanding with local law enforcement when I first started making enough money to warrant serious consequences was important.

Those alliances allowed me the kind of leeway to broker a deal that could ensure that my best friend wouldn’t be spending the rest of his life in this hell hole.

Finally, Redd sits with his neon outfit and generic slip-on shoes. “Orange truly doesn’t suit your colorin’, know that?”

“Shut up,” he says, flipping me the bird and making his cuffs jingle.

My next quip dies on my tongue as I realize that there will still be many months where I won’t have my friend around. Even with the best I could do, he’ll be serving time. This is the life, but it’s been so long since any of my men had to take a fall for anything.

“Man, wipe that look off your face. I knew what I was doin’. Was prepared to sit here for way longer. Lew can rest easy knowin’ his brother got that fuck back.”

I nod, jaw clenched. “It fuckin’ sucks bruh.”

“I’ll make it until it’s time to get out this bitch.” Then he thinks for a moment. “You know what would make it better?” I sit up a little straighter, prepared to do anything else I can for my best friend.

“Tell Steph to write to me. They allow that shit here. Know they read ‘em and shit, but it’ll probably smell like her.” I just look at him dumbfounded.

Of all the things he could have asked for.

“You know it smells like ass and jockstraps back there.” He nods his head toward the hall that he came from.

“A letter from her desk with that posh ass letterhead and everythin’…

You never did tell me what perfume she wears. ”

Throwing my hands up, I ask, “How the fuck would I know that?”

He shrugs, jingling again. “So, you’ll tell her?”

“Yea,” I say. “I’ll do what I can.” Redd takes my response with the kind of acceptance that is more weighted than I would expect for a letter. It’s just a letter. One that I don’t think Steph will write but I’ll do whatever he asks of me at this point.

“What you gonna do about Diamond?” He asks.

“Not doing shit. Took an L and now I’m moving forward.” A massive L that I don’t know when I’ll be able to recover from but a loss is a loss.

Confusion is an unwelcome emotion on his face. “Why are you so bent on not working with her?”

“You know why,” I snap.

“And that is? She’s runnin’ the Fayes now. You know she has her shit together. Fuck, she single handedly served us our asses all under your roof. She’s capable as fuck.”

“Keep your voice down,” I growl. “She didn’t hand us shit.”

“Why are you so butt hurt then? Imagine what she could do working with us.”

“You want to line up with somebody so spineless?”

Redd’s brows pinch, still confused as ever. “How is she spineless?”

“She was at my house—”

His head tilts to the side. “You took her there.”

“She lied to me for months—”

“Technically, she answered everything you asked her. You didn’t ask any of the right questions and that falls on you.” It did fall on me. I failed Dupont. The L I’m taking, I earned. As bitter of a pill as it is for me to swallow, I couldn’t deny that she bested me.

Crossing my arms, I say, “Lying by omission is still a lie. I can’t trust her.”

“Have you considered that she needed to protect herself too? You fuckin’—” He looks around.

“You fucking kidnapped her after she showed up that night and were actin’ crazy caveman protective about her.

Like a fuckin’ Neanderthal! She did what she had to.

If she still managed to hand you your ass, then you need to ally with her instead of fightin’ her.

” He stabs a finger into the tabletop, making his point.

“She could clearly sweep us off the map if she wanted to. But she doesn’t. Why do you think that is?”

I grind my teeth, hating every bit of sense he’s making. “I don’t know, but I can’t trust it. I should have killed her.”

He scoffs. “Yea right. We both know you couldn’t.”

“Fuck.”

His smirk is too jovial for his circumstances. “Gotta admit she is a far better partner than Senior or Junior. And it sounds like Senior is leavin’ it up to her anyway.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “When the fuck did you talk to her?”

Casually, he responds, “A couple of days before I popped Junior. Call a spade, a spade. You’re pissed that you fell for the jawn and she still has your heart. Probably more so now. What’s so bad about that?”

Gritting my teeth, I ask, “Did you miss that bit earlier about trust?”

“She offered you a fair deal.”

I squint at his observation. “How much did y’all talk?”

“A fair bit. She’s bad, man. That’s no lie. I wouldn’t have taken that shot just to spite you.” He sucks his teeth. “It’s a good deal.”

I put my face in my hands, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my palms. “I’m not convinced. It’s a gamble and I fuckin’ hate gamblin’.”

“You get the girl and you get the business back? Seems like a two birds, one stone kind of thing.” He waits for me to look up at him again. “That’s good business.”

It’s a stark contrast in the cutesy building I’m pulling up to the place that’s keeping my best friend. It’s been a while since I talked to her and I have to admit that I want to see a familiar face that has nothing to do with Dupont.

“Damn, you look like hell,” Steph comments when she sees me walking through the front door of her office building. The tiny receptionist that is supposed to greet me has been too scared to actually do such whenever I show up.

Steph gives Allison a smile on my behalf and we head back to her office.

“You know, I do have a home. You could come by and see me there.”

“Too risky,” I respond. The last thing I wanted was to get her involved in a capacity like that. Who knows which of my movements were benign tracked. She is my agent, after all. This could still be considered a business meeting.

She rolls her eyes. “Fucking Duponts. You both are a piece of work.”

“Trouble in paradise?” I ask, looking around her office.

She’s got pictures of all her clients cutting ribbons in front of their new businesses and properties.

There’s several awards on the walls, too.

It’s clean and organized. And I catch a hint of whatever the smell is that Redd seems to be obsessed with.

It’s coming from a small teardrop looking vase.

The steam flowing into the air on a constant stream.

Her head tilts to the side and she slowly says. “We’ve been broken up for months, Blue. What are you talking about?”

“Oh,” is all I can manage. “Guess I’m out of the loop.”

“I’ll say. You’ve been out of everything for months. Ever heard of a phone?”

“Had a lot of shit on my plate. My mind’s been preoccupied keeping the business afloat.”

“Trouble in paradise?” She parrots back to me.

“Yea,” is all I say. “That would be one way to put it.”

She checks her watch then clicks on her computer a few times. “Well, I’ve got time.”

After a long sigh, I tell her everything.

Nothing incriminating, but everything about Racquelle.

How we first met, protecting her and then her staying at the house.

I recognize that those months where I had her in my house weren’t conventional, but in this retelling to Steph, I leave out the part about her not leaving.

Then finally, I tell her about the ultimatum that Racquelle gave me.

She listens patiently, waiting for me to give her all the details. I realize that I haven’t actually talked to anyone about her. Not like this.

Hardly think Redd counts.

Steph interlaces her fingers, nodding her head when I finally finish relaying all the details I can. "So… You took her to La Récolte, but I had to meet you at the hole-in-the-wall barbecue place? Is this why I find these choice pieces of property for you? So I can get the scraps?"

I tilt my head at her attitude. "I was cravin' barbecue. "

She rolls her head, cracking her neck. “Wow, you really took my not letting her get away to heart then.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I said that, it was in a… I don’t know, I thought you were about getting off and getting gone. What happened to that?”

I glare at her. “She’s not like that.”

“She’s a dancer at Off Topz, I highly doubt she’s not like that .”

“Aye, watch yo’ mouth.” She raises an eyebrow. “I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t care about her still. Fuck. I hate it but I do. She’s clearly more than a dancer at my club. She’s not even a dancer at my club. She’s a fuckin’ boss.”

“And now you can’t respect her anymore?”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“When she was a dancer, your employee, under your control—you liked how she was strong and fierce and about her money.” Steph sums up everything I thought about Racquelle to accurately for my liking. I did like all those things about her. It made her stand out in my eyes.

“Yea, so?”

Her eyes narrow as she continues to explain. “Now, she’s all those things but she’s a competitor. Not just any competition—the winning side of the competition.”

“Steph—”

“Nah. Nope.” She puts a hand up. “You said your piece and now I’m gonna say mine. If you lost, then admit that. If she were a man, you’d give her props and move on. But because you slept with her, ‘claimed’ her, you’re pissed that she bested you?”

“I’m pissed that she lied to my face for months! Why is no one understandin’ that?”

“Because it’s dumb and so are you!”

“The fuck, Steph?”

“Don’t what the fuck me. I know what you’re like.

You fucking like this girl. And I'd say more than like with how you're acting like you don't have any GD sense.

" She looks up at the ceiling, as if in prayer.

"Am I doomed to make all Dupont men accept the loves of their lives?

Please tell me that is not my curse." She completes her prayer with her fingers dragging across her chest in a cross pattern.

Looking back to me, she says, "She’s the only one I’ve ever seen you talk about this long and I’m sure you did not make it easy for her to go. If she’s smart, and she clearly is, she did what she had to.

“If she lied, then it was for a reason. Forgive her or don’t. But to let your business fail because you’re too proud is dumb as hell. And if you could see that then you’re missing the whole point of business. The money. So are you really ‘bout it or not?”

“Nothin’ is more important than the money,” I murmur. “I don’t enjoy how my friends are gangin’ up on me.”

“Oh yea?” She laughs at me. “How is he?”

My look is bland when I say, “Incarcerated.”

Steph crosses her legs, sitting back in her pantsuit. “Okay, smart ass. You know what I mean. It’s a big deal.”

“Well he was gettin’ on my ass earlier so I’d say he’s doin’ as well as could be expected.”

She looks out of her window in thought for a moment. The pensive nature of her look out the window makes me think that I’ve missed more than I thought while I was caught up chasing Racquelle’s tricks. Steph continues to look out the window when she says, “That’s good, I guess.”

“He did have one thing to request.” Now to the point of why I truly came here. Which was not to get my ass handed to me by yet another high-power woman. “He wants you to write to him.”

She finally breaks her stare from out the window, turning wide eyes on me. “Me?” She leans forward, putting her elbows on the table with her head on a fist. “What am I supposed to write to him?”

“Hell, if I know. But shit. He’s locked up Steph. You can’t throw him a bone?”

“No,” she says drolly and I give her a look. “Fine. One letter is all I’m committing to.”

Standing from the chair, I pat my back pocket to make sure I’m not leaving anything in her office. “Better than nothin’ and it means my job here is done. ”

I am already to the office door when she asks, “So, what are you going to do about Diamond, Blue?”

“Nothing to do. She gets what she wants apparently.”