Page 16

Remiss: Failing to do a task you set for yourself.

I won’t give up.

Making my way down the dark streets next to the marina in search of a druggie, I tried to stick to the shadows.

Someone had to have fucking weed in this prissy ass town.

I was knocking myself for not demanding the information for the dealers from those punk kids I bummed it from all those months ago.

After a few deep breaths and allowing myself to feel the breeze of the night air on my face, I dialed up my old pal.

The sound of toddler shrieks and an exasperated father answered. I chuckled, remembering myself chasing after Xeny bug much the same way.

“Hey, Quinn wins,” I teased. “If you could spare a moment from diaper and puke duty, I need a favor.”

Micah’s ruffled sigh on the other end of the line made me smirk.

“Ivy. I am on a call, my love. Anastasia needs your tits, babe.”

Now, I laughed aloud. The sweet, kindhearted man I once knew was using his wife as a milk machine.

Listening to Ivy’s laugh and then the sounds of them kissing for a minute made me feel like a voyeur. Their private tender moment was none of my business.

“Of course, Porthos,” she said, her Russian accent kicking in an eloquent way. “I will put Ana to sleep and meet you in bed.”

Her tone was different, and the way Quinn cleared his throat, I could guess why.

“Uh yeah, Roe, what’s up?”

I got straight to the point, not wanting to take away precious pound-town-time. If I remember correctly, kids didn’t give adults space to fuck anymore than they allowed them to sleep.

And Quinn’s rougher-toned voice told me he’d probably not had enough of either.

“I need some weed,” I said.

The other end of the line became silent.

“Micah?”

Did that fucker hang up on me?

“How fucking old are you, Pharaoh Masters?” he scolded, and his ‘dad’ tone was in full swing. “I am pretty sure thirty-five-year-old professors can find better use of their time than getting high.”

“Hey man, don’t use that shit on me,” I said, poking at a loose rock next to the dock’s edge with the toe of my shoe. “It’s for a friend.”

He sighed, and his voice sounded aged. “Look, Roe, even if I wanted to indulge in your irresponsible habits, it’s not like I can just swipe a stash from evidence.”

I shrugged. “Why not?”

Quinn was silent again. “I’m not going to dignify that one with a response.”

I heard them shuffling around while humming some baby song.

“Pharaoh…” He changed his tone to a whisper. “I have not smoked weed since I was in college, and I know you hang out with college kids all day now, but an old professor friend gave me advice once—don’t act like your students.”

I ignored that, not bothering to mention that my friend was part of the staff, not the students.

“Why doesn’t he call my bratva?” Ivy said, a baby fussing in the background, her shushing and humming growing louder.

Micah grumbled, getting shushed by his singing wife.

Oh, the circus of parenthood.

I didn’t remember much about Xenia’s toddler age. Hell, she was only a few years old when my world and hers turned into shit. My sister-in-law, Tiffany, got those years and memories of Xeny. Ariah and I didn’t, and with Tiffany’s death, the memories of those times went with her.

“I will text you Lucius’ number, bro. I’ll have my ringer on to bail ya from jail.”

“I love you too, Quinny whinny,” I teased in a baby voice.

He chuckled and got loudly shushed by his wife again.

“Yeah, yeah. Love ya bro. Talk soon.”

I waited in the alley for the text, and after a few minutes, my phone lit up with Micah’s brother-in-law’s number.

I shot a text over, figuring I would be direct. I didn’t know who Lucius was, but I had heard some stories from Quinn back at the prison. Apparently, he made my brothers look like teddy bears, and his girlfriend was even more of a nutball.

Me:

I was told you know how to buy some flowers.

Unknown:

Who the fuck is this.

Well, I guess being direct wasn’t the right call.

I dialed the number and brought the phone up to my ear. It was better explaining it than texting. He answered on the first ring with a dark Russian drawl as threatening as I would have expected from a man with his reputation.

“Listen to me, you annoying fuck. If you call and solicit me with bullshit, I will come to your residence and shove whatever the fuck you are trying to sell me up your ass hole. Understand?”

I laughed. The threat was something my brothers or I would say to whatever ‘Bible Selling Scout’ dumb enough to bug us and came our way.

“I’m a friend of your sister’s and her soft-ass husband,” I said.

Lucius paused on the line. No background noise was heard. It was just silence.

“Ah, okay then. Hey, my Little Shadow. Cancel that hit in Texas by that college. Thanks, baby girl.”

I didn’t know if he was kidding or not, but either way, I cleared my throat. “Anyways, man, I was told by your sister that you knew where to get some weed.”

“Weed?” Lucius’s voice went higher, obvious laughter trying to sound contained.

“Yeah, man.” I sighed. “Weed. Mary J. Marry ja wanna. Flower. D—”

“I know what weed is.” he interrupted with a laugh. “I am curious why my sister, who is a new mother, has a friend she’d send to me to get it, is all.”

I sighed again, raking my hand down my face.

Damn, if it was this hard to score a fucking plant that grows in the dirt on the damn streets, I felt for civilians. The prison had so much grass that it was like fucking Christmas. People ate it like lettuce on their sandwiches, and nobody fucking judged what got you through your time in hell.

“Do you know where I can get fucking marijuana or not?”

Lucius snorted. “Of course.”

I waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t, I pressed, “And?”

“I need you to get some information on a little girl that lives in your area. If you do this, I will supply your drug. Do we have a deal?” His tone was low like he was whispering.

I quirked a brow. “A little girl? What the fuck do you want with her?”

Lucius growled on the other end of the line. “Do not question a man you want something from. Will you obtain the information or not?”

Now that I had shuffled farther down the pier, I kicked that rock into the water.

“Yes…” I really hoped I wouldn’t regret this.

“Great. I will text you the information at a later date. Your weed is with one of my contacts on a yacht near your location. The contact is on the Grand Charity. If you look at the water, I am sure you can probably see it from where you are standing.”

I didn’t bother asking how the fuck he knew where I was and instead looked over to the larger part of the pier. There was a huge ass boat, just like he said, with lights and people in fancy ass outfits walking up the ramps.

“How will I know who your contact is?” I said, making my way toward the yacht.

“I can’t do all your work for you now, can I? Enjoy the party, brother.”

With that, the line went dead.

“Son of a bitch…” I stared at the big ass boat and the hundreds of rich fucks boarding it.

Great, now to find a drug dealer in a stack of socialites.

Should be easy enough. Hell, most soccer moms were the best drug dealers a person could find.

I just had to keep to the shadows and suss out which person had a face with an enormous amount of plastic surgery done to it and was carrying a purse sizable enough for pills and plastic bags.

She would probably appear less wealthy than the rest because she was there to sell her product and get the money she needed.

The walk to the boat wasn’t far, and schmoozing my way past security and the nameless faces was about as easy as I had thought. However, standing at the back and waiting for the contact was another feat entirely.

After the eighteenth lady tried to come on to me, I started to sweat. Did I turn into a Christmas ham when I wasn’t looking? This last one was extra creepy—way too much tanning lotion. Bleh… Her smile as she walked away was even worse. I was gonna be sick…

Didn’t rich people have more…I don’t know—class?

Money couldn’t buy everything.

A nervous woman carrying a sleek black wallet made her way to the buffet, not grabbing any food, just looking at it longingly before stepping away and standing in the shadows by the railing.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen one woman eat any food they put on their plates.

Was something up with the food?

I made a mental note not to eat the possibly poisoned grub and walked over to the lady.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?” I glanced up at the sky, then over at her.

The woman smiled shyly and curtsied, turning around to look at the starry night and ocean surrounding us.

“Yes, sir, it is indeed.”

I smiled my charming smile and reached my arms over her form, grabbing both of the railings.

“What might you be carrying with you to a party that has everything?” I watched the woman’s throat as she swallowed.

Gotcha .

“Oh, this? Uh, well, just some mementos. Um. Gum?”

I chuckled knowingly and reached for her hand, placing a gentlemanly kiss on the surface.

“I myself enjoy mementos greatly. In fact, I’m out of gum. Might I buy some of yours?”

She turned and looked up at me, her eyes fearful and hesitant.

It made sense. If she fucked up someone’s cues and tried to sell to someone who didn’t approve of her extracurriculars, she’d be ostracized from her little community.

“I assure you, ma’am. I enjoy the gum you keep.” I said, flashing my wallet discreetly.

The woman let out her worried breath and nodded, popping open the black satchel and reaching her hand inside it.

Sure enough, I heard the hallelujah bells going off in my head as she pulled out a baggie with a few joints. This would be enough to get Gardenia off my ass for now.

“What the fuck are you doing?” a familiar voice said behind me.

The woman and I let go of the bag in surprise, and it fell over the boat’s railing, floating down the river. The only fuckers getting high now were the damn fish.

I looked back at the intruder, and my knees nearly buckled underneath me. I held onto the railing to keep from joining the bag of weed in the water. Fallon stood before me in a dress that was…it was gorgeous. There was an eerie gothic feel to it that suited her so well.

“What are you doing?” she said again.

I started to smart off, but the woman spoke up, and I realized Fallon wasn’t talking to me. She was speaking to the dealer.

How did she know a dealer?

“Are you seriously selling pot at Grand’s stupid ass party? Sis, what are you thinking?”

My eyes widened, and I looked over at the female. She did resemble Fallon a bit, but the night and blinding fake lights above us made her features hard to distinguish.

“I…” her sister said, hanging her head, tears welling in her eyes.

I didn’t know what kind of family drama this was, but I was the one to get this chick in trouble.

“It’s okay, ma’am. Sorry for trying to sell ya my pot. You said you didn’t want it, and I am just stubborn.”

The two women snapped their attention toward me—one in disbelief and sympathy and the other in a blind rage.

“You tried to sell my sister pot?” She yanked her sister’s arm toward her. “What is wrong with you?”

“Meh… a lot.” I shrugged as casually as possible.”

Fallon was shaking with rage as she stomped her high heels, accentuating her beauty. The woman turned her head, giving me an appreciative look mixed with some sort of apology. I winked at her.

“Have a nice night, ladies,” I said, tipping my imaginary hat and leaning back against the railing.

Fallon’s sister smiled and waved before she walked back toward the group of partygoers, whereas Fallon stood there, fuming.

“Oh, I will,” she said, a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face.

She really did look beautiful. Her dress molded to her curves, showing off her hot figure. I was mesmerized, transfixed with this little beauty, but upon closer inspection, I realized why her dress looked so familiar.

It was littered with pieces of my shirt.

My Little Voyeur stitched my shirt into a dress, making a delightful creation of her own.

And my come was still on it.

Smirking down, “Nice dress.”

Fallon caught my gaze, her eyes flashing with the understanding that her secret had been revealed. But true to her personality, she didn’t allow her stare to falter. She fixed her eyes on me, plenty of challenge and resolve playing in her pale irises.

Before I knew what she intended, she plowed into me, knocking me backward and flipping me over the railing of the yacht.

Splash!

Panic hit my veins, the cold water swallowing me.

Taking that first deep breath as I broke through the surface, I inhaled too much.

Sputtering and choking, I began to tread water with the damn weed floating around my face.

After a few deep breaths, I glanced up. There she was, standing there with quite a satisfied look on her face.

Fuck, she was beautiful, even now, staring down at me from the boat.

That sassy smile was a beacon in the dark night, and I couldn’t stop staring.

It was almost enough to distract me from the fact the water was rising, higher and higher and like so much of my fucking life.

..I couldn’t keep my head above the waves.