Motown Breakdown (Motown Down #4) (28 page)

Pitching her forward, Veronica hits the tile with a thwack. “Millions of women would give anything to have what you squander. If I ever see you again, if I hear you run your mouth I’ll find you and when I do, I’ll be doing Scott and Stephanie a favor when I dump your ungrateful ass in the Detroit River.”

Showing her the door, she cries as she runs for the lot. “My men will handle it from here,” I tell her.

“How’d I do?” she asks wiping her hands on her jeans. When I don’t answer she mumbles, “That bad, huh?”

Don’t fucking laugh
…

“What would you have done?” she asks hopping up on my desk.

“I would have said no and had her escorted out.”

“Saves time, no nonsense,” she nods. “You’re good at this.”

Why I decided to give her history lesson was beyond me. She was the first, the only to even inquire about it and I wanted her to know it wasn’t as sinister as it seemed. Okay, maybe it was but sometimes it actually worked out and when it did it was highly profitable.

Personally, I don’t much care what people did with their lives. But Veronica with her fancy clothes, high dollar boat shoes and professional hi-lites pissed me off. The girl was given an opportunity and because she was a spoiled little biotch, she believed being sold held no consequences for her. The little tart gave no thought to her family or her future. For a kid who escaped into books as a way to cope with having nothing, I wanted to knock her out and take her family. Surely, I was a better option than what they raised. Shit, I even had my own health insurance. All I wanted was a family to spend holidays with, call when I was sad and hear that they loved me.

Pipe dreams aside, I also didn’t like the way she looked at him either. Granted, he looked bored but that wasn’t the point. I shouldn’t be feeling like this at all but I do. Like he really is mine. Sucking a dick doesn’t mean that we’re exclusive and believe me, that’s not what I wanted. I’d had enough of being told who I was and what to do as a kid. As an adult, I certainly wasn’t looking to be owned, which was why I made my thirty-day rule crystal clear.

But when I showed up at his door, he let me in and I knew if I had been anyone else he wouldn’t have. Shade invited me in for a reason. Probably the same reason that I trusted him more after knowing him 24 hours than I’ve ever trusted anyone in my life. I must trust the guy, I confessed to murder and like four felonies right after I swallowed his come.

“About four months ago, the focus of my business changed,” he says pulling his chair out and sitting between my open legs. “The man you saw, his name was Marco. He ran things before he was killed.”

“Did you kill him?”

“I did.”

“Okay, just keeping up. Proceed.”

“Before his death, handling women like I do now only happened on occasion. Before that, they weren’t willing at all, they were taken and sold at auction.”

He was testing me, I could feel it. Thing was, I was great at tests. “I see,” I say tugging on his lip for some weird reason. “But when Marco died, you took over and chose to work with willing women instead.”

“While I didn’t have an opinion one way or the other, his daughter did. I changed the rules for her when she lived here.”

“Admirable,” I say smiling. “Where is she now?”

“With the man she loves,” he says almost sadly. I knew there was a story there, but didn’t push. “But switching tactics was good business regardless. Marco wasn’t quiet about it and it was a matter of time before he fucked up taking us all down with him. If they’re willing, it’s a different story.”

“Thanks for sharing,” I tell him honestly. “So why me then?”

Running his hand up the inside of my thigh felt amazing and he didn’t seem to mind when I shivered. “I could say something predictable like because I’m a guy, but it’s more than that. I saw you, I wanted you and now I have you.”

“For 29 more days,” I remind him.

“Do you feel up to another meeting?” he asks changing the subject.

“Of course,” I moan when his thumb grazes the material between my legs.

“What is it about you?” he asks absently. Honestly, I wish I had an answer but I didn’t because I was nothing special and I knew it. “Whatever it is, I won’t stop until I figure it out.”

“When you do,” I tell him sinking down from the desk to his lap. “Let me know.”

“Would you fuck me in this chair?” he asks grazing my nipple.

“Yes.”

“Why?” he asks just before licking my neck.

“I’m in tune with you,” I explain. “We aren’t so different, at least not so far.”

Motioning me to stand, he takes my elbow leading me out to the garage. “We are very different,” he says backing me into the passenger side door. “You take risks for your art, you killed to defend yourself. I, on the other hand, kill because I like it.”

Pulling him closer to me, I whisper against his lips, “Who says I didn’t like it?”

Groaning, he pulls himself away and opens my door. Climbing in, he secures my belt and when we lock eyes I felt the shift. “Did you?” he asks quietly. “Like it?”

“More than I thought I would,” I admit with our faces inches apart. “Watching the shock freeze him in place. Seeing him grab his neck hoping to stop the inevitable. And especially that moment when he couldn’t believe his life was over. When he fell to the floor with wide eyes that held no remorse for what he’d done, I was disappointed. I sat there for hours watching him bleed out not caring if I was caught. Knowing I wasn’t the first but I would be the last. That I saved others like me. Yes, Shade,” I tell him honestly, “I liked it and if you put another man like him in front of me, I’d do it all over again.”

Clearing his throat, he runs his hand over his face almost in disbelief. On the way to our next meeting he didn’t speak and neither did I. Mostly because I found myself wanting to ask if he knew anyone else like the man I killed. Because if he did, I was wondering if he’d let me take his life too.

There’s trouble you see coming and avoid its path. Then there’s trouble like Sun. You know you should stay away but the pull is too strong to deny. You want her brand of trouble, crave it and would kill for it. Nick was proof of that. His face was blown off for daring to touch hers. She was right though, she was in tune with me because I felt the same way and it scared me. Sun didn’t lie (at least not yet), she said what she thought and was sure of herself.

Later, when her guard was down I would ask more questions. Knowledge is power after all and when it came to her, I needed to be operating at full strength. Bringing her into my world is dangerous enough. I could not afford to care for her. Own her yes, care no. I cared for Luna and all that got me was constant worry and then left behind for my trouble. No, I wouldn’t care for her but while she was with me she would be protected.

Pulling up to valet, I toss the keys to the attendant then help her out. Since I was a young apprentice under Marco’s rule, we’ve had a room here at the Ren Cen. Trust me, we aren’t the only businessmen to have such an arrangement. Over the years, word has spread about what we do and it’s not always positive. So when I get an inquiry that strikes me as
off
, if we meet, we do so here.

Taking my hand, Sun stays quiet while we walk to the elevator. She takes in the scenery, committing it all to memory but otherwise you’d think she was bored. Ah, but she wasn’t bored. She was thinking. As the last off the elevator car, I step outside on to the carpet pulling her to me. “Observe,” I whisper into her ear. “When business is concluded, I’ll ask you for your opinion but otherwise you are to be silent.” Giving me the signal for zipping her lip and throwing away the key, she smiles up at me. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” I say pushing her into the wall. Coming to my senses before I fucked her in a hallway, I pull back giving her
the eye
. Rolling hers, she follows me in once I use my key to open the door.

Sitting at a table by the window is a woman by the name of Jessica Oliver. She’s married to a cop, Lawrence Oliver. He’s a piece of shit, but that’s not my concern. My concern is being set up by a cop. My sources tell me they have no children, a home on the east side and that Jessica is a social worker. Yet here she was, in my suite. I didn’t like it.

“Jessica,” I offer as my introduction. She says nothing while I check the bathroom and both closets. The room was clean, at least from others. Yet, when I take a seat across from her she continues to stare out over the city as if I wasn’t present. Checking on Sun’s position, I see her by the king size bed but tune out what I wanted to do to her on that bed.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” she says in a dead voice. Despite my intel, I agreed to meet with her because she was referred to by another woman, Ashleigh who was happily arranged to a prominent doctor in California that had used our services before. When I spoke to him, he not only confirmed the arrangement was perfect, he proudly informed me they would be married on Christmas Eve. The guy even invited me to the wedding. Looking over at Sun again, I wondered about bringing her as my date but then ditched the idea choosing to get back to business.

“You’re married,” I wanted her to know that I did my homework. “To a cop, no less. Why would a woman happily married seek out my services?”

“Appearances aren’t always what they seem,” she says facing me. Clearly not considering the left side of her face was black and blue. Looking closer, I see her wrist in a brace as well. Noticing movement, she looks over at Sun and before I could stop the exchange, she whispers, “Sunny?”

Like she had been sucker punched, she lurches forward asking, “Jess?”

“Oh my God!” Jessica cries running to her. “You’re alive! After him I didn’t think I would ever see you again! You’re beautiful! I mean you’ve always been but…”

“Jess?” Sun whispers reaching for her face. “What happened to you?”

Like she hadn’t spoken, Jessica continues. “You saved my life,” she whimpers. “How could I ever thank you for that right? You took it for all of us but look at you, you survived.”

Sun was in major distress and I didn’t like it. Whatever happened with that foster fucker was more in depth then she cared to share. Right now, Jessica bringing it up wasn’t helping. “Jess, why are you here?”

“I need help,” she chokes out. “Before he kills me, I need to go away. Anywhere has to be better than with
him
. Ashleigh is getting married to a guy he set her up with,” she says quickly. “Oh God she’s going to freak when she hears I saw you!”

“We’ll get back to her in a minute, who’s going to kill you?”

“Lawrence,” she wails.

“Your husband?”

“I know, I’m pathetic,” she says throwing her hands up. “You told me I was too young and that he wasn’t right for me but I wasn’t strong like you, I’m still not. He said he loved me, and I thought… Wait, why are you here?”

“I’m basically his sidekick,” she says holding her hands. “Listen Jess, are you employed right now?”

“Yeah, as a social worker, what a joke right? I help other people but I can’t even help myself.”

“We’re going to help you,” she says setting her on the bed.

“Sun,” I growl getting her attention.

“In a minute,” she growls back. “Do not move, Jess, I need to step out into the hall, alright?”