by Naomi West
And it’d also made him even more confused about what to do next. He felt sorry for Venus, but he also wanted her. He hadn’t met a woman who tempted him more than that, and just knowing she was upstairs, half naked, made it hard for him to concentrate on getting back out of the house without being seen. It would be a simple thing to slip back up the stairs and into her room, to pull the ribbon belt around her robe and let it fall away, to whisper promises of a new life as he made love to her.
Blade leaped the wall and let himself land hard on the concrete on the other side, jolting himself back to reality. He had to be ready for Jet’s response, and he couldn’t let a hot woman get in the way.
9
“What are you going to do about it?” Venus had managed to grab the passenger seat of her father’s car on the way to their current mission. She’d chosen that moment, when there wasn’t anyone else around to overhear, to tell him of Blade’s most current threat. She’d left out a few details, such as the way he’d looked at her and what she’d been wearing, but the message was there regardless.
His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “It’s simple. I’ll kill him.”
She frowned. “But he already threatened me once before, and you didn’t do anything about it.” It was dangerous to point out his flaws, but her broken heart was making her reckless.
“That’s because I was too busy cleaning up the mess your little friend caused,” he retorted, shifting gears and pushing the gas pedal further. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you or what makes you think you can just wave your fingers and I’ll do as you ask. It’s not like you’re asking me for a new pair of shoes. Your job is to shut the fuck up and make me look good.” He turned back to the road, anger in his eyes.
Venus turned toward the passenger window and crossed her arms across her chest. Jet was such an asshole. He wasn’t really her father, not in the ways that mattered. He’d created her in the same sense in which he’d ordered custom cars or purchased homes. She was just another flashy object, something he could use to his advantage when the time was right.
And what about Blade? Would he make good on his threats? Would he really come after her if the Skulls didn’t pull back into their own territory? For a moment, he’d seemed to soften. He’d opened up and told her what he’d done when he was much younger than her just to get away from an abusive parent. That might serve as some sort of link for the two of them, but she doubted it would be enough.
Still, she allowed herself to imagine that the encounter in her bedroom had gone differently. Venus could no longer see the city flying by out the window as she imagined him coming in and finding her crying. Blade would scoop her into his arms and tell her he was taking her away from all that. Venus would tell him it was impossible, that they would never get away, but Blade would insist that he would fight any of the Skulls if it meant he could keep her safe.
She knew she shouldn’t be thinking of the enemy that way. Blade was not just a Devil’s Fang but the leader of them, and he was the very last person she should be considering as an ally. She shook her head as she got out of the car and followed her father inside.
This was a simple mission to Jet’s bookie, and Venus didn’t even see why she needed to go along. He’d only brought two other men, a relatively small force, and he’d told them to remain in their car outside. Venus was starting to think he had her with him just so he could keep an eye on her.
Maurice glanced up with a startled look when he saw them step into the office, but he forced a smile as he cleared several papers off his desk and tapped them into a neat stack. “Well, well! If it isn’t my favorite customer. How are things going, Jet?”
Her father shrugged indifferently. “Why don’t you tell me? I just came to collect my earnings.”
The bookie’s face changed once again, and he pursed his lips together as he began tapping on his computer. “I’m afraid I don’t have the news you’re looking for. The horses you picked didn’t come through for you. In fact, you’re in the hole by ten grand.”
Venus could feel the heat of anger rising off Jet even before she looked at him. “You said it was a good bet.”
Maurice put his hands in the air innocently. “I thought it was. You know I’d never steer you wrong on purpose. But don’t worry. I’ll give you a little time to pay it off.”
Jet stepped up to his desk. “Don’t you talk to me in that condescending tone, Maurice! If you made me lose money, I’ll take it out of your ass!”
Venus noticed the man flick his finger just under the edge of his desk, and two massive men appeared through a doorway behind him a moment later. They didn’t do anything more than stand behind Maurice, but the message was clear.
“Sorry, pal, but I’ve had to enlist some help. I’ve got too many guys like you who don’t seem to understand that gambling is a risk. I never promised you that you’d make any money, and I can’t help it if you pick shitty horses. Of course, your betting privileges will be cut off until your debt is paid in full.”
“Why, you—”
“If you’d like to push the issue,” the bookie interrupted, “I can always demand the full payment right now. I’m sure you’d understand that it’s just business.”
Jet’s face was a storm cloud. Venus had been living with him too long, and she knew what he was thinking. There were several more races and ball games coming up, and he wasn’t going to be pleased if he had to give up the possibility of betting on them. He’d find a way to make this work for himself. He always did.
“All right,” Jet said with a forced smile. “I’ll just pay up. I’ll give you half the money, and then I’ll throw Venus here into the bargain.” He shoved her forward, his hand hard in the small of her back.
“Hey!” Venus realized she should’ve expected this. He was going to find some way to pawn her off. She turned for the door, but Jet had her by the arm.
“She’s a little rambunctious, but I’m sure you can work that out of her,” Jet said calmly, as though he was talking about one of the racehorses he’d just lost a bet on.
Maurice raised an eyebrow, and for a moment Venus thought he’d send his goons around the desk to grab her. But he shook his head and spread his hands over his desk. “I only deal with cash, Jet, and you know that. I’m not interested.”
“Do you not have eyes? Do you not see her?” Jet fumed. “She’s easily worth five grand.”
“Not happening. Now pay up or get out.” Maurice turned to his computer and tapped away, signaling that he was done dealing with Jet.
Venus had no way of knowing just why this kept happening to him. It used to be, when the Skulls were at their peak, that nobody would dare go against anything Jet said. All of a sudden, it was like he was getting blacklisted everywhere he went. His money was no longer good enough, and everyone was jacking up their prices. Could it be that his business was getting dirty enough that even the other organizations in the city didn’t want to have anything to do with him?
But she seemed to be the one who would pay the price. Jet shoved her again as they left the bookie’s office. “This is your fault, you know. If you’d stood there and looked pretty, maybe batted your eyes a little bit, then he’d have thought you were worth it. Hell, I might’ve been able to get the entire ten grand waived.”
She felt her heart implode inside her chest as she got in the car. “I’m not fucking some old guy just to get you out of debt,” she grumbled.
That earned her a smack across the face that left sparkles around the edges of her vision. “It’s business, Venus! All of this is business! It’s no different than any other way women use their wiles to climb the corporate ladder. I guess if you don’t want things to be better for us, then you’re beyond help.” He fired up the car and squealed out of the parking lot.
Venus blinked rapidly. She couldn’t cry in front of him. It would only give Jet another reason to chastise her. But she couldn’t go on like this. It was impossible to get out on her own, but maybe she kne
w someone who could help.
10
“You’re not going to want to see this.” Champ stepped into Blade’s office and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “The Skulls are at it more than ever.”
“Son of a bitch,” Blade breathed out slowly as he looked at the screen. It was just a small news bit, the kind of thing that’d been poorly written by some schmuck reporter digging for any story the paper might be willing to post. It was hardly even worth the police column, speaking of a disturbance in a suburban neighborhood where some doors had been busted in and a few homes robbed. It wasn’t even the kind of thing that would be a surprise, considering the neighborhood where it’d happened, but it definitely looked like the work of the Skulls.
“I don’t think your connection is doing anything to stop this,” Champ pointed out. “Looks like we’re creeping closer to war. I think the men can feel it too. They’ve been getting restless. We had more fights than usual in the bar last night.”
Blade returned the phone and shook his head. “Yeah, I think you’re right. Give me a day to get a good plan together though. I don’t want to just go charging into this thing without some good information. We’ve got Sherlock, and I think we should use him as much as possible. Plus it seems the Skulls might have a few more resources than I’d originally thought.” Seeing the scale of Jet’s home had been what got him looking a little further into just how much money and power Jet had at his fingertips. He’d built his empire quite a bit over the last couple of years, and Blade didn’t doubt the activity on Fang territory had been planned.
“Whatever you say, boss. Just keep me posted.” Champ pocketed his phone and left.
Blade rapped his knuckles on the wood surface of the desk, pissed at himself for being so indecisive. Never had he felt so tangled up in choices as he did right now, and it was all because of Venus. That didn’t make it any better. No woman—no matter how hot she was—should come between him and his men. He needed to find some way to stop the Skulls, and Champ was probably right. They would be going to war before long.
His phone, sitting on the corner of the desk, buzzed. Blade rolled his eyes toward it, not sure he wanted to deal with whoever needed him now, but his heart leaped when he recognized the number. He whipped it off the desk but paused a moment before he answered it, reminding himself that he was the president of the Devil’s Fangs. “Yeah?”
“Blade?” came Venus’ shaking voice. “I need your help.”
He shoved his chair back, bending forward and pressing his ear to the phone to concentrate on her voice. “What is it?” he asked roughly.
“I can’t talk about it over the phone. I just need you to meet me.” Her voice was hushed, as though she was trying to keep someone from overhearing. There were no other noises in the background.
Blade smelled a trap. Why should she come to him for help, when he was the one who was threatening her? It would be easy for Venus to convince him that she needed him, only to have Jet and his men ambush him as soon as he showed up. Still, he heard the urgency in her voice, and he didn’t like it. “Where are you?”
“I’m at home,” she admitted. “Jet’s not here though. I can get you in.”
It was almost an amusement statement, considering he’d had no problem letting himself in only the day before. “All right. I’m coming.”
Blade headed for the garage. He knew he should at least let Champ know where he was going. It was dangerous to head to Jet’s house, even if he did have a promise from Venus that he could get past security. But he wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to know what was going on just yet. Even he wasn’t sure.
As he sped through the night toward Venus, he wondered if this would help him fix his problem with the Skulls. It was definitely an issue, and it was one he should’ve taken care of already. He had to admit he wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to Venus in the process. She was gorgeous, but there was something else about her that he liked. Maybe it was the spark of power in her eyes when she got angry, or the way she looked like she wanted to kick his ass. Blade knew he could take her, but he’d be more than willing to let her try.
The house was much as he’d found it the night before, and his jeans tightened as he thought of Venus upstairs in her room, wrapped in a towel, waiting for him. It was a ridiculous fantasy, and one that didn’t belong in the current situation, but he couldn’t help it. Venus was aptly named.
She’d sent him a text to come in the back door at exactly half-past eight. Blade kept a careful watch as he once again came over the wall and went around the back of the house. It was perfectly possible that she was setting him up and one of their thugs would come springing out of the bushes at any moment, ready to nab him and turn him over to the police as a burglar. That would be ironic, and he knew Jet would take great pleasure in locking him up, even if it was only for a night.
But nobody showed up as he stole around the side to the back, this time entering through a different door that led out onto a deck. It was already unlocked for him, which seemed too easy. Blade stepped into a dark entertainment room. The massive flat-screen television on the wall, pool table, and deep leather couches were probably plenty of fun during the day, but he wasn’t here for that.
Now that he knew the way, he quickly headed up to her room. He hesitated for a moment outside her door, wondering if he should knock, but in the end he simply reached for the knob. Blade turned it slowly, so as not to alert anyone who might possibly be in the house.
Venus was sitting on the edge of her bed, her back to him. Her hair fell in dark glossy waves to her waist, and she was dressed in a tank top and a pair of shorts. She was hunched over, her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around them.
Blade shut the door quietly behind him. “I’m here.”
“And now I’m not sure I should’ve let you come.” She sounded utterly miserable, and she didn’t turn to look at him.
He let go of the knob, not liking the sound of this. Was it a trap after all, and she was suddenly regretting it now that it was too late? Were Jet’s men closing in on them? Maybe he should’ve let the rest of the Fangs know where he was going, even though they wouldn’t have approved. “Why is that?”
Her face turned slowly, as though it pained her. When she finally looked up at him, he could see the outlines of fresh bruises all along the left side of her face. “There’s really nothing you can do to help me, Blade. I thought maybe you could. You seem like you have some power. But Jet’s reach is much longer than you think or I understood. I’m starting to see that no matter where I go or what I do, he’s going to find me. I don’t have any choice.”
Blade felt his jaw tighten as his eyes settled on her marred flesh. He instantly crossed the room to her, kneeling down in front of the bed and gently turning her face so he could get a better look. “Did he do this to you?”
Venus pulled her hand out of his grip, still looking unbelievably sad. “He did, but I suppose I deserve it.”
A protective instinct rose from deep within him, something that felt animalistic and feral. If Jet had been in the room, he wouldn’t have lasted an instant against Blade’s rage. “Don’t say that!” he whispered harshly. “Nobody deserves to be treated this way.”
“You don’t understand. That’s the thing. Nobody understands. I didn’t cooperate. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. Jet’s been telling me my whole life that there are consequences to my actions, and I’m the one who’s refusing to listen.” She seemed to shrink into herself as she wrapped her arms a little tighter around her knees.
Blade didn’t like the way this sounded. Anger flooded his veins. “What were you supposed to do?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“I have a role within the Skulls.” Venus laid her head down on her knees, looking off to her left so she wouldn’t bump the tender bruises. “He’s been trying to sell me off for a while now. It was subtle at first, and I didn’t get it. Then, when he tried to use me as a bargaining chip with Pedro’s
man, I got stubborn. That’s how Vixen got shot. Then he could’ve settled his debt with Maurice for half the price if I had only gone along with it. But I scared him off the deal, and I’ve cost Jet thousands of dollars. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad except that I’ve never done those kinds of things before,” she whispered.
“Wait.” Blade reached out his hands, planning to set them on the smooth skin of her legs, but he stopped himself. He folded them uselessly against himself instead. “You’re a virgin?” This was almost more than he could handle. How could a woman living in the midst of gang life possibly have stayed so pure?
She nodded, still looking away toward the wall. “There wasn’t much opportunity to be anything else. Jet manages even the tiniest aspects of my life. It’s only because it’s convenient for him that I’m here right now and he’s not. But I know as soon as I step out of the boundaries he’s set for me, he’ll know about it. I can’t tell you how many times he’s beaten me for not listening to him. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now, but I guess I’m just too stubborn.”
Blade’s heart shattered. He wasn’t a perfect man. He hadn’t always treated people the way he should. Hell, he was technically a murderer. But those few words from Venus had made him truly see just what kind of person Jet was. “You can’t think about it like that. I know it’s hard, but none of this is your fault.”
She pulled in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh, more tears squeezing past her lashes. “That’s easy for you to say.”
He pressed his lips together. He wasn’t going to be able to fix what Jet had done over a lifetime in the matter of a few minutes. “Okay. So let’s figure out what we’re going to do, then. Jet is coming onto my territory, and I’ve warned him more than once. I’ll just kill him, and then it’ll be over with.” He knew it was what he should’ve done in the first place. Jet wasn’t going to listen to the warnings, and it was clear the asshole didn’t deserve to live.
