That sounded just like the old Lorena.
“U-umm, yeah..sure. What exactly would I be doing though?” I asked.
Bellerose shrugged. “Whatever I say,” he laughed, but I knew that he was serious. That could have meant anything, but I had to take this chance to get in with him.
I gave a slight smile. “As long as it doesn’t involve getting shot again, I’m in,” I chuckled.
“As long as you do as you’re told, you will be just fine. But, don’t worry, I like to work as equals. I’m not one to ask for much or give unreasonable orders,” Roberto said. He stood back up and pulled out his card. “You can contact this number when you’re ready to come to work.”
I took the card and said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, I can’t wait to see you again Sarah,” Roberto walked to the door. “We have a lot to discuss.”
I stared at him while clenching my teeth. He had sent chills down my spine once again.
***
After I was able to start walking around on my own the hospital released me. Jaylen was the one to come and pick me up. He seemed a lot better than the last time I saw him, which was the day after Andrew’s death.
“How you feelin’?” Jaylen asked while driving.
“I’m okay. There’s still some pain, but I’ll be okay,” I nodded.
“You coming back to work?”
I had forgotten all about working with Jaylen. “Oh, no I’m going to rest for a while. Roberto asked me to come work for him,” I answered.
Jaylen frowned. “That bitch,” he sighed. “Dude just up and replaced Andrew just like that. Didn’t even wait until after my dude’s funeral. And on top of that he gave everything over to this power crazy mother fucker.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean this Bruce boy just started, and I’m already seeing bruises on the dancers. He’s bossy as shit and everything has to be done his way. I guess he’s close with Bellerose or some shit, but damn. He could have chosen someone else.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was glad that I didn’t have to go back and work with him, but still nervous about working for Bellerose.
“So, what did the police do when they got to the warehouse?” I asked. I had been curious this whole time, because it was Roberto’s private property and people died there.
“Oh, I was told that Bellerose had that shit covered up before they even got there. I guess it was two shooters, and after the second one was down, his security hurried up and cleaned the place. It just looked like there was a party and some bad shit popped off to the cops. There was no sign of a dogfight going on.”
“So, you know about those?” I frowned.
“Yeah. Andrew didn’t know that I knew, but yeah. Bellerose holds one every month or so.”
“Oh,” I nodded.
We had pulled up to my apartments and I got out of the car.
“Thanks Jaylen,” I said.
“No problem little lady. Be safe out there, and good luck.”
“You too,” I said before turning around.
The same guys were standing outside of the apartment with the same clothes on, but before they could speak, Bobby came out to get me. I guess he knew something might happen, and with me being injured, I couldn’t fight back the way that I wanted to.
“Come on,” Bobby said, looking over the men with a death stare.
I nodded and made my way into the building, then Bobby helped me the rest of the way to the apartment where he led me straight to the bed.
“I already let your lieutenant know what happened. You should give her a call,” Bobby said.
I looked up at him from the mattress and said, “Bellerose wants me to work for him,”
Bobby smiled. “I knew you were perfect for this operation,” he said before leaving the room.
I picked up my cell phone that was next to the bed. It was dead, and I was betting that it was because Cameron called me nonstop.
Once I hooked the phone up to a charger I saw that I had almost fifty missed calls. My heart sank knowing that Cameron was going crazy back at home. I dialed his number and gave him a call. After about two rings Cameron picked up.
“Hello? Hello? Rose?” Cameron asked.
“It’s me babe,” I said. I thought back to how he asked me to be careful, and how I had almost died. Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew that it was torture for him not to hear from me after so long, but there was nothing that I could do about it.
“Thank god,” Cameron sounded relieved. “I’ve been calling and calling. Where were you?”
“I….I was in the hospital Cameron. I can’t carry my phone around… or else I would have called.”
Cameron was silent for a moment on the other line. “Why were you in the hospital?” He finally asked.
I didn’t want him to hear me crying so I held my breath for a moment. “I was shot,” I struggled to say.
Cameron sighed, “I thought you were dead Rose. You almost died.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to call you. I would have-“
“Come back home.”
“I can’t Cameron.”
“Rose. Come back home!” He yelled, “I cannot just sit here and wonder if you’re dead or not! Come back!”
“I-I can’t. I have to finish what I started out here,” I said, it hurt more to know that he was missing me, but my mind was slowly focusing on someone else.
“What you started almost killed you Rose,” Cameron’s voice cracked. “I can’t do this. Come back, or I’m going to have to leave. I don’t want to, but I can’t man.”
I actually started to cry. Like really cry, and I couldn’t get myself to stop. I hated knowing that Cameron was suffering because of me. We used to be so happy together, and we worked so well, but now…
“Cameron I can’t. She needs my help,” I sniffled.
Cameron was quiet on the other line, then he said, “…Lorena.” He knew that she was the only woman I was willing to give everything up for. “I’m sorry Rose. I can’t do this.”
“Cameron-“
He hung up. I dropped the phone and began to sob. I don’t know how long I had been crying after we last spoke, but I fell right to sleep when I was done.
I woke up later that night from my phone going off. It was Stephanie. I told her about what happened and about me and Cameron. I wanted her to go and talk to him, but she still couldn’t forgive him after bruising my wrist, and didn’t care how he felt.
“So, how is she?” Stephanie asked.
“Lorena’s fine. Well at least from what I saw, she was okay. Bellerose seems to really care about her.”
“Yeah, that’s why you need to be very careful when you start working for him. Don’t slip up Rose. You and Lorena aren’t supposed to know each other.”
“I know. I’ll be careful.”
“You better. I don’t want another phone call like the one I got from Bobby again. I almost flew up there when he told me you got shot.”
I smiled when I imagined her jumping on a flight and coming down here like a worried mother.
“You won’t get one. I promise,” I said.
“Good. Now get some sleep, it’s late.”
“I can’t now,” I chuckled. “You woke me up. I’ve been asleep all day.”
“Oh, sorry Hun,” Stephanie laughed.
“It’s okay. I’ll talk to you again soon.”
“Alright, love you.”
“I love you too.”
We hung up and I put the phone back on the charger. Stephanie always had her way of making me smile, even if she didn’t mean to.
I slowly sat up and got off of the mattress, then I walked out of the room and went to go and see what Bobby was doing.
“Hey,” I said in a low voice.
“Rose,” Bobby said, looking up from his computer, “you shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I’m tired of being in bed,” I walked into the kitchen and started searching for food to eat. “Is there any
thing to eat in here?”
“We have some canned beans,” Bobby chuckled.
I sighed, “I should’ve known.” I found the small can of beans and popped it open, then put it in a bowl and popped it in the microwave. Once it was done, I went to go and sit in the living room with Bobby.
“So, are you ready?” Bobby asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready. A little nervous, but not as bad as I was before.”
Bobby nodded while still in his computer, “Good. And are you okay?”
I took a bite of the hot baked beans and looked at him. “I’m fine, why do you ask?” I asked.
“Well, you didn’t seem to be so sad when you were shot, but I heard you crying earlier,” Bobby said. He looked up at me, but he didn’t look concerned. Just curious.
“Oh, sorry about that. It was my…friend.”
Bobby nodded, “Yeah, I understand.”
I looked down at his finger and saw a mark where it looked like a wedding ring used to be. Derrick Luis was married before, but I guess this job drove her away too.
“Well, think of it this way. You’ll get to see that girl again,” He smiled.
I smiled back, “Yeah, that’s a great way to think about it.”
Chapter 15
I spent my recovery time in the apartment. Bobby let me use his small TV so that I wouldn’t be completely bored. He wouldn’t let me train, go outside, or pretty much do anything that required me to do too much moving. It was actually starting to irritate me after a while, because I enjoyed keeping in shape. As long as my stitches didn’t break I would be fine, but he needed me to be in mint condition before I went to work for Bellerose.
Staying in with Bobby wasn’t as bad as I thought that it would be. He also didn’t leave much unless we needed food, or he went to do some business of his own. I guess he occasionally had to go and meet up with the other agents somewhere so that they could discuss what they’ve found, but it always turned out that there was nothing. I was the only person that would be able to find something.
All of the agents they sent to get in with Bellerose never even made it close to him. Apparently, I was the first person that he’s ever invited to work for him which made me a little skeptical. I tried to make myself believe that it was because of Lorena, but for some reason I felt like he knew something.
Bellerose was a lot like Arnold. Just from our hospital visit I could tell that he wasn’t the type to be easily fooled. He also seemed like the type of person that was always in control, and if you stepped out of line he would have you taken care of. I had to be really careful with him and do my best not to screw anything up.
When I finally recovered I started working out as much as I could. Sometimes my mind would revert back to its old thoughts to when I was training for fights, but once I counted to ten I was back to normal again. Bellerose seemed to be on my mind more often now, and I wanted nothing more than to have him locked away. It was hard to admit, but he scared me, and I’m not really one to be afraid of another man. The only person that really put fear in my heart was Arnold.
I did a few more pushups, but stopped when the thoughts in my head screamed too loud. I didn’t want to think about him anymore. I needed to focus.
Bobby knocked on the door, then opened it. “You ready?” he asked.
I took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Today was the day that I had to go and meet Bellerose. We had spoken about me coming to work for him the day that I decided that I was fully recovered, and now it was finally time to meet again.
I nodded, “Yeah.”
Bobby frowned, “You don’t look ready. For the last couple of days, you actually looked like shit. What’s going on?”
I swallowed. I guess he noticed how I slowly began reverting over to the bad part of myself.
“Nothing, I’m okay. I’m ready,” I said.
For the first time Bobby actually looked worried about me. “He’s not Arnold Rose.”
I nodded, “I know.” I grabbed my towel off of the door. “I have to go shower,” I said.
I walked passed him and went to take a shower. I wanted to stay under the water until I got rid of my jitters, but there wasn’t enough time. One of the cars Bellerose sent would be here soon, and I had to be ready. Somehow he had found out where we were staying already and let me know over the phone that he would have someone come get me. That made our safe house not so safe anymore, but there was nothing that we could do about that anymore.
I got out of the shower and dressed in a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and my Nike shoes. Bellerose told me to dress comfortable for my orientation, and that’s exactly what I did. Before I left, Bobby insisted that I took my gun, and if I was searched I just had to explain to him that I carried it with me everywhere and that it was a bad habit of mine.
The black car parked outside didn’t look as if it belonged in this neighborhood. I sighed as I walked passed the regular five men and went straight for the car. Once I was in the back seat, the young driver introduced himself as Mark, then he pulled off.
The drive was about an hour long, and I was starting to feel more anxious by the minute. I could tell that we were close to Bellerose’s house because we were now in a neighborhood full of large houses with brand new cars. It was a very nice area with kids playing outside, a few families were grilling, and some were out jogging. I guess I could say that it was like my aunt’s neighborhood, only the houses weren’t even close to being as big. Not that they were bad, but just not like this.
“There it is,” Mark said.
I looked ahead and my mouth slowly dropped. The house at the end of the street looked like a huge mansion. It was a mansion. We pulled up to the large gate and Mark swiped his card through the window, then we pulled up through the large driveway with a fountain in the middle of it.
Mark saw how I had shifted in between the seats to get a better look at the large brick house and laughed, “I had the same look on my face when I first started working here.”
I blushed from embarrassment, but didn’t stop staring at the house. Mark pulled up behind a silver convertible and right in front of the double doors.
“Thanks...” I said. I reached for the handle, but couldn’t get myself to open the door. Once I stepped out of this car, I would be going into Roberto’s house. I would have to face him again without showing fear, and I would have to control myself around his wife.
“I hope Bellerose didn’t give you a certain time to be meeting him,” Mark chuckled.
I smiled, “He didn’t.” Thank god.
I finally opened the door and stepped out of the car. I wanted to jump back in, but Mark had already pulled off. He either knew that I wanted to turn around, or just had better things to do.
I took a deep breath and walked up to the large wooden door, then I gave a few knocks and hoped that someone inside could hear me. To my surprise, it was opened within a few minutes and a pale tall man in his mid-thirties stood in the entrance.
“Sarah?” The tall man asked.
“Yes,” I said. I put on my tough girl act, and did my best to hide the fact that I was nervous as hell.
“Mr. Bellerose is in his office waiting for you,” He stepped to the side and let me enter the large house. Once I was inside my mouth dropped again. I was taken in the beauty as soon as I looked up.
The inside of the house was a mixture of brown and black with two black staircases that curved inwards to the upstairs. The flooring and walls were both brown, but had hints of black decorations like the flower vases or the large pictures hanging up.
“His office is this way,” the tall man said. I turned over to him and just remembered that I was here to see Roberto.
I followed the man through the beautiful home and was taken in by almost everything that I saw. I guess it was just because I only seen places like this on TV that it was so amazing to me. The room that caught my attention the most was the art room. We didn’t walk through it, but we went passed it, and I
slowed down just enough to see all the bright colors on the walls, paint on the floor, and large pictures hanging around.
“That's Mrs. Bellerose’s art room,” the tall man said without looking back. I snapped back to him and picked up my pace. We had finally made it to Roberto’s office which was the same colors as the entrance hall.
I slowly stepped onto the office carpet and watched as Roberto finished up whatever he was doing on his computer. The tall man cleared his throat to get his attention and gave me a slight smile, “I have Sarah here to see you.”
Roberto looked up and smiled, “Thanks Ronald,” he nodded and the man named Ronald exited the room.
“Sarah!” Roberto walked around his desk to give me a handshake, “good to see you,” then he walked back around to sit down. “Please, sit,” he nodded towards the chair in front of his desk.
I nodded and sat down in the soft chair.
“So, how are you feeling?” Roberto asked.
“I’m feeling okay, and...How are you?”
“I’m great! Just happy to see you here. I was starting to get a little worried that you wouldn’t show.”
“Oh, no,” I said with a slight smile. “I wouldn’t miss out on this opportunity.”
Roberto laughed, “Yeah, who would skip out on good money.”
I laughed with him, but it was fake. Anyone in their right mind would skip out on this opportunity. Working for him was clearly a dangerous job.
“So, let’s talk business,” Roberto said, folding his hands on his desk. “You clearly are a fighter, which is what many of my men aren’t, and I would like you to work by my side. Seeing you with Andrew tells me that you’re very trustworthy, or at least he believed you to be. I trusted Andrew’s judgment whenever he chose to let someone work with or for him, so I am going to trust that you will be able to work in this line of work?”
“Well, what exactly is working by your side?”
“You wouldn’t be doing anything in particular, and I wouldn’t force you to do anything that you don’t want to do, but you mostly will just...be there. If anyone gets out of hand, comes after me or my wife, I’ll just be expecting you to save the day, you see?”
Caged 2 (Caged Series) Page 10
