Jazmine shook her head. “I don’t know, but I don’t care, I would never do business with her again anyway.”
“Jaz…” Dakota said, her tone imploring. “This was your dream.”
Jazmine shook her head. “It was never part of my dream to be in business with someone that sadistic and cruel, Dakota.”
Dakota curled her lips in derision. “They’re all like that,” she said, her tone matter of fact. “They just don’t show it so blatantly most of the time.”
“Why would you want to be around people like that, Dakota?” Jazmine asked shaking her head in disbelief.
Dakota didn’t answer, her eyes dropping from Jazmine’s.
“It doesn’t have to be that way, Dakota,” Jazmine said, her look pointed.
“What doesn’t?” Dakota asked raising, her eyes to look at Jazmine, her look scornful.
“Your life,” Jazmine said. “You don’t have to be around people like that.”
Dakota gave a short laugh, shaking her head.
“What?” Jazmine asked, pinning Dakota with a look.
Dakota gave her a narrowed look, like she was looking for something in Jazmine’s eyes.
“You don’t get it, do you?” Dakota asked.
“Get what?” Jazmine asked her eyes searching Dakota’s.
“I’m like them,” Dakota said. “I’m just like them I just don’t have their money.”
“Oh my God, no you’re not!” Jazmine said. “I’ve seen who you are Dakota, and you’re not going to make me believe that you’re like them, like her.”
“What have you seen?” Dakota asked, her voice quiet suddenly.
“I’ve seen you unguarded. I’ve seen you gallant and charming, and I’ve seen you remorseful and apologetic, I’ve seen you kind and considerate… Those people, people like Cassandra, they aren’t any of those things,” Jazmine said softly.
Dakota blinked a couple of times, her lips trembling at Jazmine’s assessment of her. In truth she hadn’t realized she’d revealed that much to Jazmine, or that Jazmine had actually been paying that close attention. And she had absolutely no idea how to respond to what Jazmine had said.
Jazmine could see that Dakota was surprised by what she’d told her, and she could also see that Dakota was searching for a response. Because she was afraid Dakota would close up on her, she leaned in, kissing Dakota’s lips softly.
She pulled back and looked into Dakota’s eyes. “I love you.”
“What?” Dakota breathed, looking almost terrified.
Jazmine pressed her lips together, tears coming to her eyes. “I love you, Dakota,” she repeated.
Dakota started shaking her head, averting her eyes. “No, you don’t, you can’t,” she said, her tone strident.
Jazmine put her hand to Dakota’s cheek, stilling her movement, turning Dakota’s face back to hers.
“I do, I can, and I love you,” Jazmine said.
“But, Ray… You love her,” Dakota said grasping at anything at that point, not willing to believe that Jazmine loved her and speaking her biggest fears at the same time.
Jazmine nodded. “Yes, I do, but when I saw you lying there… With all that blood… The idea of you being dead…” She shook her head, her look devastated. “I knew I was in love with you then. I knew I couldn’t lose you, not like that.”
Dakota looked back at Jazmine, her eyes still searching Jazmine’s face.
“You’re looking for signs that I’m lying to you,” Jazmine said. “You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, right?”
“I’m waiting for the cost,” Dakota replied simply.
“The cost,” Jazmine repeated. “That’s simple,” she said, touching Dakota’s chest with her fingertip. “Give me your heart.”
Dakota opened her mouth, and Jazmine could see the smart-ass reply forming. She stopped it by kissing Dakota again. Every time Dakota opened her mouth to say something smart, Jazmine kissed her.
“I can do this all day long,” Jazmine said, her grin making her eyes sparkle mischievously.
Dakota pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at the other woman.
Jazmine gave her a delighted look. Dakota tilted her head slightly.
“You love me?” Dakota asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?” “Yes.” Dakota looked at her for a long moment, her look measuring, and Jazmine could see her mind churning. Finally she nodded slowly, as if agreeing to some decision she’d just come to in her head.
“How much money was Cassandra putting toward the studio?” Dakota asked unexpectedly.
“I…” Jazmine stammered. “I think about a million, why?”
Dakota nodded, obviously doing some sort of calculation in her head. Then she looked back at Jazmine.
“I want to buy into the studio,” Dakota said.
Jazmine looked stunned, shaking her head. “Dakota… we can’t do it, it’s too much. Between Natalia and I, we only have about a hundred thousand. Cassandra was the principle on this…”
“I know, and I mean I want to become the principle,” Dakota said.
“How?” Jazmine asked, surprised by this completely off topic conversation.
“I’m going to sell the Bugatti,” Dakota said.
“How can you do that?”
Dakota laughed. “My name is on the title… the only name on the title.”
Jazmine stared back at her openmouthed, but then she shook her head. “No, you love that car, I can’t let you do that.”
“I do love that car,” Dakota said, with a mysterious smile on her lips. “But I love you more, so… the car goes.”
Jazmine gave a slow blink, her mouth open in surprise again. “I’m sorry… Say that again?”
Dakota smiled lovingly, putting her hand to Jazmine’s cheek. She then slid it to the back of her head to draw her forward, and kissed her lips softly.
“I love you,” Dakota said simply.
“Now that’s more like it,” Jazmine said, smiling brightly.
Epilogue
The line of cars shocked drivers as they weaved in and out of traffic. There were muscle cars, old and new as well as sleek sports cars. It was an auto show on the freeway. There were three Ferrari’s: a red one, a black one, and a dark gray one. There was a blue Maserati, a black Mercedes, a black Hummer, a red Challenger Hellcat and a classic dark blue Mach 1 Mustang. Lastly, there were two Nissan 370Zs, one white Nismo edition and another blue one. The cars moved together and around each other, some going faster than others, on the open freeway.
“Hey Jet! That’s cheating!” Skyler called over the two-way radio as she laughed.
“Only if a cop catches you doing it!” Jet called back over the radio.
“You are a cop, dumbass!” Cat replied, causing a lot of the group to grin.
They were on their way to San Francisco. They’d decided as a group to attend the San Francisco Pride parade. They were making the trip as a group and had reserved a block of thirteen rooms at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. They had every intention of making it a great weekend.
“Comin’ up on yer left,” Quinn said into her radio.
“Who’s left?” Kashena asked.
“That was my left,” Jericho said, laughing as Quinn’s Mach roared past her.
“Someone is watching for CHP, right?” Sebastian asked, glancing over and winking at Ashley who sat in the passenger seat. This was their first weekend away since their baby had been born, and the last thing they needed was a speeding ticket.
“Yeah, yeah, daddy!” Kashena chimed in with a laugh.
“Not me,” Lyric said in answer to Sebastian’s question.
“Me either,” Cody said.
“Someone was supposed to be watching for CHP?” Jericho asked.
“I didn’t get that memo,” Rayden said, grinning.
“No memo received here either!” Skyler added.
“Well, this is a mess,” Dakota put in, winking at Jazmine.
“Listen here youngster…” Jericho said, grinning.
“Yes dear?” Dakota queried.
“Watch it!” Quinn yelled, laughing.
A conversation ensued about ages, and how much it mattered and why it was all about experience.
Suddenly a black 370Z with red racing stripes and stickers that identified it as a Stillen Supercharger began weaving its way through the group. It zipped past Rayden’s Jaguar, Sebastian’s Hummer, and Kashena’s Mercedes easily. Then it slid to the right and passed Cat’s Z and Dakota’s Ferrari.
Dakota looked over at Jazmine, her eyes sparkling with the challenge the other driver had just thrown her.
“Damnit, I really want to do it…” Dakota said.
“Don’t even think about it, Dak!” Lyric called over the radio, having seen the black Z pass Dakota. “We’re still tuning that engine. If you blow it out we’re gonna spend weeks rebuilding!”
Dakota was driving a 1955 Ferrari 250 GT, but it was a special and rare body style called a Panin Farina Berlinetta. Lyric and Dakota had searched for weeks for the car and finally found it across the country. They’d spent four months on it already, trying to get it back in good condition. This was the first trip the Ferrari had been on.
“I knew I was gonna miss the Bugatti,” Dakota said, grinning.
“Oh sure, you say that now,” Jazmine said, smiling over at Dakota.
“Only kidding, babe, promise,” Dakota said, winking at Jazmine again.
“Who the hell is that?” Jet asked as the black Z moved up on her bumper, even as she dropped the hammer and zipped ahead, the 454 horsepower engine of her Maserati surged forward.
To her surprise, the black Z caught up quickly and passed her.
“Son of a bitch…” Jet muttered, glancing over at her wife who was shaking her head at her.
As the black Z zipped up to Lyric and Cody in the black and red Ferraris, they gave the Z a little bit of a challenge, but still the Z overtook them and passed them. Shortly after that, it passed Jericho’s red Hellcat and zipped up to Skyler in her Nismo edition Z.
The driver of the black Z paced the Nismo. Skyler glanced over but couldn’t see the driver, due to the heavily tinted windows. She accelerated, grinning, and the black Z did the same.
“That’s a fuckin’ Stillen Supercharger,” Skyler said. “Who the hell is that?”
Devin looked speculative, and just as she was about to say something the black Z zipped ahead and paced Quinn’s Mach 1.
“Oh this fecker wants to play…” Quinn’s Irish accented voice came over the radio. “Let’s go!” Suddenly the Mach 1 surged ahead, and the black Z took a few moments to catch up, but catch up it did.
Over the two-way radios, Def Leppard’s “Let’s Get Rocked” started to play with the first line “Do you wanna get rocked?” Everyone knew then that whoever was in the black Z was on their frequency. The song played on as the black Z challenged Quinn’s Mach to a race.
As things got a little too dangerous and they came close to Buttonwillow, Jericho cut in on the radio.
“Quinn, back it off a bit, you’re getting to town!”
“Got it!” Quinn called back. Then to her opponent, she asked, “Draw?”
There was silence on the radio for a full minute, everyone waited to see who would respond or if they even would. They did notice with relief that the black Z was also backing down on their speed.
“Rematch?” came the reply, a very definite female voice.
“Hell yeah!” Quinn said, laughing.
“Draw!” said the woman who drove the black Z.
Ten minutes later, they all pulled into a Denny’s parking lot. The last to pull in was the black Z and as everyone got out of their cars, they all waited to see who would get out of it. The woman who climbed out had white-blond hair pulled up into a ponytail and there were two long skinny braids that were colored in a rainbow. She wore black jeans and a black tank top that had a circle with a Z in it, with the words “Livin’ Z Life” around it. She wore black heeled boots and a thick black studded watch on one arm and a series of bracelets on the other arm that were a myriad of colors and textures and went four inches up her arm. She also wore mirrored sunglasses, but she took them off as she walked up to the group.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said, grinning. “I’m Harley.”
“There you are!” Devin called, just having gotten out of the car. She walked over to hug the other woman.
Devin turned to the group. “I thought this might be who that was,” she said, grinning. “But I figured she could introduce herself.”
Skyler walked up to Harley and extended her hand. “Helluva a nice Z,” she said grinning. ‘I’m Skyler.”
Harley smiled, glancing at Devin.
The rest of the group crowded in and introductions were made all around.
When she got to Rayden, Rayden canted her head. “Davidson?”
“Yeah,” Harley said, grinning.
“I think I’m your new boss.”
“You’re Black Wolf?” Harley asked.
“How many Raydens do you think there are in LA?” Devin asked, grinning.
“Probably not too many,” Harley said, glancing at Rayden again. “Good to meet you, ma’am.”
“Call me Ray, everyone else does,” Rayden said, smiling. “This is my wife Grayson.”
Harley smiled at Grayson, extending her hand to her.
Grayson took the proffered hand smiling. “That was some fancy driving.”
“I do like to play,” Harley said, nodding.
“Wait, your name is Harley Davidson?” Quinn asked as she walked over.
Harley grinned, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, my dad was a biker and my mom thought she was being cute.”
“Sucks to be you,” Quinn said, grinning. “I’m Quinn.”
“That’s a nice Mach,” Harley said, her eyes on the dark blue Mustang.
Quinn inclined her head.
The group headed into the Denny’s restaurant then, flustering the waitresses with their sheer size. In total, there were twenty-seven of them. It was a large group, not what the Denny’s in Buttonwillow was used to.
Lyric, Savanna, Cody, McKenna, Dakota, and Jazmine sat together at one table, with Natalia and Raine pulling a small table over as well.
“So are you sure you want to go with wainscoting in there?” Dakota was asking Lyric.
“You think it’s a bad idea?” Lyric asked.
“I think it’ll be hell to clean with a kid,” Dakota said.
Lyric looked at Savanna. “It’s up to you babe, this is your thing.”
“How much more time will it take?” Savanna asked, her hand on her baby bump that was just barely showing.
Dakota closed her eyes doing calculations in her head. “I’d say an extra month, and I’m tellin’ ya, it’ll be a pain in the ass… Why don’t you go with like a chair rail, you can do the two colors that way.”
Lyric and Savanna had hired Dakota to work out a master suite with a baby’s room for the house. Savanna was now five months pregnant and she and Lyric were beyond thrilled.
Lyric and Savanna had officially and legally adopted Dakota. To their surprise and delight, Dakota had taken Lyric’s last name. She was officially Dakota Falco now. Cody and Dakota constantly joked about being blood sisters due to the blood Cody had donated, and that she was officially Lyric’s kid because of Lyrics blood that now ran in her veins as well.
Jazmine watched the three talk about the baby’s room, and smiled. She was happy to see Dakota so happy and settled. The studio was up and running, and even though Dakota had put in a million dollars exactly as she’d said she would, she remained a silent partner. She’d sold the Bugatti for 2.7 million dollars. She’d given Jazmine and Natalia the one million and had bought a house with another million. She’d used the remaining money to set herself up in a business.
Jazmine had quickly discovered that a settled and happy Dakota was a very astute businesswoman. She had
not, however, lost her wild edge in the slightest, and they went out every weekend. Dakota was forever getting hit on, but she always turned to her redheaded dancer. She was also always having to step in when too many butch women went after Jazmine. Rayden often assisted in that area. Jazmine and Rayden had become good friends, as had Jazmine and Grayson. Dakota and Jazmine had gone with Rayden and Grayson to Las Vegas so that the Black Wolfs could get legally remarried. Rayden and Dakota had gambled after that, and Grayson and Jazmine had gone shopping and hung out at the pool. It had been a fun weekend.
As Dakota had expected, Cassandra beat the case against her for Dakota’s assault. She’d actually had the temerity to contact Dakota afterwards wanting to see her. Dakota had told her to take a hike. Fortunately, Cassandra had taken the hint and disappeared.
At another table Jericho, Zoey, Rayden, Grayson, Kashena, Sierra, Sebastian, and Ashley were discussing the direction of the department.
“Well, with Rayden in charge of Crime Prevention, I’m expecting to get an up in my budget for some of the new programs,” Jericho was saying.
“The paycheck for Davidson alone is going to kill my budget,” Rayden said, grimacing.
“Well, Midnight is aware of the step up of the tech side,” Sierra said. “So I’d bet you she’s got a plan.”
“She usually does,” Kashena said, grinning.
“So is Davidson a consultant?” Sebastian asked, glancing over at the blond who was sitting with another group.
“Yeah,” Rayden said. “Devin Boché recommended her. She’s supposed to be really good.”
“That’s what I’ve heard too,” Jericho said. “Which is why I approved her hire.”
“Well, if Devin recommended her, I can imagine she’s good. Devin’s dangerous she’s so good,” Kashena said.
“So speaking of hires,” Jericho said, looking over at Grayson. “I’m told you’re a pilot.”
“I was a pilot, yes,” Grayson said hesitantly.
“Ever consider flying again?” Jericho asked.
Grayson looked at Rayden who raised an eyebrow.
“In what capacity?” Grayson asked.
“For DOJ,” Jericho said. “We need fixed-wing pilots.”
Gray Skies (WeHo Book 8) Page 21
