“I’ll be right back,” William said, as he walked away holding the box.
As soon as her father was gone, Jamie looked at him as if her heart was breaking.
“Jamie we should talk about this,” he whispered, but she didn’t do anything. She just stared at him, and closed her eyes. He watched her as her red hair shook, telling him no. “I can't,” she said softly.
Henry watched her run up the stairs with her anklet bouncing on her ankle.
* * *
Jamie closed her door, and slid down the back of it. Why did he have to be a Blue? Why couldn’t he be a Black like her? she thought. Tears fell from her eyes, and she brought her knees up, laying her face on them. The one man to treat her like she was something, was the one man she couldn’t be with. Jamie's father would happily kill Henry if she continued their relationship. But could she walk away from him that easily?
She already knew the answer, and it made her cry harder. Jamie's mind took her back to the box, and all of the blood, but she remembered the cow's head. That was when she’d seen Henry. He’d been looking at her, and not the opened, bloody box.
* * *
Henry walked out of the Moore house toward his car. The revolution meant freedom for his class, and for him. He wanted to be the one to do that, he wanted to be the one that took William Mly ok Willoore down. Henry wondered if he could, now that he knew Wicked Moore was Jamie's father. He shook his head. He didn’t have a choice, he still had to do it. People were counting on him. His cell phone rang and he knew who it was. Only one person had the number.
Henry brought the phone to his ear. “Hey.”
“How did it go?” Mike asked.
He opened his car door, and climbed in, closing his eyes. “Great. The package came on time.”
Laughter rang through the phone, and Henry just shook his head.
“What did you find out about Moore's kid?”
That was the question he was hoping his best friend wouldn’t ask. He had never lied to Michael, but he didn’t want to put Jamie in danger. Henry knew Mike would want to use her for the revolution, and he wouldn’t let that happen. He would have to keep her identity to himself, and only tell Mike what he needed to know.
“William kept her upstairs the whole time.” He figured that his knowing the child was a girl wouldn’t hurt.
“Ahh, a daughter. I wonder if she is hot,” Mike said, and rage burned in Henry’s chest. They had never fought over a girl before, mostly because they couldn’t like the same girl. But Jamie was his, and he wouldn’t let Mike have her.
“I would say yes, you know what her mother looked like,” Henry said. Jamie's mother had the same bright red hair as she did, but she had her father's eyes dark green eyes.
Mike laughed, and Henry started his car. “Or she could have taken after her old man.”
She didn’t, she was beautiful. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since she’d walked away from him the night before.
“Meet me at the club before it opens.” Mike had stopped laughing, and had a more serious tone.
“Okay I'm going home now to shower and then I’ll meet you at the club.” Henry wanted to get the stench of William Moore off of him.
Chapter Three
Raid
Jamie had already called Emily and told her she didn’t want to go to the club. After she’d found out who Henry was, she cried, until her father had come to check on her. She’d wanted to know everything, and he’d told her the truth for once. He’d said that some of the Blacks and Blues were tired of the rules and had started a revolution. He’d been informed that they were gunning for him, and wouhenld use anyone he cared for against him. Unfortunately that meant her. He’d somehow gotten the idea that the owners of the No B club were the ones behind the revolution, but no knew who they were, just one Blue and one Black.
Jamie didn’t think Henry would have hurt her, but he did own the club. She’d told her dad that she was going to Black Diamonds, and he’d sent two large bodyguards with her. She was use to ditching the guards her father assigned to her and didn’t think it would be hard to ditch the two that guarded her now. She stood outside of the club, and frowned. The building was quite different from the No B. Black Diamonds was a shiny and sparkly building. The windows seemed to be lit, and the door was sparkly silver.
She shoved her hands into her black pea coat, and her fingers skimmed over the red card. She needed to see Henry again and ask him if it was true. She sucked in a breath and walked toward the door and approached the large man standing in front of it.
She could feel the two bodyguards following closely behind her. “I.D,” he said, and she was thankful she’d taken four years of drama.
Jamie made her eyes wide, and glanced nervously behind her. “Help me; those men have been following me since I parked my car.” She reached out to put her hand on his. “Please help me,” Jamie whispered, and the bouncer glanced down at her black leather bracelet.
The bouncer glanced behind her at her bodyguards. “I'll take care of them.” He pushed her behind him. “I think you two should leave...now.”
Jamie took the chance to look over the large man's side. Her bodyguards glanced at her with smiles on their faces.
“You don’t understand, we’re her bodyguards.”
“Sure you are,” the bouncer said and one of her bodyguards stepped forward. “Don’t come any closer.” The bodyguard stopped.
Jamie took her chance to run while they were occupied with the bouncer. She ran into an alley and toward where she hoped No B Club was. The alley was darker than she remembered, but she kept running toward the end of it. Jamie knew her bodyguards would call her father as soon as they dealt with the bouncer, and she would be in a lot of trouble when she got home, but she wanted to talk to Henry.
When she exited the Jamie sighed; No B Club wasn’t there, but she knew she was going the right way because she could see the red light from its sign. She ran to another dark alley and her mind took her through every scary movie she had ever seen. Emily loved scary movies and had forced Jamie to watch them; late at night with the lights off.
Stop thinking about that! she yelled at hers>Jalled atelf in her head. This wasn’t the time to think about that. She needed to get to the club Jamie walked quickly down the dark alley, and almost jumped for joy when she saw the bright red sign, No B Club.
She was walking across the street when she remembered her bracelet was still on her wrist. Jamie had heard stories about people getting attacked outside the club because someone left their bracelet on. Slowly she turned her wrist over to unclasp the leather bracelet. Jamie glanced over her shoulder one last time checking for her bodyguards. She knew they would try to follow her, but they would have had to get past that large bouncer. Jamie shoved her bracelet in her back pocket and walked toward the club's front door.
At the door she paid the cover charge, and then walked inside the loud club. Tonight there were more people than there had been the night before. The place was packed with bodies dry humping one another. She pushed her way through the people toward where the red door was. Jamie wondered if Henry would be in there or if he’d given up on her because he knew the truth about her.
She stopped in front of the red door, reached in her front pocket to retrieve the red card Henry’d given her, sucked in a deep breath and slid the card into the card reader. She placed her hands on the door, and felt the click that told her it unlocked.
Jamie opened the door and saw him. He had his back to her; his shoulder-length light brown wavy hair was down around his shoulders. She glanced down at the glass in his hand. Amber liquid filled the glass. Her eyes were drawn to his jeans, they hung low on his hips and as her eyes swept upward, she noticed he was wearing a white, short-sleeve shirt.
“I didn’t think you would come. I thought you hated me.” Henry's voice startled her. She didn’t think he’d heard her enter since he still hadn’t turned around.
Jamie shook her head.
She couldn’t hate him. “I don’t hate you,” she whispered and moved to toward him. His back was still to her, but she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Jamie watched his head drop. “We can't do this,” he whispered.
She knew he was right, but a part of her didn't care. “Are you part of the revolution?” she asked, and that was when he moved away from her, and her hand slowly fell to her side.
Henry finally turned to face her. He had the same black eyeliner and his piercings were back in place. “When I first met you, I told you I don’t lie. Jamie, what answer will make you less mad at me?” He slowly brought the amber colored drink to his mouth.
“I want the truth,” Jamie said, but wondered if she could handle what he would tell her. Something about Henry called to her, even though a part of her knew he would break her heart.
Henry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “I’m one of the leaders of the revolution. I’m sick and tired of living a life where I have to be a slave. I want a better life for me, and for my children and their chi cand theildren's, children. You don’t know what's it's like for the Blues. We work ourselves in to the grave. We have no option to move up in the world, we are forever stuck as a Blue, and if we try, we have the Wicked Moore to answer to. If a Blue and a Black happen to fall in love, it is always the Blue that is sentenced to death, never the Black. I want to be the one to make a better life for my class.” His eyes searched hers, but she tried like hell to keep her face blank.
Jamie didn’t say anything. She just walked to the couch were they’d sat the night before and talked for hours. She placed her elbows on her knees and then her head in her hands. By the laws her grandfather had created, and her father enforced she was required to report Henry. If she didn’t report him, she could be sent to the tower. Jamie felt warm large hands grip her shoulders. She didn’t look up to see Henry. She didn’t want him to know how his words affected her.
He took the warmth of his hands away from her. “Now, you hate me and I haven’t told you everything. There is a plan in place to have your father killed.”
Jamie's head snapped up, killed? “You want to kill my father?” she said, and watched as he bit his bottom lip. She hated herself for thinking of his sweet lips against hers. Henry had just told her his compatriots planned to kill her father, and she was pretty sure he was behind it, and all she could do was imagine kissing him. His betrayal hit her harder than she would have thought.
Henry drank the remainder of his amber drink. “Yes the Moore's have led the Blacks since the war. He needs to be stopped, Jamie.”
She knew her family history well. Jamie stood up and walked away from him, when she was a few feet away from the couch she turned to him. What the hell was she supposed to do with what he was telling her? Jamie narrowed her eyes and moved back to him.
Hope flashed in his blue eyes before she slapped him across the face. His head flew to the side, and his hair fell forward over his eyes. She’d never hit anyone before, but she knew she’d done it well. “If you lay one hand on my father, I will personal kill you,” she said, the controlled anger in her voice scared even her. She narrowed her eyes even more and put her hands on her hips to hide her trembling hands. She could see her hand print darkening on his cheek.
Henry closed his eyes. “You won't have to worry about that,” he said softly. “Because I could never hurt you, and that would rip you apart.” He opened his eyes and stared at her. “I haven't been able to get your face out of my mind. You are all I can think about. I swear I hear your laughter when I’m alone.”
Jamie let his words sink in for a moment. Slowly she shook her head. “I didn’t come here for us. I came here to find out if it was true. To find out if the owners of the No B Club were behind the revolution.”
Henry didn’t say anything for a minute; he just stared at her. “Your father already knows about the revolution?” He looked past Jamie and nodded his head. “Of course he does, he has spies evherhas spierywhere.”
She took a deep steadying breath. She knew about her father's spies. “You know I’ve never kept anything from my father. I’ve never had a reason to.”
Henry looked down and his shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. They both knew what her father would do to him if he found out.
Jamie walked to Henry and stood less than a foot in front of him. “I won't tell my father about you, I know what he would do to you and I couldn’t bare it.” She summoned all of her strength to say what she planned on. “I like you Henry, and it hurts knowing I can't do anything about it. I have never felt the way I feel when you look at me.”
Henry framed her face with his warm hands, and closed the remaining distance between them. “You know this road is a dangerous path we are going to go down. Are you one-hundred percent sure you want me? Once we start I won't be able to look back.”
Jamie smiled. There was no going back for her. “I want you.”
Henry moved his hands to her hair and pulled her closer to him. Once again his lips hovered above hers, and she wanted to taste him. She wrapped her arms around his back and locked her fingers together. This was the moment she had been dreaming about. His lips gently brushed against hers, and she gasped.
Jamie had kissed boys before, but never felt the spark. Emily had told her when she did feel it, she would know. Henry started kissing her sweetly as he slid his hand down her back to hold her closer to him. His lips seemed to mold to hers, and she tightened her hold around him. His tongue licked her bottom lip, seeking permission and she opened her mouth for him. A loud beeping noise tore Henry's sweet mouth away from hers.
“It’s a Raid! You need to get to that door behind you and out to the alley.” He reached in his back pocket and handed her a key. “My motorcycle is outside in the alley,” he said urgently.
Jamie felt her eyes widen with shock, she’d never driven a motorcycle before and wasn’t sure she knew how.
“Wait three minutes and if I'm not out there, leave me.”
She shook her head no. There was no way in hell she was leaving him now. “I'm not leaving you,” she insisted.
Henry pulled her into him tightly and kissed the top of her head. “Please get to the alley, you can’t be seen with me.” He backed away from her, his fingertips lingering as they traced her cheek.
Jamie knew he was right, she held out her hand for the key and he grinned at her.
“Three minutes, and then you go.” He turned her around and she saw the door. Jamie ran to it, and glanced over her shoulder one last time at Henry. He was smiling at her.
The door led to the alley and she saw the bike. Waiw the bIt was a dark blue and with a dark blue helmet sitting on the seat. Before she walked to the motorcycle, she looked down and up the alley. No one was around. She cautiously made her way to it and took the helmet in her hands. It was heavier than she thought it would be. Jamie wondered if her father was in the club. She knew that it was a very good possibility as sometimes he joined in on the raids on the club.
She looked at the door when she heard the music shut off, and then loud bangs that made her heart jump with panic. She knew the sound of gunshots when she heard them. Her father had taught her how to use a gun when she was young. He’d told her it would protect her when he couldn’t. The door flew open and she almost screamed, until she saw Henry.
“Put the helmet on now!” he yelled as he ran toward her and she did. Henry took off his leather jacket and tossed it at her. “Put it on.”
She did as he asked, and she heard the door bang open again. Her father stood there with her bodyguards from earlier. She now understood why Henry had told her to put the jacket and helmet on. Her father would have seen her and known she was seeing Henry.
As soon as Henry jumped on the motorcycle she wrapped her arms around his waist. Jamie glanced behind her and saw her father staring at her. She knew he couldn’t see her with the helmet, and her clothes were covered by Henry's black leather j
acket. She held tighter to him when he started the motorcycle.
“Don't you dare shoot, it might be her!” her father yelled, and she forced herself not to look back.
Chapter Four
Impossible & Complicated
Henry parked his bike in a parking lot and Jamie glanced around to see if they were followed. “What happened back there?” she asked as she removed the helmet.
He got off of the bike, and she did the same. “They were there looking for you.”
Jamie's heart sank, this was all her fault.
“I can't go back to work for your father, he saw me.”
“Did he see me?” She thought she already knew that answer, but wanted to know for sure.
Henry shook his head. “I don’t think so, but he knew you were there. Your father's men started shooting, and one of them shot Mike. I sent him out with his brother. Please tell me you weren't part of this. That you weren’t some decoy to distract me.”
He thought she was a part of what happened and that hurt more than anything. “You think I would do that?” Her eyes went blurry with tears and her chest ached.
“I...don't know,” he mumbled, and that was when teor ars fell from her eyes.
After their amazing kiss, he would still think she was evil like...her dad. Jamie turned her back to him, so he wouldn’t see her tears. “I'm not like my father, and I'm not as blind as he likes to think. I know what he does and I'm not proud of him. Since that package came, my father is being overly protective of me. Tonight I went to Black Diamonds. I told the bouncer that I had men following me, my assigned bodyguards for the night. I knew when they got past the bouncer they would come looking for me, and I knew they would tell my dad. But I didn’t know they would could and shoot up your club. I am so sorry, Henry.”
She felt his hand on her shoulder, urging her to turn around. He brushed away a few tears on her cheek. “I'm the one that has a reason to be sorry. I put doubt in you when I didn’t need to. Now it will be nearly impossible to be with you. Your father knows I was there and had a key to the VIP room, so he probably guessed I am part owner.”
Black and Blue (Black and Blue Series) Page 3
