Contents

Title Page
Copyright
Author's Note
Act One
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Act Two
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Act Three
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Epilogue
End Note
Book Three of Chasing Love Series
By Kenya Wright
 This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

A Commitment to Love
Copyright © 2015 by Kenya Wright

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.

Cover Design by Najla Qamber

Illustrations/Chapter Headers by J.N. Sheats
All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2015
ISBN 0-9000000-0-0

www.KenyaWright.com
Join Kenya Wright's Release Mailing List to discover all of
her new releases! Just go to her site and press the area that
says, “Subscribe to my mailing list” on the top right corner.

www.KenyaWright.com
 PROLOGUE

In Oshane City, the masquerade ball began with no problems.

Tonight would be an event of the senses. Celebrity chefs composed
mouthwatering dishes that Jasmine had approved. Broadway set designers
arranged the decor and turned the luxury hotel’s ballroom into an exotic,
underground world of sex and mystery. Ropes of red light hung from the
high ceilings while yards of sheer fabric draped the walls.
Bare-breasted women strolled the space in strips of satin that tied
around their bottoms and hid their other secrets. Gossamer silk cloaked
their entire faces. With smooth elegance, they balanced trays on their
heads and served drinks.
And now the time had arrived to present Jasmine.
Dressed in a tuxedo, I donned a mask. It was themed with the Beatles
“Yellow Submarine” album cover. Psychedelic blues, yellows, and reds
painted the whole disguise that only covered my forehead, nose, and
cheeks. Stacks of silver musical notes outlined the border like huge
peacock feathers.
John Lennon himself might have ordered a second mask.
I tapped my side pocket over and over as I waited in front of the
orchestra, which was placed at the center of the ballroom. Jasmine would
be entering from the far back of the space, so that she could walk by all of
the guests …in horror.
Sorry, Jasmine. But everyone needs to understand who you are to me.
Tonight, the world would know that she was mine. Respect would be
required. If not given, then taken with a swift vengeance that I held only
for enemies. Those that knew me reasonably well, figured that Jasmine
would be the first live-in girlfriend of many more. They’d watched me in
awe as I lived with my old girlfriends for years.
 Dawn, Wendy, and Lucy had strolled by my side from city to small
beach town, elegant engagements to private dinners. Some compared me
to Hugh Hefner and his bunnies.
That was all behind me now.
I’ll show her and everyone else. Tonight is a start. This will let the
women know that I’m unavailable.
The ring would show Jasmine, Gabe, and her family.
Everything else would fall into place … after I give her the ring.
There would still be the matter of Benny, but I won’t think of that now.
Dad refused to come. He understood what it meant for me to tell the
world about my love, and he didn’t approve of Jasmine. He’d called her
gutter trash, and I’d hung up, breaking my phone several seconds later.
Initially, Jasmine had wanted a simple welcome or small meet and
greet with my friends. She hoped for something like a short news article
about our relationship, or even a tiny afternoon tea with a casual group.
Regardless, she begged me to do a quick hello and then escape back into
her private universe.
No.
I wanted a goddamn ceremony—horns blaring and tons of news
cameras, high-end dishes, and sparkling decor. We’d fought for days on
this.
And I’d won with my tongue between her shivering thighs. I was the
victor, and I had it all on video. My personal camera recorded, while I
consumed Jasmine. The top half of her body hung over the bed, defeated. I
was the champion while she groaned out yes over and over, and then
begged for my mouth some more.
But back to the masquerade …
The music lowered in the ballroom. The doors opened far ahead of
me, but I couldn’t make her out.
Don’t be nervous, tesoro.
“Rise!” the master of ceremonies beckoned all to stand and come to
the border of the dance floor.
He was an androgynous man, wearing a mask done in tiny crimson
roses. Those flowers swarmed all over his face, seeming to move each
time he turned or pranced around. A massive shadowy cape hid his body
and dragged on the floor as he strolled.
 The guests sashayed forward. Curiosity thickened in the air. Elegant
masks covered Willow Park’s high-society faces. Peacock feathers
outlined the tops of their heads. Others had half-masks made from an
assortment of material. Most covered only the wearers’ eyes, foreheads,
and noses. Everything from gems to shards of crystals glimmered from
their disguises.
“Welcome your queen!” The master of ceremonies clapped. “Jasmine
Montgomery.”
I held in a chuckle as I imagined the look on Jasmine’s face when she
heard the word queen.
She’s probably going to kill me for having him say ‘your queen,’ but
it was worth it.
Everyone went quiet.
Still.
Even the musicians quietly held their instruments close to their
bodies.
Jasmine entered the immaculate ballroom, looking like what I called
her in Italian. Tesoro. Treasure. Two nude men flanked her as she walked,
holding her hands. Silver masks shielded the guys’ faces.
My tesoro. She’s really all I’ll ever need.
Like the men, she wore her own disguise—a mass of tiny, black, and
coiled lines started at her forehead, rounded both eyes, and covered only
one side of her face with diamond-spotted feathers.
Dressed in black lace, Jasmine glided toward me. A strapless gown
formed around every curve and trailed behind her in a wave of elegance.
Christ, she’s enchanting.
I’d ordered the fabric from a designer boutique in Paris—Chantilly
lace with hand-embroidered calla flowers that revealed my tesoro’s bare
flesh among the swirled pattern. Luxury wrapped around those thick hips
and cupped her full breasts. Tiny gems glimmered up her bare fingers,
hands, and arms, tons of gems that were done in a henna tattoo pattern.
She was all mine!
She was a goddess draped in darkness.
I wanted to fuck her right there in the center of the ballroom,
ignore the hundreds of people around us,
bend her over,
yank that lace away,
 spread those secret, moist lips,
and slide into that luscious warmth.
That was how she made me think.
Vile and raw with no chaser, just the hard-hitting thrill of flesh
against the mind-numbing rhythm of pleasure.
No, I’ll take you later. I have other ways to have fun this evening.
I put my hand in my pocket and grabbed the tiny remote control
inside. Oh how I loved my games with my tesoro.
Tonight, hours before this moment and before my staff helped
Jasmine get dressed, I gave her a gift. A special toy.
“What’s this?” She’d closed her robe tight as if that could stop me
from taking her right there in our bedroom. “Get dressed.”
I grinned. “Open my present.”
“The party starts in an hour and a half.”
“The masquerade ball doesn’t start until I walk into the building.”
Rolling those hazel eyes, she hit her forehead and nodded. “That’s
right. I forgot that you are a god.”
“One shouldn’t ever forget that.” I took her into my arms and
devoured those lips. Sighing between moans, she tried to pull away.
“Sit down, tesoro,” I whispered.
“Why?”
“I have a present.”
She stepped back and sat in the cushioned chair behind her. “What is
it?”
“Spread those beautiful legs.”
“Excuse me?” She frowned.
“Let me give it to you.”
She stared at my crotch. “Really? Haven’t I had that present before?”
I forced myself to keep my pants on. “Not that present, tesoro. You’ll
get that later.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.” I licked my lips. “Open your legs, Jasmine.”
She bit her bottom lip and opened them, inch by lovely inch.
I got right in front of her and dropped down to my knees. “You’re
following orders with ease.”
She smirked. “I tend to follow orders, when they involve opening my
legs and you’re getting down to your knees.”
 “I’ll make note of that.” I landed a trail of kisses down her thigh and
lifted her robe.
She wore nothing on under it, not even panties. Fuck. I had to blow
against those moist lips.
Groaning, she let her head fall back and mumbled, “No, Chase. We
don’t have time.”
“What did I tell you about that word, no?” I gently pushed her legs
apart some more and took out my gift from my pocket to show her.
It was a tiny, pink object, shaped like a pen that was thick at the top.
A white cord dangled at the bottom of it.
With an opened mouth, she stared at it and laughed. “You bought me
a high tech tampon? What the hell?”
I glanced back at it. “This isn’t a tampon.”
She tapped the dangling string. “It looks like one.”
“Trust me. If this was a tampon, then stores would be full of women
pretending to be on their periods.” I parted her secret lips, relished in the
moistness of them for far longer than I should have, and then inserted the
pen inside of her.
“Mmmm.” She tensed against me as I pushed it in farther. “What is
this?”
“A special type of vibrator.” When I’d made sure the top part of the
pen was inside of her, I twisted the bottom half off, slipped it down over
the cord, and put it in my pocket. The toy and cord remained. When it was
time to take the little toy out of her, I would gently pull on the cord.
She turned to me. “Now what, Mr. Stone?”
”Now you can get dressed.”
“Excuse me?” She laughed and stood up, too.
“How long do you want me to have a little vibrator inside of me?”
I got up and walked off. “Leave it inside during the whole ball.”
“I will not.”
I targeted her with a heated gaze. “You will.”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
“I’m the god of the day.”
“You’re a power hungry, egotistical, rich brat.”
“I’ll know if you take it off.” I took out my remote control from the
other pocket and showed it to her.
“The vibrator inside of me has a remote control?” she asked.
 I pressed the first button, ordering the toy to turn on and start moving
inside of her.
Groaning, she grabbed the edge of her desk, closed her eyes, and
mumbled, “Chase, stop.”
“Stop what?” It took everything in me to not rush over there and lick
her.
“Chase …” She squeezed her thighs tight together. “Please.”
I pushed the off button. “You told me that I would be the god of the
day.”
“No,” she replied with her eyes still closed, as if she was desperately
trying to regain composure, “I said that I would do your crazy masquerade
ball.”
“You said god of the day.” I considered turning on the toy again just
to hear her groan and thought better of it.
Knowing me, I’d have Jasmine on her vanity table before she could
finish the sound.
“Do I have to remind you, tesoro? I have you agreeing to me being
the god of the day on video. I, for one, enjoy watching that particular film
we did. I can put it on. Remember the way you screamed my name?”
Opening her eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re
enjoying this, aren’t you?”
I winked at her and left our bedroom.
“I only said god for one freaking day!” she called after me. “Be
careful, Chase. Tomorrow is a whole new normal day, and on normal days,
Jasmine is the goddess of the day!”
I pressed my remote control to silence her rant and send
more delicious vibrations to that body. Her grunts escaped the bedroom
and fled into the hallway. It was hard to stay away, difficult to keep my
hands out of my pants as I rushed down the stairs.
***
Clearing my throat, I returned back to Jasmine in dark lace and the
masquerade ball in front of me.
Not now. I won’t push it while you’re strolling over to me. You’ve
been too good this evening. But when you get close … that’s when I’ll have
my fun.
I wrapped my fingers around the remote control.
 First we have fun with the games. Later, I’ll show you what’s in my
other pocket, and hope you say yes.
I closed my fingers around the jewelry box. A shiver ran up my
spine.
Would she say yes and marry me? Would she be enough? Should I
even be thinking this way, while that ring weighs my pocket down?
Letting out a long breath, I concentrated on the sight before me.
Under all of our feet, the surface glowed in an electric lavender
hue. The lights dimmed and left only the candles’ glow as they adorned
every silk-draped table. The full orchestra prepared their instruments and
then played a slow groove that required the sensuality that only violins
could master.
“Oh how beautiful she is!” the master of ceremonies declared.
Chatter shifted to silence.
Waiters placed a port chocolate glaze onto crystal plates and then
stacked the sauce with pepper-crusted lamb chops. Each dish was sided
with seared vegetables and lobster mashed potatoes, a new Jasmine-
inspired addiction of mine. The staff wore white velvet oval masks with
wide eye-holes and no opening for the lips. Jasmine believed
they appeared muted and odd. That was the goal. Hopefully, the waiters
inspired the guests to keep their mouths closed as well.
This is our night.
“Come!” The master of ceremonies waved at everyone.
Jasmine continued down the path.
“Come see the magnificent queen!”
Her steps faltered a bit at the second mention of queen.
Oh, tesoro. I know you’re cringing inside. You’re going to kill me,
aren’t you?
I tried to hold in my laughter and failed.
“Oh how captivating!” The master of ceremonies clapped some
more.
The crowd edged around and drank Jasmine in. I had no idea what
they thought. I rubbed the side of the remote with my finger. Lust itched in
my hands. My dick had been hard since the limo ride to the event. The
whole drive, I pressed the buttons, testing out their various intensity levels
and getting her to come all over my soft, leather seats.
Do you want to come in here, tesoro?
 Barely six feet away from me, Jasmine continued.
Hundreds of people glittered around her, but no one shined like my
tesoro.
Sure, I’m giving up women. Many of them. But … this time I get why
those guys in corny films say love is worth it. At least, I think I do? What is
this feeling? Lust or love?
It was hard to understand sometimes, too much to comprehend.
She was a drug in my veins. She was the song that I played every
night, until my brain imprinted with the melody of her moans.
And they drummed,
those moans,
over and over in my head,
triggering desire at the wrong times, like in that moment, while
everyone surrounded us.
Is this love or an intense lust? Does it matter? When she’s around, I
just can’t help myself.
Inside my pocket, I pressed the button, delivering the command to
the toy inside of her slick tunnel.
I wanted to make that lush pussy vibrate,
thunder,
shake,
and force her to shudder,
drip,
and moisten between those lovely thighs.
She slipped a little with the last step. Thankfully, the men held her
hands. I caught a tiny whimper from her lips within the downpour of the
crowd’s clapping and orchestra’s playing of violins.
She mouthed the words. “I’m going to kill you.”
And I laughed behind my own mask.
She frowned as I pressed a more intense level.
I met her before she could stumble again. “Have I told you how
beautiful you look tonight?”
“Stop it,” she whispered, gasping and falling into my arms. And still
I pressed the button, rocking that secret space between her thighs and
sending intense throbs to her center.
“Chase,” she moaned and grabbed my shoulders hard. “Please.”
 Not noticing her distress, and I doubted anyone else did, the master
of ceremonies beckoned everyone to cheer as he proclaimed, “Welcome
Chase Stone’s new beautiful girlfriend, Jasmine Montgomery!”
The crowd cheered some more, and I pushed the toy’s control button
for the highest level. She shrieked against me, “Chase!”
“You’re mine.” I nibbled at the bottom of her earlobe. “You know
that, right?”
“Yes.” She trembled against me.
The master of ceremonies glanced back at us, waiting for Jasmine
and I to start the opening dance. I shook my head and hoped he understood
that I needed a few seconds or maybe even one
delicious, throbbing minute with my treasure.
The crowd clapped, but in that moment, I shut them all out.
Her voice was a low murmur as she slowly rubbed her breasts against
my chest. “Stop it, baby.”
I kissed her neck and looked over the crowded, who’d centered all of
their attention on us. Many pointed. All clapped. Even a few whispered.
They can wait.
I’ll start when she’s done.
“How good does it feel?” I kept my finger on the button and glided
my free hand over her supple behind. “Do you know how many men in this
ballroom want you?”
“No.” She rocked against me.
“Good.” I held her closer to me with one arm, and continued to keep
the button down on the control with the other hand.
God. I want to fuck you.
“Please, Chase.”
“Please what, baby?”
“Oh never … mind …” She leaned in and bit my neck.
All of her subtle attempts at maintaining composure fell to the
floor. Slowly, she gyrated into me. Who knew if anyone understood what
was going on? I could barely keep standing as my dick went even stiffer. I
pressed against her and she rotated those hips.
The crowd clapped louder. They probably figured we were making
out.
“How wet are you, tesoro?”
“Dripping.”
 “All down those thighs?”
“Yes, baby.” She tightened her hold on me and rocked some more.
“God, this is cruel.” I squeezed her behind, my fingers getting lost in
the cushion of her pillow-soft ass. “You know what I would do with that
wetness?”
Her words were breathless whispers. “Lick it up.”
“Yes.”
She moaned,” Oh God!”
Some of the clapping faltered. The master of ceremonies turned back
to me. I released Jasmine’s behind and gestured for him to get the
orchestra going or at least do a damn trick.
Keep the baboons busy. I want to hear her come.
Who knew if he truly got what I was saying. If Jasmine moaned like
that in my ear one more time, I’d throw her over my shoulder, rush us out
of the ballroom, and fuck her until that sweet voice went raw.
“I’m coming.” She fell against me.
I had to use all of my energy to hold her up.
Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. Is she about to go to sleep?
“Jasmine?” I released the remote control, held her close to me, and
whispered in her ear, “Are you okay?”
The longest minute passed.
After that, she stood on her own, without my help and frowned at me.
“Do not touch that goddamn controller again.”
“Yes, tesoro.”
“Tesoro, my ass.”
“Your ass is a nice one.”
“Chase,” she hissed and tried to walk away.
“Where are you going? We aren’t done.”
 CHAPTER 1

Jasmine
The crowd roared, when we finished the dance. One would’ve thought,
with the extravagance of it all, that Chase was Prince Charming, and I,
Cinderella.
Chase represented a true fairytale prince. The sweetest words left his
full lips. And when he looked at me, I fell into those green eyes that
boasted amber hues around the irises. His face showed no splotches or
blemishes—just smooth tan skin over sculpted feathers. Midnight-black
waves framed his face, and if that wasn’t enough, his body remained
chiseled and fun to touch. Every part of him screamed money, from the
designer clothes to those manicured nails.
He was my real-life Prince Charming.
But no one ever wondered why Cinderella really ran away from the
castle, and even the prince.
Sure, there was a midnight deadline.
Sure, glass slippers sparkled, pumpkins transformed into gold
carriages, and a fairy godmother granted a wish.
And about that wish from the dear old fairy godmother … that was
crap. Why didn’t the woman wave her wand and help Cinderella better her
situation? Why not transform the pumpkin into a plane and fly her away?
Why not change the mice into marketable college degrees, and perhaps say
some magic words to boost Cinderella’s résumé?
Maybe, she needed to consider her career versus taking her hopeful
behind to the ball.
What am I doing here?
As usual, Chase had me dressed up like a doll.
I bet he played with Barbies when he was a kid. I bet he hid them in
his room and forced them to get waxings and wear spiky heels.
 “You look angry.” Chase guided me off the dancefloor. “And that’s
saying a lot being that you’re wearing a mask that covers half of your
face.”
“Angry is not the word I would use.”
“Pissed?”
“Yes, that’s a good one. Ready to murder you is an even better
choice.”
“But then that’s not one word, it’s a phrase, and not a very nice one.”
He placed his arm on the curve of my back. My skin sparked there, and I
tried my best to ignore it. His pace slowed as we walked through the
masked crowd.
“Everyone can now sit,” the master of ceremonies declared. “Go
forth and enjoy the lovely delights on the table. Your queen has arrived.”
I cringed, while a chuckle fled from Chase’s lips.
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but I’m going to anyway,” Chase said. “Why
do you want to murder me again? Do you not like your lovely ball?”
“My panties are wet. I’ve just orgasmed in front of three hundred
people at least, and still this night isn’t over.”
“Sounds like a great beginning of a night to me. Additionally, I
would very much like to have those panties.”
“Never. You’re already getting enough as it is.”
He continued to guide me past all of the elegantly decorated tables.
The full orchestra played behind us. String instruments soared over
pounding drums. Horns blared when the saxophones began their melody.
Sadly, the music didn’t calm my nerves. Instead, they pushed me further
on edge.
Beads of sweat rose under my mask. As soon as I could, I’d escape to
a bathroom, take off the crazy get-up, clean myself, and breathe.
Just inhale and exhale for a few minutes.
I needed to breathe, take a break from it all. I’d been a regular
college graduate that had typical days—coffee with job-searching in the
morning, reading the most celebrated books during the week, working out
with my friend Vivien, disrespecting my poor vibrator in the evening, and
then back to reading a good book before bed with a bowl of Ben and
Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream.
Life had been easy. No difficulties came, besides being broke and
helping out my family, which was just my cross to bear.
 Months later, after meeting Chase, I’d not only dealt with murder
and mystery, I’d fallen for a man that I still couldn’t even comprehend.
Like Prince Charming, Chase possessed charisma and money. But
could he be loyal? Was Charming loyal? Did Cinderella ever catch the
prince cheating with one of the step-sisters? And most important of all,
did her fairy godmother change Charming into a pumpkin, once the
adultery was discovered?
“Jasmine?” Chase’s voice brought me back to the ball. “What are you
thinking about?”
“A fairy godmother changing a prince into a pumpkin.”
“Did she make a pie out of him afterwards?”
“Probably.”
“Was there any reason the prince was made into a pumpkin?”
“He cheated.”
“Awww.” Chase waved hello to a couple decorated in silver. “It
sounds like the prince deserved to be made into pie. Real men don’t cheat.
I’ve never cheated.”
“Really?”
“I’m Chase Stone. I don’t have to cheat. I simply ask and receive.”
“And what if you ask me for something I can’t give you?”
“Like what?”
“Other women.” I moved my hand away and stopped us right there
on the path.
“You ask me this question once a week.”
“And you stumble around that question once a week.”
“Let’s deal with that, if it comes.”
“No.”
“Enjoy your celebration.” He gestured to everyone around him—
guests stuffing their faces with gourmet dishes, women twirling around in
their gowns, men ogling the beauties through their masks, and servants
racing around to make sure everyone was okay.
“We can’t talk about this here.” He took my hand and pulled me
forward. “Let’s go to our table. Since Vivian and Troy couldn’t come, due
to watching over Lucy, I decided to not seat anyone else with us.”
“So you want to have this conversation at our table?”
He adjusted his necktie a little as if he needed more room to breathe.
“We can talk about this with several glasses of wine, yes.”
 “Fine.”
“Fine.” He smirked.
I scanned the room and spotted a hallway to what I hoped would lead
to a bathroom. “I’ll meet you at the table. I just have to go to—”
“I have a private bathroom for us set-up near our table.”
Shocked, I had to ask, “You put a port-a-potty right next to our
table?”
“No.” He laughed. “I made sure our table was next to a private
bathroom, and I made sure it was decorated and designed to your needs.”
“Will there be a staff of rose petal bearers, waiting by the bathroom
to carry me into a stall and then wipe me up?”
“No, but that’s a good idea. I should’ve thought of that.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re spoiling me to the point where it’s getting
to be a bit much.”
“I’m not sure if that is a compliment or complaint.”
“Me either,” I muttered.
“I’ll walk you to the bathroom.” Instead of keeping our path forward,
we cut between two tables.
I pulled my hand away from his. “I can go on my own.”
“I don’t want you to be alone.”
I pointed to some of the people near us. “I’m never going to be alone
tonight.”
He tugged at that neck tie again. “They don’t count.”
“Security is everywhere.”
“Benny Nix has proven time and time again that he can avoid my
guys, and make a mockery of my security, whenever he wants to. I have
some new guys on board, but I’d rather be around you as much as
possible.”
“Benny has also shown that he won’t hurt me.” I stepped in closer
and leaned his way. “It’s been a month since Dawn and Wendy’s deaths.
Benny hasn’t tried to contact us. Everything is okay.”
“Those weren’t deaths. Those were murders of murderers.”
I opened my mouth, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry, but I can never forget that. Those two women murdered
others, and then Benny and I played a hand in their deaths. It’s just one of
us didn’t play with a humane deck. Benny has no morality or sanity in that
brain. I don’t want you bumping into him without me being around.”
 A waiter passed by. Two women strolled by next. Their perfume
lingered in the air after they left—some designer fragrance with strong
hints of rose. The table on our right, whispered and gestured to Chase as if
they understood our conversation, and wanted to add a few points of their
own.
I forced a smile and landed a kiss on his cheek so everyone watching
would know that the conversation wasn’t an argument. “I need to be
alone.”
He placed a kiss on my chin. “I can walk you over.”
“No.”
He kissed my neck. “I’m the king of the day.”
“You’re something today, but king doesn’t come to mind.” I got on
the tips of my toes and gave him a soft peck on his nose. “I feel like
calling you the jack ass of the day.”
“Careful, tesoro.” He pulled out that remote control and dangled it
between us.
I shut my mouth. Part of me wanted to snatch that thing out of his
hand—he had too much control over my body as it was. Truth be told, he
could make me come with just four right licks in the perfect spot.
A place he’d found on his own.
Four nasty long licks.
My body shuddered just from the thought. When he lapped at that
spot, I had nothing to say. All I could do was lay there on his bed. His
tongue caused me to re-think religion, had me numb and mumbling out
that he was my lord.
His tongue was dangerous, and now he owned a vibrator that did all
of those things in one click.
“Who am I?” Chase tapped the end of the remote control.
“You’re king of the day.” I frowned. “And you’re going to pay for
this tomorrow.”
“I’m actually looking forward to you owning me again.” He licked
his lips.
Heat pooled in my core. I’d just come only minutes earlier, and here
I was ready to get some more. One part of me wanted him to throw that
toy away. The other half yearned to disobey him, and feel that lush
vibration zip through to my core.
It was so intense, I drowned in pleasure.
 “What’s on your mind?” Chase bit his lip.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“What were you thinking about, when you made me come in this
ballroom tonight?”
He groaned like the perverted man that he was. “Let me show you
what I was thinking about.”
I shook my head. “You’re mine tomorrow.”
“I’m yours now.”
“I’m going to the bathroom by myself, Chase.” When I walked
around him, I stumbled in the heels.
He grabbed my waist before I could slip and fall. “Your king would
like to escort you.”
An exasperated breath left my lips. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Benny Nix is a madman.”
I faced him and poked his chest. “You’re suffocating me. This ball is
already too much.”
“You’re strong, Jasmine. You’ll endure, and eventually accept your
position as my queen.” He chuckled a little at the last word.
“I’m not your queen.”
“You are.”
“You know what? Why did Cinderella run away from Prince
Charming?”
“That’s easy, because she was scared shitless.”
I opened my mouth in shock. “What about the midnight deadline?”
“That’s something women added to the story long ago.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah. The capitalism part. Glass shoes and shiny baubles. You think
Prince Charming even remembers the color of her dress? I don’t, and my
mother made me watch that movie five times.”
“The dress was blue.”
“It doesn’t matter. Men don’t care about dresses and shoes.
Cinderella was hot and she had a great body like all of the other women at
the ball.”
“Wow. She was hot?”
“But that wasn’t what grabbed the prince. She had strength in her
eyes, the sort that comes from life being so hard that a child can’t even
blink away from it. Tragedy sticks to people and makes them stronger.
That’s what she had.” He traced his finger along my jawline. “You have
that. It’s why when you stand next to any other woman, you glow. You’re
radiating just like you have some sort of fairy godmother waiting behind
the curtains and making all of the special effects happen. You mystified
me within seconds.”
A shiver of lust ran through me. “If Cinderella was strong, then why
did she run away?”
“Cinderella ran out of that castle because she saw what was in Prince
Charming’s eyes. It scared her.” He slipped his fingers down my neck and
even farther to the swell of my cleavage.
Instantly, the masquerade ball disappeared. It was like a black cloud
swarmed around and transported us somewhere else.
“What was in his eyes?” I asked.
“Hunger. He had more hunger in his eyes than the wolf out of the
Little Red Riding Hood tale.” Chase shrugged. “So she ran, and he
chased.”
I backed away from him before he could dip his fingers into my
breasts or have me coming in front of more people. “Well, I think
Cinderella ran away because she needed a minute to breathe.”
“Princesses don’t get to breathe.” He closed the distance between us.
“They can moan or shudder, but there is no breathing room from their
prince.”
“Thank God I’m not in a Disney movie.”
He tilted that huge frame my way. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes. I’m not a Disney princess or your queen. I’ll be right back. See
you at the table.” With confidence, I turned around and stalked off.
If the music was low, I would’ve heard the click.
If I’d been facing him, I would’ve seen him press the button on the
remote control.
But neither happened. Yet, that freaking toy came on inside me.
Vibrations throbbed between the hungry space between my thighs. I
stumbled again.
Christ, it feels so good.
My whole world shifted into a tornado of pleasure. And I stood at the
center, the vortex, the very eyes of a hurricane, spinning over and over.
Wind whipped past my skin. My senses heightened. The succulent aroma
of high-end dishes assaulted my nose. The orchestra’s playing increased
and blocked out all of the chatter.
Oh my God. When will it stop feeling so good?
And at the center of my pussy, pleasure drummed so hard, I gritted
my teeth and clenched my fingers into fists.
Chase appeared behind me, wrapped one arm around my waist, and
pressed his thick erection into the curve of my behind. “Here, my queen.
Let me show you to the bathroom.”
“I hate you,” I moaned.
“I like when you say it that way.”
“Ummm.”
“Can I do laps between those lips? I want to kiss your flower, let my
tongue play between those petals.”
A gruff male voice sounded behind the both of us, and ruined the
moment. “I’ve never been one for flowers.”
Is that Benny?
Tension thickened within my shoulders as I glanced behind me.
Benny’s angry expression met my gaze. “You look beautiful tonight,
Jasmine.”
Chase clicked the remote control, and all of the vibrations stopped,
as well as the calm beating of my heart.
Please, don’t hurt anyone tonight, Benny.
 CHAPTER 2

Jasmine
“Benny , what are you doing here?” I stepped around Chase. He blocked
me, and pushed me back behind him.
“Stay back, Jasmine.” Chase blocked me again.
“Yes, stay back, Jasmine.” Benny nodded and stood right in front of
Chase. If he’d been a cartoon character, smoke probably would’ve been
seething from his nostrils. He looked pissed. His signature smile spread
across his face, the smile that warned of blood and broken bones to come.
“Why didn’t you invite your mother?” Benny asked.
“What?” I took my mask off. “Forget all of that. Please, don’t start
any—”
Chase got back in front of me. “I don’t even want you talking to this
sick man.”
“Let me talk to him.” I tried to knock Chase’s arm away as he walled
me into his back.
“I wish I could kill you right here, little Stone. Just for your hands
being all over my daughter’s body.” Benny’s voice delivered chills to my
skin. “You should definitely stay behind him, Jasmine. I don’t want you to
accidentally get hurt, when good ole Chase is my target.”
“What do you want?” Chase asked.
“Have you not received my heads?” Benny’s smile widened. “I gift
wrapped them all in Beatles’ paper. I figured it added a good touch.
Perhaps, the images could make you forget about the smell. Did you get
the heads I sent you?”
“Heads?” I shoved Chase away and got to their side, keeping them
both in my view. “What do you mean heads? Tell me you’re not talking
about actual heads.” I turned to Chase and then Benny.
Neither said anything.
 I waved my hand. “Hello? What is going on?”
Chase kept his gaze on Benny. “You need to leave.”
“I have things to say tonight.” Benny shrugged. “I’ll leave when I’m
done.”
“Heads?” I glanced at them both again. “Someone answer me!”
They remained quiet. Both just stood there, appearing almost like
mirror reflections, if not for the difference in age and pedigree, they
could’ve been related. Both stood tall with broad shoulders and heavy,
muscular builds. Chase exuded youth and wealth. He was chiseled muscle
and a piercing green gaze, sex simmering on top of success.
Benny showed aging. He had been dyeing his gray hair for years,
until Vivian and I joked on him so much, that he gave it all up and
accepted his age. Gray hair covered his whole head and was combed back
and cut on the sides in a military style.
He could’ve been a great extra in an old military drama, if not for
those cold eyes. It was Chase and Benny’s biggest difference. Benny had
the ice of cold streets rumbling within his gaze. And when he blinked, the
promise of violence lingered. There was just no other way to describe it.
Years ago, when I’d been a kid, it was hard to see it. Once I became an
adult, the edge of Benny became hard to ignore.
In these past months, as I was faced with the horror that he’d done to
Dawn, I had to admit that Benny scared the shit out of me.
Unlike the other guests, Benny wore no mask and had on regular
clothes—blue jeans, white buttoned up T-shirt, and a brown leather jacket.
Black gloves hid his hands and made my stomach tighten.
Is it cold enough outside for gloves? Maybe. It’s windy. I don’t know.
Benny with gloves can never be a good thing.
Benny’s words ripped through my thoughts. “Did you get my heads?”
“I did,” Chase replied.
“Any suggestions?”
“I’m not big on threats, Benny.”
I directed my attention to Chase. “What heads? What threats? You
told me that Benny hadn’t contacted us this whole time. You said that
everything was okay and—”
“He’s a liar,” Benny interrupted. “This is nothing new. He’s deceitful.
He lied and did everything to get you in his life, and now he’ll continue.”
 “Oh really?” I looked at the man that I’d just learned was my father a
few months ago. “You’re not the only one that lies?”
Benny’s smile straightened into the neutral expression that he always
used with me. “Have you received any of my calls?”
“No.”
“He’s blocked me from your phone.”
I shook my head. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“He did.”
Chase didn’t say anything during our exchange, which didn’t make
me feel any better, but at least the two men weren’t trying to stab each
other to death.
I sighed. “Back to these heads.”
Chase cleared his throat. “Your father … and I use that word lightly.
In fact, let’s just call him madman, this madman has been mailing cut-off
heads to my office.”
“Don’t forget the Beatles’ wrapping paper,” Benny added.
I touched my chest. “Human heads?”
“Human heads.” Chase nodded.
I edged back from Benny. “What is wrong with you? W-whose heads
are these? Why … why would you do that?”
Benny winked at me. “You know that part of a wedding ceremony
where the reverend asks the audience if they support the marriage or not?”
It was hard for me to speak, but I managed to whisper, “What does
this have to do with anything?”
“Those heads are my response to your relationship with Chase. I’ve
had enough, and tonight, as Chase announced you both to the world, I will
declare a few things, too.”
“Get out of here.” Rage radiated from Chase’s heated glare. “You’re
a psychopath and I won’t let you bully me.”
“Why are you sending him heads?” My whole body shook.
“Chase has been sending people to murder me. I’m only defending
myself. I’m just sending his guys back to him. Nothing more,” Benny
continued. “The heads come, when his little contract killers appear on my
doorstep.”
I edged back again. “Chase, you hired people to kill Benny?”
Chase ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s a psychopath.”
 “You told me that everything was okay, and you’re hiring contract
killers?” I pointed to Benny. “And you’re cutting off these killers’ heads
and sending them to Chase?”
“Don’t forget the Beatles’ wrapping paper,” Benny chuckled to
himself.
My lungs swelled with stress. It was hard to breathe. “Chase is right.
You are sick. Stop sending them. Trust me, Chase will no longer—”
“What?” Chase asked. “Chase will no longer what? Stop sending
people to kill him? No. Chase has just begun.”
“Chase apparently also likes to talk in third person now,” Benny
muttered.
“Send your heads.” There was no denying the sharpened edge in
Chase’s voice. “Send as many heads as you want. I won’t stop being with
Jasmine, and I’ll never give up trying to wipe you off the face of this
earth. So send them. But here’s some advice—next time send body parts
that I like. Heads are so last year.”
“Good point.” Benny bowed. “What would you like me to send? You
said that you have favorite body parts. Are we discussing pussy? You can’t
mean that. Clearly, you’ve had more than enough pussy cut up in any
man’s lifetime.”
“Stop it!” I got between them. Both appeared ready to explode. Heat
swarmed on both sides. My skin and whole body sat on edge.
Where the hell is security? Maybe, they just think Chase and I are
talking to a regular guy and there’s no problem.
Benny shifted his neutral expression back to one of joy. His eyes
brightened and mouth widened, showing his teeth. That was never a good
sign. It was always the moment right before he yanked out the normalcy.
The little hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.
I’d seen him smile just as wide and displaying all his teeth, long ago.
When he’d done it, he’d broken a teenage boy’s legs minutes later. Both of
them. One at a time. Just ’cause the boy had been caught sneaking into
Vivian’s room.
Chase clapped and I jumped. “Each time I meet you, Benny, you
reach a new low. I think I’m going to stand back and let you continue to
sink yourself. Just let you show Jasmine how much of a monster you are.”
I’ve already seen how much of a monster he is.
 Several men in black masks and plain tuxedos appeared and
surrounded us. Each one held a gun that was targeted right at Benny’s
head. There must’ve been ten of them. A few of the guests gasped. Many
moved out of the way.
“You even have your guards masked tonight?” Benny glanced at one
of them. “They look like Batman’s rejects.”
“They are his rejects,” Chase said. “I picked the best for you.”
“They won’t shoot me in here.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because this is your precious event to showcase my daughter as
your newly bought item. You wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”
“I wouldn’t care if a scene is made, as long as you’re dead.”
I waved my hands. “Both of you stop. No one has to die tonight.
Please, let’s figure this out right now and just try to get over it all. We’ve
been through enough. Don’t you think?”
Neither answered me.
One of the guards tapped me on my shoulder. “Ma’am, you’ll need to
come with me.”
I shoved his hand away. “I’m staying right here next to Chase.”
“But, ma’am—”
“Leave her alone.” Chase kept his focus on Benny. “Go ahead as
planned.”
All of the guards raised their guns a bit higher like they were better
positioning their target.
I touched Chase’s hand. “What are they going to do?”
He didn’t respond.
I whispered to him, “Please, don’t kill him. I … I can’t watch Benny
die. I’m already trying to forget about everything else. I can’t take
anymore.”
Chase raised his hand and flicked one finger in the air. The guards
lowered their guns.
Footsteps pounded around us. More men appeared, but these weren’t
Chase’s security. They had to be Benny’s. They all gathered around us, too
—huge men with scars on their faces and death wrinkled around their
eyes. None wore masks, although it would’ve been more soothing if they
had. I would’ve given any amount of money to cover up those terrifying
glares.
 “So …” Benny cleared his throat. “You have guns and now I have
guns. Initially, I was bored out of my mind at this gala. I’ve never much
liked frilly men in masks.” He placed his hands in his pockets. “Masks
hide things. I prefer everything to be out in the open.”
“This ends tonight.” Chase raised his lip in a sneer. “All of it ends
this evening. We walk away and we both agree that—”
“No, I’ve told you over and over with each head. Stay away from my
daughter.”
“Benny, stop it!” I yelled over the violin’s melody. “I choose who I
want to be in love with. Not you.”
“He’s too dangerous,” Benny said. “Pick someone else. This guy is
broken.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I countered.
“This is true. But I do have the will, and the power, to take that man’s
life.” Benny removed his hands from his pockets and pointed at Chase.
“Tonight is the last time you see him. I won’t bother you anymore this
evening, but after that, I’ll leave Chase alone, if you do.”
Chase spit the next words out like they were bile on his tongue. “Get
out of here now. You don’t dictate our relationship.”
“Is that your final answer?” Benny asked.
“Yes, I won’t stop seeing Jasmine. Fuck off, before you die in front
of her.”
“Oh well. Some people are visual learners.” Benny rubbed his hands
together. “So I’ll show you what I mean, instead of tell you. This is a
perfect time, too, now that we have all of that craziness out of the way. It’s
time to give you my present.”
Screams blared from the dance floor.
Benny clapped again. “I think someone just found my gift to you,
Chase. What do you think? I hung it up near the dance floor.”
People cried and yelled out all around us, “Help!”
“Oh God!”
“Is she dead?”
“Is that real!?”
“What is this?!”
The lights turned on. Instead of the dim glow of candles all over the
ballroom, a white hue bathed us. What the hell? Screams came from the
center of the dancefloor. Some of them sounded like it was the master of
ceremonies shrieking.
The music stopped. Not one instrument played. People raced away
from that side of the room. Some frantically waving their arms. Others
snatching off their masks and getting the hell out of the area. Too many
women cried out. Dishes clattered.
Some man far off yelled for everyone to calm down.
I turned to Benny. “What the hell did you just do?”
The masked men around us closed in tighter next to Chase and me,
but their attention was all over the place, probably trying to figure out like
me, what had happened.
Benny’s smile never faltered and his focus remained on Chase. “I
asked for Dawn, Lucy, and Wendy. You only gave me Dawn.”
“I gave you no one.” Chase didn’t even look off in the direction of
the mania; his gaze stayed on Benny. “You murdered Dawn. I handled
Wendy before you could do your sick things to her. As far as Lucy, you’ll
never touch her. You’ll never get to know how it feels to hurt her. I bet
that’s what pisses you off the most.”
“Son,” Benny laughed, “I always get my way. You can’t hide anyone
or anything from me. I got to Lucy, and let me tell you, I think you’ll love
this even more than the Beatles’ paper.”
No. No.
I glanced toward the dance floor and spotted nothing but people
screaming and pointing to the ceiling. Oh God. What have you done,
Benny? Reluctantly, I dragged my gaze up to the ceiling and almost
buckled over in horror.
In the exact area where I’d orgasmed all over myself while holding
Chase, a ruined body dangled above the screaming guests. I closed out all
of the noise and forced myself to look closer. My heart pounded hard in
my chest.
Lucy hung from the ceiling. Huge, fake diamonds dangled down to
her feet. Blood dripped from her legs. Her face was the only thing intact,
as well as her hair. Strawberry red strands stuck to her high cheekbones.
No. That has to be a fake body. That can’t really be her.
Even from here, I knew it was Lucy, but … I just couldn’t admit it to
myself. It couldn’t be true. How did he find her? How did her body get
there without anyone noticing? Had her corpse been hanging above us the
whole time? Lucy was supposed to be with Troy and Vivian. Are they
okay? Long checkered boxes had been cut into her skin, or at least that’s
what I figured. From this distance, he could’ve just drew lines on her legs
or even put on some crazy stockings.
But I knew, I was right. Benny sliced her flesh. He cut her until she
was nothing more than a bag of heavy meat, rotting on the floor.
“Get it?” Benny’s voice knocked me off my thinking.
I jerked back in terror.
“You get it, right?” Excitement dotted Benny’s word. “Tell me you
get the whole Beatles’ metaphor, Jasmine.”
I shook, my lips quaking like I was having a seizure. “W-why,
Benny? Why did you have to do this?”
“What about you, Chase?” Benny roared with sick laughter. “What
am I saying over there? What’s the Beatles’ metaphor?”
Chase’s face had paled in horror. His mouth hung open in shock as he
held out his arm and pulled me back away from Benny more.
“What’s wrong?” Benny asked. “Fine. I’ll just tell you what I’m
saying. You’re not that big of a Beatles fan as I thought. You know what? I
won’t even tell you. I’ll let you think about it tonight. Your last night, by
the way, with my daughter. By tomorrow morning, you better be miles
away from her, or the next person that hangs from the sky is you.”
More guests screamed. The rest fled. The masquerade ball was now
over. Even the orchestra had disappeared. A couple of musical objects
were scattered in their section. Chairs were turned over. Sheet music
spread out on the floor in disarray.
I looked everywhere, but back at that body. Lucy hadn’t been my best
friend, but she’d been a person to talk to in a time of confusion. The only
reason I pushed her away was because I thought she might’ve been the
person killing all of Chase’s other girlfriends. We’d later discovered that it
was only Wendy and Dawn. Benny tortured Dawn. Chase shot Wendy for
the sake of giving her a better demise, than Benny’s blade. And we all
protected Lucy from Benny, since she was innocent.
It all should’ve been finished there.
We’d all left Italy as different people. Vivian called me every day
and told me about her nightmares. Troy talked in hushed and nervous
tones. Chase kept me closed out of anything that could scare me, and I
stood in the shadows willingly, like a scared ostrich with my head in the
sand.
We’d left Italy, and everything else was supposed to stay right there
—the death, the blood, the stink of the house as it radiated with Dawn’s
horrifying screams.
It all should’ve been done,
but
Benny decided otherwise.
“I want you to enjoy your evening with my daughter.” Benny’s voice
disturbed my thoughts. “Enjoy every last hour, and then you say good-
bye.” He checked his watch. “I won’t even be mean and say midnight. I’ll
give you until eight tomorrow morning to get as far away from Jasmine as
possible.”
I slung my mask on the floor. “Stop this!”
“I’m not done talking.” Benny raised his finger. “I love you, Jasmine,
but I’ll kill him. Do you need proof? Because your proof is behind me.
Move on from him.”
“Don’t. Even. Talk. To. Jasmine.” Chase stepped toward him.
His guards came in closer and raised their guns back at Benny’s
forehead. My dad’s men raised their guns, too; every point targeted Chase.
My words came out as a plea. “Benny, don’t do this to me. You’ve
caused enough pain. Please, don’t do this.”
“I told you I wouldn’t hurt him tonight. I’m giving you this great
evening to say good-bye. But that’s what it’ll be, good-bye.”
“Benny, I-I love him. I can’t just—”
Benny backed up and raised his hands. “Good evening. May we all
make it through the week.”
Without even giving the guards and their guns another look, he
walked off, and his men left with him.
Chase tore the mask off his face and threw it on the floor. “Get
Lucy’s body down from there! Now!”
His men put up their guns and raced away. Chaos ensued all over the
place. Everyone was making their way out of the ballroom. Most rushed
and pushed. Women cried into their mate’s shoulders.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” I tried to hug Chase, but he moved my hands
away.
“I can’t touch you right now.”
 I froze with my hand in mid-air.
“I can’t … touch you while his death is all around us. I don’t want
you around this mess.” He buried his face into his hands and exhaled. “I
have to take care of this. You go home. Wait for me—”
“No, I’m not going anywhere. I can handle this.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Damn it, Jasmine. Not tonight.”
I took his hands away and kissed each finger, every last one. “Lucy
meant the world to you. I can deal with all of this. You both grew up
together. You saved her from an unspeakable act. You saved her from
many things.”
“I didn’t save Lucy from Benny.”
“You tried.” I pulled Chase into my arms and held him close to me as
noise continued to rise all around us. “You tried, baby. You really did. This
isn’t your fault. Go home.”
“No—”
“Chase, I can handle this.” I let him go and signaled for a guard to
come to him. “You go home, start a bath, and by the time you get inside
the warm water I’ll be there. I can take care of this. It’s just orders and
making sure that those who follow orders get it done.”
“Jasmine, I can’t—”
“Go. Remember,” my bottom lip shivered, “you’re the king of the
day. A king shouldn’t have to deal with this. Go home, please.”
He sighed and turned his view to Lucy’s dead body. “I know what
Benny was trying to say.”
“What?”
“The metaphor.”
“Fuck Benny and his sick metaphor.”
“Lucy in the sky with diamonds on,” Chase muttered.
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s the title of a Beatles’s song. Lucy in the sky with diamonds
on.” A tear fell from one of Chase’s eyes. “John Lennon wrote it.”
“Go home, baby.”
 CHAPTER 3

Chase
A crescent moon cut through the darkness. No stars lingered along
glowing clouds. No owls hooted. Only the crickets chirped.
I can’t lose Jasmine.
In candlelit shadows, I sat in my bath tub. Clumps of bubbles floated
on rippling water. Steam rose. Though hot water warmed my skin, cold
darkness twisted inside me. I didn’t save Lucy from Benny. I cupped up
water with my hands and poured it over my face. Warm liquid streamed
down, traveling along my cheeks and dripping away at my jaw.
My phone rang. I checked the screen. My dad’s face came up. He’d
probably already heard the news of Lucy. He’d want to berate me, scream
into the phone, and tell me yet again that I’d lost control of my emotions.
He didn’t just hate my union with Jasmine because she didn’t possess
money, it scared him that she was Benny’s daughter.
Once they announced Lucy’s name on the news, the cops would be
coming for me and asking questions, things that my father wouldn’t want
to discuss. I’d assured him that Dawn’s death wouldn’t provide us with any
problems. The cops already suspected me for my past girlfriends’ deaths. I
would be the first person they’d be interested in, once they realized my
connection to Lucy. No doubt I had an alibi for whenever Benny killed her.
Jasmine and I spent every moment together, and the few times we weren’t
in the same space, I sat in my office working.
Dad would want to get rid of Benny, and he’d push my leaving
Jasmine alone. Although I ran our corporations, he still held a tight rein
whenever our money appeared threatened. He would be a problem now, but
if I didn’t fix this mess quick, he’d jump on my back, dig his claws into
my flesh, and not stop torturing me until she was gone.
He’d get rid of Jasmine before Benny got rid of me.
 Can I save Jasmine from Dad? Yes. But he’s not the problem right
now. It’s Benny, then I’ll deal with Dad, the cops, and everyone else.
The phone rang some more, and then finally stopped. I scanned the
bathroom and blew out a long breath.
Where are you, Jasmine? Why won’t you answer the damn phone?
Why did I leave you there to clean up my mess? What was I thinking?
I was nothing but shivering nerves bottled up within rage and fear.
I can’t lose her.
The ambience didn’t help either. The wall on my left was a long
sheet of thick glass with vines of Jasmine etched along the border. Any
other night, it showed a breathtaking view of Oshane City. The area
boasted two things: the highest amount of wealthy residents in an
American city on the East Coast, and the most amazing views.
Our condo sat up in the lush hills above the city. Luxury buildings
sparkled. The hills rolled with a majestic grace. Birds wintered there,
letting the warm breeze ruffle their feathers. They sang in the morning,
flew near the window in the afternoon, their feathers almost golden in the
sun. At night, they lay in their nests, making love and inspiring me to hold
Jasmine within the hot water of our bathtub.
We spent a lot of time in there, enjoying each other’s scents and the
smoothness of our wet flesh against each other.
Tonight, the view hurt. The dream of a happy home shifted into a
nightmare with Benny at the center, dressed in a black robe and wielding a
curved knife.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds on? Her life was a joke? You sick fuck.
I’m going to end this, before you hurt Jasmine.
Dim light blanketed the whole space. Shadows touched the dark
brown granite countertops and sky blue tiles accenting the walls. Her
brown and my blue. It had been a merging of mine and Jasmine’s favorite
colors. A place for both of us to enjoy.
But, she wasn’t here. Jasmine was handling Benny’s disgusting show,
and in shock, I’d walked off like a zombie and let her.
What have I done to us? Why can’t I just be happy with her?
My bathroom was supposed to be a palace. No king could’ve done
better without foolishly wasting his money. My bathtub was a work of art.
I’d put a lot of money into our new home.
 I’d known men to spend millions on some of the most trivial things.
Before my father’s best friend died from a drug overdose that was quieted
up, he’d bought a roll of toilet tissue. It was 22 karat gold paper and had
cost him 1.3 million dollars. Instead of giving the money to charity, he
wiped his ass with gilded paper, and then flushed it all down the toilet.
My father, himself, had a Baldi Rock Crystal bathtub that sold close
to eight hundred thousand dollars. The tub was carved from one massive
rock found in the Amazon forest. It was over eight feet in diameter.
Ancient Chinese medicine used the crystal for its healing powers. I had no
idea if it really worked. During my teen years, I’d spent many times with
giggling girls in that tub, and nothing got healed but my length as it went
in and out of their mouths.
No.
My bathroom served as a place to get away from it all. It wasn’t for
flash or to big-up another rich guy who would never be in my space in the
first place. The room was for Jasmine and me, to capture our moans and
laughter, somewhere to build memories.
And now, not even the tub was doing its job. Shaped like a giant’s
soup bowl, it glowed sky blue. A 36 inch LCD flat screen and four
speakers were in the front. I could change the channels through voice
commands.
Tonight, I couldn’t even focus on the futbol game. My assistant
recorded it. Granted, I didn’t like Germany or Brazil. I was just excited to
watch one of the teams cry as their hope for getting another World Cup
Title disappeared. But that didn’t matter anymore.
The TV’s images blurred as tears filled my eyes.
I wiped my face. “Shut down.”
The screen went blank.
Every time I blinked, Lucy’s dead body dangled in front of me.
Don’t think about it. Focus on the present moment.
I inhaled and exhaled in a calming rhythm, the whole time scanning
my bathroom and taking it all in. Since Italy, I’d been seeing a
psychiatrist, to work with the trauma of those last months. Men could go
crazy over lesser things.
I wouldn’t chain Jasmine to me, while I was a mess. But she would
be trapped. That was for sure. So I did the responsible thing, and sought
help. If I wouldn’t let her go, then I’d have to be my best.
 Dr. Timmons scribbled a note into his pad. “I could write you a
prescription for—”
“No.” I held up my hand. “No drugs.”
“Then we’ll need to explore alternative ways for you to relax your
mind.” He set the pencil down. “Do you remember our breathing exercises
and how to stay in the present moment?”
“Yes.”
“Focus on the good in your life.”
“There’s not a lot now.”
“Think.”
“It’s only Jasmine.”
“You have more than Jasmine. Mr. Stone, you can’t focus it all on
your girlfriend or you’ll drown her.”
“She can’t be drowned. She’s a rock.”
Jasmine grew up in the hard streets of South End. Poverty didn’t
destroy her. The violence and crime didn’t seep into her heart. Jasmine
climbed out of that community and could hold her own next to any upper
crust debutante.
“But is she a rock strong enough to stay solid in these stormy
waters?” I sank deeper into the tub. Hot liquid enveloped me. “How much
more can she take? And what about Benny’s threat?”
“I told you I wouldn’t hurt him tonight,” Benny said. “I’m giving you
this great evening to say good-bye. But that’s what it’ll be, good-bye.”
“Benny, I-I love him. I can’t just—”
“Good evening. May we all make it through the week.”
Just like that, Benny destroyed everything that was beautiful about
tonight. I’d spend the rest of my life forgetting that ball. Memories of
Jasmine’s orgasms and our laughter had disappeared, as soon Lucy’s
corpse hit my view.
I whispered to the bathroom’s darkness, “What’s going to happen to
us?”
“Shh.” Jasmine walked in, holding a tray of lit candles. A silk black
robe covered her whole body. It was so long, the bottom trailed behind her.
“I’ve been calling you.”
“I saw.”
“Why didn’t you answer?”
 “Shh.” Step by step, she placed a candle on the ground and every
other surface. Her six inch heels clicked against the floor.
“When did you get home?” I asked.
“Less than an hour ago.”
“Can’t be. I haven’t been in here that long. Why didn’t you come
inside?”
“I had to do some things here.”
“What?”
“Shh.”
I gritted my teeth. “How was everything? What did the police say?
What did you tell the publicist and—”
“Shh.”
There must’ve been at least thirty tiny candles. In silence, she set one
down and kept them several feet apart. Second by second the room
illuminated. Her shadow danced around the wall. A lovely scent rose from
the tiny lights and mingled with the rising steam.
“We should go over everything that you—”
“Shh,” she whispered again. “No questions about tonight.”
“What’s that fragrance?” I asked.
“Shh.”
“That wasn’t about the ball,” I said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know the answer. I just grabbed a bunch from the maid’s
supply closet. Now shh.”
Besides the click of her heels and the gentle trickle of water in the
tub, quiet flowed between us.
“Has Benny—”
“Shh.”
I frowned. “Why do you keep saying shh?”
“We’re not going to talk about tonight.”
“We should.”
“Not tonight.”
“Jasmine.”
“Let’s enjoy …” Her voice faltered in between the sentence. “Let’s
just enjoy tonight.”
I can’t lose her.
“You’re acting weird.” I cupped more hot water in my hand and
spread it all over my face. The liquid set my skin on fire, and for once I
didn’t feel as numb. My tension hadn’t eased, but my body came alive
with desire. It was better than anxiety. It was Jasmine. Her presence
triggered the old me to resurface.
She put the empty tray down and faced me. In the candlelight, her
skin glimmered. “What are you thinking about, my king?”
That things are going to change.
I made myself smile. “I’m wondering what’s under your robe.”
“Good.”
“How’s that good? Why don’t you take it off?” I reached out for her.
She batted me away.
I sneered at her. “Well, at least you didn’t say shh.”
She put her hands on the front ties, unwound them, and opened the
robe. The silky material dropped to the floor. “Happy?”
I took her all in.
Christ.
I’d never seen her look more delicious. Black lace covered every
inch of her body. It was like a lace body suit and had the same Calla flower
pattern from the gown earlier, but way more revealing. Her body was
exposed. The lace stuck to every inch of her, hugged those hard nipples
that poked out of the opening, formed around those curvy hips, and
grasped to the cushion of ass that I could see from my position.
No. I won’t let anything happen to us. I can’t.
All thoughts and anxiety left me.
It was only Jasmine and I in paradise.
I gripped the edge of the bathtub. “Come here.”
“It’s midnight.”
“What does time have to do with it?” I got ready to rise. “Come
here.”
“No.” She held her hand out. “Sit back down.”
I tightened my grip on the tub, my dick rising in the water. He
should’ve been relaxing. Water was never a good friend for my cock, but
Jasmine’s body denied all scientific rules.
“You’re no longer king of the day.” She touched her hips and then
slipped her hands slowly up her body.
With envy, I followed the movement of those fingers. “Okay.”
“Now who’s in charge?”
“You.”
 “Yes, me.” She climbed up the steps, taking her damn time, one by
one until I thought that I would scream for her to hurry up. There were
only four steps, but it seemed like twenty.
With those six inch heels still on, she stood above the tub and
balanced at the top, towering over me. “Do you like this outfit?”
I raked my fingers through my wet hair. “I’m close to tearing it off.”
“That’s a lot of lace to tear off.”
“I’m up for the job.”
She took one step into the water, and never took those heels off. The
water rose to her knees. “It’s hot.”
“Not as hot as you.”
She rolled her eyes, put the other foot inside, and then sat that
beautiful behind on the edge. Finally, her face came into the glow of the
candlelight.
“Jasmine … I should’ve never left you.”
“Shh.”
“Damn it. Would you let me thank you for taking care of me?”
“Tonight, we danced at the ball.”
Lucy’s dead body flashed in my head—diamonds dripping with
blood.
“Say that with me.” She gave me the saddest smile I’d ever seen.
“Tonight, we danced at the ball.”
I blinked my eyes. “Is that what happened?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “We danced, ate amazing food, and stumbled
off to your limo. We were so exhausted from all the partying that we fell
asleep right in the backseat.”
Benny’s face appeared in my head.
“I’m not done talking.” Benny raised his finger. “I love you,
Jasmine, but I’ll kill him. Do you need proof? Because your proof is
behind me. Move on from him.”
I frowned. “I remember something different.”
“Do you?” Jasmine opened her legs.
Dear God. I thought that every inch, except her face was covered by
lace, but I was wrong. A beautiful opening rested between her thighs.
“You’re distracting me,” I mumbled, my gaze never leaving the sight
of her exposed flesh.
“I like to distract you.”
 “We should talk.”
She snapped her fingers in front of her thighs. “Focus.”
“Fine.” I licked my lips. “What’s the name of this gorgeous
ensemble?”
“It’s a crotchless, lace body stocking.”
“I’m going to buy millions of these for you.”
“Millions?”
“I’m going to put stock in the company.” I rose. Water rushed down
me as I made my way to her.
“Did I say you could rise?”
“I just wanted to get a better look.” I stopped and formed my mouth
into a wicked grin. “I was only seeing what was on my plate for this
evening.”
“Who said you would be eating anything tonight?”
“Your legs are open.”
The smile remained and lust glittered all over her eyes. “That doesn’t
mean you’re getting anything to taste.”
“You’re mine.” I came closer. “And you know how I love to lick
you.”
Her silhouette in that light could never be captured by the most
skilled painter or talented photographer. One had to be in the moment to
witness her beauty. She wasn’t just perfectly curved sex within soft skin.
She was love melted on body-numbing lust.
She was mine.
I moved in a little closer. “Get into the tub and continue to keep those
heels on.”
“I’m the queen of the day.”
I got to the first step and lowered to my knees. The water rose to my
shoulders. “What would you have me do?”
She left the tub’s edge. I backed up to give her more space. Deeper,
she got into the water, sinking farther down and letting the hot water cover
her body. For several silent seconds, we stared at each other, as candlelit
shadows flickered around us.
“I love you.” Tears spilled from her face.
I reached out and she moved my hand away.
“No, I’m fine,” she whispered.
 “That doesn’t mean I can’t touch you.” I kept my hand barely an inch
from her face.
She backed away. “No. Not tonight. Let’s do something different.”
“Different?”
“Yes, different.” She turned around, leaned over the edge, and
propped her plump behind above the water. Breath escaped my chest. It
was so moist and inviting. The wet lace now looked painted on her, like
they were one in the same—her lovely body and the pattern. The
crotchless area drove me crazy. With her ass in the air, those folds stared
back at me, groaning for my tongue.
“I’m really hungry.” I bit my lip.
“Not tonight.”
“I can’t lick you tonight? I’m pretty sure that’s against every rule of
our relationship.” I closed the distance, but didn’t touch her yet. “I didn’t
sign up for that.”
“Just fuck me hard.” She kept her back to me and I hated it, knew she
had to still be crying.
“No, not tonight.”
“Yes.”
“Jasmine, look at me, baby.”
“Not tonight, Chase. Just fuck me.”
I can’t lose her.
“Fuck me.”
And so I did. I clutched her full hips and traced those wet folds with
the point of my cock.
“Fuck me all night, Chase. I don’t want to remember anything, but
you inside me.”
Pre-come spilled out of my tip. I smeared it against her skin, just
wanting to merge my body with her in any way. Desire roared in my chest.
I shoved it all out of my head—Lucy’s death, Benny’s threats, and even the
engagement ring that still sat in my pocket.
“I love you, too, Jasmine.” I slipped inside of her, and my whole
body throbbed hard with each inch.
“Mmmm, it always feels so good going in.”
“And how does it feel when it leaves?”
“It just makes me want you more.” She backed onto my cock,
rocking with my rhythm. Her ass cheeks slapped against my thighs. Water
gushed. Candlelight flickered as shadows danced along blue and brown
tiles. The music of her moans and our bodies’ melodies was nothing new
in this space.
But.
Something was off.
I could taste the hard truth on my tongue.
“Oh, Chase,” Jasmine moaned.
And from then on,
with every further moan,
I pretended like everything was going to be okay.
We came together,
and again I told myself that it would all be fine.
It would all work out.
But.
Lies were always easier to swallow.
 CHAPTER 4

Jasmine
Dressed in jogging clothes and standing in front of the bed, I stared at my
sleeping Chase. God, I’m going to miss you. Naked, he lay on his back with
his sculpted arms splayed across the bed.
Even in his sleep, he dominated everything.
The more I gazed at him, the more I cried. He was pale flesh over
chiseled muscle, an expanse of masculine sexuality encased in a huge ego
that had been cracking little-by-little with our love.
Now it was all over.
This is going to hurt him, but there’s no way around it. I can’t think
of any other way to save us.
Once the snores came, I slipped out of bed and got dressed. I didn’t
need to pack. He’d bought everything in this condo from my clothes and
jewelry to every piece of furniture. I couldn’t take it, and even if he tried
to give the stuff to me, it would be too many memories.
Usually a light sleeper, he’d exhausted himself with my body. All
night, we made love—from the bathtub’s bubbling edge to the silk sheets
of our bed, on the kitchen countertop to finally on the balcony overlooking
Oshane city. A sore ache bellowed through my body. He’d put his name
and scent all over me.
And now I would say good-bye.
Should I leave a letter? When I left that message in India, he didn’t
like it. Fuck! He won’t like this either way. At least I can let him know that
it wasn’t anything he did. After a while, he would understand.
I tiptoed out of the bedroom, right as small rays of sunlight peeked
through the condo’s hallway. Most of the walls were huge windows.
When we first checked out the place, I thought I would feel too
exposed to the world. Once we moved in, I realized that we were far
enough away for no one to see us, unless of course it was a peeping tom.
Chase’s security was decent enough, where I didn’t stress about that too
much.
Nevertheless, the sun rose in the sky, and instead of sneaking away in
darkness, I had to face the truth of my ugliness right in the light, for all to
see.
I hate you, Benny. I hate you.
In the kitchen, Chase’s cook messed around with pots and didn’t
notice me slip by the doorway. She was a small Cuban woman named
Maylin and made the best ropa vieja. The braised skirt steak always swam
in a flavorful tomato sauce that addicted me at the first bite. The rice
fluffed. The chili peppers perfectly merged with the cloves of garlic.
Chase had spent months finding the perfect person for us, knowing how
much of a food snob I was.
Who could ever take his place? No one. I couldn’t even consider
anyone else.
I continued to his small office, closed the door behind me, found a
pad of paper on his desk, and started the letter.
Dear Chase,
I…
The pen dangled between my fingers.
Dear Chase,
I’m sorry.
A shiver of fear ran through me. So many things went through my
mind. What would this do to him, after losing Lucy? He didn’t have a lot
of people he could turn to. What would happen to him? Was it my heart or
ego’s thinking that his life would collapse without my love?
I sighed.
Dear Chase,
I’m sorry. I know Benny. He will kill you. I can’t let that happen. Our
love is not worth your death. Our love is not worth other people’s deaths.
Our love …
I lost it right there.
More tears fell.
And it was that ugly, choking cry,
the one you only did alone,
when just the shadows witnessed the breakdown,
 when you just couldn’t keep it in anymore,
and no one was around to judge,
or point,
or tell another soul,
or kick me,
while I was already down on the ground.
My face scrunched up into distorted expressions. The pen fell from
my hand. I hugged myself, and prayed for the strength to walk away.
Don’t be so selfish that you’d lose him. Rather I love him from afar,
on the TV screen and in magazines, than lose him from the world forever.
I wiped my face with my sleeve, picked up the pen, and finished the
letter.
Dear Chase,
…I need you to move on. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me, because you
won’t find me. Let me go.
Jasmine.
I set the letter on his desk, and hoped he would find it, before going
crazy and searching for me. With him sleeping, I would have an hour head
start, maybe even more. His guards and he would think I was out jogging. I
did a lot of my morning runs. I never let his security follow me, which
we’d fought over weekly. But still, Chase and his guards gave in, and left
me alone for those jogs.
Okay. Now where am I going?
I didn’t have a big plan. There were only two ways that I could hide
from Chase. Either I could go to Benny or South End. The latter wasn’t a
sure thing, but South End was the only one I felt comfortable with. Chase
would never consider my hiding in the hood.
At least, I hoped not.
It took five minutes to tiptoe out of his office and get to the back
entrance, where his cleaning staff usually parked and entered each day. By
now, savory smoke filled the space as Maylin cooked something
marvelous. My stomach growled, yet I pushed on. If I didn’t leave before
Chase woke up, then I would never go. He owned my heart. I couldn’t
deny him.
If he stood right in front of me and begged me to stay, I would.
I got this. Don’t look back. Walk forward. I’ll figure it out.
At the back door, I paused and held the doorknob.
 Is there any other way? Maybe, I don’t have to leave. No. Stop it.
My heart beat fast in my chest, just booming in my head at this crazy
pattern. Scenario after scenario flashed through my mind. Every one ended
with Chase bloody and sprawled on the ground. Each one ended in tears
and heartbreak.
Our love isn’t worth his death.
Maybe I really was a fairytale princess after all. The real ones never
ended with some blissful and happy marriage. That was Disney’s altering
of the stories. The company wanted to bring joy and make money. In the
end, who would want the kids to watch a horror princess story and then
race home in tears?
The original fairytales ended badly.
In the older version, Cinderella killed her first stepmother. Her dad
actually married the housekeeper who then verbally abused our lovely
princess years later. Perhaps, Cinderella deserved it.
The true Sleeping Beauty never woke up from the handsome prince’s
kiss. Her kids did it. Instead of lip-to-lip action with a comatose chick, the
prince went for it all, had sex with a sleeping princess, and impregnated
her. The babies woke her up. I hated that story most of all. How much love
could a violating creep provide?
And don’t let me get started on the Little Mermaid. Poor chick never
got the man, and so she dove into the sea and disappeared.
I squeezed the knob hard.
Stop stalling. Leave.
I opened the door.
Benny sat on the first step, carving an apple.
What the hell is he doing here?
He wore jeans and a T-shirt. Beside him lay a gun with a silencer at
the tip. Amusement wrinkled across his face. It was in the twinkle of his
fucking eyes, and the wicked half-smile plastered all over his smug face.
Whistling, he continued to carve his apple, sculpting it into some twisted
art piece. I studied the blood red fruit between his fingers. The son of a
bitch had placed a broken heart in the center. Was it mine? Did he revel in
the fact that I hurt? Or was it all for Chase? Did it even matter, in this dark
man?
Red peelings scattered on the floor around his feet. He sliced some of
the heart away and ate it. “How are you doing, sweet Jasmine?”
 “Why are you here?” I quietly shut the door behind me.
“I figured you would need a ride.”
“A ride where?”
He sliced off another inch of fruity flesh, and plopped it in his
mouth. “I figured you would need a ride to a place where Chase couldn’t
find you.”
“You figured wrong.” I walked past him and down the stairs, hoping
he would follow and get as far away from Chase’s home as possible. “I
don’t need your help. Go away. You’re getting what you want. I’m leaving
him. Now, move the fuck on.”
“You never cursed around me before.”
“I never had to.”
“I don’t like it.”
I stopped on the fourth step and faced him. “I don’t give a fuck.”
What was I thinking? This man, my father, was evil, sick, a killer,
and dangerous in every sense of the word.
What was I thinking?
Of Chase,
and all that we’d lost,
and all the things that would never come,
babies that looked like mixtures of us, Chase Stone the third, a tan
version of him with green eyes and brown, chubby cheeks, and bouncing
curls. Little Vivian, the daughter I would name after my best friend and
now sister. Chase would think little Vivian was a perfect angel, whether it
was true or not. He would spoil her like he pampered me, and I would be
so happy with my life,
my family,
my man.
That was what I was thinking,
that, and the fact that I wanted to kill Benny.
“You’re upset,” the devil whispered.
My teeth rattled against themselves. I’d locked my jaw together and
fisted my hands, trying to keep all the rage in. No matter how much I
wanted to murder this man, I always understood I didn’t have it in me. I
would regret it. And in the end, I was no fighter, just a book worm from
the hood that indulged in good food and great film.
 Benny murdered for enjoyment. If I even tried to strike him, he’d
know before I thought it and slice my throat with that lovely little
pocketknife.
“Jasmine, you’re so pissed, you’re shaking.”
I hit him with my gaze. “I don’t need your help.”
“Yes, you do. You go to South End and he’ll have the whole
neighborhood barricaded by police.”
“I’m leaving him. That’s what you wanted. Don’t worry about where
I’m going.”
“You want this to end quickly? You want him to move on fast? You
want me to leave him alone?”
Turning around, I blew out a long breath and jogged down the rest of
the stairs.
Benny’s footsteps sounded behind me. “Jasmine?”
Tears threatened to spill out of my eyelids, but I held them in. I’d
cried enough today. I was done. Now it was time to shift into survival
mode.
Rock up.
My brother Sherman would always say, “Jasmine, sometimes we got
to rock up, when shit goes downhill. Get solid on the inside. Rock up. Don’t
let these motherfuckers think you’re soft!”
Benny hurried to my side. “You can’t be going to your mother’s.”
I stopped and turned to him. “Why not?”
“Because she’s a demon woman.”
“You two aren’t talking these days?”
“Oh, we talk. Her more than me, and my constant listening to her
plot and ruin our lives—”
“Why are you here again? You’re getting what you want.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“Bye, Benny.”
Benny cleared his throat. “This can be done quickly. Let me take you
away for a few weeks. Give Chase time to move on. You know he’s going
to search for you. If you hide by yourself, then he will catch you, and I’ll
come for him. Your mother is not an option. South End is a no-go. If you
stay with Gabe, Chase will murder him. Troy and Vivian are with me, so
we can just—”
“Why are Troy and Vivian with you?”
 “Family vacation.”
Turning around, I stomped farther down the stairs and Benny almost
bumped into me. With a frown he closed the pocketknife and put it in his
pocket. I gazed behind him.
His carved, broken-heart apple sat on the steps.
Chase would know he was here. He’d figure it out. I wasn’t sure if
that was good or bad. Would it make Chase give up sooner or cause him to
be more obsessed with finding me?
“This won’t be done,” he said.
“What?”
“You need to come with me, or this won’t be done.”
My words came out as a whine. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I’m sorry, Jasmine.”
“You’re sick.”
He looked away. “I’ve always been that way. You just didn’t realize
it, until this moment. But does that change things? I get what I want. I
tried to stay out of this, but you’ve made a mess of things. I need to take
care of my children better, stop cleaning up rich men’s mistakes and take
care of my own.”
“You’re not even—”
“Jasmine, don’t fight me on this.”
I exhaled. “If I go with you, will you leave Chase alone?”
“Of course.” He shrugged. “I’m no monster.”
I almost cursed at him again, but instead, I glanced at the bedroom
windows above us and spotted no movement. We had to get out of there
fast, before Chase woke up and saw me talking to Benny.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“You were always the smart one.” Benny raised his hand.
A car started and then rumbled behind me. I turned. Betty rolled
toward us. She was Benny’s favorite vehicle of his collection, a pearl-
white 1934 Rolls Royce Landaulette with light gray leather interior. It had
a classic right-hand English steering wheel, which was why I never drove
her. It confused me. A divider sat between the driver and anyone who sat
in the back. Being a fan of Betty Boop, Benny declared that the jazz-age
flapping caricature would have loved a car like that, so he named it after
her.
“Where were you parked?” I asked.
 “Behind that crappy van.” He pointed to Maylin’s huge green and
yellow beast. “It looks like the Scooby Doo Mystery Van.”
“I wish it was.”
“Why? You think Fred and Daphne could swoop down and save the
day for Chase?”
“No, everyone knows Velma was the true detective, but that’s not
why either. I’m more thinking I need one of Shaggy’s infamous Scooby
Snacks.”
He chuckled. “I remember you and your brother’s theory, that the
snacks were weed brownies.”
That moment came to me. Troy and I had become stoner teens, all
due to Vivian. I didn’t partake much. Books made me high. Too bad
anytime I told Vivian or Troy that books made me high, they’d throw
things at me, and call me corny. Regardless, we’d sat at the table with
Benny, thinking we didn’t look high, when we were. Instead of yelling at
us, he’d laughed. Instead of discipline us, he’d rolled his own joint and
listened to our high theories on Scooby Doo.
Forget about it.
Sadness rained down on me. Everything was different now, and
nothing would return back to normal.
“Yeah. That was our theory.” I stormed off. Even with his old age,
Benny rushed and got on my side with ease. He was too damn efficient,
too quick. I could never escape him.
“Who’s driving?” I asked.
“Scar.”
Glancing over my shoulder I whispered another good-bye to Chase.
“You’re doing the best thing, Jasmine.”
I turned back and increased my speed. “So who’s Scar?”
“A good friend of mine. You’ve seen him around.”
“Scar. Hmmmm. I’m assuming that’s your friend with the huge scars
on his face and neck.”
“That’s him.”
“Very creative nickname.”
“We’re killers, not poets.” Benny tried to grab my hand as if to guide
me over to the car. It was something he used to do, when I thought he was
a good man. No. You can’t touch me. I put space between us as we hurried
to Betty.
 “No.” I held myself and kept walking. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I saw one of your surprises last night. I don’t like them.”
He had the nerve to appear embarrassed. “This one is a good
surprise. Plus, Troy and Vivian are already there. It’s going to be a family
affair. A vacation. We need this. All of us. A lot has happened. We need to
start looking at what’s important—”
“Where are we going?”
“Why so impatient?”
We got to the car.
“Benny, I don’t feel like doing these games with you. You’ve done
enough. I’m only going with you for a few days at the most, so Chase will
move on.”
“Ha!” Benny opened the back door for me. “You think he’ll be over
you in a few days?”
“I think he’ll give up.”
“If that’s true, then he never deserved you in the first place.”
I got in the car. “Just tell me where we’re going?”
“You’re mad.”
“I am. Where are we going?”
He leaned his head into the car, and all I wanted to do was slam the
door into his skull.
“You look very angry,” he said.
“Where are we going?”
“I promise, I’ll make this up.” He ducked inside, slid onto the
backseat, and closed the door. “You don’t get it now, but I’m really just a
concerned father, trying to make sure my daughter doesn’t ruin her life.
Men can drag you down until you’re nothing. I’ve seen it so many times.
I’ve seen Chase’s father and men like him do it all the time to good
women. I’ve seen Chase himself ruin people’s lives.”
An edge dotted each of my words. “Where the fuck are we going?”
“I don’t like the cursing.”
“Fine. Where are we going?”
“Where else?” He winked. “London.”
“What’s in London?”
“Family.”
 CHAPTER 5

Chase
In my dream, I walked in a house with dark, crooked hallways that melted
at the touch. “Jasmine?”
I couldn’t remember how long I’d traveled through the big place. I
just knew that Jasmine was lost somewhere inside.
“Jasmine!”
The space was cold,
hard,
and silent,
except for my echoes.
Nothing lived in this house.
A door appeared. I opened it and stepped outside, where a dog
whined off in the distance and the grass stood still. No wind. I scanned this
strange backyard. It was a small place with just a manicured lawn and a
large, towering steel fence that rose in the air.
“Jasmine!”
She never answered back.
Filled with anxiety, I raced to the fence, thinking Jasmine stood on
the other side.
“Jasmine, please! Where are you?” I banged on the wood, rattling it.
“Jasmine! Jasmine!”
And then I woke up from that haunted dream, stared at the empty
space next to me, and knew. It all made sense. The night before, she’d been
acting odd. Every time we made love, she kept her back to me, while I
thrust inside of her.
She never let me look at her face.
She left. No. She’s just not in the room. I’m just being paranoid.
Just like in my dream, I screamed for her. “Jasmine!”
 The cook should’ve started work by now and probably thought I’d
lost my mind.
“Jasmine!”
She didn’t respond, just like in the nightmare.
She left.
What other answer could it be? What else would she do, when faced
with Benny’s ultimatum? It was the reason why I’d kept it all from her. I
knew she would try to save us, not realizing that in the end, the only way
we could be saved was if Benny breathed his last breath and died.
Grasping on a last bit of hope, I jumped out of bed, tripping over my
own legs, naked, and hurried out of my cold, empty bedroom. “Jasmine!”
Just like the dream, I rushed through our place, screaming her name
and hoping she would answer me.
“Jasmine?!”
My two main guards barreled up the tiny stairs. “Sir—”
“Where is she?”
They exchanged uncomfortable glances as if hoping the other would
tell me the news.
“Where is she?!”
“Sir …” The tallest one stepped my way. “Ms. Montgomery
disappeared early this morning.”
“When? How?”
The other one shook his head. “Someone disabled all of the cameras
around 7 a.m. We just got them working again. The security on duty in the
back gate are …”
The tall one coughed into his hand. “Those men are dead.”
Like a zombie, I walked past them, my shoulders lowered, my legs
stiff.
“We have tire tracks leaving the gate,” one of the guards continued.
“Our people think they know what type of car it could’ve been.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered.
Step by step, I went downstairs with clouds of darkness in my head.
Every few seconds, a slash tore the black fog and I swore I could see a
knife piercing Benny’s evil skin and all of his intestines spilling out.
She left with him.
The men followed me.
“Sir, we also have a possible ID on the driver, but we’re—”
 “It doesn’t matter.” I went to my office, where the liquor filled the
bottles and my desk provided a safe place for me to think and scream.
“Uh … sir, we also have—”
“Get out of here!” I whipped around and came close to choking the
tall one, with no idea if he was the guy that had said something or not.
“You fucked up! Tire tracks? Did you just tell me that you have someone
analyzing the goddamn tire tracks? I know who has her. I don’t give a
damn about tire tracks and a possible ID on the driver.”
Saliva spewed from the edges of my mouth. I was a madman with no
control, waving my closed fists around their heads and hoping, just
praying, that one of them would say one more fucking word. Someone
deserved to be punched.
“This isn’t a goddamn mystery!” I roared. “You knew who the villain
is. I gave you his motherfucking picture, his first and last name, his social
security number, height, weight, and a big fucking file with his bio. Do
you remember?”
The tall one inched back. The other nodded.
“Tire tracks? We don’t need an ID. We don’t need an expert leaning
over the ground and measuring marks in the ground. We need to find
Benny Nix.” I came forward and pointed at them both. “You two find her.
Find him. Find any fucking body that is connected to this, but most
important, you find her, because this is it. This is your legacy. This is your
life. This is your children’s lives, and your children’s children’s lives.
Because if I don’t have her back to me, I’ll destroy you, and whoever loves
you, and whoever depends on you, and anything that you’ve ever built in
your life, I’ll hammer it down.”
I took another step toward them. “I’ll eat away at anything good like
a fucking cancer.”
One of them gulped. The other might’ve pissed himself. I could’ve
sworn the space in front of his pants had shaded to a darker color.
Quiet passed between us. There was nothing else to say so I turned
and stormed away.
Why couldn’t you just trust me, Jasmine? Did you think I couldn’t
keep you safe?
Not even drunk yet, I stumbled toward my office and paused.
Jasmine.
 Her perfume lingered in the office. She’d been here. That was how
well I craved her. That was how much she’d etched herself into my life. I
could smell where she’d been and when she was coming. I could sense her
presence near me, before even seeing her in front of my face.
She was mine.
You came to my office? Why?
I wrestled to open the door, struggling on the knob more because I
was going crazy and less because it was locked. If I’d been calm, I would
have turned it. Instead, I twisted and snatched at the damn thing,
screaming Jasmine’s name inside my head.
Once it opened, I hurried in, searching everywhere for something.
Anything. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I knew she’d been
there, in my office, at least for the last time.
Did she sit in my chair and think of us? Did she take something to
remind her of me? How long did she stand in here, and wonder if she was
doing the right thing?
I knew she loved me. I didn’t question that. Everything else made me
crazy though. What was going through her head? Why the hell would she
leave this way?
Because she knew I wouldn’t let her leave if I was up. I would trap
her to me. Box her in. Cage her.
As soon as I reached the desk I spotted the damn letter. “If this one
has a smiley face at the end, I’m going to choke her. I won’t block off all
the air, but she’ll feel my fingers around her throat. No more letters,
tesoro.”
Reluctantly, I picked it up and read.
Dear Chase,
I’m sorry. I know Benny. He will kill you. I can’t let that happen. Our
love is not worth your death. Our love is not worth other people’s deaths.
I need you to move on. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me, because you
won’t find me.
Let me go.
Jasmine.
My phone rang. I rushed to grab it, hoping it was Jasmine. My
father’s image ran across the screen and I pushed the damn device away.
You fucking left me, Jasmine?!
 Screams corroded all the thinking parts of my head. My brain was
mush. I could not form one thought, just emotions of rage and grief. If
someone had witnessed my breakdown, they would’ve guessed that a
relative had died. I wanted to scream like one had, just spread my arms out
to my sides and wail like a mother who’d lost her child.
Was that what heartbreak really felt like? This excruciating rip of the
insides that went on and on and on.
A knock came at the door. Aggravated and broken, I looked up.
Maylin scurried in with a tray full of food.
I waved her away. “Unless that’s liquor, you can take it back.”
“Okay, sir.” She edged away and paused. “But, sir, there is someone
downstairs to meet you.”
“Who?”
“A Mrs. Montgomery.”
I grimaced. “What? Jasmine?”
“No. She looks like Jasmine, but an older version. Not that I think all
black people look the same. But this woman and Jasmine look the same.
Except, this woman is darker and older. Not that she’s old, but more
mature. Well that’s not a good word, more—”
“I got it.” I held up my hand and walked over to the small bar in the
corner of my home office. “Send her upstairs.”
“And the food?”
“Take it back.”
Maylin watched me pick up a certain bottle, the one I saved for
emergencies, the one thing that could cheer me up in times of chaos. I’d
had to drink from a bottle like this before. Three other times to be exact,
the moments when my past three girlfriends had been murdered.
“You should probably have food, if you’re going to drink,” Maylin
said.
“Send Mrs. Montgomery up, please.”
“Okay, sir.” She glanced at the bottle again, and then left.
I thought back to Jasmine’s little good-bye note.
“Our love isn’t worth other people’s deaths?” I turned the big bottle
in my hand. “Says who, Jasmine? Let them all die around us. I’m not
letting you go.”
Jasmine loved food. I had a thing for liquor, but I didn’t partake
much. Yet, when I sipped, the liquid was more than blocks of gold.
 A bottle of Louis XIII Black Pearl sat in my hands. Before one could
even open the bottle, they had to marvel in the glamourous design. As the
name suggested, the bottle was the color of a black pearl, shiny and made
from some futuristic crystal. The liquid evoked turbulence, just like my jet
engines. The high came fast, but smooth. The taste blended honeysuckle
with passion fruit, nutmeg with ginger.
Paul-Emile Remy Martin created the drink in 1874. Louis XIII was
the rave of the decade. The Cognac of Kings. Royalty served it to Queen
Elizabeth. Winston Churchill drank it during his stay in the Aix-en-
Provence of France.
At a 100 years old, the liquid aged in an oak barrel that was several
hundred years old themselves. Four generations of Cellar Masters tended
to it and used the grapes from the Grand Champagne area. It was a limited
edition cognac individually numbered from one to 786 dark crystal
decanters and priced at $3,400 per bottle.
“Do your magic.” I broke the seal and pulled out the top. A haunting
fragrance drifted from the opening. I inhaled it, and hoped that I would
never have to smell the scent again. This was a sick tradition in itself.
Swimming in expensive liquid, due to the loss of another girl.
Not a girl. An amazing woman. One that loves me just because I’m
me, not because I’m Chase Stone. She was never impressed with that part
of me. I got her because she was mine. We were made for each other. And I
didn’t lose her. Don’t say that.
A woman’s voice sounded behind me. “Your father loved cognac,
too.”
Sophia. No wonder Maylin thought the woman looked like Jasmine.
I kept my back to Jasmine’s mother and poured a glass. “You knew
my father?”
“Yes. I thought that was assumed.”
“Why?”
“Because we all hung out in that time.”
“His friends and Benny?”
“All of us.”
I put the top in the bottle, knowing I’d be pulling it back out soon, as
I chased Benny and Jasmine all over the earth. And I would. I’d chase her
until I had no breath left.
 With the glass in hand, I turned around and tried to face Jasmine’s
mother. “Why did you come to visit us, today?”
“Several reasons.” Her gaze fell on my hand. “Is that my glass?”
“Of course. Sorry. I just woke up.” I brought it over to her.
“Thank you.” She didn’t get the glass from my hand, instead she
gestured for me to follow her to the chair. I did.
I can’t deal with her today.
Sophia moved like she’d practiced it for years. With each step her
pinkie flickered to the side and her hips twisted. She was the opposite of
Jasmine, exactly the type of women I was used to dealing with. Fake and
greedy. Sophia was someone I didn’t want to rumble with. She rubbed me
the wrong way, many times, and I could never pinpoint how it started or
why.
Sitting down in her chair, she crossed her legs, took the glass from
my hands, and sipped it with one elegant movement. After she swallowed,
a smile spread across her face. “Louis XIII?”
“You know your cognac.”
“No, I know my men.” Sophia must’ve had a love for acting, when
she was young. I’d dated a lot of theater girls in college. They always
spoke with their hands. With Sophia, the beginning of a sentence began
with a flick of her index finger. During long sentences she drew invisible
squiggly lines as if trying to hypnotize me.
That time, she flicked her index finger and then formed a large heart
around her. Or maybe it was just my imagination.
I blinked my eyes. “What did you say?”
“Never mind.” She took another sip. “Why wasn’t I invited to the
Masquerade Ball?”
I rubbed my face and headed back to the bar to pour another glass for
myself. “Jasmine decided that only my friends should be there. She
thought the party was ridiculous, and this was about introducing her to my
world.”
“Are we all not a part of your world now? This is my daughter. I am
her family.”
“Yes. I understand.” I probably filled my glass with more than I
needed to. “I explained that to Jasmine, but she was pretty … serious
about not wanting to invite her family and friends.”
 “I thought we were working together toward the same goal, Chase.
Was I wrong?”
I raised the glass to my lips and took a long gulp. The cognac stung
my tongue, but not for long. The rest was a smooth ride. A surge of
numbness split every one of my cells.
“Chase?”
“Yes.” I took another gulp.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” Third gulp came harder and ripped through my throat.
“Where’s my daughter?”
I turned around and headed to my chair. “In the city.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I plopped into my chair. “Why would I lie?”
“Because you’re a man.”
“I don’t know how I should take that.”
“It’s just a simple fact that men are stupid. They drag things out
further than they need to.” She set her empty glass on my desk and lay
back in her chair. “I was coming over here this morning regardless. No
way was I going to let my daughter think that she could just run off and
…”
Our love isn’t worth other people’s deaths? Let them all die. I can’t
live without you, Jasmine.
“… and I knew it was Benny.”
I snapped my attention to Sophia. “What?”
“I said when I heard about the dead girl on the news—”
“What dead girl?”
“At the ball, Chase.” She chopped the air with one hand. “Keep up. I
saw the news last night. The whole city is talking about your ex-
girlfriend’s corpse hanging like a decoration at the masquerade ball.
There’s some gruesome pictures going around all over the net from the
few guests that snapped pictures on their phones. Why someone would do
that, I don’t know. I would just be running out of there. It’s insanity—”
“What were you saying about Benny?”
“I said the news claims that Stone Industries has no idea who did it,
but I know. Benny did it.” She rose from her chair, picked up her glass, and
took it over to the bar. “This is classic Benny. He’s always so dramatic and
has absolutely no regard for human life.”
 And you chose this man to have twins with?
“That’s when I decided to rush over here this morning, before
Jasmine and you did anything stupid.” Without asking, she served herself
more cognac. “If he’s dangling dead white girls out in front of the world,
then he’s out of control, which means he’s mad. He doesn’t like you or
your father. He’s been adamant about that as long as I’ve known him. Now
for you to fall in love with Jasmine … well, that was just too much for
him.”
I finished my glass. “Jasmine is missing.”
“No, she’s not missing.” She faced me. “Is she?”
“No.”
“She left.”
“Yes.”
“Because Benny said what?”
“That we couldn’t be together.”
“This is classic Romeo and Juliet. It’s just that Juliet’s father is a
deranged serial killer.”
“Serial killer?”
“A man that murders a lot of people in a ritualistic manner. That’s
him. I’ve known him for over twenty years. Benny is dangerous, and he
won’t leave you alone until he believes he’s received some sort of justice
or what he rightfully deserves. It took me years to shake him, and even
now …” She looked away for a few seconds. “Even now … I don’t know if
I shook him.”
“He still comes by?”
She took that moment to sip her drink. “When did Jasmine leave?”
“This morning.”
“With him?”
“I assume so.”
“I was hoping to come over here before she left.” She shrugged.
“That’s okay. I’m here. Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to
work this out. You got the money, and I have the plan.”
“Plan?”
“Yes.”
A liquid buzz settled down on me. I rubbed my temples with my free
hand. “I’m not understanding this, Sophia.”
 “You know what the solution is. You know it. You’ve been trying to
fix this, since you all came back from Italy. You think I don’t know what’s
going on? I know a lot more than you. Trust me. You thought Benny was
done. No. He was just starting.”
“And now you decide to say something?”
She wagged her finger at me. “This is my daughter. You brought her
into this beef with Benny. Don’t blame your dilemma on me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But do you know the solution?” she asked.
“I think I do. Get her back.”
“No.”
“That’s all I want.”
“You need to concentrate on the bigger picture. Jasmine will come
back, if who’s dead?”
“Benny.”
Heat glazed over her eyes. “Then why is he even alive?”
“I tried.”
The heat left her gaze and she smiled. “I’m sure you did. I just can’t
believe you never came to me. I’ve been waiting for months. You never
did. Sometimes, your moves are hard to guess.”
My moves?
The cognac had begun to do its job. A chemical euphoria drifted over
me. I rubbed my face and promised to drink some more, once Sophia left.
She captured my attention. “I can help you kill Benny.”
Silence hung in the air for almost a minute as we stared at each
other, her with confidence, me dumbfounded.
“What?” I asked, as if unsure I’d already become drunk and was
simply imagining everything.
“I can help you kill Benny.”
This is too convenient. Too well-timed. What’s going on?
“How can you help me?” I asked.
“I know him. I know how he thinks. I read everything he writes and
—”
“He writes?”
“He does these weird … journals. It’s notebooks and notebooks of his
studies, nightmares, memories, and just jumbled thoughts.”
 “Journals? How do you know all of this?” I paused. “Look, Mrs.
Montgomery, I don’t think—”
“Chase, be quiet.”
Now I see where Jasmine gets the bossiness.
“Benny is complex. He has a set system of traditions in his head.”
She tapped her own. “I don’t even know how to explain it. He has ideas of
customs and rules of society, and when he thinks they’ve been violated, he
kills. He’s the type of guy where, if you step on his shoe in the train, and
don’t say sorry, he is liable to follow you out of the train, stalk you for
days, and then late at night, while you sleep, choke you until there is
nothing left inside of your body. That is a true story by the way.”
I had nothing left to say.
“I understand Benny better than he gets himself,” she confessed.
“How the hell do you think I’ve been able to stay alive around him for so
long?”
“I thought you two were maybe a fling or—”
“Let’s not lie.” She frowned. “I know what you’ve heard. I stripped
and met Benny there. We had sex, and he felt bad and returned to his
happy little wife. They lived wonderfully together, but then him being
such a good man, well he couldn’t just let me starve with his kids inside of
me, so he spent his years taking care of two households.”
Sophia took another gulp. “If I didn’t have this glass in my hand, I
would’ve clapped. He’s full of it.”
“There’s another story?”
“Doesn’t matter. You need to worry about your story, and whether it
ends a chapter or three too soon. Jasmine is my daughter, but she’s stupid.
All that money he spent at Harvard. It was wasted.” She rolled her eyes.
“Book smarts don’t punk street smarts. And everybody, rich or poor, got to
walk these streets. Isn’t that right, sweetie? You’re walking those streets
right now, looking for your lady. So I ask you, what’s the solution?”
“Kill him.”
“And who can help?”
“You.”
“Good.” She strolled over to me and clicked my glass with hers. “To
killing the bastard once and for all.”
She finished the glass with that same odd elegance. Now I figured
out how Jasmine had beguiled me so much. She was a younger and more
luxurious model of her mother. Sophia may have thought Jasmine was
stupid, but that wasn’t the case.
I may need Sophia’s help, or I may not. This could just be a play for
something else, more money, whatever. She loved Benny. I’m sure of that.
Why would she help kill him? For her daughter maybe? That made sense.
Was she scared of him? I can’t picture her being scared.
Sophia possessed this addictive merging of grace and toughness.
There was no denying she’d had a rough life. Although her skin and
complexion were clear and appeared silky to the touch, her eyes and
expression said ‘Don’t fuck with me.’
I remembered the first time meeting her. Jasmine had raced away
from me, and I was trying to do anything I could to get her back. I got in
touch with Sophia, took her and those seven grandkids out of the South
End ghetto, and moved them into the suburbs. I placed the children in
private school, hired a nurse to help Sophia with her disabled grandchild,
and made sure a cleaning lady came three times a week.
Later Sophia called and asked for a car. I purchased one. Then she
requested a driver. Once Jasmine and I reunited, Sophia suggested I open
up college funds for all of her grandchildren.
“Just a suggestion,” Sophia had said, but her eyes held an edge as if
she’d crush my world if I didn’t oblige.
I never told Jasmine any of that. She hated that I paid her own bills.
There would be no way Jasmine would love me clearing her family’s debt.
Finally, after a few more of Sophia’s uneasy visits at my corporate office, I
simply opened up an account that offered her a reasonable yearly
allowance.
“Mmmmhmm. This Louie is good.” Sophia returned to the bar to get
more. “Come on, Chase. You should take a glass for the road.”
“What?”
“Field trip time.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’re going to Benny’s garden, sweetie.”
“His garden?”
“Benny likes to study things. He’s got this apartment that we all call
the Penthouse. It’s in the tower. Do you know anything about the tower?”
“No.”
She chuckled to herself. “Then this should be fun.”
 “I’m not interested in having fun. All I want to do is find Jasmine.”
“Focus.”
“Focus?”
“Yes, focus. And when you find her, what are you going to do? Beg
her to come back? Benny will shoot you in the center of your forehead
before you even mutter ‘I.’ Focus. I know you’re used to being in charge,
but it’s time to follow. Jasmine is safe. Benny won’t hurt her. He’s got both
of my babies now.”
“Troy?”
“Yes. I don’t know where they are, but he’s trying to play daddy. Let
him have his family time in these last days, because when we come for
Benny, we need to do it quick and fast. This isn’t a movie. If you get that
man in front of you and you’re holding gun, shoot it. There’s no need for
discussion. You carry out a monologue and your intestines will be wrapped
around your throat, while he spends the rest of the day taking his time as
he cuts you.”
My body had hardened to a stiff brick. “I think I got it.”
“Good. Let’s go. My driver can take us.” With her newly filled glass,
she strolled out of my office.
What the fuck just happened? What’s going on?
 CHAPTER 6

Jasmine
The flight took eight hours.
Once we’d gotten on his plane, I went straight to the back, pulled a
blanket and pillow out of the overhead bin above my seat, sat down,
covered myself, and cried one more time.
I’d never gone through something like this before. It wasn’t
heartbreak, just emptiness. My love hadn’t been broken, Benny had
viciously snatched it away. And he did so by shedding other’s blood,
torturing people, and then bedazzling a corpse.
It’s going to work out. I’ll be okay. Chase will be okay. I’ve gotten
over others before. I remember that pain. It leaves after time.
But this wasn’t the same hurt. It sliced through to the bone, caused
my walk to be unstable, my mind to be restless, my chest to ache, and head
to spin anytime I pictured Chase’s face.
When we landed, Benny had to shake my body to wake me up. For
some odd reason, I opened my eyes, and thought those hard, rough hands
were Chase’s. When I saw Benny’s face, I jerked back in confusion, and
then all of yesterday’s events ran through my mind.
In no time, we got off the plane and climbed into a new rental.
“What do you think of London?” Benny asked as we rode in the back
of another classic Rolls Royce.
“London is fine.”
“Do you like the car? I think I’m going to call her Silver Shadow.”
I don’t care.
“It’s fine.” I stared out of the window. I’d never been to London, yet
no excitement came my way. It was a rush of nervousness and anxiety.
“You’ll love this city. It’s cold and hard sometimes, but it’s full of
rich food and history.”
 At ten in the morning, London was alive with traffic and people
taking care of business. In the back of his car, Benny and I traveled
through the streets, and I had no idea where we were. A few double decker
buses rode by, the perfect symbol of movie London.
Gray clouds hovered over, threating the chance of rain. No sun sat in
the sky. Skeletal trees dotted the blocks, which were rows and rows of
connected three to four level houses and buildings that seemed to never
divide and have their own middle-space.
It could’ve been my mood, but I wasn’t impressed. It was all dark
roads and gray sidewalks, cars upon cars, and the threat of cold rain.
Although in March, people wore jackets and hoods. In Oshane City,
springtime had come. I only wore a light jacket at night. Here, that
wouldn’t be the case.
“These are the popular dragons.” Benny pointed to silver dragons
with red, spread-out wings and a crimson tongue. They stood on one rear
leg with the other lifted against a shield. “They’re boundary marks for the
City of London. That’s why they’re holding up the city’s coat of arms.”
“Sounds good.”
“They mark the boundaries of—”
“You already said that.”
He cleared his throat. “They mark the city boundaries at Aldersgate,
Aldgate, Bishopsgate, Blackfriars Bridge, Holborn, Farringdon, London
Bridge, and Moorgate.”
With a bored expression, I mumbled, “Amazing.”
“You’re not impressed?”
“No.”
“Due to heartbreak?”
“Due to mourning Lucy’s death, heartbreak, and the fact that I’m
with someone who’s mentally unstable and has decided to kidnap me.”
“I figured since being with Chase, you would be used to a kidnapping
here or there.”
“I have a lot more to worry about right now than dragons holding up
shields.”
“This is important to me.”
I turned to him. “Why? And before you answer that, why would I
care if it was important to you?”
 “Because I’m your father. Don’t you want to know where your people
came from?”
“You were born in London?”
He nodded. “The great Bells of St Mary-le-Bow Church are known as
Bow Bells. If you’re born, when they rang, then you’re considered a
Cockney.”
“A Cockney?”
“The name came from countryside people who thought that
Londoners were ignorant, and knew nothing about country ways.”
“But why the term Cockney?”
“In Middle English it means a deformed egg.”
“And you’re a deformed egg?”
“No. A Cockney. The church had been destroyed by a German bomb
during the Blitz in ’41. The bells crashed to the ground. Restoration began
in 1956. The bells resumed ringing in ’61.”
“When were you born?”
“Around then.”
“You can tell me an elaborate story about bells and dragons, but you
can’t say the year you were born?”
“There’s things about my childhood I think about, and then there are
things that I just don’t care to discuss.”
“Your birth year is one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Will I be meeting my grandmother and grandfather?”
“No.”
“When we were kids, Vivian said you grew up in Alabama.
Apparently, you were a young kid of old parents, who passed away right as
you started college.”
“Now what do you think?” he asked.
“It’s all a lie.”
“Like I always say, you’re the smart one.”
“Why can’t I see your parents?”
“My father’s dead.”
“How? Old age?”
“No.” He raised his hands and flexed his fingers. “From my own bare
hands. That’s actually a story I like to tell, but I doubt that’s something
you want to hear.”
 He killed his father. Awesome. Just great.
I pretended like it didn’t affect me. “What about my grandmother?”
“She’s a drunk in Hackney, probably hoping bottles can make her
forget how much of a devil she is. She used to box. That says a lot about
her.”
“It says she was empowered.”
“No, it says she would do anything for a pound. When she’d broken
too many fingers, ribs, and cracked her jaw, she made me bare-knuckle
fight on cobbled front yards, at the age of ten. If I lost, she’d beat me the
whole way home. I went up against men, so you can imagine how many
times I got knocked into the sidewalk as we headed back to the house.”
I parted my lips, but had nothing to say.
“Don’t look so shocked. With my sense of humor, there’s no way I
came from a family of love. She taught me how to take a beating. By my
teen years, I knocked them all out. Got my nickname, Benny, from the
Lamb and Flag pub’s back room. People used to call that room the Bucket
of Blood.”
“You’re name isn’t Benjamin?”
“No.”
“Then why did the people call you Benny?”
“After Benny Lynch, this Scottish professional boxer back in my day.
He was considered one of the best below the lightweight division.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Benny.”
“But you said—”
“It’s Benny.”
“O-kay.” I chewed the inside of my cheek a little from nervousness.
“So when was the last time you saw your mother?”
“My last fight.”
“Why your last one?”
“My father had been a great fighter himself. That’s how we ate. All
of us boxed in some way, worked for a gang, knocked out a group of kids
for a hassled owner. We did things with our hands that others wouldn’t. By
thirteen, I stopped going to school, but I continued to read. You know how
I’ve always told you how books are important?”
“Yes. You would always say that books help you escape.”
 “Well, the owner of this one pub thought it would be entertaining to
have a father and son match. The two greats. Young generation against the
old and mature.”
“You bare-knuckle fought your father?”
His jaw twitched. “I killed him in that ring. Punched him for every
crude remark, every time he made me do all the things I didn’t like. I hit
him until blood came, and he begged me to stop. I kept on. He prayed and
cried and said he loved me and I hit him. His bloodied-teeth flew from his
mouth with each pound. He was pulp. He lay on the ground, and there was
nothing but silence in the whole room. All those drunks with their money-
filled hands in the air, just stood there as if shocked. All of their mouths
were open and their eyes wide in fear.”
Benny laughed. “My dad lay on the ground, passed out probably. And
then came the kicker. I wrapped my hands around his throat, only sixteen
years old. No one stopped me. I choked him right there. I don’t know why
they didn’t do anything. Maybe they were shocked. Or perhaps they
wanted to see death as much as me. But I killed him right there. Mom
stood by and just looked scared.”
A chilly quiet filled the car, then his words sliced the air. “I fled
London. Scar helped.”
“You knew him back then?”
“Yes. We hit Italy, got into some foul things, and earned the attention
of evil men, ones like Chase’s father.”
Just the mention of Chase caused a jolt of pain to burst through my
heart.
Benny continued. “Sometimes I come home to visit London, and
think to myself, ‘This is the time I’ll kill her. This is the trip when I take
her alcohol-scented breath away.’ But then I don’t. For some reason, I
always let her live. I’m just a pussy cat in that way.”
Yes. A rabid pussy cat with infected claws.
A cold shiver ran up my back. I had to shake the fear away, and even
then I knew it remained inside of me.
Benny blew out a long breath and yelled, “God that feels good!”
I jumped and grabbed the door handle as if leaping out of a moving
car would save me.
“I’m sorry for startling you,” he said. “It’s just been so hard to
pretend. Do you understand?”
 “Y-yes.”
“I’ve lied for years. No one really knows me, besides your mother,
and even then I have to be guarded. She could’ve been a psychologist in
her previous life. She has a way of dissecting a person’s head.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, your mom. She’s a killer in her own right.”
I slumped into the back of my seat. “Mom?”
“You two never got close. That’s always been a shame. Two strangers
living in the same house.”
“It always felt like she was avoiding me.”
“She probably was. She never had a mother. That woman left one
night, and never came back to deal with her or your aunts. They sort of
raised themselves. People said she overdosed in an alley.”
I’d heard something similar, mumbled by my aunts. There was a
neighbor lady that ended up taking care of them. That was the woman Troy
and I referred to as Grandmother. “Why do say Mom is a killer in her own
right? We never got close, but she couldn’t have hid that from me.”
“This is the moment of truth, right?”
“As long as the truth doesn’t come with a dead body.”
“I won’t be dangling bodies around you anymore.”
“Is that promise?”
“It’s a strong wish.”
“I like clear promises.”
“I like everyone to do as I say and not fall out of line.”
Whatever that means.
“Anyway, back to Sophia. Maybe I’m using the word kill lightly.
Your mother destroys things with her words. She’s never shot a gun or
sliced through the top layer of skin, or hacked away at the plump fat and
tight muscle of a crying man until he—”
“I get it.” My heart hammered in my head.
Could someone call this guy a doctor?
“Sorry,” he said. “What I’m trying to say is that your mother has
never killed someone by her own hands, but she’s put many people into the
path of death for many years. And even worse, she’s a prober. She probes
with her words, rummaging through your secrets and labeling all of your
weaknesses. You see what I mean?”
You’re crazy. And if I understood your point, I would be crazy, too.
 I tossed him a skeptical look. “So what you’re saying is that she’s a
manipulative bitch?”
“Basically.”
“I knew that, but being a manipulative bitch doesn’t make her a
murderer.”
“Trust me. It does.”
“Benny, what is this all about?” I motioned at us in the car. “Why are
you doing this? Why are Troy and Vivian even with you?”
“Listen. This is what the trip is about, getting you all together and
really revealing who I am. Troy will accept me. Vivian will still need lies.
I was too soft with her. But you,” he bobbed his head, “you understand
pain. Every time you’re faced with the worst, you use your head.”
“I’m not as strong as you think.”
“You are. I’ve watched you from baby to woman. The shit you’ve
seen …” He shook his head. “London is about learning who I am and being
less scared of me.”
“I think that I’ve learned enough about you this year. Maybe, you
should wait till next year for the rest.”
He chuckled. “You’ve always been good for a good counter that had a
funny jab. However, I wish I could wait till next year, but I can’t. No one’s
promised next year.” He leaned back in the seat and went silent. “Who
knows, we all could be dead next year.”
What the fuck? What does that mean? He has me so much on edge
that I’m dissecting everything he says.
“Oh well.” He clapped.
I jumped again.
“I have so many places I want to take you. Guess where we’re going
tomorrow.”
I braced myself. “I have no idea.”
“The famous Jack the Ripper London tour.”
I waved him away. “That’s not exactly where I want to be right now.”
“I’ve always wanted to do it. Come on. It’ll be fun.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Jasmine, really? I’m your father.”
“I wish you would stop saying that.”
“Why?”
 “Because you’ve pretended to be my friend’s dad for all these years,
and now you want to declare over and over that you’re my father? Let’s
calm down a bit.”
“I’m your father and I want to make up for lost time.”
“I feel like you’ve made up enough.”
“Oh no, Jasmine, I’ve just begun.” And then he tossed me a wicked
smile, the one that had started becoming a main feature of all of my
nightmares. “The cuisine here is excellent.”
I was sickened to admit it, but my mind did perk up a bit. If I had to
move on and get away from Chase’s love, I damn sure planned to stuff my
mouth with quality food. “I’m not big on British food. What’s good here?”
“I’ve got a cook at the flat that can serve you a Chelsea Bun that will
make you burn your US passport and move here.”
“All that for a bun?”
“Picture it. Rich dough. Homemade. Drenched in cinnamon. Lemon
zest and other sweet spices are rolled into the square spirals. There’s a
succulent filling—brown sugar and dried mixed fruit. The glaze is sugared
milk.”
“Meh.”
“This is what the royals ate in the 1700s.”
“Slavery was also big in the 1700s. Excuse me, if I’m not eager to
learn from the leaders of my past.”
He ignored the comment. “Street food is good here. Everything from
all over the world. You get the best Turkish kebabs on Green Lanes. You
hate Chinese, but there’s some good ones on Gerard Street in Soho. If you
get an aching for Caribbean food, I’ve got a spot on Electric Avenue.”
“That name sounds familiar.”
“What name?”
“Electric Avenue.”
“It was a bad 80’s song about the riots there.”
“Umm … all right.”
“Brick Lane will give you the best curry—”
“Uh,” I held up my hand, “I think I got it. Basically, I’ll be gaining
twenty pounds here. Sounds like a plan. I’m going to drink and eat the
whole trip.”
“You sound like your sister. She lights a joint before breakfast.” He
shook his head. “That’s the last thing she needs. Her head is already gone.”
He turned to me so quick, my nerves flared on edge. “By the way, I need
help with that.”
“What?”
“Troy and Vivian.”
“What about them?”
“Let’s not pretend like they’re not having sex right under our noses.”
Hey, buddy, can we keep the vomit-inducing down to a three topic
minimum?
I gulped in my instant disgust. “Look, I try to forget about that
particular part of them, all the time.”
“Vivian has to get over this. You understand, right?”
Get over it? Do you realize how long they’ve loved each other?
Ever since we were young, Troy had a way of getting Vivian to agree
to anything. She used to do all of his homework in middle school, although
she claimed it was tutoring. When he ran away from home, she hid him in
her bedroom for a whole week and didn’t even tell me he was there. Four
years ago, she’d even let him borrow her car. The same car that was
impounded when he was caught inside of it with our brother, Neil, who
happened to have several pounds of drugs in a duffle bag in the backseat.
Troy hadn’t known about the drugs, but it had been irresponsible letting
Neil in Vivian’s car in the first place.
Vivian didn’t care.
Once Troy got out this last time, things heated up. He moved in with
us because I wanted him out of South End and away from all its taunting
dangers that always led to jail. Our roommate situation provided excellent
opportunity for both of them to explore their feelings. They fell fast and
hard. Giggling in each other’s arms in the afternoon. Cuddling all
morning. Sex all night. It was hard not to vomit repeatedly.
Then I discovered Chase’s investigation on me and realized we were
all siblings. They’d been having a difficult time adjusting. Vivian almost
committed suicide. Troy couldn’t be in the same room as her without
drooling, and then feeling sickened that he craved her so much.
“I think they have gotten over it in these recent months,” I said.
“Troy definitely—”
“She sneaks into his room, when she thinks I’m sleeping. My
security reports other things.”
 My stomach rumbled. Vomit would come, if we continued down this
road. “Maybe—”
“I won’t let this continue. You understand that?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t let that go on.”
I got ready to say something and paused for a second.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Jasmine?”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that, if they don’t stop, then I’ll have to stop it myself.
And we understand how I handle things.”
I made a note to get therapy as soon as I left London. There was no
way I would be sane after this trip. “You better not be making any threats
when they’re concerned.”
“I don’t make threats. I have my things. I don’t bother you all, unless
my certain ideals are messed with. Chase is demon spawn. His slime
touched you. Because of him, I’m revealed to all of you. I couldn’t let him
be happy.”
I held my hand up again. “But, there’s no need to talk about Chase
anymore. I doubt he’s happy now. What you needed is done. Let’s return to
Troy and Vivian.”
My appetite left me. I’d been eager to try some of the things Benny
had listed off. In the end, my stomach always overrode logic, but now
Benny brought up my twin and best friend. Well, my twin and my sister.
Enough was enough.
How many more people had to be ruined? No. Rock up, Jasmine.
Rock the fuck up.
I pointed at him. “Don’t even think of hurting my brother or Vivian.
Don’t even talk about it.”
“It’s incest.”
“It’s handled.”
“By who?”
Death. His death. It flashed in my mind. I had no idea who would
slash his throat or pull the trigger or crush his skull, but I witnessed it in
my head, and that was enough to stiffen and harden me.
I touched my chest. “I’ll take care of Troy and Vivian. You stay out
of it.”
He seared me with a deadly gaze. “If you don’t, I will.”
 “What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
My eyes watered. I was so goddamn tired of being close to crying.
“Don’t you even think about killing either one of them.”
He frowned.
His name ripped out of my mouth like the sound an injured animal
would make. “Benny!” Tears fell from my eyes. “Look at me.”
He’d already been staring, but I had no idea if I had the monster’s
attention, that murderous beast that moved inside of him.
My next word was a ragged plea. “Benny. Don’t ever think that way.”
He closed his eyes and sighed.
“Never,” I whispered. “There has to be a point. There has to be a
limit. You can’t kill everyone.”
“You sound like your mother.”
I hoped that was good. Knowing my mother, probably not.
“Troy and Vivian are your children,” I begged. “Death isn’t an
option.”
“Then we need to handle this.”
“No!” I hit the air. “I will handle it. Me. No one else. Not Benny. Not
… who the fuck else. I got this. What is the solution? What do you need to
be okay?”
“Them moving on.”
“Good.” I extended my shaking fingers. “Then we agree that I’ll take
care of this?”
“Yes.”
“Shake my hand, Benny.”
His serious expression faltered into the man that I remembered. The
guy that all of my life I considered second to Christ. The man who’d saved
me from horror.
When I was a kid, my mother’s boyfriend had snuck into my
bedroom late at night and come close to raping me. Troy killed him. I
called Benny. By then, I knew he fixed things. How? I had no idea. I just
understood that if death lingered, Benny would come through and clean it
up. Back then, he didn’t symbolize the king of pyschos. He was my hero.
That was the face that stared back at me.
“Okay, Jasmine.” He shook my hand. “I won’t hurt them. I’ll stand
back and let you handle it.”
 I exhaled, not even realizing that I’d held in my breath. “Thank you.”
“You’ve got three days.”
“What?”
“Back to the food. The best bagel is also on Brick Lane. I’m talking
Jewish bagels.”
Three days or what?
In the back of my head, fear swayed from side to side, making me
uneasy. I did my best to remain solid and keep up the strong Jasmine. “I
don’t think you can identify certain bagels as Jewish.”
“Bagels are the poster-child for Jewish baking.”
“I’m going to need you to never say that.”
He chuckled again. “It’s the truth.”
And I pretended like it was the old days, when we argued about race
and food. “Yet, it sounds like you’re a bigot. Jewish bagels is like saying
the black fried chicken. People just don’t do that.”
“Yet, black people make the best fried chicken.”
“And this is where we end this conversation.” I forced a smile, but in
the back of my head, my entire world imploded within itself.
Three days? What does he mean? This is too much. Rock up, Jasmine.
Save Chase. Save Troy. Save Vivian. Save myself.
 CHAPTER 7

Chase
In my limo, Sophia and I drove toward South End. My security team rode
behind us.
I can’t believe you left me, Jasmine. Our love isn’t the worst. Damn
you! Our love is strong. It’s powerful.
The Beatles said it best—all we really needed was love in the end.
Not money or fame, power or sex with hundreds of women. I’d slept with
enough to confirm it. I had three loyal women around me, and still I
craved more.
Then Jasmine entered, and I yearned for nothing more than her gaze
on me, her attention, her touch, the taste of her skin between my teeth, the
lusty sound of her moan, the erotic scent of her cunt, dragging me down
into an abyss of pleasure.
All we need is our love.
The Beatles changed the world, and they did it with inspirational
messages, not singing about violence, guns, or sex. They represented the
mood of the times. They breathed life into the idea of flower power, and
all that other crap, that now would be useless against Benny.
Fuck. Maybe we need more. Benny won’t stop if I hand him a daisy.
He’ll just cut my stomach up and stick the flower between my intestines.
Maybe, Jasmine had a point. No. Never. She should’ve stayed.
My phone rang for the third time.
It was the same unpublished number. The only person who called me
like that was Benny. Was he dialing to gloat? Or offer more threats? I
didn’t know if I could trust Sophia, but I did believe her. Benny would kill
me regardless of Jasmine and I being together or not. None of us could
trust him to be loyal to this agreement.
“Who’s calling you?” Sophia asked.
 “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should pick it up then.” She winked.
We sat in the back of her car, if the vehicle could even be called a
car. It was a black Lincoln town car. It resembled a hearse. In my mind, we
traveled toward a funeral. An old black man drove.
My phone rang again.
I picked it up. “Hello?”
“It’s about damn time,” Troy said.
I sighed. “I thought you were Benny.”
Troy’s voice held an edge. “Why? What’s going on with him?
Sherman texted me something weird today.”
Lucy’s dead body flashed in my head. Hate dotted every one of my
words. “You dropped the ball.”
“Speak English, man. What do you mean I dropped the ball?”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Answer my question first.”
“Is Jasmine with you?” I asked.
Silence hung on the line. Unable to hear the conversation, Sophia
mouthed the words, “Who is it?”
I shook my head and turned the other way. Sophia claimed to be on
my side, but Jasmine kept her at a distance—Troy, too—and that meant
something. I had to watch my back. Any woman that could lay down with
Benny, possessed her own dangers.
“Is she with you?” I asked again. “At least answer that for me.”
“Why the hell would Jasmine be with me?” Troy’s question
interrupted the paranoia swirling around in my head. “I thought you told
me you could keep her safe. What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I said. “She left this morning.”
“Why?”
“I’ve answered your questions. Where are you?”
“I’m where I’m at.” Static coursed through the line. Troy’s voice
came out shaky with each word. “So Jasmine isn’t with you? Where is
she?”
“Gone, and you dropped the ball.”
“What the fuck is the ball? And why are you talking in code?
Someone around?”
“Yes.”
 “Who?”
“I can’t say.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have to explain myself.”
Silence came again. I could almost hear Troy thinking on the other
side. That was how hard the man worked at solving puzzles. When I stood
in front of him and explained a situation, he’d focus his eyes on a center
point in the room and stand there deep in thought. A buzz of something
would hum around him as if he burned huge amounts of energy when he
spent time thinking.
Troy’s voice ended the silence. “You’re speaking in code because
whoever is next to you knows me?”
I didn’t confirm or deny it. He let Lucy die. I owed him nothing.
“Who is it, Chase? Not Benny. You wouldn’t care about talking in
code around him. Not Jazz. You don’t even know where she is. And on
that, how the fuck did you lose my sister, man?”
I remained quiet. Any other time, I had a special love for this man.
Not in a romantic way, but the sort of feelings that tragedy birthed. The
sort that rose between two people that had spent several months escaping
out of hell
He muttered the word, “Motherfucker.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Why did you call?”
“Wait a minute, Rich Boy. Is my sister safe?”
“That’s a tricky question.” That drunken euphoria continued to do its
magic, massaging at my unease. Still, annoyance built at the back of my
neck and made tense knots that couldn’t be rubbed away by soulful hands.
I needed Jasmine.
Would Troy really help me get her back or get in the way? He fucking
got Lucy killed.
“I have no idea where Jasmine is.” I glanced out of the limo’s
window. “My understanding is that she’s probably with family.”
“Family?”
“Do you think most of her family is safe?” I glanced over my
shoulder. Sophia eyed me. I could’ve sworn my flesh burned from the rage
shooting off of her gaze.
“No.”
Interesting. Do you trust your mom?
 Troy took his time with the next question. “So you don’t really want
to say why Jasmine left in front of this person?”
“I don’t think it matters. You’ve lost your usefulness.”
“Watch your mouth, Chase. This is my sister. You told me you could
keep her safe from Benny,” Troy snapped. “She’s not with you. That means
either you fucked up, or Benny got her.”
“I didn’t fuck up. You did.”
“How? Wait a minute. Did you lose my sister to Benny?”
“Do you have any idea where he’s at?”
“Fuck! You lost her to him? That’s not good.”
“You’re a genius.”
“No, man. You don’t understand. I’ve been with Benny for the last
week. He’s insane.”
“How is this news?”
“He’s even more insane. Viv and I left with him and figured we could
watch him better and try to figure out something. Sherman has his eye on
Lucy.”
“I hope not, because that would mean his eye is being buried at the
end of the week.”
“What? Just wait a minute. Let me explain. We were with Benny the
whole time besides four days ago, when he just jumped up out of nowhere
and said he had to handle something. The motherfucker has been gone for
four days, while Viv and I can’t leave.”
“You can’t leave?”
“He kidnapped us, man.”
I shot up in my seat. “Where are you?”
“If I could tell you, I would.”
“You don’t know?”
“I do, but the location doesn’t matter. If Benny thinks you’re on the
way, and we’ll be moved somewhere else. We have to wait this out.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“Naw, man. The fact that you’ve been unable to handle Benny or
Jasmine, doesn’t give me much motivation to say shit to you. Let me see
what happens in the next couple of days, and I might call you. We can
come up with something.”
Rage boiled inside of me. “You say this, after letting Lucy die by that
man’s hands?”
 More silence hung on the line, and then after a minute, Troy spoke,
“Lucy is dead?”
“You were in charge of her—”
“Lucy is dead?”
“Where are you?”
“Chase, I handed Lucy over to Sherman. He was the only man I knew
on this earth that could protect her.”
“That wasn’t part of the plan. All three of you were supposed to be
with her, until I dealt with Benny.”
“Shit changed. Vivian went off on her mission to discover the truth.
She had me do a DNA test. This siblingship thing that checked our blood.
Our DNA were compared to see if we had a common father—”
“Why do I care about any of this? Did you hear what I said? Lucy is
dead. Jasmine is gone.”
“The result was negative.”
“Again, why do I care?”
“We’re not siblings.”
I rubbed my temple. “Where are you?”
“You had people investigate, and all they discovered was a birth
certificate that my mom and Benny signed. That doesn’t mean shit.
Someone’s got their information wrong about Benny being our father. The
results say we’re not related to Vivian. Either Benny isn’t Jasmine and my
dad, or he’s not Viv’s. You get me now?”
I gritted my teeth. “No, where are you?”
“Benny doesn’t know about the test or the results, but if he finds out,
then he’s going to start asking questions. Right now, Jasmine, Viv, and I are
safe. He thinks we’re all his kids. He sees family as important. For now,
there’s safety.”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“What happens if Jasmine isn’t his daughter? Why wouldn’t Benny
kill you both, and me, too? You get me?”
“I got you.”
“Viv doesn’t get it. She’s too happy we may not be related.”
“May not? I thought the test was negative.”
Sophia tilted my way, giving up all pretense that she wasn’t trying to
spy on my conversation.
 Troy continued. “The doctor would’ve preferred getting samples
from either both of our mothers or fathers. But yeah, he’s pretty damn sure
we’re not related at all. Which means somebody has been lying to Benny.
Viv’s mother is dead, so I hope it is her.”
“And your mom?” I checked Sophia again. She’d inched closer.
“Mom lies. I wouldn’t be shocked.”
“So you think that person is not to be trusted?”
“Who?”
“The one we were talking about?”
“My mom?”
“Yes.”
“Odds don’t look good in our favor.”
“Why not?”
Sophia tapped my leg hard and mouthed, “Who is that?”
I raised my hand to silence her.
“Why not?” I asked again.
Annoyance laced Troy’s voice. “I don’t have time to talk about my
mother issues with you. We have to kill Benny.”
“How is that different from our plan earlier, when I asked you to
protect Lucy?”
“That’s what I don’t like, Rich Boy. That shit right there. How the
hell did Lucy get killed? Where’s Sherman? He’s texting me shit like he’s
sorry, but never said why he was sorry. Now I know. He let Lucy die, but
why? It makes me real uncomfortable. Sherman gave me his word. He
takes that shit seriously, when it comes to his brothers. If he fucked me on
this, then there’s only one person that could have gotten in his head.”
More static rushed through the line.
“Who?” I asked.
And then the call ended.
“Fuck.” I shut the phone off.
Sophia’s words came out harsh with no chaser. “Who was that?”
“Why?”
Her words sliced in the air and made my skin shiver. “I don’t like
questions for my answers. Don’t do that again. Who was that?”
I’m starting to get tired of people treating me like I’m the one that
doesn’t give out the orders.
“Who was it?” Sophia asked again.
 Benny had somehow kidnapped Troy and Vivian. I don’t even
understand what that meant. Kidnapped them how? Was he locking them
up in a house or just keeping a close eye on them? Was he taking Jasmine
to them? Would she be surrounded by their love and safety until I got
there?
I’m going to kill you, Benny. I wasn’t born to be a murderer, but I’ll
die one, just for you. I shot Wendy out of sorrow. I don’t count that. But for
you … for you, I’ll take on the guilt of your death. I’ll dance in your blood.
“Who was on the phone?” Sophia snapped her fingers in front of me,
a move that I did a lot. A move that I’d done with Jasmine several months
ago, when she sat in my office in shock that I’d been asking her the most
intrusive interview questions known to the job process. I’d thought I was
in control that day, figured I could command Jasmine just because she
trembled in her chair, in front of me.
In the end, she trapped me.
Caged my heart and wouldn’t let it go.
Had me bobbing around like a puppet with dangling legs.
How I miss my little puppet master. Damn you, tesoro.
“Chase, do you hear me?” Sophia asked again, and anger boiled
inside of my chest.
Leave me alone. I’m thinking about her.
I swallowed some of the cognac I’d brought with me. “Don’t make
me do this, Sophia. Let’s just pretend there wasn’t a phone call. I’m a bit
on edge, and getting rather drunk. My manners left on the second glass.
Don’t make me do this.”
“Do what?”
“Put you in your place.”
“Excuse me?” She raised her arched eyebrows.
“You don’t ask me questions. I ask you. I have several bills that I pay
that prove that sad fact. I’m looking for Jasmine. You can help me. My
phone calls are not something I’m going to discuss. So far, my childhood
friend died while in the care of your family. I’m not sure who to trust
outside of Jasmine.”
“Put me in my place?”
I finished the glass.
“I’m Jasmine’s mother. I’m just as nervous about her future.”
 I didn’t buy it. I couldn’t point to the reason. Maybe, she lacked that
thing that made mothers appear mournful. She’d lived a hard life. Most
ghettos carved out hollow tunnels in people’s hearts. Perhaps, she just
didn’t understand how to show a mother’s love, but it still could have lived
inside of her, growing with each second that Jasmine remained with
Benny.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Sorry isn’t important to me. You pay my bills. That’s fine. But you
mentioned me on that phone call. Who was it?”
She’s even more determined to get her way than Jasmine.
“Not many people would understand the things I heard you say. Only
a small list. It wasn’t Jasmine.” She twisted her lips in annoyance.
“Must’ve been Troy. What did my sweet boy say about me?”
No wonder Jasmine said hell no to a big family Thanksgiving party
this year.
I decided to change the subject. “Why are we going to Benny’s
garden?”
“It’s where all of his notes and journals are. He writes everything
down there. It’s not actually a garden. He just calls it that.”
“Why?”
“Because he grows things there.”
“What?”
“You’ll see.”
“I’m thinking it’s not flowers.”
“No, much worse.” She crossed her legs. “Did you get ownership of
the building like I asked?”
“Yes. The whole project development is owned by me.”
“That was quick. It barely took us ten minutes to leave your house
and get in the car.”
“Anything is possible with money. Sometimes it’s just a phone call.”
“Ain’t that the damn truth.” She snorted. “So we’ll be walking into
your building, huh?”
“Pretty much. The manager will meet us there with the keys to his
apartment.”
“It’s the penthouse. We all say that as a joke. Benny’s the only white
man that would rent out a whole floor in the hood and then sit up in there
like he’s living in luxury.”
 “I didn’t know he lived there.”
“Just one of his many places. He’s got a bunch of safe spots.
Apartments, condos, and homes all over the world. Something is in each of
them. I’ve been to a few in the US. He’s got at least ten passports. Several
ID cards. Those will be in the penthouse. If not the actual documents, then
you’ll find a list with the names. That will help us get a hold of where he
is going. We get the names he’s using with Jasmine, then we’ll have his
movements through his credit cards.”
“Why would he keep stuff like that up there?”
“Because no one in South End messes with Benny. Anybody
intending on robbing the penthouse, would have to be ready for war. Benny
doesn’t play fair. Something is missing in his head. His penthouse is
probably the safest place on earth. And who would think that a man with
all of these resources would be hiding things deep in the hood of a small
city?”
“That makes sense.”
“In fact, you’re the only person I know that would go up against him
like this. He has ears everywhere. He may not know you bought the
building now, but he’ll find out by this evening. Let’s just hope we’re on a
plane somewhere and out of sight, when he figures it out.”
I laughed. “No. I’ve got a better idea.”
“What?”
I turned on my phone. “After we get what we need, I’ll hold a press
conference. Chase Stone’s redevelopment of South End.”
“No, now you’re just poking the dragon.”
“He has Jasmine. Maybe the dragon needs to be stabbed.”
“You’re babysitting your emotions. Let them go.”
I searched for more cognac and realized I’d left the bottle at the
condo. My words had become slurred, but I still needed more. “I’m not
babysitting anything.”
“With Benny, you need to think smart. Getting mad and bold won’t
do shit, but get you killed. Just follow me. Keep the buyout a secret. Let
him find out on his own. Give us a head start.”
“Us?”
“This is my daughter. Where you go, I go. If you leave the country,
then I’ll follow.”
“That wasn’t the plan.”
 “I’m coming, whether you decide to put me in my place or not.
Anywhere you go to find my daughter, I will.”
“Then I’m going to need more cognac.”
Grinning, she winked again. “Make that two bottles please.”
In no time, we entered South End.
Christ.
When I’d met Jasmine, she stayed with Vivian in a small town called
Knightson, ten minutes outside of Oshane City. It was so small it only had
two stop lights. Lots of hippies walked the streets, holding baskets of fresh
fruit and radiating the scent of weed. The rest were middle class families
who commuted to their jobs in the city.
Knightson provided an easy and relaxed living compared to the fast-
paced life of Oshane City. No one bothered anyone, and if they did it was
to help in some way.
One couldn’t get lost in a place like this. With one quick look, I was
confident the driver would do an immediate U-turn.
Dark clouds hovered above. Cracks dotted the pavement. Ragged
weeds grew between the gaps. Shattered glass covered the ground. Broken
fences outlined homes that could only be compared to shacks—the wood
appeared worn, windows barred, doors hung slanted on tattered hinges, and
even ceilings sank at the edges.
Was it some illusion? There was no way people actually lived like
this. Animals slept in better cages.
Where sharp things didn’t lay, trash did—crumbled cigarette packs
and wrinkled foil with bones sticking out of them. Styrofoam containers
rolled in the wind. Several yellow-stained diapers piled the beginning of
an alley like the city designated the space for Pampers disposal. Where
hope could’ve grown, drugs stifled the faith. Dirty, young kids hung on the
corner. Some wore no shirts, even though a small chill hung in the
morning air.
Where are their mothers and fathers? Why are they out so early?
I rolled the window down. A burned-food stench filled the car.
Maybe someone had over-cooked a meal. Two kids sat next to a table. A
for sale sign leaned against the front. Tons of knick knacks lay on top.
Mainly socks.
“You probably should put your window back up,” Sophia offered.
“They don’t like strangers.”
 A few older men and women sat in chairs in front of opened
doorways. They didn’t seem to be up to no good. Rage radiated from them
as they glared at the car. But, it could’ve been who sat in the vehicle—
Sophia or me. I doubt they appreciated a rich man coming through to
flaunt his worth, and from what I’d heard from Jasmine, her family had
made a menacing name in these streets with blood and violence.
I rolled the window back up. “Do you miss this place?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“Just wondering.”
“Would you miss it here?”
“No, but my kids didn’t run this area.”
“That’s what Jasmine told you, that we controlled the block?”
“Something like that.”
“My sons did some things, but they’re all good boys. We’re out of
here now, so there’s no need to bring the past back up.”
“That’s fair.”
A few people eyed Sophia’s town car, and then quickly turned away
as if understanding who rode inside and not wanting to gain the woman’s
attention.
Maybe I’m imagining this, but everyone looks like they’re afraid of
this car. I am pretty drunk.
Farther down the road, five huge guys stood up and glared at us. The
temperature rose in the car. Sophia laughed and brushed something off her
shoulder.
We continued. With each foot farther inside the area, the air
thickened. Breathing came hard. Less than three minutes in this place, and
I already wanted to get out of here.
How the hell did you last here for so long, Jasmine?
Two young girls strolled in front of a liquor store. They couldn’t
have been more than teens, but their clothes represented adults—bright
green, sequined shorts displayed the bottom of their behinds, red tube tops
hugged their tiny breasts, and surely those were huge blonde wigs on top
of their heads. Pink powder coated their eyes as if they shared the same
make-up compact. An old guy stumbled over to one of them, holding a
brown bag in his hand, probably filled with a bottle. His mouth moved for
a few seconds. They both laughed. As the town car moved along, I glanced
over my shoulder to see what would happen. Both girls disappeared with
the man in the alley.
None of this is right. How the hell is all of this going on?
Sophia’s voice ripped through the silence. “What do you think of
South End?”
“I’m not happy. I knew it was bad here, but not this bad.”
She tossed me a skeptical look. “How did you know it was bad?”
“Every now and then I’ve read articles.”
“Newspapers only print the stuff that helps them sell.”
“So you’re saying it’s not all bad?”
“No, I’m saying that its worse. No one cares about blacks killing
blacks. You’ll never read about that. Girls getting raped and boys being
beaten until they have no soul, you’ll never see that on the news. What
sells is black people murdering white cops, and vice versa.”
More scantily-dressed girls decorated the next corner.
I turned away. “How old are they?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Do the cops know?”
“Most of them are paid off. The few good ones are scared to get
killed by the dirty cops.”
Rage filled me. “Someone has to clean this place up.”
Jasmine’s face flashed in my head. I grabbed on to that image and
held it close to me, scared her beauty would fly. In my mind, we stood
together, in the middle of South End, cutting a ribbon for some grand
opening to a solution. Whatever South End needed to heal, Jasmine could
figure it out. She’d lived here, been hurt in the streets, terrified at night,
and ready to flee, when she’d earned a full scholarship to Harvard. In my
background investigation of her before we dated, I learned that Jasmine
volunteered in South End all the time—from assisting with the day care at
the neighborhood’s Baptist church to the Help Clean Up South End
program held every summer.
“Who would care?” Sophia asked.
“Jasmine cares,” I said.
“Jasmine?” Sophia smirked. “Soon as she got that fancy degree, she
stopped coming by to visit.”
“My understanding was that she gave you money and came by all the
time to pay your utility bill.”
 “She did, but she always said she was too busy to stay.”
“When I met her, she was looking for a job, probably to help you and
your family some more.”
“Well thank God she found something else.”
“What?”
“A rich man.”
Unease sat in my gut.
The town car slowed down which didn’t comfort me at all. I’d
forgotten that we were even going to get out and walk around. Not even
the security team riding behind us could comfort me.
“Does Benny have people here?” I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
“Benny has people everywhere. Knowing him, your cook or maid
probably works for him. You shouldn’t trust no one, but me.”
“I only trust Jasmine.”
“Sounds like a lonely life.”
“We’ll see.”
The car parked right in front of a huge building. It must’ve been at
least twenty floors high. Four other buildings towered over us.
“You’re now in the heart of South End,” Sophia announced. “You
know what they call these projects?”
“No.”
“The Chops. Can you guess why?” She grinned.
“No.”
“When you chop something, you cut into it hard with repeated blows.
That’s what these buildings do to people. They scar them, keep them
bleeding on the inside. The Chops.”
“Sounds bright and sunny.” As I opened the door, I forced myself to
appear braver than I felt. “You should write travel logs.”
Her harsh laughter roared behind me, and the rough odor of South
End seeped into my skin and clogged my lungs with sickness. Police sirens
blared around me.
Above my head, a mother poked her head out the window and
screamed for her son. Curlers hung from her head. “Tyrone, get your tired
ass in here! Don’t make me come down there and get you!”
The woman began to yell something else, and then paused when she
spotted me. In fact, things quieted all around as more and more people
focused their gazes on mine.
 Whispers rode the chilly breeze. I caught Jasmine’s name a few
times. A few others murmured the name Finderella. People began to crowd
around, yet a good distance remained between them and me. Others
opened their windows and peered down. Chatter rose. Kids pointed.
More and more, the word Finderella carried on the breeze.
And then Sophia got out of the car and stepped to my side. Quiet
stilled the air. No one else had anything to say or whisper.
I turned to Sophia. “Who’s Finderella?”
“That’s what they call Jasmine. A fake ass Cinderella.” She scanned
the crowd and gave a wicked smile. “I bet they won’t say it while I’m out
here.”
She paused as if waiting for someone to murmur the name.
Silence continued.
“Good. They don’t want it. And I don’t have the time to give it to
them.” She chuckled to herself and nudged my arm. “Ready?”
I scanned the angry faces. “Why do they look so mad?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really?”
“Because you’re rich and they’re poor.” She tossed her wavy hair
over her shoulders. “Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“You look a bit sick there, Chase. Did you eat something before we
left?”
I wiped my mouth. My throat was dry, my tongue numb from the
liquor. “No, I didn’t eat anything.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Then you won’t throw up when you walk into Benny’s garden.”
 CHAPTER 8

Jasmine
Rain battered against the Rolls Royce’s polished surface. The weather fit
my mood—dark and gloomy with no chance of sunshine.
Riding with Benny equated to waiting on an AIDS test result. I
prayed for a good result, but sometimes life bowled tough balls that
knocked down all the pins. In fact, I symbolized one of those sad little pins
that death barreled down every day.
We turned onto a new road. The sign read Bishops Avenue. This is
where we are going? How could Chase not find us in this place? Luxury
lived here. Not one house existed on the long road, just mansions with
large gates outlining the massive estates. Each one held at least a dozen
windows. Tall, white columns marked most of the front entrances.
Splendid architecture, some traditional, others modern. Usually, six to
seven shiny cars parked out in front. Skeletal trees towered over
magnificent beauties made from stone.
I turned to Benny. “Are we almost there? Because this can’t be the
place.”
“It is. Welcome to Billionaire’s Row. The nickname used to be
Millionaire’s Row, but it got upgraded when the property values
skyrocketed. Most owners are royalty from Saudi Arabia who were fleeing
Saddam Hussein, newspaper barons and others who were too rich for their
own good.”
“And you can afford a place here?”
“A good Middle Eastern friend of mine can afford it. I’m just house
sitting.”
And then the road shifted from extravagance to abandonment. For
some reason, the rich bricked-wonders shifted to still grand mansions, yet
warnings signs and over-grown lawns, beware pictures of patrolling dogs
and chains twisted around gate entrances. A few mansions boasted boarded
up windows as if they sat in the hood. Brown and green smudges stained
many of these columns. Wild vines wound around the tops of massive
roofs and grew along the second level’s windows. Brown leaves stuck out
from muddy patches on the estates that held vacant parking spaces.
“These properties are worth billions.”
Fascinated, I leaned against the window. “Not all of these homes can
be worth that much.”
“Trust me. They are. Half of these mansions are empty. And most are
in disarray.”
The car pulled into one of the properties. Two guards, who held
umbrellas, stood at the gates and wore all black, except for the bright
yellow plastic vests that said security. The two men undid a huge chain and
slid the gate open.
We rolled down a bumpy gray pathway. I squinted to see the place
through the rain. Besides the two men, I couldn’t believe that anyone else
lived here. The mansion looked abandoned.
Another man walked out of the blur of rain with a big umbrella. The
car stopped right next to him, and he opened my side of the door.
“Welcome, Ms. Montgomery.” He held the umbrella over me as I
stepped out.
“Go ahead inside, Jasmine.” Benny gestured behind him. “I have
some things to discuss with them.”
“O-kay.” I glanced at the dwindling estates. “Are Troy and Vivian
already inside?”
“Yes, but on the east wing. Just go inside and wait for me. Don’t
walk any farther. There are holes and Mother Earth’s booby traps all
around. I’ve stayed here a few times. I know how to get through the house
without injuring myself. I’ll escort you, when I’m done.”
“Okay.” I remained under the guard’s umbrella as he step-by-step
guided me up the ragged steps and toward the entrance.
The tall, double doors screeched as he opened them. “Here you go,
Ms. Montgomery.”
“Thank you.”
I walked through what could only be described as a haunted mansion.
Ruin dominated the foyer—cracked tiles and decayed wood lay
scattered all over the place.
 No matter who’d started the battle, nature had won. Plants grew out
of the floors. Water dripped in long lines from the ceiling. Vines, ferns,
and other vegetation grew from the staircase in front of me. Branches and
mold sprouted out of paint-cracked walls. Black dirt smudged the floors,
along with puddles of thick, bubbling mud. The staircase’s ivory bars and
intricate design of swirls and flowers had rusted through years of neglect.
Bat, or maybe bird droppings coated the steps. Rotted skeletal bodies of
birds littered everywhere else.
I held my hand up to my nose to hide from the stench.
The man closed the umbrella. “I find it easier to breathe from my
mouth when I’m in this area.”
“It only smells this bad here?”
“Yes. Where we all live, it’s rather nice.”
“The east wing?”
“That’s correct.”
“The guards stay there with us?”
“Yes.”
Footsteps sounded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder.
Benny barreled in with two duffle bags over both arms. “What do
you think?”
“So far, London is rain and old things.”
“Some would agree.” He signaled for me to follow. “Walk behind
me. Don’t take a step off the path I travel on.”
“Excuse me?”
“There might be a hole or something.” He headed up the stairs. With
each step, creaking boomed.
I stayed right where I was.
Benny paused and looked down at me. “Are you coming?”
“Those stairs aren’t safe.”
“Come on, before I carry you up.”
“This place is a housing violation.”
“This place is worth over 65 million pounds. I’m sure the owner will
manage.”
“How can it be worth so much?”
“The address is one of the most expensive places to live in the world,
ranking right next to places like Rodeo Drive, Fifth Avenue, and Wall
Street. Even places like Hong Kong’s Pollack’s Path or Geneva’s Rue
Bellot.”
“Besides the American cities, I’ve never heard of the others.”
“Regardless, you should be impressed. Come on.”
I stepped over a small, dead carcass. It was either a bird or
something else. There was no fur, just bones. “I am not impressed.”
“You’ll like the east wing.”
I doubt it.
It took us twenty minutes to get to it. We passed more grotesque
neglect—a big bathroom with brown gunk in the tub, toilet, and bidet, a
tree in the middle of a study and giant pile of wet books, and bedroom
after bedroom of spider webs and ghostly presence.
“Can you no longer afford a hotel?” I asked.
“This is one of many places where Chase couldn’t find us.”
“I believe you. I doubt he would guess that we were hiding in an
abandoned mansion on Billionaire’s Row.”
And then suddenly, decay transformed into posh living. Boarded
windows shifted to shiny glass openings.
“Here’s the east wing.”
“Figures.”
“The windows are bulletproof,” Benny said.
“Thanks, that was a major concern for me, bulletproof windows.”
“Are you going to be a smart ass the whole trip?”
“By trip do you mean the threatening kidnapping venture that you’ve
dragged me on, after bullying the man that I love?”
“Yes, I like to say trip to keep it short.”
“Trip does roll off the tongue easier.”
Everything was different on the east wing. Dented floors with holes
and mud changed to rich, black carpet that led to double mahogany doors.
A spicy aroma rushed by as Benny pushed through the doors. Open space
greeted my eyes—high ceilings and milky white walls that had to be
freshly painted.
Before I could walk any farther, I paused and stared at the floor. It
was carefully fitted pieces of thin wood that formed into images of little
flowers. The craftsperson had used a variety of colors and grains, from
maple to walnut, ash to mahogany.
Benny pointed to where I gazed. “Those are art mosaic panels.”
 “That’s probably the best thing I’ve seen in the entire place.”
“Keep looking.”
I scanned the rest of the wing. Surprisingly, a modern vibe flowed
through the space. A kitchen opened up where a tiny woman stirred
something luscious in the pot. Steam rose. The red liquid bubbled, and that
same spicy aroma filled the air. Bookshelves and a space with couches and
chairs sat on my right. On my left, a closed door.
“That’s my bedroom.” Benny pointed. “Yours is the fourth one at the
end of the hallway. And those two are—”
Both doors opened. A streak of blonde hair surged out and attacked
me.
Vivian.
I almost fell back. “Hey!”
“How the hell did you get here?” She hugged me so tight I thought
I’d be unable to use my lungs.
Troy’s voice boomed from behind her. “Hey Jazz.”
“Ehen Triy,” I mumbled.
“Let her go, Viv,” Troy laughed. “She can’t talk.”
Vivian did, but not before planting a kiss on my cheek.
All right. Somebody really missed me.
Troy turned to Benny. “How did Jazz end up on Billionaire’s Row?”
“I thought this would be a good trip for all of us,” Benny replied.
Troy rolled his eyes. “So you threatened her, like you did us?”
“What threats?” I asked.
Troy leaned against the wall, his huge frame taking up most of the
space.
We both had the same hazel eyes and pointed nose, but that was
where our resemblance ended. When we were kids I’d joked that he not
only took up the whole womb with his huge frame, but he’d sucked up the
entire gorgeous gene. When he smiled his cheeks lifted with perfection,
full lips bloomed, and every woman within a ten foot radius drooled.
Troy flashed flawless teeth and crossed tattooed arms over his chest.
“Well, more like he drugged us, and we woke up here, and then when we
tried to leave—”
Benny held up his hands. “Let’s give Jasmine some space so she can
get used to her new surroundings. Later, we can play the game you all so
love, Blame It on Benny.”
 Troy got up from the wall. “When can we leave?”
“In a week.” Benny headed back to the door he’d pointed out as his
room. “Just give me a week, and I’ll give you three all a plane ticket to
wherever you want to go.”
“You said that last week,” Vivian countered.
“Now, Jasmine is here. The countdown starts over.” Benny shrugged.
“You can’t do that,” Vivian said.
Benny raised his eyebrows. “I can’t?”
Troy and I didn’t respond, while Vivian continued to go back and
forth with him.
It almost reminded me of old times. She’d always had the balls to
yell back at him. Granted, he’d only been her dad, while Troy and I had
just been grateful to be in their lives. Now things were different. We sort
of had the right to argue with him, too. However, we understood the
monster inside of him. Vivian had only learned about it months ago.
Perhaps, she’d forgotten, or maybe hadn’t truly come to grips with it all,
because she wagged her hands around and yelled out several insults,
before he escaped into his room and slammed the door.
She turned to me. “He can’t do this to us. He can’t just make us stay
here. You know that, right?”
Tired of the long journey and still down about Chase, I blurted,
“Then why are you here? If he can’t do that, then leave.”
She parted her lips, but no words came out.
Troy opened his door and waved for me to come in. “Jazz, let me
speak to you for a minute.”
“I’m coming,” Vivian offered.
“No.” Troy shook his head. “This will be quick.”
Viv’s angry expression faltered. “What the fuck? We’re all in this
together.”
“Just give us a minute, Viv.”
“Why?” she asked.
I yawned. “How about when you both figure it out, you all come to
my room.”
“Really, Jazz?” Troy grabbed my arm and escorted me into his
bedroom. “I know you’re pissed over Rich Boy, but don’t take it out on
us.”
 I reluctantly walked in, not caring what Troy had to say. Whatever
plan he had, I wouldn’t try it until I was sure Chase was safe. Once some
time had passed, and Benny had taken the target off of him, then I’d be
ready to do whatever it took to get rid of Benny.
Can I even hurt that man? God, is there another way?
“What about Chase?” Shock passed over Vivian’s face. “What the
hell is going on?”
“The less you know the better.” Troy shut the door behind him.
“Come in my room, Jazz.”
I checked out his room. The walls were white, the ceiling black and
full of silver stars done in various constellations. I couldn’t guess them all
like Troy could, but I spotted Orion, the hunter. The long rectangle of four
bright stars represented his shoulders and knees. A diagonal line of stars
belted him in the middle. Three stars hung from his belt and served as the
sword. A triangle of stars formed his head while his right arm raised a club
and the other pointed a shield toward Taurus the Bull. Although Troy
claimed it wasn’t a shield, but lion’s skin.
“Who painted the ceiling?” I faced Troy. “Benny?”
“Naw, Viv. It gives her an excuse to be in my room.” He tried to
display annoyance, but the lie radiated from his eyes. He loved her
attention. “We need to talk about her.”
I walked over to his huge king-sized bed, covered in a blanket of
green and yellow triangles. “What’s up with the décor?”
“Who cares, Jazz? This isn’t our home. Why are you here, anyway?”
I sat down on the bed. “Benny killed Lucy.”
He flinched, but it wasn’t in surprise. Troy could lie with a straight
face, but when guilt flowed inside of him, it radiate from his face—his
eyes blinked several times like something was in them.
“That’s not an answer,” he said.
“Did you know Lucy was dead?”
“Chase told me.”
My body tensed at the name. Pain bloomed in my heart and I just
wanted that damn response to stop. “When did you talk to him?”
“Yesterday morning.”
I bit my lip. “How … how did he sound?”
“Like a drunk lunatic.”
I blew out a long breath. “Was he—”
 “Get off of Rich Boy for a minute. I need you to focus. Why did you
leave?”
“Benny threatened to kill more of the people around us, if Chase and
I continued to be together.”
He snorted. “So you sacrificed yourself for the greater good?”
Ignoring him, I laid back in the bed.
Troy plopped down next to me. The bed shook under his big body.
“Benny will probably still kill him.”
I didn’t even want to think of that. “Benny promised he wouldn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean shit.”
“He promised.”
“I’ve lived with murderers in jail. One thing I know for sure, none of
them can be trusted. The ones that make death their living, their income,
those guys have their own belief system, and when things get shady, they
bend those beliefs.”
“You’re always so optimistic.” I opened my eyes and rose from the
bed, just ready to hide in my room until a week had gone by.
Grabbing my arm, Troy lowered his voice. “We’re going to have to
take care of this.”
I didn’t ask what he was saying. Troy probably had a clear plan. The
fact that he didn’t reveal it in his strained whisper, confirmed what I
already figured about Benny’s vacation home. My sick father had probably
embedded microphones and video equipment in all the ceilings. I’d been
around Chase enough to understand how rich men loved to invade others’
privacy.
“Regardless,” I frowned, “I just need some time.”
He lowered his voice even more and his hands shivered against my
arm. “We don’t have it.”
“Why not?”
“Remember that language we made up when we were kids?”
“What?”
“You know? Remember that big tree out by the dumpsters that you
would point at and say that fairies lived in the trunk and that you could
speak to them? And then you made up this whole alphabet and a bunch of
phrases.”
“The Igboo language. We’re stuck in a rotting mansion, and you’re
asking me about a made-up fairy language.”
 “Do you remember any of it?”
“No, I was eight.” I eyed him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me this
language was a part of your big plan. Are you smoking weed?”
He frowned. “Yes, but that’s not the point.”
“It definitely is the point. Why the hell would I even remember that?
How do you remember that?”
“Sometimes in juvie or even … you know? Sometimes I had nothing
but time to think about shit. I remember the language.”
“Good for you. Be sure to put it on your résumé.”
“Do you remember the term for sister?”
“We were kids, Troy. Why the hell would I remember how to speak
that made-up craziness?”
“Fine. You’re in a bad mood. I’ll leave you alone.” He let go of my
arm and nodded toward the lamps and ceilings. “Yeah. Well, we need a
way to talk to each other, without so many eyes and ears.”
“Speaking of eyes and ears.” I forced myself to deal with the one
thing I just had no energy to work on. “Those late-nights visits by our
sister should stop.”
He turned away. “We should talk about that, too.”
“No, we shouldn’t.”
“It’s all connected.”
“Your sex life is not my—”
“We’re not having sex, Jazz.”
“Then why is she in here in the middle of the night?”
“We cuddle,” he mumbled.
“Excuse me?” I laughed. “Could you say that a bit louder?”
“Shut up. You heard me.”
“Stop cuddling with your sister.”
“Very funny, Jazz.”
I got up.
He came closer, grabbed me, and whispered quick in my ear, “She’s
not our sister.”
I looked at him, and he backed away. “Says who?”
“Tests.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty much.”
 How is this going to change things? Viv’s not my sister? Which one of
us is related to Benny?
“We really need to talk,” he said.
Pretend like he didn’t say anything. Just in case there are cameras
recording us.
“Yes we do.” I made a show of stretching.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want to deal with the situation. It was more
that heartbreak hovered over me like a dark, gray cloud, threatening to rain
down all over everything I’d planned. Any conversation that Troy
desperately hoped to have with me, would be some stuff that I couldn’t
wrap my head around. Because in the end, every path would end with
murdering Benny. How could it not? He’d taken lives, and ruined ours.
Now, he kept us close to him as if we were little kids, or even worse, his
pets.
Benny had never been this bad. He kept a close eye on Vivian back in
the day, but never serial killer focused. Now that Chase had revealed the
true Benny to all of us, there was no need for my father to pretend. Benny
had owned it all—his love for torture, his need to dominate with violent
bullying, and his not so stable mental will.
I headed away.
Troy’s voice sounded behind me. “Tomorrow, Viv is dragging me to
do the tourist thing.”
“Sounds great. You both take pictures.” I got to the door.
“We’re going all through Royal London.”
“Yippee. I don’t know what that means, but have a ball.”
“You should come.”
I grabbed the knob. “I just want to eat, drink, masturbate, and
smoke.”
“You could’ve left the masturbate part out. Come do Royal London
with us.”
“I just told you my list of to do things for this week.”
“Besides the masturbation, there will be plenty of the other stuff
available. We are going with Viv. You know how she does.” He cleared his
throat. “You really, really should come with us.”
Alrighty. Apparently, Troy is planning something and doing the tour
is going to somehow move it along. Do I even want to know what this is?
Let’s hope it is good.
 “I’ll go.” I glanced over my shoulder. “But if I’m too drunk to walk
by the afternoon, will you be carrying me home?”
“Don’t I always?”
“What the hell is Royal London?”
“Buckingham Palace and some other stuff. Viv said this area is called
that because Queen Elizabeth II takes her route—”
“Blah, blah. Just have some weed and food around me.”
Troy shook his head. “God, I hate dealing with broken-hearted Jazz.
She’s so rude.”
I flipped him off and left.
“Such a lady.”
“Blow me, Troy.”
“I’ve already got one sister begging for it, I don’t need another one.”
I yawned. “You’re such a gentleman, using incest humor during a
very heartfelt family reunion.”
 CHAPTER 9

Chase
Sophia and I entered the first building. No one followed besides my five
guards. They kept their guns in their holsters and their gaze on the crowd
with each step. Tension thickened in the air. Only the squeaking of the door
and our footsteps sounded in the air. The rest remained hushed.
I glanced at Sophia. She’d placed her glasses on her face—
tortoiseshell frames with gold plated metal and rose-tinted lenses. Those
aren’t cheap. Is she getting other income besides the budget I gave her?
I’d seen Lucy buy a similar pair. She had a thing for tortoise shell.
As she strolled next to me, the crowd of angry faces flashed along
her glasses. A huge smile spread across her face. She laughed, long and
loud as if she was sauntering into a party held for her.
Are these faces really for me? Or are they actually for her?
If it was her, part of me wondered what she’d done to be so despised.
The rest hated them and yearned to shoot them all down if they said
anything disrespectful. In the end, Sophia birthed Jasmine. They would
have respect for her mother, whether she deserved it or not.
Inside the building’s lobby, tiny doors to mailboxes decorated both
walls. A few people opened the little, metal doors as we approached.
Two elevators stood in front of us, big metal green ones with a tiny
windows in the center of each. Rust outlined the edges. The up and down
buttons sat on the side with most of them cracked or burned. An out of
order sign hung on the right one. I pressed the button for the left. The
fractured surface scraped against my skin.
Rap music blared from an apartment near the elevators. The beat hit
hard. I couldn’t help but move my head a little. Maybe it was the liquor.
“Hustle hard like a criminal, hungry and homeless.” The bass
boomed with the man’s voice. “Robin hood. Steal from the rich and give to
the hopeless.”
A chuckle came from my side. I turned to Sophia as she laughed
some more.
“Stay ten steps ahead of the game, I’m focused. Dumbledore to these
bitches. Hocus pocus.”
I nodded to the beat. “Apparently, he’s a Harry Potter fan.”
She lowered her sunglasses and winked at me. “Aren’t we all?”
Well, this morning is going great. Mom and I are bonding. Maybe a
rainbow will appear and a unicorn will take a shit on my shoes.
It was difficult not to get even more enraged. Benny had Jasmine;
he’d forced his will into my life. And her mother stood on my side,
enjoying herself. Even worse, I had to walk with the woman, and go up to
sick bastard’s apartment, all to get Jasmine back.
The angry rapper continued, “Mutilate genitals, until the blood flow
quit, murderer of the rap game. Every song is a hit.”
“So apparently, this song is more of a résumé,” I said.
“Hip hop used to be about stories, now they’re just bragging.”
“Wouldn’t know. My ears have always remained in a capsule. I can’t
seem to get away from 60’s and 70’s music.”
“Revolution, soul music, and the flower movement.”
“Good times.” I checked my watch. “These elevators are pretty
slow.”
Sophia giggled again.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
She pointed to the out of order sign. “I’ve grew up in the Chops all
my life, and I don’t think this elevator ever worked. We’re going to have
to walk part of the way to Benny’s spot.”
“Why’s that?”
“These elevators are skip-step.”
I checked behind the guards. Some of the people from outside now
stared at us through the front entrance. Two young boys kept the doors
open. More men had arrived. They didn’t look like friends.
Five guards. Five guns. That’s a lot of people out there. They can
come in here right now, and we wouldn’t all make it out of here alive.
“Look at the elevator, Chase, not behind you at them. Don’t make
them think you’re scared. That’s why they’re lurking like that. They think
you’re shook. You’re not shook, right?”
 I faced the elevators. “No, but I’m not stupid either.”
“You’ve never had to pretend, huh?”
“Pretend?”
“Yeah, pretend you’re not who you say you are.” She shook her head.
“No wonder my daughter loves you. You say you’re the boss, and you are
the boss.”
“I am.”
“Are you the boss?”
“What?”
“Are you?”
I pressed the button again. “Yes.”
“Good. Then act like it. Bosses don’t look back. They keep their eyes
forward. Fuck these people.” She laughed again.
I placed my hands in my pocket. “When in Rome.”
“That’s right. When in Rome. Now back to the elevators. They’re
skip-step. This one only goes to the even floors. The broken elevator goes
to the odd. Benny’s apartment is on the top floor, eleventh. We’ll have to
stop at ten and then walk up.”
“Okay.”
She giggled. “I would cover my nose, while walking through the
stairwell.”
“Sounds great.”
“What’s wrong, Chase? You’re not enjoying your field trip to the
hood?”
A low buzz came, and then a beep. The doors slid open with a ragged
boom.
Jasmine, I am getting on a death trap for you. What did you put
inside your pussy to make me go into insane?
Sophia stepped on.
Not happy at all, I followed in behind her.
She grinned. “Let the adventure begin.”
We said nothing else. Her behavior put me off. She grinned too much
for me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that from the very
beginning she never played the worried and distraught mother. But if she
had, it would’ve probably been too fake. In my dealings with Sophia, she’d
appeared heartless and about her money, the complete opposite of Jasmine.
 That’s why you hate me trying to take care of you, huh? How many
men have you watched your mother take from? How was Sophia able to
control Benny for so long? Did she have power over him? How can we use
it against him?
Sophia took the glasses off her eyes and propped them on top of her
head. “You’re thinking real hard over there.”
“I have a lot on my mind.”
“Just remember, stay focused.”
“And what should I be focused on, Sophia?”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“Everyone has an agenda.”
“That’s correct.” She nodded. “So what’s mine?”
The elevator doors opened to the tenth floor. I stepped off. “You want
Benny dead.”
“That’s right.”
I let her get in the front as she led us to the stairs, not even shocked
that several men stood outside of their doors and glared. I was sure the
whole building knew we were in there, and exactly where we were headed.
Benny would know by the time I left. We had to hurry.
We entered the stairwell. Graffiti marked the walls, more scribblings
and symbols, versus actual street art. Trash littered the steps. The rank
odor of feces and urine lingered, no matter how much I covered my nose
and sped up. Down below, a little girl screamed over and over for a few
seconds.
The guards and I stopped as Sophia continued.
“What was that?” I asked.
The noise stopped.
“Who knows?” she said.
I leaned over the edge and swore I spotted a face staring up and then
disappeared. “Somebody’s down there.”
“Most likely. This is a stairwell.”
“A girl just screamed.”
She sighed. “I heard. In the Chops, you mind your business.”
“A little girl just screamed.”
“Do you know how much you would be running around here, if you
heard a kid scream? Sometimes it’s serious. Sometimes they’re in danger.
And then most of the time, it’s a bunch of dumb ass kids yelling for fun.
When I had my first two boys, I must’ve ran toward howling kids every
damn day. After a while, I stopped. I was already busy with my own,
making sure no one shot them by accident as they walked back and forth to
school, making sure that the girl who cried out, wasn’t my baby down
there calling for me, because if that little girl who screamed really is in
danger, she’s already lost it all.”
The girl screamed again. Some metal booming sounded next.
Sophia returned to climbing the stairs.
I glanced back at one of my guards. “Go find out what that is. If
someone’s hurting her, hurt them back.”
“Okay, sir.” He pulled out his gun and raced down the stairwell.
Sophia laughed. “I knew you were the hero-type. Jasmine always
loved her some romance novels and princess stories. One time I told her to
stop reading all those books. Pick up something else. I, myself, like
mysteries. But anyway, I told her. I said, ‘Baby, life never ends like it does
in the books.’ She must’ve cried the rest of the night in her room. She
thought I didn’t hear her. Fourteen years old, crying about books like she’d
just heard that Santa Claus didn’t exist.”
I’m not thinking we’ll be inviting any of our family for the holidays.
Not mine or Jasmine’s. What am I saying? Will she even come back to me,
when I go to her? What other choice does she have? No, I’ll have to
handle Benny first. Kill him. Finish this shit so I can show Jasmine that
her mother was wrong. There are happy endings.
We exited onto the eleventh floor. No one hung around on that level,
and unlike the other floors a fresh coat of gray paint decorated the
hallways.
“Benny has rented every apartment on this floor. He does different
things in each one.” She gestured to the cameras above each door and
waved. “He has some computer nerds watching the place. The few smart
kids in the building. They monitor and report to his main man, if there’s a
problem.”
“So they’ll be saying something to him now?”
“No. They’ll wait until we leave.” She waved at the cameras and took
us to apartment G. “The one thing Benny never understood about the
Chops is that no white man that isn’t born here can ever truly run the
place. It doesn’t matter how much money or power he has. These buildings
are cold, but there’s family in here. Any informants Benny thinks he has
here, comes to me first.”
“And why’s that?”
She pulled out her key and slipped it into the door. “Because I’m a
boss, Chase. That’s why.”
I’d given her the key downstairs, when the landlord handed them to
me as the new owner.
She’s a boss?
Things didn’t make sense. From Jasmine’s view, her mother
remained this hardened woman who took care of her grandchildren and
expected support from Jasmine. Yet, my dealings with Sophia showed a
woman that would make gold-diggers frown and wag their head. Today, a
new version appeared, the boss.
Boss of what? And how will that get Jasmine back to me? I won’t go
another day without her. I had to at least see her, if only from a far. Where
are you, Jasmine?
“Brace yourself.” Sophia opened the door and stepped through. “It’s
not too bad if you don’t ask a lot of questions, just get in and get out.”
A bleachy fragrance swam in the air. Buzzing floated off in the
distance as if an old fridge or stove was connected and would soon be
shutting off forever.
I stepped inside. Sophia continued forward on her own mission.
“Hold up,” I said.
“We don’t have time to hold up.” She headed off. “I have things to
do. You have things to do.”
“What will you be doing?”
“Being a boss.” She rushed off.
“Apparently.”
The place was empty of furniture, but filled with huge blue barrels
that outlined all of the walls. Ice clung to the tops. A haunting chill ran in
the space. The walls and ceiling held the same gray paint that was in the
hallways. Sophia’s heels clicked against the polished floor in front of me.
She wasted no time, passing by the small blue barrel-filled rooms that
could have been a living area and dining place.
Pulling my jacket closer to me, I turned to my guards. “Two of you
stay out here. Two come with me.”
 I spent no time figuring out what they decided, walked in after
Sophia, and touched one of the barrels. A cold shock hit me. I shook my
hand to get the chill away. “Sophia.”
She poked her head out of a door farther down the hallway. “What?”
“What are these blue barrels?”
“I thought I said that this place would be less scary if you didn’t have
any questions.”
“Only stupid people don’t ask what’s going on.” I moved closer to
where she ducked out her head.
“What are these blue barrels?”
“They’re not barrels. They’re 57 gallon refrigerated drums.”
“Refrigerated drums? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’ve had to buy them for him over the years. Are we done?”
“What does he have in them?”
“Bodies, Chase. What else would Benny have in refrigerated
drums?”
Gritting my teeth, I stopped right there. “What?”
The door closed behind me. I wasn’t ashamed to say that I jumped
and checked for the sound. The two tallest guards came inside with me.
Sophia clapped her hands. “Chase?”
“Yes.” I scanned the drums. A cold shiver ran through me.
“Chase?”
“Yes.”
“His office is the last room down the hall. That’s where you’re going
to get his names for all of his passports and credit cards. Some of the ones
he’s not using will be in there to narrow it down.”
I signaled for one of the guards to go to the room and returned to a
drum that was labeled sad faces.
Why would he label it that?
“Chase?”
I shook my head and turned her way. “What?”
“Focus.”
“Why did he call this sad faces?”
“Did you hear me earlier? The drums are full of cut-up human
bodies. Heads. Torsos. All feet go in one drum. All hands go in another.
I’ve helped him catalogue. He has some for genitals, others for knee caps.
One year he had a thing about knee caps. None of this is important. Let’s
get what we came to get and then jet.”
“But—”
“Now I told you that his people are my people. That doesn’t mean we
have that much time. It just means that we have a head start. His
informants still have to tell him we were in here. He’ll know why, and
when he does, it’ll be time to run. If we hurry we won’t be racing away.
We’ll be luring him into a trap. You got me?”
“Yes.”
Sophia’s head disappeared.
If his office is at the end of the hall, then why is she in the other
room?
I grabbed the last guard’s arm and whispered, “Go in there with her.
See what she gets. Let me know.”
“Yes, sir.” He hurried away and stood in the doorway.
Her voice sounded from the hallway. “I got this, Soldier Boy. Keep it
moving down the hallway. Chase, keep your men away from me.”
He turned to me. I waved him away. The guard left her alone and
went to the office.
Scanning the drums and not even able to walk to close to them, I
headed to Benny’s office myself, but not before checking the room that
Sophia explored, while I traveled by. She held a large garbage bag in her
hand and piled stacks of twenty dollar bills into the close to full bag.
Money. Of course.
I stopped right there. “Really?”
“He’ll be dead by the time he returns.”
“Will he?”
“I believe in you.”
“Or you needed me to get access into his apartment.”
“How I wish it was just that simple.” Laughter fled from her lips as
she piled in some more.
“Mr. Stone,” one of the guards called out to me.
I gave up on her and dragged myself to the sick bastard’s office.
“What?”
A large wooden desk sat in the center of what would’ve been used as
a bedroom. Here there was no freshly-done gray walls, just cracking
blueish-green paint. Carvings had been made into the wood. They
resembled biology test exams—figures of body parts with the names
labeled, faces marked out, slashed out diagrams of bugs eating on cut off
legs.
This is how a psycho doodles. He carves dumb shit into wood.
“These journals have your name on them, sir.” The guard handed me
five heavy notebooks. Each one held a picture of me, one cut out from a
magazine. “He’s a fan.”
The other guard laughed. “Funny, sir.”
I glared at him. “This isn’t a Law and Order episode. When people
die, they die, not open their eyes, get up off the floor, and then go for a
coffee break. This is real life. This man will kill you. He’s already cut off
ten of my best hired men’s heads. Do your job and you’ll be safe. See this
situation as a joke, and you’ll just be another head that I have removed
from my office.”
“Yes, sir.”
I snatched the books from them and flipped through the pages. Every
sheet held clear handwriting in blue ink. Benny took his time with his
words. Each sentence had a rhythm to it. The sick bastard could actually
write.
Too bad it’s all about killing me. Five notebooks and all you can do is
describe how you would do it.
I gave them back to the guard. “Keep these. Have them all read
tonight. Maybe, we’ll learn something.”
A bookshelf stood in the far end. I headed over to it as they
rummaged through his desk some more.
What does a pyscho like to read in his garden of decomposed bodies?
The first shelf was typical, almost a big stereotype. I rolled my eyes.
The Catcher in the Rye. Really? Don’t be the stereotype, Benny. Aim
higher.
Some of the most famous shootings had been connected to Salinger’s
novel. After Mark Chapman killed John Lennon, the cops arrested him and
found a copy of the Catcher in the Rye on him. He’d bought it that day.
I scanned the rest of the shelf. Benny had biographies on all the
master sickos—Gacy to Dahmer, Bundy to the Son of Sam. In the second
shelf, religious books sat there—the Bible to the Quran, Torah to the
Buddhist Sutras, and more and more.
Never saw you as a spiritual man.
 More notebooks stood at the top of the shelf. I extended my hand and
grabbed the first one. The cover read, Volume One.
I opened the page and read,
1986—How it all began.
“Perverts.” I gulped my glass of scotch, swallowed it whole, and
crunched on the ice until they were tiny bits of shards against my
tongue. “Perverts. The whole lot.”
Scar grunted. He never had much to say, and when he did usually
a person was getting their flesh opened by his fingers. People respected
Scar’s silence, most scattering away from him instantly when he
entered the area. When he hung with me, many calmed. As if I could
ever control a monster, like I had some sort of chain to a seething
dragon bursting with violence and fighting to get out. Things like that
were funny to me …
I stopped and stared at Benny’s writing. “Are you writing your life
story?”
“Huh?” one of the guards asked.
“Nothing.”
I read some more.
… If they only knew, the only thing that stopped Scar from
killing was money. He took life for funds and would kill anybody. I
watched him choke his older sister until there was no breath left to
escape those pretty nostrils. She’d slept with one of the bosses and then
broke his heart. There’s never been a man in history that didn’t kill
over pure embarrassment. She had to go, and what better way to truly
get the bitch back, but to order her own brother to murder her. That
was the type of people I worked for.
Men without souls.
“Perverts.” I gestured to Chase Stone and his incestuous
entourage. Corporate coke heads that took from the poor to make
them rich. They were everything people who weren’t in the know
hoped didn’t really exist.
Monsters don’t just wear gold chains and listen to rap music.
There’s monsters in designer suits stomping and clawing all over the
world.
 I closed the book, kept it in my hand, and glanced over at the guards.
“Make sure you grab all of these on the shelf.”
“Should I read these, too?” one asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll read these. Just don’t forget them.”
“What are you going to read?” Sophia appeared in the doorway,
dragging the huge garbage bag.
“Nothing.”
“His journals?” She eyed the shelf. “There’s nothing in there.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re taking his money. I can grab his life.”
“He always thought he would write a book about his life. Thought
somebody would want to print that one day.” She snapped her fingers at
one of my men. “Take this down to the car, please.”
The poor guy turned to me. I nodded.
“Did you find the names?” she asked.
“No.”
“Men have to be the most simple-minded animals in the world.” She
stomped over to the desk, bent over, pulled out the last drawer, and picked
up a huge binder. “There we go. All of his aliases. There should actually be
some passports, social security, and credit cards in there.”
She flipped it open and displayed the front to me. Sure enough, tons
of plastic pockets held everything she’d listed. Ten folded pages were in
the front, all with names.
“Good find.” I signaled for the other guard to grab the binder. “Get
anything else. Let’s get out of here in ten minutes.”
“Let’s make it five,” she suggested. “And don’t forget this bag,
sweetie.”
Sophia left.
I turned back to Benny’s novel. The fact that he’d mentioned my
father had me intrigued. I read more of Benny’s notebook, hoping that it
would get me closer to finding Jasmine.
“Perverts.” I signaled for the waitress to get me another scotch.
Scar grunted and leaned in his chair. The big man took up the
whole side of the table. He was built with muscle, my height, but wider
in the arms and chest. I often wondered if it was me and him going at
it, who would win. Many guys I guessed on with ease. Most didn’t have
my finesse when it came to death. It was an art, just like food, music,
and writing. When one took on things, there needed to be a certain
passion in the task.
My art was death, and I wielded my knife like Da Vinci danced
around the canvas with his brush.
“Perverts.” I burped. “Probably shouldn’t have drank this much.
What else do I have to do?”
Scar’s words were one a dark lord would have in a cartoon—
scary and thick. “See your wife.”
“Don’t even mention her. I don’t have many things that I feel
guilty about, but marrying her was one of them.”
“It made the bosses happy.”
“It sure did.” I grabbed a new scotch as the waitress placed it on
my table. “Now they have their goon in a suit and walking through
their corporations like a good old American man—security director,
husband of a good woman, and squeaky clean record. Get married
they said. It will soften you up. If you’re less scary, there’s millions of
dollars you could make.”
“Whose idea?” Again, those two words sliced through the air
with a hardness that made even me shiver. This was why Scar hadn’t
been picked for the job. Stone Industries was up and coming, but
they’d gotten their success through handshakes with terrorists and
drug cartels. The bad guys wanted in on some of these legal
investments. It served Stone and his buddies to keep me around. I had
several men around the world who would follow me through hell and
back, guys that served in the military with me and learned how to kill
from the best killing machine of the decade—the American
government. The perverts needed me on their team, making sure that
the bad guys didn’t get them, meeting with these evil monsters when
they were too scared, and also cleaning up the dirty things that they
did within the walls of their home.
I kept my mouth closed the whole time I did it, too. In the muck
of their world, loyalty was more priceless than money.
“It was Stone’s idea of course. Mr. Chase fucking Stone. We
should probably call him Senior now. I met his little son last month.
Stone married a real crazy. She had her son doing some sick shit. Had
that boy in a dress with ruffles. I walked up on it one day. Boy looked
so embarrassed. Told me that it was a special secret. Showed me his
room.” I stopped and finished the glass. “You know Stone’s place in
Italy?”
Scar grunted.
“The boy got a bedroom in there decorated for a dead girl. That’s
how gone the woman is. She painted it all. Got paintings of animal
carcasses in it. The whole time while Stone is away, she has that boy
dress up like a girl and pretend to be one. She told me his name was
Constance. I almost killed her right there.”
“You going to tell Stone?”
“No way. I’ll handle it myself. Give her a few more years to get it
together. If not, then a knife her chest. She doesn’t deserve anything
else.”
“Sir?” The voice sounded from in front of me. “Mr. Stone?”
My hands shook. My heart boomed in my chest. Tears threatened to
fall from my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them. Last thing I would do is cry in
front of my own men, while I stood in Benny’s twisted penthouse.
If not, then a knife to her chest?
I forced myself to calm down, pushed all those crazy memories out
of my head of Mom. All this time I figured Benny had something to do
with her death. I couldn’t figure out why, just that it had to be him. He’d
come by several times to check in. Each time he had that look of disgust
on his face. I was just a boy at the time, not understanding why the dress
and bows were wrong, just that I couldn’t tell anybody or Mom would be
angry.
No one had ever known about those moments, not even Dawn. After
a while, for some summers, Dad didn’t come visit us in Italy. It gave Mom
more time to pretend. Always an artist, she’d done several family portraits
of us, but in those, I wasn’t a boy. I wore a dress and those same black
bows that she always loved to pin in my head.
If not, then a knife to her chest?
Chills ran through me.
“Sir?”
That was exactly how I found her.
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
“We have everything.”
“Okay. Let’s go.” I gripped the book hard in my hand.
 Who knew what type of man I would’ve become if Mom had
continued to live? I might’ve been more messed up. Maybe some sort of
badly fashioned crossdresser. It didn’t matter. I loved the woman—
craziness and all. The morning I discovered her, lying in the bed with the
knife stuck in her chest, that morning ruined me for all the women to
come.
I’d kept my heart far away from people for years, after that. Made
sure tons of women circled me, but I never got too close. Perhaps, that was
what Dawn, Wendy, and Lucy represented. They symbolized my inability
to truly connect to one. The only reason I stayed so loyal to Dawn was
because we both lost our mothers around the same time. We shared that
bond and other horrific tragedies, including Lucy. For that, I did my best to
remain faithful to them both, as much as I could.
But no one had every trapped my heart like Mom, not until Jasmine
came along.
Would I have been better if Mom had never been killed? Who knows.
Benny never gave me a chance to see what would’ve become. You did kill
her, and now I’ve confirmed it.
Holding the notebook in my hand, I stormed out of the office.
I hope you put your will in order, Benny. I don’t care if Jasmine begs,
you’ll die and I’ll do it myself.
My phone rang in my pocket. “Great. What else?”
I put the phone to my ear. “Yes?”
“Sir, I went downstairs to check on the scream.” It was the guard
who I’d ordered to find out about the little girl in the stairwell. “When I
arrived at the fourth level, a man was holding a little girl and he had his
hand wrapped around her mouth so she wouldn’t make any more noises.”
“Okay?”
“He let her go, held up his hands, and asked to talk to you.”
“He said my name?”
“Yes. He asked to speak to Chase Stone.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s refusing to say anything else besides that he wants to speak to
you and he doesn’t want Ms. Sophia Montgomery around when he talks to
you.”
 “He said her name like that?”
“Yes, sir.”
Interesting.
“Where are you?”
“Still on the fourth level. I chained him to the staircase. I’ve got my
gun on him.”
“Okay. I’m coming.” I hung up the phone and turned to one of my
guards. “Stay here with Ms. Montgomery. Help get her to the limo and tell
her that I’ll be there shortly. And don’t let her out of your sight. Keep her
in the limo by gun-point if you have to.” I pointed to the other one. “Come
with me.”
 CHAPTER 10

Jasmine
Before I arrived with Benny to the rotting mansion, Vivian had drowned
herself in paint. She’d put murals in all three of our rooms. For Troy, she’d
formed the universe on the ceiling. Constellations lit up in glow-in-the-
dark paint above him. For her room, she drew a forest, wild and rich with
fruit. Lush nymphs chased after satyrs, their full breasts bouncing as they
dove for those muscled men with goat tails and legs. Their horns were
sharp and erect. Their tongue thick and wet as they stuck them out,
taunting the nude maidens.
But my room ...
The images made me cry all night. She’d painted me as Persephone
and Chase as Hades. It took up the entire wall and faced my bed.
In the mural, Chase held me, this God of the Underworld. His long
black strands ran down to his back and formed into huge crows with red
eyes. Darkness swirled all around him. A three-headed dog sat at his feet.
Drool dripped from their fangs. A crown of bones lay on his head.
Instead of my black waves, Viv painted me with long auburn hair that
flew in a breeze. Numerous beautiful flowers covered the top of my head.
A few birds peeked out between them. I bit into a pomegranate fruit so red
it looked like blood. Seeds and juice spilled from my lips and onto my
white gown that waved within the wind.
The sun glowed bright on my side, while a gray cold withered behind
Chase.
Is this really how she sees us? I don’t even know if that’s good or
bad. He’s the God of Death, and I’m the chick he tricked and kidnapped.
I shoved the thoughts out of my head and forced myself to fall
asleep.
 Although warmth flowed in the decaying mansion, our designer wing
froze my bones and made them ice cold. I wrapped myself in several
blankets and tried to get all of the images on the walls out of my head.
What’s going to happen to Chase?
I fell asleep with that question churning around in my head.
My dream held Viv’s mural image. I strolled in a beautiful forest and
picked the loveliest flowers—blushing pink roses, royal blue daises, and a
sea of tulips that swayed back and forth just like that body of liquid.
It was in that ocean of flowers that Chase appeared before me, his
hair flowing behind him and forming the shape of bird wings at the tips.
I stopped with the flowers and stared. “Who are you?”
He evaporated into a black mist. The scent of fire floated around me.
Then, he reappeared in front of me, a cloud of smoke that solidified into a
gorgeous man. “Who do you think I am?”
“I don’t know.” I blinked. “Who are you?”
“Your husband.” He caressed the tops of my breasts. Fire raged in my
flesh. No one had touched me like that before.
I licked my lips. “I’m not married.”
Darkness stormed within his eyes as he leaned toward me, his breath
a soft whisper against my lips. “Who am I?”
A chill swarmed around my body, but my flesh still blazed and my
thoughts grew hot and sweaty.
He nipped at my bottom lip. A spark of lust hit me. “Who am I?”
“Death.”
His voice darkened into a needy murmur. “Tesoro.”
“Jasmine!” Vivian’s annoying scream ripped through my dream.
“Come on, Jasmine! Wake up!”
I opened my eyes and immediately realized both of my hands were
buried between my thighs. My wet fingers lingered within my panties;
nails and tips slickened from arousal.
“Jasmine!” She banged on the door. “Wake up! If we don’t hit the
tube by 8:30 then we’ll be snookered.”
I rubbed my eyes and yelled, “Snookered?”
“Totally fucked. It’s London lingo.”
“Says who, Charles Dickenson?” I rolled over and covered my head
with my blanket. “And what the hell is a tube?”
“It’s the train.”
 “Then say train.”
“They call it the tube.”
The door slammed open. My bed moved as she jumped on and
tapped my head.
“Bollocks, Jasmine! You can’t sleep all day. Don’t be a stonker!”
“Listen,” I removed the blanket and faced her, “I don’t like you. Get
out of my room.”
“You love me.”
“Not in the morning.”
“Do you like the mural?” She wagged her eyebrows.
“No.”
“What?”
“It gave me horny dreams about Chase.”
“Hmmm. Should I make him uglier?”
“No you should paint the whole wall black.”
She frowned.
I rubbed my eyes. “What?”
“Nothing.”
I sat up. “What?”
“I love him.” She gripped my blanket hard and squeezed the soft
material. “I actually love him.”
I gave her a weak smile. “Chase?”
“No, of course not.”
“So Troy?”
“No.”
“O-kay. I’m drawing a blank.”
“I’m talking about Dad. Well, my or your dad.” She rolled her eyes.
“I love him, but …”
My or your? Fuck. We’re not related. This is getting harder and
harder to keep up with.
“I don’t want to talk about Benny right now.” Sighing, I laid back
down.
Her eyes watered. “I love him.”
“Sure. We all love him. Or at least I did. I don’t know. He’s a monster
now, and can I even love a killing creature like him?”
“I love Dad”
“You said that.”
 “I just …”
“What, Vivian?”
“Troy is talking serious.”
I let out another long breath. Vivian couldn’t even say it, what was on
all of our minds. We all understood the problem. It was Benny. The
difficult part was the solution. Did death have to be the answer? Troy
believed it represented the only way. I couldn’t even think of an answer,
while dealing with my heartbreak.
Vivian interrupted my thoughts and whispered, “Do you agree with
Troy? Do you think we should—”
“Not talk about it here? Exactly.”
“We’re not.” She nodded.
“I’m just saying.”
“But Dad’s not going to play by the rules of society?”
“No.” I gestured all around us. “He’s got us here against our will like
it’s what normal fathers do. He’s not even the same person I remember
anymore. He’s dark and scary, and it’s hard to be around him longer for a
few minutes.”
She rubbed her eyes, probably to catch a tear or two before it fell.
“What are we going to do?”
“I have no idea.”
“What did Troy and you plan last night?”
“Nothing.”
“Jasmine?”
“I really don’t know.”
“Then what were Troy and you talking about in his room?”
“He told me about the results.”
“And?”
“You know how Troy is.”
Vivian leaned toward me and whispered, “If Troy tries to kill him,
then he might die in the process. I can’t lose him.”
I said nothing.
Vivian continued in that low whisper, “And if something doesn’t
happen to Troy and he’s successful … Well, then I don’t know if I can lose
him.”
“Benny?”
“Yes.”
 “He’s a monster, yes, but—”
I sat up and hugged her. “I get it. I truly get it. It’s hard to even think
about.”
“But we may have to do something.” She leaned her head on my
shoulder. “If we tell the police, what will happen?”
No wonder Troy didn’t want her in the room when we were talking
last night. She’s a wreck and she’s not getting the whole ‘people are
monitoring us’ thing.
Several months ago, she’d tried to commit suicide over the
heartbreaking news that Troy and her were siblings. Then we rushed off to
solve the mystery of which one of Chase’s girlfriends wanted to kill me.
All this time had passed, she’d seen some wicked things, and at no point
did she get a chance to sit back and heal.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“What about the police. We could tell them—”
I got closer to her and lowered my voice. “Tell them what? We would
be involved in a lot of those murders, at least the ones we know about.
Anything else and it could touch Chase somehow. Not to mention Benny’s
managed to not get caught for all of these years. Why would Troy or one
of us win against him? You and I are just college kids. Troy isn’t a real
killer.”
A boom hit the door.
We both jumped.
“Jasmine?” Benny’s voice sounded behind the door.
Did he hear us? He probably has someone listening to us. Did they
tell him about what we were talking about?
Another boom hit the door.
“Jasmine?”
Silent, Viv and I stared at each other for several seconds before I
finally cleared my throat and yelled out, “Yes.”
“Breakfast is ready. You see Vivian?” Benny asked through the door.
“She’s not in her room.”
Okay. He didn’t hear anything most likely. If he had, he would’ve
known she was in here. Or is he just playing games with us? I’m fucking
paranoid right now.
“This is insane,” she said as I got up and rubbed my eyes.
“No, Vivian.” I grabbed my robe and put it on. “This is surviving.”
 “Surviving? He’s crazy. He might end up flipping out one morning
and trying to kill us all.”
I stopped and gestured for her to come over to me. She did. I glanced
at the door one more time and hoped Benny had left.
I lowered my tone again. “If Benny thinks you and Troy are still
messing around, then he’s going to do something to one of you, and I don’t
think it will be good.”
“He said that?”
“Basically.”
“What were his exact words?”
“I can’t remember. I was just scared and I told him that he needed to
have limits, that he couldn’t kill everyone.”
Vivian’s lips quivered. “He said he would kill one of us?”
“No, but I wouldn’t mess around with Benny. It didn’t seem like his
solution would be nice.”
She hugged herself. “Killing us?”
I probably should have waited to say that. It probably isn’t that easy
hearing that your dad confessed to possibly killing you as a solution.
I walked off. “Come on.”
“I can’t.”
“Vivian, you have to.”
She pointed to the door. “I’m supposed to pretend like this man is
safe to be around?”
“You’ve already been doing that. You’ve been painting and—”
“That was because I thought he wouldn’t hurt us. That we were safe
no matter what.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Troy would probably be the one he
killed not you.”
“Don’t even say it.”
“Hey, I don’t like it either. It’s my freaking twin brother. But I’m just
saying stay away from Troy and his room until we’ve figured out a
solution.”
“We have to do something today.” She shook her head over and over.
“I can’t pretend like everything is fine, when he’s fucking threatening to
hurt us.”
“Right now, we just take this day-by-day.”
“No, we should start thinking up some clear solutions.”
 “Shh.” I got closer. “If we go off on our own today, then maybe we
can talk it over, but we have to be super careful.”
“I’m not stupid. I’m sure someone’s trying to listen to us now.”
“Then, let’s just wait to have this conversation later. For now, let’s eat
a whole lot of food.”
“How can you even eat?”
“How can you not?” I left her in the room and followed the succulent
fragrance of simmering meat.
 CHAPTER 11

Chase
I took the elevator since I was going to four and that was an even number.
Why wouldn’t the owner fix the other elevator that went to the odd
floors? Who the hell is in charge of maintenance around here? Well, I
guess I am now, since I own the place. Maybe Jasmine will think of what
we can do to this area?
The whole elevator ride down her name echoed in my head. The tiny
box lowered. Metal scraped against metal and shrieked all around me. For
some reason, going down sounded way worse than going up. I planted my
hands on one of the walls as if that could save me, if the elevator lost its
hold and crashed down to the ground.
You see what I would do for you, tesoro? I’d ride a death trap, if it
meant getting information that could help me back to you.
I played back the images of when I tasted her, and sucked on my own
tongue like a dying, thirsty man would after crawling out of a dessert to
search for water. Her face caused an ached in my chest. Groaned in the pit
of my liquored stomach. I despised Benny, but I always took comfort in
the fact that he would never hurt her. That he’d protect my treasure with
his life. If Troy was right about Jasmine possibly not being his daughter,
would he still keep her alive? That information could never get out, not
until I had her safe in my arms.
The doors slid open with a screech. I went to the stairwell, opened
the door, and paused at the scene. My guard held a gun in the air and
targeted a huge man in front of him.
Who is he? And why does he look familiar?
The handcuffed guy had to have been 6’7” or maybe even more. He
towered over me, and I’d never been used to that. Usually I was the one
that looked down on others. He had dark brown skin and a bald head.
Muscles hung on every part of his body. I doubt he missed a day in the
gym. In fact, I doubt he went more than three hours at a time of not
working out in some way. Light, fleshy scars decorated his neck and
around his forehead as if he’d been in several knife fights, and didn’t
always win.
“You want to talk to me?” I let the door slam behind me and wished I
had my own gun. I could picture a giant beast getting a good look at this
guy and running off back into the wilderness, screeching. “Who are you?”
The man’s words came out in thick and dark, like someone had
stabbed him in the throat and fractured his voice box. “What did you tell
Ms. Montgomery? You tell her that you come down here to see me?”
“No. I left on my own. She doesn’t know that I’m here.”
My guard stirred on my left, probably not happy that I gave this
stranger so much information. Love made a man do stupid things. For
Jasmine, I’d be the dumbest of them all. An imbecile, if necessary.
The huge man pointed to my security. “I need you to make sure this
guy doesn’t call the cops on me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you got me out of prison, and I would like to stay out.”
“I got you out?”
“Yeah.” He extended a large, muscular arm and stretched out his
fingers as if inviting me to shake his hand.
My guard came closer, his gun remained steady. “Put your hand
down.”
The man raised both in the air. “I’m Sherman Montgomery. I don’t
have any beef with you.”
I studied his face and didn’t see much of a similarity to Jasmine.
Maybe Troy. I can sort of see it in the eyes.
“If you’re her brother, prove it.”
“Who else would say they were me? No one even knows I’m out
besides my kids, and they understand that it’s a secret.”
“You have some ID?”
“No, I have some information. I told Benny where we were, and I
gave him the keys to the apartment, when he showed up a couple of days
ago. He told me that he only wanted to ask Lucy something. I told him
fuck you at first, but then other elements stepped in, and I had to do what I
had to do.” He spat the next words at me. “That’s better than an ID, isn’t
that right, Mr. Chase Stone?”
My temper burned to a scary level. I walked up to him and my guard
closed in right between us, pointing the tip at Sherman’s face the whole
time.
“You might want to back up, Mr. Stone.” Rage blazed in Sherman’s
eyes. “You got my sister in some bullshit.”
“You let Lucy die? We may be even.”
“I didn’t think Benny would do her like that. She’s dead. Let’s move
on.” He gestured to my guard. “Tell this motherfucker to let me go. I’m
not going back to prison.”
“You sure about that? You’ve caused enough trouble. Don’t you
think?” I folded my arms around my chest. “In fact, maybe I’ll tell the
cops that you’re the one that killed Lucy. It won’t be hard to blame you. I
have people in high places as you know. Those people freed you. Those
same people will lock you up, and this time it’ll be a rich white girl’s
death. What do you think the headlines will say?”
“I don’t think you want to threaten me.”
“Now’s the time to be a good boy.”
“Watch the boy talk. I’m not your boy.”
“But you are a boy in my world, where big men keep judges in their
pockets.” I sneered at him like a fucking animal.
Men were wild creatures after all. We loved to fuck, but most of all,
we loved to fight and shove out our aggression on others. We relished in
measuring each other’s cocks to figure out who was the baddest and the
meanest. With the liquor, Jasmine’s missing status, and these new
upsetting details that had been storming down on me with each minute that
passed in this depression-stricken hood, it was time to pull out my big
cock and slap them all with it. Show them who the boss was. Point to who
really held the cards at the table.
Someone had lied. Someone killed. Someone plotted. And all of this
resulted in Jasmine being yanked from my safe hands. Regardless of it
being her family or not, someone would pay for it all.
“Why did you tell Benny?” I asked through clenched teeth. “Troy
said he could trust you.”
“Yeah, he could, but he never said anything about Mom being in the
mix.”
 I slanted my head to the side. “Your mom?”
“Yeah, she told me to give the information to Benny.”
“Why?”
“I never ask Mom why. I never want to know. I just do what she say
sometimes.” He tapped the side of his head. “I don’t ever try to understand
her. That shit makes my brain hurt.”
“So she told you to tell Benny where Lucy was, you did, and now
what?”
He targeted me with a weird gaze. “Now I’m trying to see how deep
the rabbit hole goes. Something’s happening and I want to make sure Jazz
and Troy don’t get hurt.”
“Jasmine is with Benny now,” I said.
He nodded. “After the news about Lucy’s murder and the ball, I sat
outside of your property all night. I didn’t think I would see Benny’s car. It
rolled through the gates early this morning and then two hours later drove
back out. I wasn’t sure if that was Jazz or not in the backseat with him, but
I figured it was her. I was about to follow Benny. I’d been sitting in my car
the whole time, and had to duck down behind the steering wheel, when
they rounded the corner.”
“Why didn’t you follow them?”
“The next thing I know, I put the key in the ignition to start the car,
and Mom rolls up. I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“So you followed us instead?” I backed up.
“Yeah, and imagine my surprise that you both head to South End.
First of all, I couldn’t figure out why Mom would help Benny kill Lucy.
The chick never done anything to us. Troy told me that she never hurt
Jasmine. All I knew was that Benny was being Benny. He got a thing about
revenge.” Sherman rubbed the scars on his neck. “I never fucked with him.
Although I’d love to get in his ass just once. I watched him hurt a lot of
people though. Motherfucker that did this to my neck … well, you should
see what Benny did to his neck. A cop did it one night, when I was walking
home. Thought the shit was funny. Got a knife out. Burnt the blade, and
then cut me up. Told me to remember his name.”
Sherman gave me a wicked grin. “I did and gave that name to Benny.
That crazy man took me with him. I wasn’t even ten years old. The shit I
saw that night changed me forever. Benny used an ice pick and he put so
many holes into that pig’s neck, the shit looked like Swiss cheese.”
 I rubbed my face. Since I’d been learning about Benny, I couldn’t get
the grime and blood off of my skin. Even though no one could see the
muck, the guilt, it clung to my flesh. Benny’s evil spilled over me, whether
I yearned for it or not.
“Benny killing this Lucy, that made sense. He’s like that. Loves Jazz
just as much me. But Mom helping him—that made me uneasy. I left it
alone.”
“But you sat outside of my house.”
“Something was off. Benny dropped that girl’s body at a party. Your
party, sure. But Jazz was there. My family got one rule, keep that shit away
from Jazz. Girls don’t need to be involved in this shit. Sure I fucked with
chicks in the game, but they was born in the game. Jazz was never meant
to be around no dead bodies. Jazz was made for books and rich white boys
that could protect her more than me. Jazz was supposed to be free and get
us all on the legit path.”
Am I that drunk or is he talking circles around me?
I stopped his rant. “So you watched her?”
“Yes.”
“And your mother’s involvement has you worried?”
“It doesn’t make sense. She took you to Benny’s penthouse, didn’t
she?”
I didn’t know if I could trust him or not, but I understood that I
didn’t have any other options.
They’re all liars. They’re all looking out for themselves. But
somebody’s telling the truth, and someone’s going to die because of it.
Who?
“Mom helping Benny. That makes sense. Now Mom helping you? I
don’t get it.”
“I give her money.”
Sherman chuckled. “We all give her money, partner. She got deep
pockets. Everyone stuffing them. You better believe that.”
“Maybe she’s pissed at Benny for taking Jasmine.”
“How did she know that Benny would take her so soon? She got there
right as Benny left. I’m not sure if she saw the car or not, but I feel like
she would’ve.”
I studied the man some more. “Why are you telling me this?”
 “It’s for Jazz and Troy. Some shit is going down, and Jazz is right in
the center. She’s not made for this life. I don’t want her around it. And
Troy doesn’t need to go back to jail. He’s not made for life behind bars.”
“I agree on both counts, but I don’t believe you.”
“Look, man. I didn’t go to jail and do the shit that I did so that she
could be running for her life. When I was in prison, Jazz kept my girls in
school. They smart as hell. She tutored them, got them reading five to six
books a week, when I can barely read the titles. My girls going to be just
like her, and that’s some good shit. Jazz even got your white ass putting
my babies on another level, got them in that white school making
friendships with rich kids.”
Quiet ran between us as I considered everything he’d said.
“Tick tock, Mr. Stone.” Sherman dangled the handcuffs.
“What do you want from me?”
“Tell your man to let me go.”
“And where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m still doing my thing in the background.”
“And what is that exactly?”
“Seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
“How is that going to help me?”
“I want Jazz back to you, as much as you want it. Jazz with Benny is
not a good thing.”
“Troy is with him, too. At least that’s my understanding.”
The line on his jaw twitched. “Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?” Sherman asked.
“That’s why I’m working with your mother, trying to figure it out.”
Sherman shook his head. “You’re in over your head. Mom and
Benny. I wouldn’t want to go against either one of them. You need
friends.”
“And you’re mine?”
“I’m Jazz’s brother. My goal is to get her back to where she want to
be. If it’s with you, then that’s what will happen.”
“How do I know if I can trust you?”
“You can’t. The only people I’m loyal to is my family, and you’re not
family. But Jazz is, so our goals are on the same road. We ride together for
now, after that, fuck it.”
 The whole situation spun around and around worse than a high
category hurricane. In one second the winds took me east. Now the winds
twirled me around in another direction. All I knew for sure was that
Jasmine had a family that was more twisted than mine.
No wonder we get along so well. We’ve both lived with monsters.
I turned to my guard. “Call up some men. Have them take Sherman
off into a car. Keep the handcuffs on him and make sure no one sees him
leave. There has to be a back entrance or something.”
“I know the way,” Sherman said. “But I need these handcuffs off.”
Ignoring him, I turned around and got ready to exit the stairwell.
“Keep them on. I don’t trust him yet.”
“You don’t trust me, huh?” Sherman laughed. “Well, trust this, if
anybody should be in handcuffs, it should be Mom. Only problem with
that is, I’ll cut you up over that shit. So all I can say is be careful.”
“I’ll take that advice.” I saluted him as the stairwell door closed.
Tesoro, what’s going on? Why do they want us dead and apart so
bad?
 CHAPTER 12

Jasmine
At the four person table, Benny sat across from Troy. I groaned, realizing
that either way I would have to sit next to his psycho behind.
Benny gestured to our plates. “Are you ready?”
I glanced at mine. “Is this the Chelsea bun thing you were talking
about?”
“Oh yes. Prepare for an explosion of flavor in your mouth.”
The square pastry took up a good bit of the plate. Currants and sticky
goodness formed a maze within the square. A sweet fragrance rose in the
air.
I sat down and checked everyone else’s plates. Vivian and Troy had
different items. Troy stuffed long strips of bacon into his mouth, chopping
it every inch that went between his teeth like a beaver. With a spoon
Vivian drew little swirls into her bowl of bananas and granola.
“You both aren’t going to try the buns?” I asked.
Troy spoke between meaty bites, “I don’t like raisins.”
“They’re not raisins. They’re currants.”
“They’re raisins.”
“Oh whatever.”
I turned to Vivian. “And what about you?”
Silent, Vivian frowned.
“Don’t waste your time.” Benny waved them both away. “They still
haven’t warmed to the idea of family time.”
“Imagine that,” I muttered. Vivian looked up at me, her bottom lip
shaking as if she held in a smart response to Benny’s declaration of family
time.
I picked up the bun. Warmth and a mixture of melted butter and
brown sugar stuck to my fingertips. “It smells good.”
 A chubby woman waddled over to us and carried a large tray of more
buns. “And how are we doing? I’m Louellen. Everyone calls me Lou.”
She held no British accent, which surprised me.
“Nice to meet you, Lou.” I took a bite of the bun and shuddered.
Everything hit me at once—lemon and cinnamon, currants swimming in
brown sugary goodness. A flaky texture lined the outside. On the inside,
soft dough stuck to my teeth as I chewed. “Mmm.”
“I told you that you’d love it.” Benny dove into his own bun. Troy
rolled his eyes.
Without asking Benny, Lou plopped another big bun on his plate. “I,
myself, love to glaze a good bun with cherries. But, Big Ben asked for
traditional ones.”
I swallowed. “Big Ben?”
“Her nickname for me.” Benny looked like he was going to say
something else, but paused as his phone rang. “Just a minute.”
Troy continued his assault of the bacon and then shifted to
destroying his eggs. Vivian just returned to drawing images in her cereal
bowl. I took another chomp of the bun.
“I can’t believe you two can still eat,” Vivian mumbled.
Benny placed the phone to his ear. “Hello?”
And then things changed.
“What do you mean?” Benny dropped the bun. It fell to the plate’s
center and then rolled off the edge. “What. The fuck. Do you mean?!”
Please don’t let it deal with Chase. Please, God, don’t let it be about
him.
“How the hell did he know where that was?” Benny’s voice scraped
against my skin. “Oh really?”
I did my best to pretend that I didn’t have my ear locked onto his
every word. Granted, it made no sense to act that way, being that he was
screaming into the phone.
Benny grabbed the knife next to his plate. “Both of them together?
When was this?”
Before I could strain to hear what the person on the line could’ve
been saying, Benny raised the knife in the air and struck his plate hard.
The porcelain cracked in the middle. White hard pieces cut into his
discarded bun.
 Troy paused from eating, his fork in mid-air, cheesy eggs spilling off
the edge.
My appetite disappeared. Every cell in my body screamed scoot over
and get closer to Troy. But all I could do was hold the bun in the front of
me like an idiot.
And then Benny rose from his chair and glared at us. “I’ll be busy
today.”
What the hell does that mean?
“Carry on without me.” He slung his napkin on the table, not even
explaining the mess he’d made. Lou scurried away with her tray of buns.
“Who was that?” I asked.
Benny didn’t look at me. “No one.”
“Had to be somebody,” I said, “if you had a freaking temper tantrum
at the breakfast table.”
The old woman returned with a small trash can and large towel.
Benny stared down at the mess as if he’d had no idea he’d done it.
“Sometimes I let my temper get the best of me.”
“Who called?” I asked.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He asked between clenched teeth, “Would it matter?”
I didn’t have a response.
“Why are you asking, Jasmine?” Benny asked. “Have you been
calling anyone?”
I touched my chest. “What? I don’t even have a phone. And why are
you acting suspicious with me, when someone else called you?”
Benny studied Troy and Vivian. “Anyone else been on the phone
lately?”
They didn’t answer.
“Doesn’t matter.” Benny chuckled out of nowhere. How he was able
to emit that noise through a frown, I would never understand. “So,
Jasmine, you asked what that phone call was about. Nothing too serious.
Just some bad news.”
Lou came over to where he stood to gather more pieces. He stepped
to the side, but kept his gaze on Troy. “Yes. Just a little bad news, but I
plan to handle this quickly.”
“What happened?” I asked.
 “Nothing.” Benny stormed off and then stopped walking after a few
feet. “Let’s keep communication to a minimum today, everyone.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, but he continued to stomp off to his
room. “Benny?”
“It means no calling anyone.” Troy shoveled eggs into his mouth.
Earlier, he’d held a serious expression. Now, he wore a grin as he ate.
I leaned his way. “Do you know what’s going on?”
“No, but I bet you a million dollars it’s about Chase.”
“You don’t have a million dollars.”
“I will once they finish killing each other.” Troy crunched on the
bacon. “I’m sure one of them has me in their will.”
I ignored the stupid statement. “How were you able to call people
before?”
“I didn’t.”
I checked to make sure Benny was gone and lowered my voice.
“Then why—”
“Why what?” Troy glared at me.
“Yesterday, you said—”
“Does it matter? Today is today.” He winked at me. “I don’t have a
way to call anyone, Jazz. And all I can tell you is that you shouldn’t call
anyone either. Especially not Rich Boy.”
I whispered, hoping the lowered voice would get him to tell me the
truth, “But—”
“Let it go, before you get your lover killed.”
“I wasn’t even going there.”
“Yes, you were.”
“I just wanted to know how—”
“Let it go.”
“Fine.” I slumped in my chair, unable to eat anymore, and turned to
Vivian whose granola had shifted into a sludgy gray liquid. “Did you bring
some ganja?”
She mumbled, “What?”
“Weed? Do you have weed? Marijuana. Sticky icky—”
“Stop, Jazz. Half of those terms aren’t even used.” Troy held his
hand in front of him. “You’re too young to be out of style with slang.”
“Whatever. Vivian, do you have some?”
 “Yes,” Vivian said. “I’m in a decaying mansion against my will, of
course I have a bag.”
“The money, too!?” Shouting came from down the hallway as Benny
must’ve yelled into his phone.
I backed up from the table and couldn’t even look at the bun again.
“Give me some. I’m going to need to be as high as hell today, just to get
through it.”
Troy grabbed my arm. “Naw, man. We’re with a psychopath. You
sure you want to be high right now?”
“Sociopath,” I corrected. “And the only thing that I’m sure of, is that
something fucked up is going to happen to all of us.”
He squeezed my arm. “Don’t think that way, Jazz. As soon as you
believe you’re defeated, you’ll be defeated. Shit is going to work out like
it always does. And he’s a psychopath, not a sociopath.”
Vivian set her spoon next to her bowl, her gaze stuck on the small
movement as if she had to focus on one second at a time, so she wouldn’t
lose her mind.
I turned back to Troy. “Sociopath.”
“Psychopath.” He picked up another piece of bacon. “Both are
dangerous. I don’t know why you even care which one it is.”
“Because I get sociopaths. I’ve lived with them. They’re easier to
survive.”
Troy gave a sad nod, surely remembering our brothers and Mom, and
the tragic household that scarred and sliced through most of our childhood.
“Benny isn’t our brothers, Jazz. His head is fucked up.”
Vivian slumped in her chair and bit her bottom lip. Water glazed over
her eyes. Small rippling pools of blue that more sparkled than showed her
grief. In anything she did, she looked beautiful. Even as she trembled in
fear, I found her breathtaking. The urge to grab her hit me hard, but I
couldn’t move. I was stone. Hard. With each second, I bricked in my
emotions. My fears.
Rock up.
Troy whispered, “We’re going to survive.”
“Because?” I asked.
“Because we always do.” He grabbed his biscuit and sopped up the
butter and cheese that had melted together in a swirl of yummy goo. “We
know what the solution is. Either Chase will do it, or we will.”
 Vivian parted her lips. “I can’t.”
Troy continued to eat and kept his gaze on me.
“Sociopath,” I whispered.
“Really, Jazz?”
“Yes, really. Sociopaths are easily agitated, volatile, and always
display emotional outbursts. They don’t have any regard to society’s rules.
No guilt or remorse—”
Troy waved me away. “Psychopaths don’t regard rules or have guilt
and remorse either.”
“Yes, but sociopaths can form emotional attachments. Psychopaths
can’t.”
“Who’s Benny attached to?” Troy rolled his eyes. “We’re locked into
his chest, Jazz. And he won’t let us out. This isn’t love.”
“I didn’t say love. I said emotional attachment. Benny cares about
us.”
“Are you fucking crazy? He’s trying to kill a man that you love. He’s
—”
“Benny won’t kill him.” I shook my head. I had to make that clear.
“He promised.”
“Psychopaths lie. He’s going to go after Chase. You just can’t deal
with it. Rock up.”
“Fuck you. Don’t tell me to rock up. I’m here standing strong, while
you’re munching on biscuits as if everything is just fine.”
“We have to eat. All of us. And get our sleep, and work out. We have
to stay healthy. Get our mind right. And when it’s time to make a move, we
do it. You’re sitting there spurting out little facts about psychopaths and
sociopaths because you read it in one of your college books.” He hit his
chest. “I lived it. Jails cage both types, and after a few years of being
behind bars with them, I can tell one right away. Benny is a psychopath.”
Vivian’s voice sounded low. “Who cares?”
“I do.” I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. “You can work
with a sociopath.”
Troy laughed.
“You can. Think about our brothers. They could’ve killed a lot more
people than they did, but I’ve heard stories about them letting some guys
go.”
 “Stories, huh?” Troy smirked. “Don’t matter. Sociopaths don’t plan.
They’re not organized.”
“Sherman was.”
“Sherman listens to Mom. That’s the only reason why he was able to
get away with so many things.”
“Let’s not do the Mom-hate-thing today and focus.”
One thing Troy and I never agreed on was Mom. He believed she
knew about all our brothers’ drug activities from the very beginning. I
didn’t. She kept her hand in my pockets too much. And back in the day, a
drug fog filled her head. Other moms walked their kids to the bus stop.
Mom lay on the couch, snoring, her legs and arms sprawled out like a
starfish, drool dripping from her mouth. Thank God Mom finally got it
together. My nieces and nephews had no one else but her. Their parents sat
in jail, my brothers and their baby mothers, all locked up from the drug
game.
“Mom’s in this shit, too.” Troy grabbed a napkin and wiped his
mouth. “Now only God can see what will happen next.”
“What do you mean Mom’s in this?”
Troy leaned all to way to me and gestured for me to come closer. My
stomach did flips.
Oh God. What now?
“Viv and I left Lucy with Sherman. How the hell did Benny get Lucy
and kill her, unless someone told him where everyone was at?”
“Mom didn’t know where Sherman was at. No one did, not even
Chase and me. You kept it a secret.”
“Not from Sherman. I mean, the man is there. He could’ve told
someone, and it got back to Benny. I bet he told Mom.”
I shrugged. “He could have. Sherman hasn’t been out of jail in five
years. You know how he loves his little girls. I bet he called Mom’s house
to speak to Tee-Tee.”
“The thing is, I told Sherman not to say anything. He understood the
whole situation. Sherman always keeps his promises, unless one person
makes him break them, and that’s Mom.”
I blew out a long breath. “You’re losing it. None of this has to do
with taking care of Benny.”
“You think Sherman would give two fucks about Benny and not kill
him? He was happy to watch over Lucy, just to see if he could have a
chance at him. Those two never got along. It’s like some sick competition.
He’s been imagining murdering Benny for a long time. Now all of a
sudden Benny overpowered Sherman, grabbed Lucy, and hurt her?”
Lucy’s decorated corpse dangled in my mind. “Benny did more than
hurt her. He tortured her.”
Vivian looked away. A tear fell from her eye.
“He put glitter and diamonds on her body, and hung her corpse up at
the—”
“Stop.” Vivian held up her hand.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
She wiped the tear off her face. “Why aren’t you both worried about
Sherman?”
“He texted me a few days ago,” Troy admitted.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“One word. Sorry.” Troy checked down the hall for a few seconds
and then returned his attention to us. “Sherman had Lucy. Then Benny got
her. Neither man would work with each other. Sherman only listens to one
person. Mom. She’s involved.”
Vivian ran her fingers through her hair. “Why does this even matter?
Shouldn’t we be focused on Dad?”
“Yeah, but Mom being involved changes the game. She’s a
psychopath just like Benny, but less—”
“Mom’s not crazy.” I pointed at him. “Fucked up? Sure. A neglectful
mother? Yes. Mind always on money? Definitely. But, Mom’s not
psychotic.”
“She’s manipulative. Psychopaths are charming and gain trust to
control them. That’s her. She mimics people. I’ve watched her do it. When
psychopaths commit a crime, they plan it.”
“Mom has never killed anyone.”
“Psychopaths don’t have to be killers. You’ve got con artists and
white-collar criminals that are called intelligent psychopaths.”
I eyed him. “Where are you getting all of this?”
“Due to our current predicament, I have a new interest in
psychopaths. There’s three levels to it, too. Confused, mastermind, and
then lord. Mom is a mastermind. She hides her true personality.
Masterminds plan out evil stuff because they enjoy it. They don’t care
about anyone getting hurt. When they use empathy, it’s to understand the
weak points of the other person.”
I turned to Vivian. “It’s like we both grew up in different
households.”
“No, you just like to pretend that Mom is a loving person. You can’t
see evil in people like me.”
Vivian tucked hair behind her ear. “None of this matters.”
“In a way, it does,” Troy corrected. “In any game, you have to
understand who your players are and what the rules are. If Benny controls
the game, then we can figure out how to win. But if Mom is involved …
well, we’re fucked.”
Vivian’s mouth dropped open.
“I’m sorry, Viv. Not fucked.” He let go of my arm, appeared for a
minute like he was going to get up and hug her, but then stopped. “I’m just
saying, Mom makes things difficult. She’s good at getting inside of Jazz’s
and my head. Plus, I can’t figure out why she would even get involved.
Why get Lucy killed?”
“This is stupid, man.” I looked at Vivian. “Can you grab that bag?”
“Now?” Vivian asked.
“Hell yes. I’m smoking.”
“But—”
“Please, Vivian.”
Vivian pushed her chair back and rose. “Fine, but don’t talk about
anything until I come back.”
We both nodded in unison, in that perfect way we’d practiced, when
we were young. People always found Troy and I adorable. As kids, we’d
used that little factor against everyone. At eight, we’d go to the corner
store, look up at the old Indian woman that cashiered, and give her the
saddest eyes.
‘We love you,’ our gazes proclaimed. ‘We are so cute, and we love
you.’
Like clockwork, she’d suck her teeth and toss us our favorite candy.
For me, pink Now and Laters. Troy had a thing for watermelon Airheads.
It was the only sort of watermelon he would eat. I’d never witnessed him
eating the actual fruit. He believed it made him a stereotype.
“Not all black people love watermelon, Jazz.” He would roll his tiny
eyes, yet drool as I munched on my chunky slices of juicy fruit.
 In Benny’s prison castle’s kitchen, Vivian placed her hands on her
hips and stared at us. “You both look like you’re lying to me.”
Together, we smiled.
“You’re going to plan something without me, right?” Vivian frowned.
We shook our head no.
“For my own good, apparently?” Her sad expression shifted to
annoyance.
We said nothing.
“I’m going to get the stuff. Try not to plan something stupid until I
get back.” She gave up and walked off.
When she disappeared into her room, Troy fixed his attention on me.
“What, Jazz?”
“You’re leaving something out.”
“Am I?”
“Your reasons for Mom being involved are shaky. What’s going on?”
“You’re just going to get mad and even more pissed, so why go
there?”
“What?”
“I’m not even sure if I’m right.”
“What?”
“I think Chase and Mom are together.”
“Huh?” I almost laughed. The very idea sounded comical. “My
Chase?”
“My Chase?” he mocked me.
“Shut up.”
“When I talked to him yesterday, he said he was with somebody. He
was speaking in code and shit. Confirmed that the person knew me. Now
how many people could Chase be around that knows him and me?” Troy
raised his hand and touched his fingers one by one as he listed names.
“Viv, Benny, Sherman, and Mom. Viv was with me. Benny with you. That
only leaves Sherman and Mom. Either way that’s Mom. Sherman’s her
puppet.”
“Stop it.”
“It’s the truth. First born and all that shit. You think he was able to
control the block without her whispering in his ear?”
“Concentrate, Troy.” My bottom lip shivered. “Okay, let’s think
about this crazy theory for one second. If Mom or Sherman was with
Chase, why would they be with him?”
“To find you.”
I closed my eyes. Grief over took me. “They can’t help him.”
“Why not? Only person on this earth that understands Benny better
than us, is Mom. If I was Chase, I would go to her.”
“She’s not going to be able to help him. She’ll just use him.”
“She’s already using him. Chase got her on a salary. I was in his
system’s records. She’s on the payroll like she works there.”
“Why were you in his corporation’s computer?”
“It was months ago, when we were trying to figure out who could be
working against us and helping Benny out. We figured it had to be some of
Chase’s security. When I happened to see her name on there, I asked Chase
about it. Motherfucker told me that she’d been up in his office demanding
money and education funds for Tee-Tee, Sherman Jr., and them.”
“He never told me that.” I couldn’t even open my eyes as reality
slapped my face.
“Don’t matter now. This is the problem. Look at me.”
I opened my eyes.
He leaned in closer. “Mom is involved somehow, and she wants
something. This whole thing doesn’t make sense. She’s been cool with
Benny forever. He’s helped her out in South End, I’m sure of it. Biggest
reason why she got control of the block was because people are too afraid
of him, and didn’t want to fuck with Mom, and have them on his back.”
“Has Benny killed for her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Troy,” I shook my head, “I think you’re just fishing and walking
straight off the path. If Mom is in this, then what would she expect to get
out of all of it? She’s apparently getting money from Chase and protection
from Benny. It’s in her best interests for both of them to get along and stay
alive.”
“Is it?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Mom might have lied to Benny about us being his kids. She was
willing to let us believe that we didn’t have a father, yet tell Benny that we
were his children. Why say that to him, and keep it from us? What would
she get out of doing that?”
“Money.”
 “Exactly. Benny took care of us—paid for our school, drove us
around, and dropped dollars here and there. We never got out of the hood,
but when there were emergencies, shit would get paid. I bet that was
Benny’s doing. It was in her best interests to have Benny think he was the
father. But if we weren’t his kids, it would be in her best interest to keep
that shit a secret.”
I placed my hands on the table and traced tiny circles near my plate.
I needed something to do before I stabbed myself in the head from
thinking too much. The thing I hated about Troy, was that he remained
paranoid of everyone. Fifty percent of the time he was wrong. It was just
that other fifty percent that I worried about.
What if he’s right? Could he be? It’s logical, but so insane that … no,
it can’t be.
Troy continued. “And I have no reason for why Mom would give
Lucy up like that, but I’m sure she did. Sherman would have given Lucy to
Benny, if Mom asked him to do it. Sherman said he was sorry. How many
times does he apologize?”
“I’ve never heard him say sorry.”
“This was the second time. He only does it when he feels really
guilty.”
“When was the first time with you?” I asked.
“When he got me locked up for putting those drugs in my book bag.”
Noise sounded from down the hallway. I checked, but I didn’t see
Vivian or Benny.
“That being said, let’s keep Viv out of this for now. If Mom is in this,
Viv has another enemy in the midst. I can’t think of why, but Mom never
liked her.” Troy stopped talking and stared at me. “What?”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“The different times I’ve talked to Mom in the past weeks.”
“Okay. What?”
“I called her, when we were in Italy. It wasn’t long, barely ten
minutes, but I remembered thinking it was odd that we’d been on for so
long. Usually she was short, but—”
“Maybe Benny had some sort of tracking device on here. You know?
Like those FBI movies where they need like five minutes to keep the
person on the phone and locate where the signal is coming from.”
 I frowned. “I feel like we are losing it.”
“You talk to her again?”
“Yeah. It was last week. We’d barely been on the phone for two
minutes. I’d only called to talk to everyone else, but she asked about
Chase and me. The typical things that people say. Then she asked a weird
question. She wanted to know if Vivian was still heartbroken over you. I
was shocked. One, she’d said Vivian, when usually she just called her that
white girl. Then, I didn’t even realize that she’d known you both had been
… dating before the news came out.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her that Vivian was still in love with you.”
Troy put his elbow on the table and his hand under his chin. “I don’t
know why, but don’t tell Viv this.”
“Okay.”
“We need to find out if Chase is working with Mom. I got an idea,
but I almost don’t want to try this shit.” He shook his head at me.
“What?”
“Chase isn’t going to tell me anything. He thinks it’s my fault that
Lucy is dead, and you know what, he’s right.”
“No, the hell he is not. Stop that.”
“Don’t matter. I should’ve remained watching her by myself.”
“Stop it.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He sighed. “You ready to hear my plan?”
“What?”
“I want you to talk to Chase.”
My whole body came to life. A buzz of energy flowed through me.
Memories of his lips, hands, and words rushed to my head. Images of our
bodies entwined lingered in the most hungry corners of my mind.
“Really, Jazz?”
“What?”
“You look like the star quarterback just asked you to the prom. This
isn’t a freak call.”
“I don’t do freak calls.”
“Sure you don’t.”
“I’m a lady.”
“You’re fucking grinning.”
“I’m in love with him. Of course I am.”
 “Don’t tease him.”
“What? I wouldn’t tease him.”
“No, but you’ll have him thinking you’re coming back just because
you wouldn’t be able to say no. Listen, we just need information and then
we hang up. I’m not even supposed to have this phone.”
“Where is it?”
“Don’t worry about it. We make the call, find out if Mom has been
with him, and then we hang up. Until Benny is gone, you need to stay away
from Chase.”
“I got it. No one is more certain of that than me.”
“Well, just don’t forget.”
I glared at him. “I got it.”
A boom sounded from down the hallway. Viv appeared and strolled
toward us with three long joints. Each must’ve been six inches long.
I forced a fake smile. “You’re not playing.”
“No, I’m not.” She set them on the table. “So … are you both still
arguing about the differences between psychopath and sociopath?”
“Pretty much.” I shrugged. “Sociopathy is usually the product of
childhood trauma and/or physical and emotional abuse. Benny told me that
his mother and father beat him. They had him boxing, too, at a really
young age.”
“He’s a psychopath. Why are you even listening to that? He told me
that same shit. It’s all lies. He talked about fighting in that pub nicknamed
the Bucket of Blood. Well I looked it up, and that shit was called that in
early nineteenth century London. That was long ago. It hasn’t been hosting
bare-knuckle fist fights in a long ass time, and certainly not when Benny
was a kid.”
My face twisted into confusion. “That can’t be right.”
“Check it for yourself. In fact, I bet he’s not even from London. He’s
a psychopath, which means that he was born with that madness. His brain
has a defect, and there’s no talking your way out of that. You will die.”
Pulling out a long lighter covered in pink skulls, Vivian lit one of the
joints. “As usual, Troy is more hopeful than ever.”
 CHAPTER 13

Chase
Before Sophia and I headed off to the airport, I had a limo take a quick
stop down memory lane. My empty stomach bellowed in pain. And to get
my mind off of hunger, I thought of Jasmine, which always led me back to
food.
“Where are we going?” Sophia asked. “The airport is the other way.”
“I want to stop by Mama Jane’s Pit real quick.”
“Boy, what you know about Mama Jane’s?” Sophia laughed.
“Jasmine has me addicted to the baguffins.”
“She’s good for that. Just like Benny, she always can point you to the
best place to eat in any area. Which type of baguffin do you like?”
“Monkey bread.”
“Remind me to give my daughter a high-five.”
I hope I see her again.
Fear prickled against my skin. “I’ll do that.”
Once we stocked up on good coffee and mouthwatering baked treats,
we headed to the airport.
I had a whole team scanning every one of Benny’s aliases. It took
them five hours to give me a report. The good news, ten out of the fifty
aliases were active. The bad news, ten out of the fifty were active, and all
in different parts of Europe. On an optimistic note, he had to be using one
of them now. I’d just have to find out which name. And if I had to go from
country to country, city to city, I would.
By the afternoon, we sat on my private plane, which was headed to
Paris. We hadn’t taken off yet. Jasmine loved French food. It made sense
that Benny would want to cater to her loves. One of the aliases were active
there, in a five star hotel right in the heart of the city.
 Perhaps he took her to Paris. Would it be that easy? Maybe. I bet he
never thought that I would find his aliases.
I looked at Jasmine’s mother, who sat several rows behind me.
Waiting for the plane to take off, Sophia sat in the main cabin,
feasting on lobster and chocolate strawberries. Once she realized I had a
chef on board, the baguffins weren’t enough to fill her. At her request, I’d
brought my personal masseuse to keep her busy. Once we were in the air,
Sophia would get a full body massage scheduled in an hour.
I didn’t think the woman could be trusted, but she’d gotten me
further than I would’ve ever been on my own. In that respect, she’d get
everything she damn well wanted, until Jasmine returned.
On the other side of the airport, a handcuffed Sherman sat on another
private plane that I’d borrowed from a friend. My buddy Pierre didn’t even
ask. He’d been at the ball, knew something drove me toward danger, and
wanted to help. He obliged me, and understood that I paid back every last
favor. Any problem that came to Pierre, I would help him with.
So Sherman rode Pierre’s plane that would fly off in an hour after us.
Four men guarded him. I never told Sophia. She remained busy with my
spoiling as I tried to make sense of the madness.
Benny’s madness.
Sipping Mama Jane’s dark roast, I read more of Benny’s journal and
hoped the place would be ready to take off soon.
… The scotch drowned memories like Chase Jr being in a dress. I
bet she would do more to the boy as he got older. He would end up
worse than his father.
Blood and killing I was used to. Other things were harder to
swallow. I didn’t like people who preyed on the weak. These rich men
did nasty things to kids.
I couldn’t handle it.
I had a thing against monsters.
That was why I kept a good distance from these perverts. Even in
that moment, as I sat next to Scar in the bar, several feet of space
rested between our table and the perverts. Chase Stone, Jason Koch,
and the rest of the corporate demon bunch.
“Look at them.” I pointed at the whole deceptive lot. “The things
rich people do behind closed doors would make the devil’s dick go
soft.” I laughed. “I bet Satan would stand up, be shocked, and yell out,
‘Jesus Christ, people!’“
“Don’t joke like that.” Scar lifted his upper lip on the side as if he
was going to hiss. “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.”
“I just watched you crush a man’s skull tonight, and you won’t
let me take the Lord’s name in vain?”
“I have my limits.” Scar’s last word sounded more like “lihehs”
in his sort of gruff tone.
Scar could never be the director of security for Stone Industries.
It had to be me, but I kept him with me the whole time. Didn’t have
anyone else I could trust in this world but him.
“They say they want me to go to law school next,” I confessed,
unsure of what Scar would think. In my life, I’d done enough to have
many people to talk to.
My wife thought I was a security man working my way up the
company ladder. She had never met the real Benny Nix. If she did,
she’d shit her frilly pink panties.
“What do you think, Scar?” I asked. “Could I be in a law
school?”
“You’re smart.” Two words. That was always Scar. Concise and to
the point with no explanation. He spoke in short sentences or muttered
a word here and there.
“Yeah.” I gestured for another scotch. “I am smart. Can you
picture me at law school? I’d hate to see the professor that gave me the
wrong grade.”
Scar turned to me. I stiffened. One never knew what was on his
mind. Once he had coffee with me and a guy. The poor man said hello,
and Scar sliced his throat. Somehow the poor bastard survived. The
cut wasn’t too deep. I asked him why he did it. Scar claimed he didn’t
like his shirt.
Nevertheless, I stayed on edge, when Scar gave me his full
attention.
“What’s wrong, man?” Under the table, I held my gun and
pointed it his way. With some buddies, I kept a weapon on my lap. Our
occupation lured many sick guys. I could never let my guard down.
Scar targeted me with his gaze. “I’d talk to him.”
 “Who?”
“That professor.”
“The one that would give me the bad grade?”
He nodded. “You’re smart.”
“Yeah.”
“He would die.” Scar returned to his drink, and I went back to
my third one and relaxed the fingers on my gun.
“If I go to law school, I’ll be sure to study hard so no innocent
professors won’t die.”
“You’re smart.” Scar tapped his glass against mine and finished
it.
Then she walked into the bar.
Sophia.
Skin so rich with a deep brown color my fingers itched to dip into
her skin and taste that sweetness on my tongue. Ebony hair fell to her
waist. Jeans hugged her curves. A candy red top clutched two beautiful
mounds of lushness. She spotted me, gasped, twisted around, and
walked away.
“She know you?” Scar asked.
“Yeah. Sort of.” I jumped up, put the gun in its holster, slung on
my jacket, and left three hundred dollar bills on the table. “See you
later, man.”
Chase Stone and the rest of the designer perverts paid Sophia’s
entrance and exit no mind. That was good. They were children when it
came to desire. If the men spotted her, they’d want her, and I’d have to
give her up. Again.
No.
Scar got up himself and trailed behind me. “I got your back.”
I almost laughed. What was he doing, covering me against a sexy
woman? Surely if I could lay out two guys by myself, I could handle
her.
“What you doing, man?” I stopped by a table and turned to him.
“She’s dangerous.”
“I like them dangerous.”
“She’s been with a boss.”
“She’s been with them all.”
 “Not good.”
“I don’t like them good.”
Scar grunted. “I got your back.”
I checked the pervert’s table. They continued to laugh and barrel
down more drinks.
“Look, Scar,” I said, “Sophia worked at Kitty Kat. That strip
club right on the edge of South End that is gracious enough to be next
door to the Meow Hotel.”
“Good place.”
“I met her through Stone. He thinks strip clubs are pussy
markets.”
“He bought her?”
“He might’ve picked her up a few times after the club and seen
how much she could meow.” I kept the rage off of my face. “He used to
have me drive her home, when he was done. The first few times I
didn’t care. I was at the hotel myself. The last night I took her home, I
saw three little boys peeking out from her living room window.”
“Who watched them?”
“No one. I told her ass to never come back around Stone and
them.” I gestured at the door that she’d booked it out of. “That’s why
she hightailed it through the exit. She’d been ready to go over there to
the perverts, and realized I sat in the bar.”
“She’s a free woman.”
“I told her not to mess with them.”
“She’s no virgin.”
“Men like Stone would chew Sophia and her kids up.”
“You sure she wouldn’t be chewing, too?”
“I’m not so sure.” I headed to the exit with Scar right behind me.
“You’re going to follow me now?”
“I got your back.”
“Yeah, I know.” I shoved through the bar’s doors. Cold wind hit
my face. “I told her not to come back. She keep messing with Stone
and he’ll get nervous and have her disposed of.”
“Not your problem.”
I stopped and faced him. “If Stone has her disposed, then it is my
problem. I hate killing mothers.”
 Scar nodded. “Me too.”
We were both motherless too soon. Scar’s mom died. Mine
should’ve done the world a favor and killed herself.
Several feet ahead of Scar and me heels clicked against the
pavement. I spotted her figure up ahead, stomping away in pretty
shoes and swaying those lovely hips.
“Eh!” I ran up to her. “I thought I told you to stay away from
him?”
Ass jiggling under that skirt, she displayed her middle finger and
kept on stalking forward. That was the thing that irked me about this
Sophia. Most women’s names were easy to forget. This one’s was easy
to remember. Sophia was just too stupid to live. She knew she should
be scared of me, understood I was dangerous, but yet didn’t provide
me with the respect that I should’ve been given.
“Eh!” I hurried my pace to stay on her side.
“My name is not Eh.” Sophia rolled those fucking eyes. “And I
only came through because I needed some quick cash.”
“You’ll end up getting a quick death, if you mess with that
bunch.”
“Then my problems might be solved.” She stopped in the center
of the sidewalk and gazed at me. “Are we done?”
Scar got to my side and stared at her with an odd expression. He
did that at times with women. It creeped most of them out.
Sophia pointed at Scar. “Stop studying me like that. You look like
you want to carve me up and eat me.”
Scar’s voice darkened. “I scare you?”
She never lowered her finger. “Stop looking at me.”
“You should probably say that in a nicer tone.” I crossed my
arms around my chest.
Annoyance laced her voice. “What?”
“If he looks like he wants to carve you up, and then eat you,” I
said, “don’t you think you should ask him to stop looking at you in a
nicer tone?”
Scar moved his gaze to her hair and then her bare shoulders, his
expression getting odder by the minute, like he really would slice some
of her flesh and chomp away.
 “Are you scared of me?” he asked.
She lifted her head and targeted him with a sexy gaze. “No, baby,
I’m not scared.”
Shit like that made my cock hard. Sophia should’ve backed away.
Scar stood five times her size. The man frightened me. In that
moment, I decided that I would fuck her.
I sucked my teeth. “You should be afraid of us both.”
“You’re not going to let this big, scary beast hurt me,” she said.
I had nothing else to say. Not many people shocked me. No one
talked to me this way, not even the designer perverts who signed my
big death checks.
“How do you know I won’t let him eat you?” I asked.
“Because you haven’t become a monster yet,” she replied.
“Yet?”
“You heard me.” She walked around both of us and continued
down the sidewalk. “But you will become one. Guys like you always
become monsters, when they hang with men like that.”
“You would know, huh? You’ve slept with enough them.” I turned
around.
“Sure have. Should I be embarrassed?” She stalked off, that
behind wiggling with each stomp. “I’m sure you’ve killed more men
than I’ve fucked.”
“She’s too mouthy.” Scar reached into his jacket. His fingers
were probably rubbing against his gun. He liked to play with the cold
surface a little in the seconds before wrenching it out and pulling the
trigger.
I touched his arm. “No. Don’t shoot her.”
“She would be fun.”
“No.” I tightened my grip on his arm. “I don’t want to have that
type of fun with her.”
“No?”
“No, put your gun away.”
I often thought of that night later on. Did Sophia understand how
close she’d been to being raped, tortured, and choked in an alley? Scar
didn’t seek his victims out, but if they strolled around and matched
him in verbal play, he might take them and have some fun. Their
families usually discovered the bodies a week later, whether by the
cops or some poor homeless man rummaging through dumpsters …
Bile rose in my throat. The plane’s engine hummed, but we still
hadn’t taken off yet. Nevertheless, the machine’s steady rumbling brought
me back to my reality and out of Benny’s gruesome world.
Shutting the journal, I focused on catching my breath.
Someone touched my shoulder.
I jumped.
“Are you okay?” Sophia stood right next to me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I’d read more than I wanted to about Sophia. Being
next to her set me on edge.
She glanced down at my lap. “What are you reading?”
I turned it around. “Benny’s journals.”
“Why?”
“Does it matter?”
She flinched. “I doubt there’s anything in there. And truthfully, I’m
just making conversation. This is going to be a long flight.”
“Sorry, I’m not me today.” I set the book on the seat next to me.
“When are we taking off?”
“Soon. I never rush the pilots. I work on their time. I like to get to
places safely.”
She directed her attention to the stack of journals in the seat next to
me. “You’re just going to read about Benny the whole trip?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I changed the topic. “Have you ever been to
France?”
“No.”
“I’m surprised Benny hasn’t taken you.”
“Why would he?”
“He liked you a lot.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “He didn’t like me as much as you think.”
“No?”
“No, not really. He has a weird way of loving people.”
“Could you explain?” I asked.
“Why do you care so much?”
“It’s good to know your enemies.”
Sophia widened her mouth into a mischievous grin. “To know your
enemies, is to become your enemies.”
 “Sun Tzu said that.”
“Yes, he did.”
“I didn’t know South End was big on Sun Tzu.”
“The hood has always been a battleground. In order to survive, you
should study war.”
Benny’s friend was right, she is dangerous. Each time I see her, I
meet a new Sophia. Each time, she shows me whatever she thinks I need to
see.
“Tell me about Benny’s love,” I said.
“He loves in a hazardous way.”
“How?”
My phone rang. The screen said it was an unpublished number.
Now who is this? What new puzzle will go on the table?
“Excuse me, Sophia.” I picked it up. “Hello?”
The other person said nothing.
“Hello?” I asked again.
Benny is that you? I hope so. Are you mad that I walked right into
your bizarre garden?
“Say something,” I said. “Stop being a coward.”
“Chase,” Jasmine whispered.
Dear God. Tesoro.
“Yes. Yes.” I jumped in my seat, knocking journals and coffee over.
Sophia stepped back in the aisle.
“Hold on,” I told Sophia. Like a madman, I unbuckled myself, rose
from the seat, and rushed to my private bedroom in the back of the plane.
“Chase?”
“Yes.” The word rode the panting of my breaths as I hurried to get
some privacy. “Y-yes. Don’t hang up. Please, don’t hang up. I just needed
to get away from others. Don’t hang up, tesoro.”
“Are you with my mother?” she asked.
In my small bedroom, I closed the door behind me and leaned on it.
“Chase, did you hear me? Are you with my mother?”
I tried to keep the pain out of my voice, but it was too hard. “Jasmine
… .why did you go?”
“I …” Jasmine wouldn’t finish the damn sentence, and I hung on
hoping that she would. “I wrote you a letter.”
 “And you think we’re done? That I would understand from your
letter? Not even a doctor’s note could excuse your absence from me.
Where are you?”
“Chase—”
“Where are you?”
“Just answer my question. Is my mother with you?”
The plane’s rumbling increased. Now was not the time to take off. I
had to finish this conversation. “Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you. Is Mom right next to you?”
“No.” I closed my eyes while my heart crushed right there. She
hadn’t called to come back to me. Of all the people in this situation, I
hadn’t expected her to be the one to keep things from me. She was just
checking on her mother.
“Yes, your mother is here.”
“Don’t trust her.”
“Now that’s a twist.”
“I’m serious, Chase. Stay away from her.”
“She’s helping me find you.”
“She has no idea where I’m at.”
“But she could help me find you.”
“No, don’t trust her.”
“I only trust you.” I gripped the phone hard and wished she stood
right in front of me. “Are you safe?”
She stayed quiet for a few seconds and then answered, “Yes, I am.”
“Our love is worth everyone else’s death. You hear me?”
“Chase, don’t say that.”
“Let them all die.”
“I can’t.”
“Let Benny kill every last one of my friends and family.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“Chase, you have to focus.”
“I’m more focused than I’ve ever been. I’m locked in on my mission.
You’re my target, and I won’t get off the track until you’re in front of me.
Do you see how foolish you’ve been? You were crazy enough to think that
you could leave me, and I wouldn’t have any say in it. You’re mine.”
“Don’t—”
 My voice roared through the phone. “You’re mine!”
Silence.
Her voice cracked as she spoke, “I’m sorry, baby.”
“You will be.” I licked my lips. Tears mixed with rage and lust.
“You’ll be so sorry, when I get my hands on you.”
Her words came out as a low shiver. “Chase, you have to … you have
to—”
“Focus.” I finished her sentence. “Focus, right? I know. I’ve been
around your mother enough. She says it every minute. Focus, Chase, focus.
Troy says it, too. Focus, Rich Boy. Now you’re saying it. But don’t you all
understand, I can’t concentrate, if you’re not next to me and safe? Where
are you?!”
My hold on the phone tightened to the point where I could swear the
plastic cracked around me.
“I can’t tell you.” A sad sigh passed over the phone. “Chase, listen.
We have to—”
“See each other.” I finished her sentence.
“No. Stop that. I’m trying to talk. We need to—”
“Be together immediately,” I finished again.
“You’re not listening.”
“Because you’re not making any sense.”
“Troy and I came up with a plan.”
Great. They’re going to get each other killed.
“No.” I kicked the door with the back of my feet. “You and I are one.
We don’t make plans with other people. We don’t keep secrets. We don’t
do things unless we’re together. Where are you?”
“Stop working with my mother. I don’t know what you’re doing, but
Benny was upset this morning. Please, tell me you had nothing to do with
it.”
Awww. Benny’s upset? Maybe I should come over there and give him
a hug.
I grinned. “Where are you?”
“Get away from my mother.”
“You want me away from her, then come home. Until then, your
mom and I will be best friends.”
She sighed on the other end. “And how’s this friendship working out
for you?”
 “Currently, I’m on a plane. She’s here, too, in the back. We’re
heading your way. She’s just had lobster and will be getting a massage
soon.”
“From who?”
Jealous, are we?
“Does it matter?” I asked.
“No, Chase. You can’t be around her.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Go home. Troy and I—”
“Don’t have the resources that I do,” I finished.
“What? No. Troy and I—”
“Are morons and weak next to Benny.”
“Stop interrupting my sentences!”
“Then start making sense!” If my hold on the phone got any more
constricting, the device would be cracked to bits and pieces of plastic,
electronics, and metal. “Where are you?”
Jasmine huffed. “I think Benny knows you and Mom are together.”
“Good.”
“Whatever is going on, she is the mastermind.”
“Mastermind?”
Jasmine sighed. “Troy’s words. Not mine.”
I grinned. “Tell me more.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No. I’m trying to keep you on the phone longer so I could just listen
to your voice. I’m trying to imprint this conversation in my mind so I’m
not biting my pillows as I lay in bed tonight. Tell me more. I don’t care. If
you want to talk about your mom, then do it. Just don’t hang up.”
Her voice came out strained. “I’m sorry.”
“I love you.”
“We … listen—”
“Our love is worth everyone’s death.”
“Don’t say that.
“I don’t care if everyone dies around us, just as long as you’re with
me.”
“Chase, I do care. I don’t want anybody else to be hurt.”
“Everyone that’s dead knew what they were doing. Half of them
caused it. Dawn, Wendy—”
 “And Lucy?” she asked.
“No, not Lucy.”
“No more innocent people.”
“Where are you, tesoro?”
“Benny is calm now, besides the fact that he’s just got upset over
something probably about you and Mom. Leave this alone. Benny thinks
this is a big family trip. He wants us to learn about where he came from.
Troy and I have a plan. If it works, then maybe we can be together again.”
“There isn’t a maybe. I can’t live with maybe. I’m on a fucking
plane! I don’t care about your and Troy’s plan. It’s nothing to me, unless
this plan leads me to you.”
My name ripped out of her mouth in a ragged plea. “Chase, please go
home. Don’t look for me, and stay away from my mother.”
“Why?”
“There’s a reason my brothers had all of South End on lock. Do you
think a bunch of teenage boys could’ve done that all by themselves?”
“Your mother helped?”
“According to Troy, my mother masterminded the whole thing. And
if she’s with you, she’s doing it again.”
“Well, you’re not here so fuck it. And by the way, she took me to
South End,” I admitted.
“Jesus.”
“We went into the Chops.”
“Oh God.”
“I own the building now by the way.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Did you know that one of the elevators doesn’t work?”
“The odd one? It never worked.”
“I’m going to fix that. And there’s little girls on the street selling
their bodies. I’m going to stop that, too.”
“Chase—”
“In fact, we’re going to fix that, of course this is after I dig a deep
hole in the earth and drop Benny right into the ground. We’re going to fix
South End.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Maybe.”
“Why did she take you there?”
 “Benny has a place in the Chops.”
She muttered something under her breath, probably a curse word. “I
think they called it the Penthouse. I was never allowed to hang with
anybody in South End. My brothers made me stay in the house all the
time. But I remember something like that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “So you never went there?”
“No. I heard things and didn’t believe them. Now I’m certain most of
the stuff was probably true.” She paused for a minute and then asked,
“Mom came with you?”
“Yes, and she took all of the cash out of his apartment. It was a huge
garbage bag full.”
Troy must’ve grabbed the phone because his voice came through
next. “I heard some of it. You mean to tell me Mom took money out of
Benny’s place?”
“Put Jasmine back on.”
“Focus, man.”
I gritted my teeth, doing my best to not scream at him.
“She’s still with you?” Troy asked.
“Yes. Now put Jasmine back on the phone.”
Troy ignored me. “If Mom got the money and she’s still with you,
then the money wasn’t her goal, it was just the icing on the cake. She’s
after something else.”
Jasmine’s voice sounded in the background. “They’re on a plane,
heading our way.”
“But they probably don’t know where we’re at,” Troy said to Jasmine
and then returned the conversation to me. “Listen, man. As soon as you
land, drop Mom’s ass in that country and move on. Go back to Oshane
City. You don’t want any part in this. Wait it out. Mom is doing something,
and—”
“I’ve got Sherman.”
“Say what?”
“He’s handcuffed and guarded by three men on another plane.”
Something rubbed over the phone on his end as he must’ve yelled
back to Jasmine. “This motherfucker has lost his mind.”
“I have,” I confessed. “And I’m not sure what I’m going to do with
Sherman. Not sure if he’s going to help or deter me, what I do know is that
I’m not going to let him go until I have Jasmine’s location.”
 “Here, maybe you should talk to him,” Troy must’ve handed the
phone back to Jasmine, since her voice came on next.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Chase, but just trust us.”
I grinned. “No.”
“He’s going to try and kill you. Stay away until we can figure this
out.”
“No.”
Jasmine’s voice rose. “Damn it, Chase!
“It’s not fun hearing no, is it?”
“You’re being a stupid fool.”
“You ran away. That was stupid. Now I’m coming for you. Benny
can’t scare me out of loving you.”
“Benny is not going to listen to reason, if you’re still involved with
the situation. If you’re out of the picture, I may be able to help Benny
come to a more logical conclusion. These past months affected us all. He’s
getting worse and worse—”
“Has he hurt you?” I growled into the phone, wishing the sick bastard
stood right in front of me. “Has he threatened you?”
“No. It’s been awkward, but okay.”
“Where are you?”
“I have to go.”
I shut my eyes. A steady ache drummed in my chest. “Don’t you
fucking go.”
“I love you,” she whispered.
“Love is all we need.”
“We need more than love,” Jasmine countered. “Benny isn’t going to
give up until you’re no longer walking on the face of this earth. With you
and I broke up, he may focus on something else.”
“John Lennon had a quote about love—”
“John Lennon is dead, and you will be, too. Get off of the plane, get
away from my mother and brother, and go home.” Her voice cracked at the
last word. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ll see you soon, tesoro.”
The line clicked off before I could say anything else. Don’t trust your
mother. Interesting. It seems like that’s the theme of today. Trust no one. I
passed Sophia, right as she lifted her fork and pierced through a circular
slice of dark chocolate cake layered in honey coated nuts.
 She looked up. “Any problems? You were pretty loud back there.”
“No problems yet. Everything is bloody awesome and fantastic.” I
headed back to my seat, glancing over my shoulder every few steps. Too
many enemies surrounded me, and the only person I trusted on this planet
refused to work with me.
You don’t believe in us? I’ll show you, stubborn woman.
I grabbed Benny’s psychotic notebooks off the tray and rummaged
through them.
I’m just as smart as you, tesoro.
In the phone conversation, Jasmine had revealed more to me than
she’d actually knew. If Benny had made the trip about family and wanted
his kids to know where he was from, then he’d be taking them to his
birthplace. I didn’t think he’d been born in Paris.
Where are you from, you sick, twisted bastard?
The engine started. Under my feet, the plane’s floor hummed to life.
I strapped myself in as we made our way around the airport. Outside, the
sun climbed down the sky’s steps, weary and exhausted. Orange flames
trailed at his back and melted into subtle shades of darkness—violent
violets and bruising blacks.
My plane zipped by the others. Like it was on a mission to save the
world.
Maybe we are. A world without Benny is a good one to live in.
The plane took off and I returned myself back to the mystery,
flipping through pages and pages of Benny’s nonsense, searching for
something. It was all red slashes of words on dulled, wrinkled paper. Every
other chapter, he drew odd symbols—triangles inside of double circles,
bent squares with dots in the corners, ovals attached to rectangles full of
tiny smiley faces. None of the illustrations made sense. None of the
chapters flowed together.
How long has he been recording his thoughts?
After a good hour of piling through all of his notebooks, I stopped at
the end of the fifth one and grinned.
The first chapter read The Story of My Life.
… The great Bells of St Mary-le-Bow Church are known as Bow
Bells. If you’re born when they rang, then you’re considered a
Cockney.
I’m a Cockney.
 I wear the name with pride.
Others didn’t.
Some felt ashamed …
Was it the truth or more nonsense? Could I really be this lucky in this
horrific week? Will it all be this simple? He’s a cockney.
The book fell from my hands. I rushed up to standing position,
banging my knee against the chair’s arm as I raced to the cockpit. It was
the fourth time I’d banged my damn leg today. Jasmine’s absence had me
looking like a grumpy, drunken idiot to my staff and guards. I probably
wasn’t the only one that prayed for her return.
Cockney, huh? I got you, Benny.
They all tried to keep me out—Troy thought I would be better far
away from Jasmine, and she mistakenly believed it. Their mom thought
she could toy with my mind and drag me around by a leash. Benny
believed he could bully me and take away everyone I loved. The time for
making friends and being nice had ended.
These next days would play out like a well-orchestrated symphony
toward death.
Benny’s death.
Anger coursed through my veins and froze my blood. Pressure
nudged at my ears as I made it through to the cockpit. It was the worst part
about flying. The ringing and pain in the ears. I knocked on the door and
decided not to wait for an invitation. The pilot and co-pilot jerked a little
as I rushed in.
“Change in plans.” My breath left me in a burst of wind. “We’re
going to London.”
The co-pilot seemed to look behind me as if wondering where the
stewardess had gone and why she hadn’t stopped and talked to me first.
He cleared his throat. “We’ll need to get permission to—”
“Get what you have to get done, and make sure it is as soon as
possible.”
“Okay, sir.” The co-pilot nodded. “But, we will need to you to
understand that complications may—”
“There are no buts!” I yelled at him. “You don’t get paid for buts.
When we land, we land in London. If not, then kiss your family good-bye.
Their blood will pour all over the streets. Do you hear me?”
 The pilot’s face reddened as his mouth dropped open. “I just wanted
to say that it might be an hour delay. That’s all.”
Suddenly, the room closed in on me.
I may need to stop reading Benny’s journals. That was a bit too
gangster just now.
I cleared my throat. “Of course.”
“It wouldn’t be difficult to change the destination, sir.”
“Yes, that makes sense.” I forced myself to calm down. “I’m sorry.
That will be fine.”
They said nothing else. And I lingered in there, standing in
uncomfortable silence. After several seconds, I scratched my head. “I just
want to apologize about that comment earlier. The little threat. I’ve been
under a bit of stress.”
The co-pilot kept his attention on the sky. “We understand, sir.”
I placed Benny’s journal behind me. “I’ve also been watching a lot of
gangster movies. You know the classics—Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas,
all of those. I don’t usually threaten my employees and their families. I’ve
never done anything to anyone’s family. That’s just crazy.”
No one responded.
I backed away. “Thank you very much for your service.”
“You’re welcome, sir. We should be in London in six hours.”
“Good.” I nodded. “Yes, that’s good. And … about your family.
Again, not my usual.”
“No problem, sir.”
“Okay.” I fled the cockpit, before I threatened them anymore and had
us all crashing into the ocean.
 CHAPTER 14

Jasmine
No rain decorated the London sky. Today showed clear blue skies and sun.
Troy held the door open for us as we walked inside Westminster
Abbey. Scattered chatter mingled around low chanting of some sort. I
wondered if they played music or had a ceremony going on somewhere off
in the distance. It sounded like monks humming or nuns singing low in
prayer. Something spiritual. But I didn’t see anything besides people
moving throughout the space and drinking the Abbey’s gothic beauty in.
Ignoring the splendor, Troy finished our conversation from the tube
ride. “Maybe we should put a pillow over his head while he’s asleep and
suffocate him.”
Vivian snorted. “Dad’s a light sleeper. He’ll wake up before the door
is open.”
“And he has guards all over the place.” I pulled my phone out to take
some pictures. “They’re watching us, and protecting him.”
“Give me your phone.” Vivian held out her hand. “You suck at taking
pictures.”
“Everyone’s a freaking critic.” I handed it to her.
“You almost always cut off someone’s head, when you take it,” she
added. “And you have a talent for snapping the picture right as my face is
in some distorted blah expression.”
“Lies. All lies. Your face always looks like that.” I stuck out my
tongue. “I can’t make you look beautiful.”
“Yet, any picture that anyone else takes looks just fine.”
“Where are these mystery photos?”
“Ladies, focus.” Troy guided us forward to explore more of what the
tour books called Royal London. “We need to figure out a way to kill
Benny. We only have a little time to discuss this. And I thought I told you
to turn the phone off?”
“Benny gave us the phone back to take pictures.” I grabbed it from
Vivian.
“Yeah, because it’s probably bugged. Turn it off.”
I shut it down.
“Can we talk about something else besides death right now?” Vivian
asked.
“No,” Troy said. “Shit is about to go down.”
Troy can hear it, too? He can hear the tick tock just like me?
An invisible death clock ticked loud in my ears. Ever since the phone
call to Chase, some impending future doom swarmed over our family.
Chase coming our way wouldn’t be a good thing. Mom with him was even
worse. Add a handcuffed Sherman to the mix and a psychotic Benny, and
we had the right ingredients for an atomic bomb.
Chase sat on a plane with my mother and brother. He claimed to be
heading my way, and with his stubborn, hard head I was sure he would find
me.
If not this day, then definitely another.
I thought he would swim in depression for a few days. A stupid part
of me figured he’d understand why I left, accept defeat, and move on.
No way. Not my Chase.
Motivation kept his heart booming in his chest. Chase wouldn’t let
me go. He wouldn’t give up on fighting Benny. If anything, the fight had
shifted to a bloody war, and London would be the battlefield.
And this city damn sure has known blood.
Touring Royal London, I’d learned enough about the city’s haunting
British history. The residents had given that section its imperial name
because it made up the triangle of streets Queen Elizabeth II took when
processing from Buckingham Palace to Westminster or to the Houses of
Parliament on state occasions. Even though we’d rushed out this morning,
after smoking, people flooded the streets. Everyone wanted an inside-look
into how luxury moved around the city.
I held my hands in front of my face and sniffed them. “Do I smell
like marijuana?”
“How many times are you going to ask me that?” Vivian said.
 “This place is creepy.” Troy looked up at the high gothic ceiling.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
“It’s crowded, too.” Vivian paused in the hallway, which made us
stand next to her.
We’d arrived at the Abbey early, but it still didn’t matter. The doors
opened at 9:30 a.m. We’d gotten there a couple hours before lunch and still
we drowned in tourist traffic. Voices rose around us. A few people had
already bumped into my shoulder, their eyes staring everywhere but in
front of them.
“We’re staying here.” I opened the book. “There’s no way that Benny
put microphones in the Abbey. His guards are waiting outside and have
eyes on all of the exits. We can walk around in here for the rest of the day
and make a plan.”
Troy frowned. “This place looks like Dracula’s castle.”
“This place is where kings have been crowned,” I countered. “There’s
been tons of coronations, and several royal weddings. This is not Dracula’s
castle.”
“Well I was close. This place is for the royals? Then some vampires
did walk through here. Everyone knows that the fastest way to power is to
suck out the poor’s blood.”
“Interesting. I thought power came from education and sheer
determination.” I flipped a page and searched around for things that
matched what I’d spotted in my book. “Okay, we’re at the North Entrance.
Soon as these slow ass people get out of the way, we can check out the
Coronation Chair.”
“Why?” Troy raised his eyebrows. “Why do I want to see where old
people rested their asses as someone put a crown on their head?”
“Because …” I turned to Vivian. “Help me out with this.”
“Don’t look at me. I have no idea why people would want to see a
chair.”
I glanced up from the book. “But touring Royal London was your
idea.”
“I thought it would be more fun.”
“Oh forget both of you.” I got in front of them and walked away.
“We’ll skip the chair, bypass a lot of the other highlights, and head straight
to Poet’s Corner.”
“Sounds boring.” Troy matched my pace. “What’s in Poet’s Corner?”
 “Famous writers are buried there—Jane Austen to Charles Dickens,
William Shakespeare to William Wordsworth.”
Vivian mumbled, “I’d rather see the Coronation Chair.”
I picked up my pace.
How the hell are they not impressed with this church?
As soon as we’d stepped in front of the palace, my mood had lifted.
The Abbey towers shot into the air and pointed to the sky. Immaculate
carvings peered out of long, stone walls. Energy prickled against my skin,
as if God came here and left parts of himself with each visit.
I wasn’t a spiritual person, had never been to church besides the few
times Vivian’s mother took Troy and me. However, these days called for a
bigger presence in my life. I needed something to grab onto and help me
stay solid and whole. There was something so beautiful about having a
great being watching over me every day, whether I slept or not, whether I
understood him or not.
I made the Abbey our first stop because I needed strength. Whatever
I hoped to get, whether an answer from God, a powerful spirit, or just plain
saintly luck, I believed I would get here, within the walls of the greatest
creations carved, built, and painted for the grace of God.
I’m just not sure how to appropriately pray on help to kill somebody.
What do you say? Dear Lord, please give me the strength to take their life.
The British Royals definitely knew how to pray in luxury. A white
vaulted ceiling hovered above us. The place commanded a holy elegance,
if that was even a term one would use amongst so many godly statues and
art.
The Abbey held a world craft interior—medieval craftsmanship and
gothic architecture, captivating stonework and vaulted ceilings that fanned
out in a complicated pattern and soared high in the air, much higher than
any church I’d ever seen on TV. Gold ribbing and ivory columnar piers
held the walls. Stained art served as the windows and took my breath away.
Troy shoved me out of my enjoyment. “We need some knives.”
Vivian turned her phone back on and faced the ceiling. The phone
clicked as she took several pictures. “What about a gun?”
“Turn off the phone.” Troy shook his head. “Phones can be
monitored, when they’re not active. In fact, you should take the battery
off, too.”
“I’m not doing all of that,” Vivian said.
 “Why take the battery out?” I asked.
“There’s malware out there that makes the phone appear to turn off
upon request. The screen goes blank and all that, but it’s still powered up
and conversations are still monitored.”
“Fuck.” I took my phone out and pulled out the battery. “Spies are
such intrusive little assholes. Next they’ll be putting microphones into
food, and that’s the moment when I’m going off.”
Ignoring Troy’s paranoia, Vivian continued to take a few more
images. “Why not a gun?”
Troy shifted his weight to his other foot. “We can’t shoot him. Too
bloody and messy. Plus, his guards will hear the shots and come for us. He
might’ve told them to kill us, if we murdered him. Shooting is out.”
“Poison?” Viv snapped a picture.
Troy’s voice rose a little louder than before. “Turn off the phone.”
Sighing, she shut it off. “What about poison?”
“I doubt he would trust any food we’d give him, and how are we
going to get the poison on his plate without him seeing it?”
“I could befriend Lou,” I offered. “Ask her to teach me some dishes
and volunteer to cook dinner.”
“I’m sorry, Jazz. But you cooking dinner and putting poison on food
at a table I’ll be sitting at, scares me more than shooting Benny.”
“Then what do you suggest, Old Grand Master?” I bowed to him.
“You keep knocking down our ideas. Do you have a plan?”
Troy grinned. “We stab him. All together at the same time.”
“Hell no,” I said.
“Are you kidding me?” Vivian added. “Do Jasmine and I even seem
like two people that can hold it enough together to stab our own father in
the chest?”
“Not my father, yours.” Troy shrugged.
“We don’t know whose father he is. Either way, he’s been a dad to us
all. A psychotic and overprotective father, but definitely something.” I
looked at Troy. “Could you really do it?”
With no pause or thought to the question, he said, “Yes.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Me either.” Viv lifted the camera back to her face to snap another
picture, realized it was off, and stuffed it back into her pocket.
 “Okay.” I pointed to the entrance of Poet’s Corner. “This should be
fun.”
“Why?” Troy asked.
“Because famous dead people are buried, here.”
“Yippee.” Troy punched the air. “Sounds like good times indeed.”
I gazed at the floor. Large polished blocks made up the floor. On each
spot, a famous writer’s name was written. “So I’m thinking they’re buried
under their designated stones.”
I tapped my foot. It felt weird, traveling over the rotting bones of
people who’d crafted the most amazing works of their time. Men and
women that I’d read in college, devoured on lonely nights, and praised
once the story had finished.
I stood on top of D.H. Lawrence’s stone and searched the other
names around him—Auden and T.S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
“Wow.” Vivian gave up with the spy precautions, turned on her
phone, and took pictures of all the names that she walked on “Can you
imagine how amazing it would be to stand in here, after all of the bodies
are woken up?”
Troy scrunched his face together. “After all of the bodies wake up?
Did I just miss something?”
“You know, when the angels blow the trumpets and the dead clamor
out of their graves to welcome Christ’s return. Haven’t you ever wondered
about that?”
“What?” Troy asked.
“During revelations some of the dead get their souls returned and
they come back to life.”
“I doubt it will happen in our lifetime,” Troy said.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Do writers have souls? That would be my question.” I traced my
foot along T.S. Eliot’s name. “I read this article on how creativity can
darken the soul.”
“That’s stupid. Anyway, back to revelations.” Viv pointed to one of
the stones. “Can you imagine Emily Dickinson waking up and surrounded
by the Bronte sisters? They’d probably have a lot to say about women’s
literature and how it’s grown. Plus—”
“I’ve got an idea for how we’ll kill Benny.” Troy raised his hand.
“We’ll bring him here, and have you two discuss this topic with him.
Benny might commit suicide with one of these statues. I could see him
banging his head into the stone over and over, just to get some peace.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Fine. Would you like to change the
topic?”
“Only if you think your life is in danger. If not, feel free to snap more
pictures of the dead’s grave.” Troy didn’t even check the names that he
walked by.
“Okay. Okay. No one’s around, but the occasional wandering tourist.
We jumped ahead of that one tour group. We have some quiet time in
here,” I pointed out. “What do you want to do?”
“We’ve got to kill him?” Troy said.
“We’ve said that already, over and over.” I blew out a long breath.
“We thought up ways, and neither one of us, really has it in us.”
“My vote is still for poison.” Viv wagged her hand. “The chances of
getting caught by him are low, and I damn sure don’t want any of us to be
caught by him. He scares me.”
“Where are we going to get some poison?” Troy asked.
“We could make some,” she argued. “The internet provides
everything to a sick enough person.”
“We would need something that he couldn’t taste or smell, that
wouldn’t make him suspicious. A poison like that would be difficult to
find and cost money. Besides tourist spots, it will be hard for us to get to
someone who could give us that, and not be reported back to him by his
guards.”
“Hmmm.” Troy placed his hands behind his back and held them.
“Wait a minute. Maybe we are thinking too big. Too large scale movie
shit.”
“What?” I asked.
“We could poison him,” Troy explained, “but on a low level. We
could make him sick. Give him something little by little. This way, it’s not
a huge immediate thing. He dies slowly.”
“How slowly?” Viv asked.
“I have no idea. You got a better plan?”
“Make him sick.” I twisted my lips to the side. “This could take
forever, but it’s less violent and almost no blood.”
“But then what if he goes to the doctor?” Viv asked. “A couple of lab
tests will show that someone’s messing with his food.”
 “True.” He stared at Viv. “Is he allergic to anything?”
“Not that I know of.”
Troy checked with me.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. He’s always been healthy.”
“So we don’t have anything right now?” Troy admitted.
“None at all.”
“Then I’m back to the knives,” he said. “There’s a bunch in the
kitchen. We each grab one, rush into his bedroom, and stab the shit out of
him.”
I interrupted. “But then we’re back to his guards racing in and killing
us all.”
“We do something with the cameras in his bedroom,” Troy
suggested.
“How the hell do we do that?” I asked.
“I think I can get into his security computer system.” Troy’s face
didn’t appear as confident as his words.
“No. I say we wait a day or two and try to figure out what the hell is
going on with Mom and Sherman.” I felt weird about saying the next
words. “We need to call Chase again.”
They both exchanged glances as if I represented a crack head that
suggested a quick stroll around a neighborhood known for slinging drugs.
“Why do we need to talk to Chase again?” Viv asked.
“We’re not killers,” I said.
“He isn’t either,” she finished, before I could add anything else.
“Hmmm.”
We both turned to Troy.
“Jazz may be thinking with her vagina, but she’s probably right.”
“I’m not thinking with my … just shut up. You and I both know that
Chase is a good person to contact.”
Troy waved my comment away. “He’s a bumbling fool in love. He’s
going to get himself killed, but …”
Viv leaned her head to the side. “But what?”
“But he has Sherman and Mom. That’s better than us. No disrespect,
but if I’m going to try and kill Benny, I don’t want to do it with you two. I
would rather have Sherman and Mom with me. They know how to have a
person buried by the end of the week.”
 “I don’t know about all of that, but saying Vivian and I aren’t killers
is the smartest thing you’ve said all day.” I saluted him. “It’s not that I
want someone to handle the dirty work. I can get muddy and bloody if I
need to, but I can’t go up against Benny.”
“You might have to.” Viv leaned against a wall with carved people
pushing out from the surface. Each served as a memorial to a great lyrical
artist, and each appeared to come alive before my gaze, and somewhat spy
on our wicked conversation. “Jasmine is the only one that will be able to
get close enough to him. Say we considered stabbing him. He would never
let me hug him while I’m holding a knife, not Troy either.”
“Hell no, not me.” Troy nodded. “Jazz could sit in his damn lap with
a knife and discuss food topics like how much of a layer of powdered
sugar should go on a donut until it’s made to perfection.”
“I’m not that bad.” I tapped my chest. “Besides, everyone knows that
you don’t layer the donut with powdered sugar. You douse it in a bucket of
that white yumminess, and coat it all the way until there’s nothing but a
thick amount of sugar all over the donut and your fingers.”
Troy rolled his eyes. Vivian smirked.
“Whatever.” I put my hands in my pockets. “I think we need to call
Chase for another reason. The most important question right now for us is
why is Mom helping Chase, when she’s usually in Benny’s corner.”
“That’s an easy answer.” Viv held her hands out. “She’s worried about
you, Jasmine. You’re missing and maybe she thinks Benny will hurt you,
or she can’t deal with the fact that you’re gone—”
Troy and I shook our heads.
Now it was Vivian’s turn to put her hands on her hips. “She’s your
mother.”
“Yeah, but love doesn’t motivate her. Money is always the goal.” I
walked over to Vivian. “Troy thinks Mom is a killer and mastermind. I’ve
never seen it, and Troy is the type of person to support a conspiracy theory
more than the facts. However, Mom isn’t the loving, emotional type either.
She’ll ask you to give her twenty dollars, before she says she loves you.”
“If she’s with Chase, then it’s to get something.” I leaned next to
Vivian.
If an Abbey employee came in, I was certain they’d want us to get
off the carvings. I wouldn’t unless someone told me. Right now I needed
the presence of something greater than myself to rub off all over me. If
God’s love lingered here, then I hoped he painted me in the stuff.
Give me some mystical armor to shield me from the things that will
come.
“Mom’s not motivated by money, the goal for her has always been
power,” Troy said.
“And how do you know this?” I asked.
“Because all I had time to do in jail was read. Astronomy and
psychology. Those were the topics I studied. I had to understand Mom.
How she could be one person in front of us, but the streets could whisper
about an entirely different woman, someone that no one fucked with
unless they had to.”
“I never heard any whispers about Mom,” I admitted.
He smirked. “You never got to go outside. You never got to see the
things that our brothers did. They did some crazy shit back in the day. You
know the one thing I remember they did each time, before they left the
house?”
“What?” I asked.
“They always went into Mom’s bedroom and talked to her first.”
“You ever hear what they say?” I asked.
“No, but I knew that she had an ear to every single thing they did. It
took me years of sitting in jail to understand that. Right before Sherman
and them committed some of their worst crimes and even got caught,
they’d sit in Mom’s bedroom for hours exchanging rushed words in low
whispers. No one ever told me what was going on.”
I touched my chest. “No one told me either.”
“Not like you really wanted to know. And you were so happy to have
whatever book that Mom or Benny bought, you stayed in your room with
your nose in a story and mind far away from South End.”
“That’s not true, I tried to—”
“You kept your head in the shadows.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Vivian got up from the wall. “Let’s get back to
why we need to call Chase and how it’s going to end this nightmare.”
“I think we should talk to Mom,” I said, predicting the expression
that immediately fell on Troy’s face.
 He scowled. “I thought I made a good case for why we should not
trust her.”
“Who else understands Benny better than us?” I asked.
“But then who else has the most to lose if Benny is dead?” Troy
added.
A skeptical look plastered on Viv’s face. “But if she has the most to
lose, then why would she help Chase find Jasmine?”
“Maybe, she’s trying to kill Chase,” Troy suggested.
“Don’t even say that.” A shiver ran through my body. “I would
fucking kill her. Mom or not.”
“Could you? You can’t even kill Benny.” Troy stared at both of us.
“None of us can do it. In some twisted way, we love him.”
“And he loves us,” I said.
“Does he?” Vivian still wore her skepticism. “He’s not the man that I
loved. In fact, he pretended to be that man. He was never my father. Those
great childhood memories that I have of him left my mind when he
tortured Dawn right in the same household we stood in. No, he’s not my
father. He’s evil, and we got to do what all people do in the movies, we
have to take down the evil. I don’t even care if I mentally survive it.”
For the first time since being around both of them, Troy walked over
to Vivian and held her in his arms. “You’ll survive it. I’ll make sure of it.”
Uneasy with their display of affection, even though it was innocent, I
looked around to make sure none of Benny’s guards witnessed the simple
hug. “We call Chase and we talk to Mom.”
“Naw.” He pulled Vivian closer to him. She buried her face into his
huge chest, and a little bit of me yearned for that sort of touch that only
the man you loved could give. “Talking to Mom is not an option. In fact,
we can’t trust her. I want to talk to Sherman.”
“You paint him as Mom’s puppet. How’s talking to Sherman going to
help?”
“True. Sherman would talk, but not much. He’s no thinker. He’s a
follower, and Mom would’ve told Sherman to keep his mouth shut on
certain details. But the shit that Mom never thought to tell him to be quiet
on, that’s the stuff he’ll tell us. From there, we can figure out what’s her
aim. Right now, her being involved makes me crazy uneasy. If she’s trying
to take Benny down, then we can sit back and let the cards fall where they
may, but …”
 Vivian didn’t appear to be leaving his hold anytime soon, and I
couldn’t take anymore. I wasn’t a fan of any of my siblings’ public display
of affection. For the past couple of months, I’d believed that Vivian and
Troy were brother and sister. It was now hard to see them as unrelated.
“But what, Troy?” I put my back to them.
“But if she’s trying to get Chase killed, then we’re all screwed, and
then we’ll have to think about not just getting rid of Benny. We’ll have to
get rid of—”
“No.” I put my hands up. “Let’s just stop right there. I can’t even kill
Benny. Now you want me to consider taking out Mom. We’re not the
fucking mafia, Troy. You’re an ex-convict with bad luck. Vivian and I are
out-of-work college students. That’s it. We’re not an army of murderers,
we’re the people the military protects.”
“But our brother Sherman is something else. He’s what we need. He’s
a murderer, and he loves it.”
I kept my back to him. “You think Sherman would help us?”
“As long as it doesn’t violate anything he has going on with Mom,”
he said.
I twisted his way. Troy moved his hand off of Vivian’s butt and back
to the center of her back.
Oh God. They’re like horny teenagers. Really? We’re in a church.
I coughed. “So you’re going to ask Sherman to kill Benny or at least
help us, and if he says no, then the odds are that Mom’s interest isn’t in
Benny being dead?”
“Yeah,” Troy said. “Then she’s working for Benny, and that’s not
good for your fool in love. Let’s hope Chase is watching his own back.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, “let’s hope.”
Viv leaned away from Troy’s chest, and she did so in a way that
seemed like it pained her. Her face distorted into a hurtful expression—
mouth lowered into a frown, eyes half-closed with grief, arms limp to her
side. “When are we going to call him?”
Troy left a peck on her check and then backed away. “I have no idea.
Benny being gone made it a bit easy.”
For all Troy and I knew, Benny had already discovered that we’d
called Chase hours ago.
Earlier, Troy had grabbed the phone from his secret hiding place in
the mansion, a torn up master suite on the west wing. We’d tiptoed
downstairs. Way downstairs. Even deeper than the first floor. We had
lowered ourselves to the bottom of the house, until finally stopping at the
wine cellar.
Where else could we call him? Outside of that decrepit mansion, the
guards made sure we held no phones and talked to no one.
When Troy closed the cellar door, he maintained a low tone. “I don’t
think Benny figured we’d be down here. The phone barely gets a
connection. I’ve used it three times down here and he’s said nothing, so
I’m thinking that’s a good sign.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“It’s encrypted calling. Got the phone from one of Chase’s guys last
year. The stuff is supposed to even block out NSA.”
“I doubt that.”
“Doesn’t matter. This is the only choice we have.” He gave the phone
to me. “Be quick.”
In the wine cellar, I’d dialed Chase’s number.
Excitement fluttered in my chest and then traveled up to my
fingertips. I craved his voice. His touch. Those moments when he’d made
me fall to the ground, double over, and laugh. I missed the way he
moaned. Hadn’t been able to touch myself since he’d been gone. My body
ached for him. My fingers didn’t satisfy like his.
And then he answered, whispered my name, and sounded so broken, I
couldn’t deal with it.
“Are you okay, Jazz?” Troy’s voice brought me back to the Abbey.
“Yeah. I’m just anxious about everything.”
He pressed his index finger against his forehead. “Let that shit make
you stronger and keep your mind on the goal.”
“I will.” I signaled for them to come with me. “We might as well
check out the rest of this big place.”
Troy chuckled to himself. “Why? Are there more famous dead
people under our feet?”
“Hopefully.”
Vivian held Troy’s hands for a few seconds, let them go, and then
dragged herself to my side. “So the plan is to call Chase, whenever we
can?”
“That’s the plan.” Troy centered his gaze on her. “I’m not happy
about it, but what else are we going to do? We deal with Benny. Protect
each other’s necks and stay cool, then wait it out.”
“Do we tell Chase where we’re at?” I asked, too scared to hear the
answer, but understanding that the question had to be floating secretly
around us.
“I don’t want to tell him. That motherfucker’s crazy for you. He’s
liable to run the streets, butt naked, screaming out your name.
“That’s not exactly a bad thing.” I walked away from Poet’s Corner.
“You two are going to get us killed.” He laughed.
But, I stopped.
No. Not killed.
Ceased with walking. Of course he’d been joking, but I couldn’t
breathe enough to even laugh. My lungs constricted. My soul ached.
People had already died due to us being together. Regardless of why or
who did what, women and men had been killed, when Chase and I decided
to love each other.
How selfish were we going to be? Would Chase and I really get us or
my loved ones killed?
 CHAPTER 15

Chase
I never discovered the path to sleep that flight. Benny’s life was too
interesting. I read more and more about him. He was a sick man who’d
twisted my life into sadistic knots of pain and heartbreak. Static filled the
pages. Illogical thoughts that mingled between pure logic. On one line
madness flowed, on the other complete nonsense.
And then suddenly, Benny began to make sense.
Sophia.
She is why I walk this earth.
Her mind and spirit, they keep me safe in this dark road.
She is the light at the end of this cold tunnel.
She wraps me within her warmth
And I am a kid again, folded beneath the warm, softness of my
blankets, smelling the scent of apple tarts in the kitchen, hearing the
sweet lullaby of my mother as she whispered it to my younger brother.
That had never been my life, but it was what I dreamed it would
be. A mother that loved. A younger brother that idolized me. My
whole family soft, warm, and smelling good.
And that was Sophia.
And I did my best to consume her as much as possible.
Scar monitored her anytime I flew off out of the country for
business. When I returned, I spent all of my free time with her. I took
Sophia out on elaborate dates, the sort a black girl from South End
would never experience in her lifetime. She had three boys. Bad and
whiny in every way, but I kept my mouth closed. Did my best to show
them what men looked like. She would need them to be there for her.
I forced them to grow up.
 Sophia. Warm, soft, and smelling good.
Once I started spending money, she warmed to me. Made those
freezing nights warm. Gave me new images to dream about, when I
did my best to shut out all those torturous cries.
Sophia.
She told me she was pregnant.
I wrapped my hands around her neck and squeezed it hard. She
didn’t even struggle. Just stared at me like she’d expected the whole
thing. Dead eyes. The kind bad girls got from bad men. They burned
through me and proclaimed that I was nothing more than her slave.
I let her live and released her neck. “I don’t need this shit right
now.”
She fell back onto the bed and gasped over and over. Finally, tears
spilled from her eyes. It was the only time I saw her cry. She would
never do that again in front of me.
“I didn’t do this by myself.” She rubbed her neck and panted, her
chest rising and falling fast. “I knew you didn’t love me! I tell you I’m
pregnant and you try to kill me.”
“I do love you. I just can’t have any more kids. You know she’s
pregnant.”
“Oh, say her name! Just fucking say your wife’s name!”
“Hey.” I raised my hand in front of her. “Keep it down. The hotel
might call security.”
“Let them. Your ass needs to go to jail for putting your hands on
me.”
“I lost myself.”
“Fuck you, you bitch ass motherfucker. Always talking about how
you have morals and those rich guys don’t. Next moment you got your
goddamn hands on me.” More tears fell, and my heart cracked inside.
That didn’t happen much.
I wasn’t sure if it was a normal thing or not. I mean, I watched
people get upset when others did shit and I thought to myself, who
really cares. Sometimes I felt like I was acting. Other times I did feel
bad, but that didn’t happen much.
I just had a thing about people fucking with kids.
 The shit made me hot mad. So I went with it. Kept myself
normal.
“I told your ass that you need to use protection because if I get
pregnant I am not having an abortion. I told you.”
“You said that you were on birth control.”
“I am. That shit isn’t a hundred percent.”
“It’s not goddamn fifty percent either.”
“You know what? Fuck you.” She rose from the bed and started
frantically looking around for something. “I’m out of here. I don’t
need you anyway. I can take care of myself. You don’t want to be a
man and help me with your child, then keep it moving. I’ve done it
before and I can do it myself.”
“Sit down.”
“Putting your hands on me like I’m not anything. I bet you
wouldn’t put your hands on that white bitch at the house though. I bet
you fucking shine her damn lily white crown and smile up in her face.”
She spotted her pocket book and slung it over her shoulders.
Rage blazed in my head. One thing I could never deal with was
Sophia leaving. It was hard enough to not be around her all the time.
The moments that I could spend time with her were pure joy. The
times I had to say good-bye hurt more than an actual gun wound did.
“Don’t leave. Please, Sophia.” I held my hands to my sides. “I’m
sorry. Sophy. So sorry, baby. Don’t leave me.”
She turned and faced me, her cheeks wet and gaze sad. “I’ll never
trust you again.”
“I’m sorry, Sophia. I’m so sorry.”
“Stay away from me.” She put her back to me, kept one hand in
her bag and the other in front of her. I knew she held a gun in that
pocket book, and I wasn’t stupid enough to go after her. I’d already
pushed it.
“That’s my child inside of you.”
She stopped at the door. A laugh fled her lips. “How do you know
it’s your child? All I said was that I’m pregnant.”
“You wouldn’t have let anyone else touch you.”
“You don’t know what I would do, Benny.”
“You only kill for money—”
 “And family, but what does that have to do with this?”
“Because, if that wasn’t my child inside of you, then I’d take my
time. I would find the man, and I would hurt him. I would find you,
and I would hurt you really bad. I would open those legs first though,
and I would fuck you hard, so hard, that beautiful baby, that other
man’s baby, it would die. And then I would leave you there. You would
need to pray that someone could find you.”
Was this the truth?
Was it a fact?
I cannot say.
But the very idea of another man’s hands cupping Sophia’s full
breasts and lapping his tongue within her wet folds … it drove me into
madness. I thought about sick things.
Would I have killed the baby? I doubt it, but with these things,
they fit in a gray area. I didn’t like hurt kids, but what if that kid hurt
me? It made sense to defend myself.
“Good-bye, Benny.” She opened the door and strolled out as if I’d
never said anything at all.
Was she scared, or was she being Sophia, plotting in the way she
always did?
The woman scared me.
She had this futuristic method of thinking. She was a chess player
of life. Every one of her plays had five different outcomes ahead of it,
and she understood all those results and countermoves, before anyone
else comprehended it.
“My God.” I buried my face into my hands and laughed. “What
are you doing to me, God? Two women having babies by a madman. I
am no father. I’m a killer, you miserable fuck! Either you’re an evil
God or some devil planned the whole damn thing.”
I closed the journal and wondered to myself.
Had Sophia lied about being pregnant by Benny? Or was it Vivian’s
mother that made it up?
From Benny’s point of view he barely craved his wife. It was always
Sophia all throughout the journals. They had sex a lot. Way more than the
few times Benny discussed his drunken nights of stupidity with his wife.
On those evenings, he would stumble into the house, wake up his wife, and
make love to her as he imagined Sophia’s face on his wife’s body.
Benny’s most likely the father of Jasmine and Troy. There’s a good
chance. Maybe Vivian’s mother lied.
I glanced around my seat at Sophia. After that phone call with
Jasmine and Troy, I decided to keep her near me. I hadn’t trusted her
before, now no faith lay between us. If her own kids didn’t hold her high, I
wouldn’t either.
And if she had something to do with Jasmine being away from me, I
might end up killing her myself.
No more. There would be no more of these sick people, tearing us
apart as if we were dolls in a playhouse, just waiting to be maneuvered and
pulled on.
I won’t have it anymore.
I tilted over to get a better look at her. Snores fled from Sophia’s
opened mouth. For once in the whole day of being around her, she actually
seemed completely human. Something had been off with her before. What
kind of women kept her cool, when she’d just heard that her daughter had
ran off with a psycho? What kind of woman can stay with a man that keeps
bodies in his apartment, and calls that a garden?
How bad is, Sophia? And will I have to get rid of her, too? Would she
hurt Jasmine?
Maybe that was why I continued to read Benny’s journals. I poured
through them. Page by page. The whole six hours I read. My head hurt so
bad, I had the stewardess give me some pain medication. Yet, still I read
and did my best to examine this lunatic of a man.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to kill my kids or not. I’m talking
about the twins of course.
I live behind their eyes. In the boy named Troy, my anger rages.
In the girl, Jasmine, my wisdom lives on. My spirit flows within their
tanned skin and golden green eyes. My beast is reflected in them, and I
am whole.
So I haven’t decided if I’m going to kill them or not.
With the twins, Sophia has too much power over me.
She’s confirmed my weakness.
Children.
She’s created a bond through my weakness.
 My children.
From their birth I became her thug and pawn. She guides me and
I turn, move, and step in the direction that she wants.
Sophia has put a target on our kids’ head, and she doesn’t even
understand it all.
My love for her, though strong and electric, it has shattered. I
won’t kill her, but I might take those little ones away from her, in the
most permanent way possible.
Of course I say all of these bold things now, and then show up to
her apartment, that shitty two bedroom that she refuses to move out
of.
I show up, and the twins run to me. They don’t even know who I
am. So little and innocent. They think I’m their mother’s friend. Those
tiny toddler minds will forget these moments.
But they run over to me, and my insides build and tighten and
rise up, and I am whole.
“This is the last time.” I escaped Sophia’s arms, rolled over to the
other side of the bed, and searched for my pants.
“Last time?” She just leaned over to the side, those plump
breasts, bare and on display for me.
No matter how much of a satanic siren she’d become, my cock
twitched against my leg, begging for more.
“What do you mean this is the last time?” she purred.
“Last time we fuck. Last time I shoot a man and hide him in the
alley. This is the last time. You call me, and it better only be about
money for Jasmine and Troy.”
“I don’t need your money. I need your protection.”
“Why don’t you need my money?” I looked over my shoulder.
“You have a job?”
“No.”
“I’m hearing things around the block. Are they true?”
“How would I know?” she asked. “What did you hear?”
“You’re working with suppliers and got the kids out there selling
drugs. I saw Sherman at the corner one night, he spotted my car and
raced off in the other direction.”
“He’s afraid of you.”
 “Is he selling for you?”
“You think I would do that to my own kids?”
“I don’t know. Would you?”
“Get the fuck out of my house.”
“This isn’t a house. This is a shitty project apartment.” I
snatched up my jeans, stood up, and climbed into them. “Why won’t
you take my offer for the house I bought you?”
“What am I going to do out in suburbia?”
“Live.”
“I’m living here.” She sat up and grabbed a pack of cigarettes off
the night stand. “Mind your business. When you’re gone, I do my
thing. When you’re away, you do your thing. I keep my legs closed. You
keep your dick in your pants, except when it deals with your lily white
wife. Other than that, we mind our own business.”
“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
She targeted me with an angry gaze. “You did, when you put your
fingers on my neck.”
Close to three years had passed and every week she still reminded
me of that day. That was Sophia. She held on to grudges for years,
never let them go, or evaporate into the air. She kept them close to her
body and hugged them into her skin, rubbed the hate all over her, until
they both were one in the same.
“I need your help.” She lit her cigarette. “I’m having trouble
with this guy named Omar.”
“You heard me? I said that was the last time. I’m not killing
anybody else for you.”
“Omar is making big trouble. He’s saying shit like I’ll either
have to work with him, or be an enemy.” She blew out smoke. “He’s
threatening your kids and me.”
I snickered.
Always the kids. That was how she got me. She could point to a
man across from us in a park. If she mentioned that the man was going
to hurt my children, he’d be dead before she blinked one of those
pretty eye lashes.
So, I hadn’t decided, if I was going to kill the twins, yet.
They gave her too much power.
 “You’re making me worse.” I zipped up my pants. “Before you, I
had more control. Now my head is worse. I like to kill a whole lot
more.”
“Maybe you’re better and just too crazy to see.”
“Maybe, I should do what you said, and mind your business.” I
picked up my shirt and jacket and didn’t even attempt to put the
clothes on in her bedroom.
She was poison.
A steel cage.
And I had to find an escape.
Fast.
A yawn fled my lips.
On the plane, exhaustion poured down my body. I should’ve just
leaned back in my chair, put the books to the side, and closed my eyes to
get some sleep. My guards sat alert around me. If Sophia was the
diabolical woman that Benny described, I should watch my back. After
that phone call, I’d told every last one in my security to monitor her and
use their gun, if necessary. I didn’t give them permission to kill her, but
they had my authority to point their guns right at her forehead. Jasmine’s
mother or not, I was done playing games.
I flipped through Benny’s journal.
What other things do you have to say?
Benny spent tons of chapters going on and on about my father. He
despised the man as the years continued. Even though they’d put him in
law school, set him up in the suburbs with a wife, and even gave him an
official title in the professional community, he dreamed of slicing their
throats. Every last one of them. He wrote poetry about it. Long stanzas of
the torture. The blood. The way my father would scream.
I skipped those chapters.
My dad hadn’t been a good man. He served as a stranger most of my
life. I blamed him for Mom’s death, and even for her sick obsession of
dressing me up. He never knew, but he would’ve, if he’d just stayed home
sometimes. Our relationship strengthened once he became old, and I
turned into a man, a younger version of him. He relished in my exploits,
loved to hear all my stories of all the young girls that I would bed off in
boarding school.
 Once I decided to settle down and propose to Dawn, he got bored
with me and told me that I would get tired of the same old woman all the
time. Men weren’t meant for monogamy, he would say, anytime we talked.
Although older by then, I figured he made sense. Being with Dawn damn
sure didn’t stop my eyes from following other women or even my cock
from coming alive, when a new one stepped into my space.
What would he say about my new love with Jasmine? Pussy whipped,
probably. He’ll say that my affection for her will die down and I’ll want
something new. But how happy has that made you, Dad?
I blew out a long breath. Jasmine’s and my families were seriously
messed up. Once we reunited, I planned to take us far away from them all.
And we will reunite, tesoro.
I returned to Benny’s journals, skimming a page here or there, until
Jasmine’s name came up and I was forced to stop and stare at those
beautiful letters. A sigh left me, and I read on.
Sophia remains five steps ahead of me.
Jasmine called. My little Jasmine dialed my number. Her
father’s friend. Vivian’s dad. A man she only now knew from our daily
carpooling Monday through Friday, and the few times I could convince
Sophia to let her and her brother come over, under the guise of visiting
Vivian.
It doesn’t matter.
My little Jasmine called me, when the blood poured, and I
answered as a beast would do. I soared down like an enraged father
eagle and stabbed the rat out with my claws.
Jasmine must’ve been shaking as she spoke my name in the
phone. “M-mr. Nix?”
“Jasmine, is that you?” My heart boomed fast in my chest. I
checked the time and held in a curse. It was two in the morning on a
Tuesday. Why would she be up? Why would she be calling? Who did I
have to kill?
“M-mr. N-nix, he’s bleeding—”
“Who?”
“This man that came into my room. Troy … Troy stabbed him.
He’s in my room.”
“Troy or the man?”
 “They’re both in my room.”
“I’m coming. Get Troy and hide. Whoever’s bleeding, won’t be
bleeding anymore. I’ll take care of it.”
I don’t know how Jasmine figured out that I would be her hero,
but she simply understood it at the right moment and acted. Of the
three kids, she had my brains.
Jasmine is the only one I’ll never have to worry about.
My little girl didn’t even have to tell me what had happened, but
I let her. I held her in my arms. She shook against me.
The boy? Troy. He wouldn’t come close. He sat off in the far
corner and stared at us with blank eyes.
The boy is now a man.
He’s grown up too soon and I don’t know what to do about that. I
could show him the way I’ve survived or I could let him find it out on
his own. He’s a smart one, too, but he’s got my rage.
Already hates his mother, just like I did at that age.
That rage has grown in his chest like a flower in the spring, and
every now and then I can see petals pushing out of his skin. He’ll be a
rose bush of thorns by the time he’s eighteen, and never let anyone get
near him, for fear of cutting their skin.
I got to South End in no time. Scar and his buddies got rid of the
body in Jasmine’s room.
Troy got him good.
Sophia lay passed out on the couch the whole time. The kids
thought she’d taken something. You should have seen the way Troy
looked when he said it.
Anger radiated off of his little frame. “She was high and asleep
on the couch, when Jasmine started screaming.”
So my boy had to take care of it. Sophia was lucky she had passed
out.
But the shit didn’t stop raining from the clouds, once the body
was gone.
The worst part of the whole evening happened right as I carried a
sleeping Jasmine to my car. Troy followed us with two bags full of their
clothes. When Sophia decided to come back to consciousness, she’d
have to look for them.
 Let’s see how long it takes her to realize the kids are gone. Since
when has she been a bad mother? I’d seen her do trifling things to
other people, but never to her kids. She destroyed mountains for them,
but never put them in harm’s way.
Or was that wrong?
Was she always this bad?
Her older boys had a name in the streets, and if I asked too much
about them, people shut their mouths. No one talked to me about
them. Word had been put out on the street to keep Benny out of the
Montgomery boys’ business.
“Benny.” Scar’s voice cut through the cold night.
I set Jasmine down in the car and shut the door. “Troy, go into the
passenger seat.”
Troy ignored me, leaned against my hip, and held my hand. Since
it was the first time he’d let me get that close, I left him alone.
Scar looked down at Troy. “What I got to say, the boy shouldn’t
hear.”
“Say it.” I tightened my hold on Troy’s little hand. “He’s not a
boy anymore. This one is a man. He killed the guy.”
“I know.” Scar studied the boy too much and then glanced
through the window at Jasmine. I never liked to bring Scar around the
kids. He stared at them too much, it made me want to shoot him right
in his forehead.
Scar stuffed his hands in his pockets. “That guy the boy stabbed.
It doesn’t make any sense how he was in their house in the first place.”
Scar was using a lot of words that didn’t put me at ease. The
more he had to say, the more chances I would want to kill someone.
“What doesn’t make sense?”
Scar rubbed at the puffy gash under his neck. “You said that the
kids told you Sophia has been dating him?”
“Yeah.”
“That can’t be true.”
I looked down at Troy. “Is it true or not?”
“Yes, sir.” Anger skittered across Troy’s face. “He started coming
around for a few weeks. Mom brought us to him and that Omar was
her new boyfriend.”
 I tensed at the name. “Omar?”
Scar frowned with me. “That’s right.”
But Troy had more to say. “The first night he stayed over, he
snuck into our room. Jazz told me that he just peeked in, and she was
afraid to say something. I went to Mom. She said it was fine. He did it
again and again, but she said it was fine. Then he would wait to come
home in the evening, when Jazz had to shower. Mom said I was
worrying too much, that Jazz don’t have nothing for no man to be
sneaking over to look at.”
Rage bubbled underneath my skin. “Troy, go ahead and get in the
passenger seat.”
Scar and I waited for him to do as I said. He did, but I could tell
the boy would’ve rather stayed right next to me. Troy’s love calmed
me down a bit.
When he shut the door, I stared back at Scar. “Is this the same
Omar that I had you look into years ago?”
“Same one. When I walked in the house, I recognized his face. I
don’t have the brains like you, Benny. I’ve never tried to pretend to be
smart, but Sophia was up to something tonight.”
“Talk to me.”
“Omar ran South End. And almost everyone in South End
doesn’t like him, not because of the drugs, but because he’s a fan of
candy strippers.”
I grimaced.
Around these parts, people called candy strippers the little girls
that sold their bodies in the front of the neighborhood corner store.
The only men that bought from them were the vilest sort. Half of those
girls were barely fourteen. Most were found in dumpsters by the time
they reached eighteen.
“So Omar is a pedophile?” I asked.
“Yeah, and everyone knows.”
“So then why would Sophia bring him into her house?”
“Sophia doesn’t make mistakes.”
“No.” I glared back at her apartment. “She plans everything.”
“There’s news all over the block right now.”
“What’s the news?”
 “Omar is dead. His people are scrambling around to see if that is
true. Everyone is saying that only the Montgomery boys will be
providing highs in South End from now on.”
“Only Sophia’s boys.” I wondered why I hadn’t seen Neil around
the house. Sophia’s two oldest sat in jail, due to get out in a few weeks
for small charges. Still, it was so late in the morning, Neil should’ve
been tucked away in his bed.
“Anybody know where Neil is?” I asked.
“Someone said he shot up a supplier’s house tonight.”
“Omar’s supplier?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else before I lose my shit.”
“I’m not sure.”
“Do they think Sophia is involved with Omar’s missing status? I
don’t want any more problems for Jasmine and Troy.”
“News is that Sophia could never get rid of Omar. He has strong
connections to a Cartel. They’ll definitely be up here to find out what
happened, once he’s gone missing. No one thinks a regular person
would’ve killed him. Nobody in South End has the resources like that
to mess with the Cartel.” Scar ceased with talking.
There wasn’t anything else to say. It all came together in my
mind. I couldn’t pinpoint every step Sophia had played, but I knew
damn well, she’d executed clear moves to make sure I had a hand in
getting rid of Omar.
Who else could go up against the Cartel? I would be the only
person she knew. I had contacts all over. In fact, I probably had
Omar’s head boss on speed dial. If they had something to say, I’d
smile, put my gun in their mouths, and pull the trigger.
She brought Omar into my house and pranced my kids around
him. She waited for something to happen, so bad that I’d come down
like a fucking deadly knight in shining armor and take his life away.
Neil gunned down a supplier tonight. That wasn’t a coincidence.
Sophia had planned this entire evening. Probably even got herself so
high she couldn’t intervene. I’d tried myself to wake her up, and all
she did was mumble out incoherent words and roll over.
“Wrong move, Sophia.” I spat on the ground.
 “I could …” Scar licked his lips. “I could go in there and deal
with Sophia.”
“No. Jasmine and Troy just saw dead bodies for the first time
tonight. They don’t need to bury their mother this year.”
“Is she a mother?”
“We kill her next year. Let some time go by.”
Scar stared at the house as if his cock was hard and on fire. “Can
I do it?”
“No.”
The kids stayed with me the rest of the month. I gave no
reasoning to them, and they didn’t ask. Only Vivian bothered me with
questions. “Are you going to adopt them, Daddy?”
“I don’t know, sweetie.”
“Can we please, Daddy? I don’t like them being over there.”
“Me either, sweetie.”
A few more weeks passed. Sophia called and told me to bring
them back over. She didn’t even say thank you or apologize. In those
silent weeks of my taking care of the twins, Sophia had given me ample
time to think about all that she’d done. And frankly by then, the
woman scared me.
I’d thought I was the villain until I met Sophia.
She’d placed my kids in danger. She knew Omar liked little girls,
brought the man into her home, and waited for him to do something so
bad that I couldn’t deny her asking to kill him.
What father would deny that?
She’d almost gotten Jasmine raped for the sake of gaining more
power.
That scared me.
I had limits.
Rules.
That time I finally realized, Sophia had none.
She just had a large web of deception and lies, and like a spider’s
home, I lay there stuck to the pattern, unable to break free.
I couldn’t kill her, not my children’s mother, not the love of my
life.
I couldn’t kill her.
 And that, dear journal, is what made Sophia a very scary person
indeed.
Chills ran down my spine.
“Mr. Stone, would you like anything?”
I shut the journal. “Something strong, brown, and on the rocks.”
Sophia’s laughter came from behind me as she walked my way.
“Strong, brown, and on the rocks like you love your women, huh?”
I widened my eyes and stared into the eyes of the only person that
Benny feared on this earth. She scared the shit out of him. And frankly,
that didn’t comfort me at all. Especially, since she now stood right next to
me on my own plane, high above the earth.
“What are you reading?” Sophia asked. “More of Benny’s
memories?”
“Yes.”
“Be careful with memories. Sometimes they can get you killed.”
More chills ran through me.
 CHAPTER 16

Jasmine
In a decaying mansion, I danced in front of Troy and Vivian.
Outside, rain stormed against the property’s battered wood and
crumbling stone. Inside, nature continued to battle with the massive
palace. The raindrops’ song served as my rhythm.
“She’s losing it,” Troy whispered to Vivian. They lay next to each
other, not touching, but so near that their arms and legs came close to
rubbing against the other once or twice.
When we returned from the boring tours of Royal London, we’d
smoked all day. It wasn’t like the area didn’t symbolize splendor and
history. It was just something about having a serial killer on the trip with
us that made everything dull and uninteresting.
All we talked about was ways to hurt Benny. Half the time, Troy
discussed possible details as Vivian and I cringed. Once we smoked, all
discussion ended and I resorted to dancing away my boredom.
“Yep, she’s lost it,” Troy said.
“Did she ever have it before?” Vivian rolled another joint and licked
the ends. “I mean, this is your sister after all.”
“You’re correct.” Troy nodded. “Carry on with your off-rhythm
dancing, Jazz. I’m actually the one who’s lost it.”
I bopped my hips. “You both don’t want to see me in a dance
contest.”
“Yes!” They both raised their hands.
“I agree with that statement.” Vivian lay the rolled joint next to her
to dry. “I do not want to see you in a dance contest.”
“Or dance against me,” I added.
“Hear, hear to that, too.” Vivian laughed.
“This trip isn’t a party, Jazz. Stop dancing.”
 “This trip isn’t a trip.” I clapped twice and twirled. “This trip is a
psycho’s prison. This trip is bigger than all of us. This trip is insanity.”
“And you’re a trip,” Vivian added.
“And you admitted that he’s a psycho.” Troy beamed.
I groaned and continued my dance of hysteria.
After a long day of tours, crowds, and average food, I’d dragged
them back to Bishop’s Avenue. Billionaire’s Row of rotting mansions.
Benny hadn’t returned. That news didn’t calm my fears. Chase
searched for me, somewhere out there, and I would’ve rather had Benny
close, than him looking for my man.
We’d rolled some joints, taken them with us, and smoked on the west
wing, where everything was the most neglected. Troy had scouted out the
area days ago, in one of his explorations of this massive property. He still
kept that secret phone in a large room that was the size of Vivian’s and my
old apartment back in the States.
That was where I danced.
“What do you think they used this room for?” Vivian handed me the
made joint. “It must’ve been something grand.”
Although an unsettling emptiness touched every wall and inch of
muddied floor, the place seemed to breathe. Like the mansion had come
alive. When the place inhaled, wind rushed into the broken windows.
When it exhaled, birds flew out of cracks in the wall and squirrels scurried
off to their burrowed corners.
I pointed to the chandelier, picked up the lighter near Troy’s feet, and
lit the joint. “Maybe this was some sort of ballroom.”
“Naw,” Troy said. “You wouldn’t have a big ballroom on the second
floor.”
“But those drapes wouldn’t go into a regular bedroom.”
Dirt-smudged, white, silky curtains dangled from rusted rods that
had been carved into a vine of flowers and leaves. Little animal footprints
decorated the bottoms of the material, mud and matted-fur covered the
rest.
I took a hit and passed it back to Vivian. “How can the owners just let
the whole place go?”
It was such an odd thing. Rotting things growing out of luxury. Most
of the ceiling had fell away. It looked like a person’s ripped open chest—
the broken away ceiling representing the skin. Wooden bars stuck out of
the torn flesh. Wires dangled like split veins. Everything above our heads
spoke neglect and damage, except for the sparkling chandelier. Even
coated in a layer of dust, it shined.
“You didn’t show Jasmine the box of letters?” Vivian hit Troy on the
arm. “We have to show her the letters.”
“What letters?” I asked.
“Some crazy person delivered mail to this address. They filled two
boxes. Most of them were unopened. I checked the old ones that had been
ripped open.” He tossed me a grin. “The writer was saying some ill shit,
like, he was the soul of the house.”
Vivian waved her hands in front of her face. “No. No. You have to
say it in a dark voice.”
“Fine.” Troy slipped into a deep base. “I am the soul of this house,
and you are not worthy to live here. Leave now or I will come and spill
blood to feed the body.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“That was it pretty much it. Some crazy man wrote a bunch of letters
like that and the person just dropped them in a box. After a year or so, they
stopped being opened.” Vivian chuckled. “All of the letters said that. Tons
of them. I bet that’s the reason why the owner got out of here.”
“Benny says that’s just the nature of Bishop’s Avenue.” I twirled.
“Lots of these mansions are supposedly abandoned.”
Troy mocked me, “Benny says that’s just the nature of Bishop’s
Avenue.”
I rolled my eyes. “Very mature, Troy.”
“Why are you still listening to this man?”
I huffed. “Because I bet some of the things he says have some truth
to it.”
“And the rest?” he asked.
“Probably lies.”
“Psycho.”
“Sociopath.”
“Stupid twins,” Vivian blurted out as she handed the joint back to
me.
Dirt and cracked tiles decorated the floor. It all snapped and
crumbled under my feet as I strolled around, doing a twirl or turn every
few steps. Streams of weed smoke swirled around my body as I swayed.
 “Jazz, are you going to smoke or dance with it?” Troy rubbed his
eyes.
I leapt toward them, did a curtsy, leaned over, and handed him the
joint. “There you go, kind sir.”
“Just give me the damn thing,” he snapped.
Vivian raised her eyebrows. “What’s your problem? You’ve been
grumpy since we came back.”
“Leave it alone.” He gestured to the walls and ceiling. “Anybody
could be listening.”
“Then let’s go somewhere else.” I pointed down.
Is it time to call Chase yet?
Troy sucked his teeth. “You’re just over there bursting with
anticipation, aren’t you?”
“Ah ha! Is that why you’re dancing?” Vivian grabbed the joint from
Troy.
“Really?” I asked. “You two are judging me?”
They both shut up. Troy looked the other way. Vivian blew out
smoke.
I walked over to them and knelt. “How much longer do you think we
have?”
“Before what?” Troy asked.
I whispered, “Before Papa Bear gets home.”
“Maybe he’ll be back tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
“We may not get another chance. We should go down there and do
the thing.”
Troy grumbled, “I don’t know, Jazz. I never tried calling twice in one
day. I figured we could try tomorrow.”
Hell no. I just want to hear his voice one more time. I can’t wait until
tomorrow.
“We can’t wait. If he returns tonight … then there’s no way to do
what we want to do.” I formed my mouth into a smile. “Now is the time.”
“Can you look a little bit more serious and less like you’re talking
about climbing out of the window and sneaking away to go make out with
your high school boyfriend?”
“I never did that.” I took the joint from Vivian.
“I bet you want to right now, don’t you?” Troy said.
“Duh.” I inhaled.
 He leaned my way and whispered, “This isn’t a freak call, Jazz. Get
as much information as you can, get Sherman on the phone, and then hang
up.”
“I know it’s not a freak call.”
“This shit could get Chase killed.”
Darkness waved through me. The reality sprang back. It had never
disappeared. I’d just pushed it away a little to relish in the fact that I
would hear Chase’s voice again.
I exhaled and handed Troy the joint. “I got it. Make it quick, and
make sure it matters.”
“And none of that freaky shit.”
“We don’t do freaky shit.”
Troy nudged Vivian’s arm. “Remember Italy? ‘Oh Chase. You’re the
lord. You’re the savior. Oh God!’”
I frowned. “I’ve never said anything like that.”
“Don’t forget what he was saying.” Laughter fled Vivian’s mouth as
she changed her voice to a man’s tone. “Mine, when I want it. Mine, when
I beg!”
“And then the booming started.” Troy made like he was dry heaving.
“All that noise spread through the house. I didn’t know if he was beating
my sister or what.”
“Or what, clearly,” I mumbled.
Vivian beat her chest with closed fists. “Mine, when I want it. Mine,
when I beg!”
I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay. I get it. The proper level of
mortification has been reached. New topic.”
 CHAPTER 17

Chase
Sophia stood next to my seat. “Why do you look so scared?”
I had no reply.
The knowledge that she’d allowed this pedophile to come close to
her kids, just to gain more power, it frightened me. She represented the
lowest of the low. A vile human with no morals, just the cold of the wild
pulsing through her wicked veins.
“Chase?” she asked again. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You look frightened.”
Due to that horrible night, both Jasmine and Troy had changed
forever. My tesoro learned fear of men, barring herself from males for
years. She claimed her over-bearing brothers stopped her from dating. I
doubted it. I saw some of her high school pictures. She appeared silent and
uncomfortable in her own skin. That night had taught her that her body
could be used against her, and she’d spent those childhood years hiding
inside of it as much as possible.
And according to her, Troy transformed overnight from a funny
science geek to cutting school every day and hanging out with bullies. A
year later, the police arrested him for assault and threw him into a juvenile
center. His criminal path continued after that.
She ruined both of their lives.
I understood Benny. Although a calculated monster, he’d had
military training somehow, and thus lived by this code for humanity. It was
a gray code, dotted in blood, but he still followed a framework that flew
above him.
Sophia had no code or common dignity. Anyone could be her pawn.
Anybody could die on her watch. The only person she cared about was her.
That was the purest evil.
“What’s wrong, Chase?” Sophia glanced at the journals on the floor.
“You read something that got you scared?”
“Yeah. Something shoved me off the edge.” I thought back to the Sun
Tzu comment she’d made.
Sophia had widened her mouth into a mischievous grin. “To know
your enemies, is to become your enemies.”
I had to learn more about Benny and Sophia if I hoped to protect
Jasmine and I from her. They both had me going crazy.
As if she heard my thoughts, she said, “Benny will do that to you.”
“He sure will.”
“I don’t get why you’re even reading these journals.”
“Have you?” I asked.
“No, I don’t need to read about his life, I lived it.”
“He does talk a lot about you.”
Her expression faltered for a second, and then she recovered. “And
what did he say?”
“Not many good things.”
She smirked as if I was just a little kid covered in dirt, and in need of
a bath. “And how do you feel about that?”
“Nothing’s changed for me. We both want the same thing—Benny
dead.”
“You’re a good boy.”
“I try.”
And this time, you didn’t even pretend like this whole mission was
about Jasmine.
“Are you going to keep being a good boy?” she asked.
One of my guards stood up and walked to me. “Everything okay,
sir?”
What is a good boy to you, Sophia? Was Benny a good boy? When
did he stop being your version of good?
“Sir?” my guard asked again.
My focus remained on Sophia. “Yes, everything is okay.”
“You’re getting nervous.” She sat in the seat across from me, after
the guard went away. “Now’s not the time to get jittery. There’s some hard
days in front of us. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
 “Good.” She grinned. The expression made me shiver. “I’ve never
been to Paris before. I bet this is your fifth time, huh? I’ve never left the
country.”
I still hadn’t told her that the plane switched course to London. The
less she knew, the better. “Benny never took you away?”
“No. He liked me right in the hood, where he could hide me and do
what he wanted. But you never answered my question. How many times
have you been to Paris?”
“About twenty.”
“Last time was when you took Jasmine?” she asked.
“That’s right. How did you know that?”
“I called her, when you both got back. I’d been calling her over and
over for weeks. She’d been ignoring my calls.”
“That’s right.” I bobbed my head. “You needed money for your
electricity bill.”
Her grin widened. “Yes. Times were hard back then. Thank God she
met you. Everything’s going much better.”
Were times hard? Why would your electricity go out, if you and your
sons controlled South End’s drug market? Something isn’t adding up.
“Did Jasmine pay your bills a lot?” I asked.
“Almost monthly.”
“Times were hard?”
“And it was her task. We all have to give back. You can’t just eat,
leave my house, and move on. There’s always a debt.”
“The electricity bill was the debt?”
“No just a reminder to take care of home.”
The stewardess brought over a small glass of brown liquid filled to
the rim with ice. I grabbed it immediately and gulped the hard stuff. My
tongue stung. My throat burned, yet I welcomed the pain.
“Thank you,” I said to the stewardess as she rested a glass of red
wine in front of Sophia.
“We have a long trip.” She lifted to glass. “Feel free to ask me as
many questions as you have. I’m in a giving mood this evening.”
Giving mood? Your daughter is with a serial killer and you’re
sipping wine and feeling fine?
“According to Benny’s madman diary, you had some odd jobs in
South End that would’ve provided you with a decent income.”
 “That’s not a question.” She sipped her wine.
“Did Jasmine really have to pay the electricity bill?” I asked.
“No, but I already told you that in the end, it was a reminder of her
debt.”
“Did she know this?”
“I tell people what they need to know at the time they need to know
it.”
“So now I need to know these things?”
“Maybe. Benny’s filled your head from that journal. I might as well
say what I have to say to steady the balance.”
“He thinks you’re an architect of deception.”
“That’s what he said?”
“Yes.”
“And did he provide evidence?”
“Several journals of it.”
“And now you have questions?”
“Yes, but this is good.”
“Why?” she asked.
I took a chance and simply told her, “Now you can stop pretending to
be someone else.”
Silence passed as she crossed her legs and tapped her foot into the
air. “Ask away. This should be interesting.”
“After we came back from France, did you know that Jasmine would
ask me to pay for your electricity bill?”
“No way.” She laughed. “And she didn’t ask you to pay, did she? I
would be surprised if she did. But you, I knew you would find out. You
can’t just date a woman and give her privacy. Benny claimed you liked to
watch your girlfriends on a 24/7 camera feed.”
“So you knew a lot about me, before I met Jasmine?”
“I found out everything I could, once the last chick of yours died.
Figured it was time to do some matchmaking.”
So now we’re really done with pretending? How much do you think
I’ve read about Benny?
My mouth went dry. “That’s impossible. There’s no way you
could’ve gotten Jasmine and I together. I met her at Equinox’s Garden
Party. My corporation hosted the entire event.”
 “So then how did Jasmine get invited to your event?” She took
another sip and hummed at the taste. “This is really good stuff.”
How did Jasmine get invited?
I set my glass down. “If I remember correctly, her best friend was
invited. Vivian.”
“Why would Benny’s daughter be invited to the event?” Sophia
signaled for the stewardess to come back over.
She rushed to Sophia. “Yes, Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Do you have any more of those chocolate, nut-covered
strawberries?”
“Yes, Mrs. Montgomery.”
“Thanks for getting me some.” She displayed a bold smile. The
stewardess rushed off, and my future mother-in-law returned to her wine.
“So how did Vivian and Jasmine get invited to the party?”
“I don’t know. Lucy did the list, but you don’t know her.” I stirred in
my seat.
“Benny had an invitation. He complained about it all night, claiming
you were being an asshole and that you knew he wouldn’t come, just for
the simple fact that his seating put him right across from you.”
“How did he know where he would be sitting?”
“He’d stormed to Lucy’s office, yelled about it, and then asked her
how far would he be from you? She admitted that Benny would be at the
head table.” Sophia traced her finger around the glass’s rim. “What made
him so mad was that the event was supposed to be showcasing all of the
high-end restaurants in Willow Park. It promised tons of food and wine
tasting. He’d planned on taking Jasmine and the other, himself.”
“The other?”
“The white girl. His other daughter.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Then Lucy explained that you would be present and at his table.”
“Lucy never told me all of this.”
“Doesn’t matter. Benny refused to go. Lucy set a place for him
anyway. Benny was pissed. He didn’t want you so close to Jasmine, which
gave me a bunch of ideas.”
“What ideas?”
“Sun Tzu said many things, but in the end he was a big believer in
seizing any opportunity that came. He believed once they were seized,
they multiplied.”
What other war books do you read, Sophia?
“I considered this Equinox Garden Party as a great big opportunity.
I’d never considered Jasmine as someone you would be interested in.
Other rich men, sure, but not you.”
“Why not?”
“Jasmine was too much of a book nerd. Too book smart for her own
good, not enough street knowledge to walk down a block by herself at
night.”
“She’s smarter than you think,” I insisted.
“We agree to disagree.” She waved my comment away. “Benny
decided to leave for business that morning. I’d already been spending the
night at his place. All seven of my guards had actually spent the night with
Jasmine … and that white girl. They did a big Barbie slumber party all
with nail painting, tons of ice cream, and Disney princess marathon. That
was what Jasmine considered a fun Friday evening. No, I didn’t think she
could keep your attention.”
The more she downed Jasmine, the more a bad taste coated my
mouth.
“I took the invitation from Benny’s place. He’d thrown it in his
office’s trash can. After putting it in a new envelope, I took it right over to
Jasmine’s house, brought it right to the roommate like I’d grabbed in from
the mail, picked up my grandkids, and left.”
“How did you know they would go?”
“I didn’t. I just seized the opportunity. If it didn’t work, then
something else would come up.”
Shocked, I shook my head. “This can’t be right.”
“Now you have to remember something. The successful way to
living life is planting seeds. Every day, you plant several of them. Good
ones and bad. Fruits and trees—”
“You’re losing me.”
“The invitation was just a seed. I didn’t think it would grow into
anything interesting, but you just never know. In the end, Vivian spotted
the invitation and told Jasmine about it. Broke college kids love free food,
and the high-end tasting piqued my daughter’s love for the extravagance.
They went, and again, I had no idea if anything would happen. But it did.
Benny showed up to the party several hours later. The white girl texted
him that she was there, and he lost it and showed up just to watch over
them.”
“I remember the moment Benny walked in, he wore a scowl the
whole time and wasn’t dressed for the event. By that time, he saw me
watching Jasmine, and told me not to even think about it.” I picked up my
drink. “But it was already too late, I’d called Lucy and told her to hire
someone that could research Jasmine’s entire family.”
“How did that research go for you?” She winked at me.
“You hid your true self very well.”
“Maybe. Or perhaps you were so desperate to have a real woman,
you might’ve looked over the fact that she was from a rough neighborhood
with a messed-up family. You’d lost three girls by then, and believed that
one of your current women at the time was killing them. You were
vulnerable. It all happened perfectly.” She finished her wine. “When did
you find the birth certificate? I didn’t think you’d find that out. It never
crossed my mind. That might’ve been my biggest slip up.”
“Lucy brought it to me. She tried to convince me to not go after
Jasmine, but—”
“You were already watching her. You were already hooked.” Her
smiled widened so hard, I thought her whole face would open and spill out
her head’s inside. “Months passed. I moved on to other things. In fact, I’d
forgotten about the whole party and you. Other things had my attention.
Then Jasmine called me one day, and said that she had a big interview at
Stone Industries.”
Sophia laughed. “I figured you had something to do with it. She
believed Benny had recommended you. I knew better. However, I still
wasn’t sure about you two. I called and called her after her interview. She
never answered. I left all types of emergency messages. I doubt she ever
heard them. Days passed and she never responded. Then finally, my little
princess decides to answer that morning and explain that she’d been in
Paris.”
“So you asked her for money?”
“Yes, the electricity bill. She wouldn’t answer the phone so I decided
to make it an emergency. I didn’t pay my bill.”
A bad taste hit my mouth. “You test her like this a lot?”
“Sometimes. And it was a test for you. I figured if you really liked
her, you would help her. Maybe not this bill. But one bill, some emergency
off in the future, you would take the bait. You would want to be the hero.”
“I would want to be a hero?” I said through clenched teeth.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Benny told me a lot about you. Your father, his friends, and you, he
hated rich, powerful boys.”
“And so you listened?”
“That’s what smart women do. They listen.” Her cheeks lifted into
the cruelest smile. “I used to listen to your father, too.”
I grimaced. “I keep forgetting that you knew him.”
“I did, but don’t worry. He’s not Jasmine’s father.” She leaned back in
the chair like a queen. “So what did you read in Benny’s journals? Now
you’re all jumpy, when I come close to you. What did Benny have to say?”
“A lot.”
“So are we still friends?”
“Of course, Mrs. Montgomery. You’re Jasmine’s mother.” My skin
shivered as if reacting to slimy snakes slithering over me. “We will always
be friends.”
“Good boy. I always knew you would be perfect for my Jasmine. I
just never thought you would take the bait.”
“The bait?”
“You may want to learn things day-by-day. Getting it all at once
might blow your mind away.” She raised her hand to her head and
mimicked an explosion. “Sometimes we can’t all get it at once. Our minds
are delicate.”
“What do you mean the bait?”
“Benny said you had a problem with keeping girlfriends alive.
Thought the shit was funny. I hated hearing about those poor girls.” She
shook her head. “You know, I figured it was that Lulu chick.”
“Lucy?”
“Yeah. I thought it was her. Benny told me all about that girl’s life.
Rape makes you crazy.”
Lucy’s face flashed in my head.
“Let’s leave that alone,” I said. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Awww, is the conversation over already?” She pouted. “Do you have
any more questions?”
I parted my mouth and wasn’t sure which one I should ask.
 Too much raced around in my head. She’d planned the event that had
scarred Jasmine and Troy for the rest of their lives, and then played
matchmaker to my tesoro and me.
What do I need to know right now? What will change the game?
I asked the only thing I could think of that wouldn’t reveal how much
I figured out about her. “Who’s Jasmine and Troy’s father?”
“How significant do you think that question is to our present
dilemma?”
“I think it’s important.”
“Their dad isn’t your father. That’s the only thing you should be
worried about. Other than that, Jasmine and you are in the clear. Is Benny
the father? Does it really matter? No matter what, my kids don’t need to
be around him. And regardless, he’ll still need to be dead.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s time, Chase.” She rose and strolled to the back. “It’s
time for Benny to die.”
If Sherman is right, then his mother had Benny go after Lucy. But
why? That would get me more involved, but I’d already been trying to get
rid of Benny. I didn’t need to be motivated anymore. It was only the
moment he took Jasmine that I united with her.
I tapped my fingers on my arm rest and ran everything over and over
in my mind.
Why kill Lucy?
The only way I would work with Sophia was if Jasmine was gone.
Sophia had come to my office many times, asking for money and
demanding things.
Did she even need all that money? It sounded like she had enough.
Maybe she couldn’t use all of it. The biggest problem with dirty money is
cleaning it so you can spend the bucks and not get caught.
I glanced over my shoulder. Sophia stared at me with vacant eyes.
Her mask was slowly slipping away from her face. It would be harder for
her to hide the demon inside now.
My giving her an allowance allowed her to spend money freely.
Everyone in the city knows she’s my girlfriend’s mother. If she bought a
house or two, she could point to me. No cop in the state would check up on
her, gossip in the streets or not, they’d have to mess with me. My family
vacationed with the state governor and sipped champagne with most of the
senators and house reps.
My tapping increased. At this rate, I would make a tiny hole through
the solid plastic.
Why kill Lucy? Why start this, if she did? What are the benefits,
getting rid of Benny and tying Jasmine to me?
If she’s my mother-in-law, she would be safe to do what she wanted
in South End. Now I’d bought the Chops. In her eyes, I bet she figured she
owned it.
But how did we get to that? Fuck. I needed to find Jasmine.
The stewardess walked up to me. “Mr. Stone, would you like
anything to eat? We’ll be landing in thirty minutes.”
“I need a coffee. Make it strong with no sugar or cream.”
“Okay, sir.”
How did Sophia know that Jasmine would go to Benny? How did
Sophia figure out a way to get me alone with her? Killing Lucy wouldn’t
get me running Sophia’s way. But killing Lucy started it. How did she know
my moves?
And then it came to me.
“Fuck.” I gripped the armchair hard.
She hadn’t known my moves, but she did know Jasmine’s and
Benny’s. I bet Sophia was certain that after all these weeks of my hiding
Lucy away, he would do something extravagant, once he got her in his
grips. Maybe, she even got in his ear or perhaps she figured he’d be bold.
But she knew that Jasmine would find out what had happened to Benny.
I can guarantee that.
And Sophia probably guessed that Benny would continue to be blind
with rage over my being with Jasmine. He would never let it go, never
accept us. He would try his best to solve the problem with violence, and
Jasmine, being the compassionate person that she was, would want it all to
end. And Sophia knew that I wouldn’t let it end.
So it would be a fight. A war. Benny against me. Jasmine would run
off to save us both. And then Benny and I would turn to Sophia for help.
I finished the rest of the liquor and couldn’t wait for the stewardess
to bring the coffee. I hadn’t slept yet, and with the high skills of these
players, I wouldn’t be getting rest any time soon.
 The only question I have now is: who the hell does she want to win,
and why?
 CHAPTER 18

Jasmine
Evening came. Dark violet streaks blanketed the night sky. The stars hid
from London, and knelt behind gloomy clouds that expanded miles away.
A chilly wetness filled the air. More rain would come.
The weather girl must have a boring job. “Today in London, it will
rain. Clouds again, people, and yes … more rain.”
We stayed in the abandoned ballroom. Still, Benny hadn’t returned.
Unease kept Troy in a grumpy mood, but at least that didn’t stop him from
going forward with our plan. No matter how much we wanted Chase away
from Benny, we needed his help, too. He moved on the outside world with
loads of resources, and most important, he had Mom and Sherman, two
players we hadn’t even known were in this deadly game.
“You know how to get down to the wine cellar, right?” Troy gave me
a big flashlight that was cold to the touch.
“I remember.”
Vivian frowned. “We should go with her.”
“No, we’ll do better with watching her back up here. The only person
that can hurt her in this house is Benny.” Troy touched his chest. “I’ll
smoke a cigarette outside in the front of the house with security. They
always let me borrow a few. Vivian, keep watch at the window. I’ll have
the fire of my lighter on for a long time.”
A skeptical look replaced Vivian’s frown. “That’s the sign? Why not
turn it off and on four times?”
“That might make the guards wonder.”
“Or it would seem like you’re having a problem lighting your
cigarette.”
I extended my hand for the phone. “Just flick it on and off three
times. Who cares about security? We only need me to rush back upstairs
before Benny. How’s Vivian going to signal me that Benny is coming?”
Troy explained, “So there’s one of those stupid wooden servers that
connects from the kitchen on our wing all the way down to the cellar—”
I raised my eyebrows. “Stupid servers?”
“He means dumb waiter,” Vivian corrected.
“Wow,” I blurted out.
“Anyway ...” Troy rolled his eyes. “There’s a small lift elevator thing
that you move with a pulley. If Benny arrives, Vivian will let the pulley
fall to the cellar. It sounds like a big bang.”
“You two have done this before?”
They both nodded.
“Remember,” Troy handed the phone to me, “make the call. Make it
quick, and get as much information as possible.”
“I got it.” I stuffed the phone in my pocket.
“This isn’t a freak call.”
“Really, Troy? Really?” I turned and hurried off.
The floor creaked as I rushed down the hallway. Troy and Vivian
went off to their perspective places. Even with a flashlight, I couldn’t see
as much as I’d hoped. Too much darkness behind and on my sides.
I walked in an eerie tunnel, surrounded by molded wood and cracked
ivory, a wild jungle of plants and flowers amidst decomposing luxury.
Things scurried past me. Each time I flashed my light to the noise, I
caught tiny furry legs and jerked away.
Was that a rat? No, it was a squirrel. Say it. A cute little furry
squirrel. Not a rat. I don’t like rats and they don’t like me.
Increasing my step, I followed the path of red buttons Troy had
placed on the ground earlier this morning, when he’d first brought me
down.
“Where did you get those buttons from?” I’d asked.
He held a large bucket. Buttons filled it to the top. They were all
different—small and big, shiny and dull, jeweled or made from the
cheapest plastic. “There’s a sewing room near the kitchen in the east wing.
It had buckets of these things.”
With every four steps, he set a few buttons on the ground and moved
forward.
I followed behind him. “We’re like Hansel and Gretel, putting our
bread crumbs in a trail in the forest.”
 “Let’s hope there’s no witch offering candy and trying to eat us.”
“Let’s hope. The best part of that story was the food that witch could
cook.”
“I feel like you would make a deal with her to get some sweets.”
“It would matter on the sweets.”
He dropped more buttons down. “You’d sell me out for a candy bar?”
“Not just any, but there’s a few. Chase bought me a candy bar called
To’ak. It cost him $260.”
“Rich guys spend money on dumb things. If I pay for a three hundred
dollar candy bar, it better come with a blow job.”
“Eating it felt like a blow job.”
Troy chuckled. “And you know how blow jobs feel?”
“Chase said eating the candy felt like a blow job.”
“If he compared that to chocolate, then you’re obviously doing it
wrong.”
“Eww. None of your business about what I’m doing.”
He tossed some more buttons. “Why close to three hundred for a
candy bar?”
“They ferment the cacao beans. Most chocolate producers skip that
part because it takes time. The people who made To’ak. They ferment
them, then dry, roast, de-shell, and grind each batch by hand. It takes the
group around two years to just make six hundred bars.”
“You know what I realize, when you tell me about high-priced food?”
“What?”
“The people who make the stuff are always so fucking extra.”
“Extra?”
“It’s always some shit like,” he used a high-pitched voice and
mocked me, “they farmed the fish in a lake filled with the most expensive
bottled water. Then they read to the fish, but not Dr. Seuss. No.
Shakespeare and Nietzsche. Then they taught the fish calculus, and a
symphony played around the lake every night while they slept. The fish ate
lobster. The fish received back massages and had meditation breaks where
they considered the meaning of life. That, my friend, is why this fish is
now sold at a $100,000.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It really is. That’s why I just get some damn fish from the
supermarket like a normal person, bread, fry, and eat it. End of story. Ten
dollars. Still good, but without the bullshit background.”
We got to the stairs and he took his time laying a button on each step,
and then lowering to the next.
“I bet the educated fish tastes better,” I said. “It would’ve had an
easier life.”
“Easier life makes the flesh taste delicious?”
“That’s a little theory that many of the purist have.”
“I bet those purist are also the ones hiking up the food prices and
stuffing all of the dough in their pockets.”
The debate heated up after that. I could never drag Troy over to my
foodie passion, and he couldn’t convince me of dulling my senses for the
sake of saving a few bucks.
Thank God Troy put these buttons down. There’s no way I would have
remembered the way.
Now on my own, I walked down the button path, flashing light on
each one.
Did Troy and Vivian make it to their spots? Are they looking out? Did
Benny already come back? Shit. I have to hurry.
I paused to listen to the sounds throughout the mansion.
Wind blew outside. A tree scratched against the house’s surface and
the creepy noise echoed through the empty hallways.
Okay. I’m fine. There’s nothing out there.
I rushed down the stairs and made sure to not knock any buttons
away. My flesh shivered. It could have been the cold temperature in the
neglected parts of the mansion or the fact that I worried Benny would
catch me sneaking off like this.
By the time I reached the wine cellar, my hands shook and I had to
hug myself to shield my body from the cold.
The door screeched open. I shined the light through the whole space.
The previous owner had taken all of the wine. Only empty shelves
remained with a few turned over barrels.
The door closed behind me. Checking the space some more with the
flashlight, I then took the phone out and dialed Chase’s number.
It rang three times.
Please, pick up. You have to pick up.
And then his deep voice traveled over the line. “Hello?”
His name was a song. “Chase.”
 Fuck. Don’t say it like that. Focus on what I need.
“Two calls in one day?” he asked. “Should I be expecting this each
day?”
“You have to get away from my mother, but before you do—”
“We need to find out why she’s in this to begin with,” he finished my
sentence. “Is that why you called? To talk about your mother.”
I hated the confidence all over his words. He sounded like he’d just
been handed the last piece to a complex puzzle.
“Where are you Jasmine?”
I looked around. “A wine cellar.”
“Be more specific.”
“An abandoned mansion.”
“Hmmm. You have answers for me now. Why?”
“I need to talk to Sherman. He can help us.”
“Help you kill Benny?”
“Maybe.”
“There is no maybe to that. You do understand, right?”
“Yes.”
And then, he caught me by surprise again. “I’ve been reading
Benny’s journals.”
“What? Where the hell did you get them from?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you the next time I see you.”
“Chase, I need you to let me talk to Sherman as soon as possible. Is
he around you?”
“No. He’s on another plane.”
“And where are you?”
“The same city as you.”
“Whatever.”
“How much do you want to bet?”
“Chase, I don’t have time for this.”
“If I’m wrong, you tell me, and I’ll give my phone to Sherman so
that the next time you call, you’ll be able to talk to him. But,” Chase
laughed, “if I’m right, you touch yourself right now.”
Heat pooled between my thighs. I tried to ignore it. “We don’t have
time for that.”
“Why not?”
“Benny could come back anytime soon.”
 “Benny is going to be very busy in the next couple of days.”
“Why?”
“London.”
I tensed and lost all of my words.
“That’s where I’m at, tesoro. London.”
Breathe, Jasmine. Breathe.
“Hmmm.” His voice drummed down through my flesh. “So I’m
right, and you know what that means.”
“How did you figure it out?”
“He’s a cockney.”
“Christ.”
“Benny’s going to need Jesus in these next couple days. Where are
you in London?”
“I don’t have the address, but …”
“Save me some time, tesoro.”
“Bishop’s Avenue. An abandoned mansion on Bishop’s Avenue.”
“I have friends that have properties there.”
“You would.”
“I’ve been reading his journals. And for once, I actually know more
than everyone else. At least everyone but your mother.”
“Stay away from her.”
Chase sighed. “She’s going to be a problem, Jasmine.”
“What are you saying?”
“We don’t have time to talk about that,” he insisted. “Touch
yourself.”
“I’m getting ready to go.”
“Are you sure? I have a whole lot more information. Wouldn’t you
rather be in the light, instead of the dark?”
“I’m in the dark right now.”
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
“Jeans and a shirt.” I set the flashlight upright on the floor. “What
else do you have to tell me? Hurry up.”
“You’re the one that needs to hurry.”
“Fine. I’m touching myself right now.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am.” I smiled.
 “Tesoro, I know how your voice sounds, when your fingers are on
your pussy. Do it, baby. Touch her for me.”
“Stop.”
“Does she miss me?”
“Yes.”
“Touch her.”
“Benny could come back.”
“Fuck him. Touch yourself, tesoro.”
Arousal moved inside of my chest and then dove straight to the
middle of my thighs. “Chase, I can’t.”
“You can.”
“Baby.”
“Hurry, tesoro.”
“You’re insane.”
“You love that about me.”
“Do I?” I leaned against the door, unbuttoned my jeans, and slipped
my hands into my panties. Sparks rushed up my body. As soon as my
fingers met my hungry flesh, I’d given all control over to him. “Now
what?”
“Awww. Now you’re touching her. I can tell. It’s in the tiny hint of
sensuality added to your voice. Say something else.”
I circled my clit and licked my lips. “Chase is a lunatic.”
“Oh yes, tesoro. You’re definitely touching her now. How wet are
you?”
“So wet.” I guided my fingers to my opening and pushed one finger
inside. “I miss you so much.”
“You miss me or my dick?”
“Both.”
“And my tongue?”
“Every night.” I pushed another finger inside and moved them in and
out. Wet sloshing sounds filled the space. I groaned with lusty excitement.
“I dreamt about you last night.”
“Did I have my face buried deep between your thighs?”
“No. You were Hades and I, Persephone.”
“That’s depressing.”
“Mmmhmm.” I stuck another finger inside and imagined that it was
Chase’s thick cock pushing inside of me. “God I miss you.”
 “Are you fingering that sweet treasure right now?”
“Yes, baby.”
“I promise you this … tomorrow, before the day ends, my mouth and
cock will be kissing every place that you touch.”
My nipples hardened under my shirt, and I wished he stood in front
of me to assault them with his tongue. Damn you, Chase. I increased the
pace of my fingers, slipping and sliding into my warm tunnel and bumping
my palm against my wet clit to get me to ecstasy faster. My body had been
starved, my flesh dehydrated and barely holding on. This touch would only
be a drop of water, and I feared that after this call I would be worst off,
rather than better.
“Rock that pussy, tesoro.”
Just those freaking words had me close to coming.
“Yes,” I groaned.
“Are you rocking into your hand?”
“Yes, baby.” I ground my center into my fingers. With each bit of
pressure, my pulse soared, my hormones heated, and my body came close
to eruption.
“I wish I was there.”
“Chase.” A soft whisper left my lips. I moved faster, needing to
reach that point that helped me escape the craziness of reality. “Oh.”
“Come for me, tesoro. Just this once. And tomorrow, you’ll come for
me again.”
I imagined Chase inside of me. Right in front of my face.
His eyes half closed.
His tongue traveling along my lips as he forced himself to hold on.
The passion in his eyes.
His low groan.
The urgency in his fingers as he squeezed me to him, his fingernails
digging into my skin, but never hurting, just telling me how bad I made
him lose control.
I remembered it all.
The squeak of the bed,
and the boom of the headboard crashing into the back of our wall.
My pussy, so wet, tired, and hungry.
He would take my nipples into his mouth and suck so loud that I’d
moan out his name over and over, bouncing on his cock, doing a dance
with my pussy.
I remembered it all, as I toyed with my moist flesh and moaned his
name over and over.
“Yes, tesoro.” Chase’s voice traveled over the thick line with lust.
“Come for me.”
“I am, baby.” I no longer stood against the wine cellar’s door. “Are
you touching my dick?”
“My cock was out as soon as you said my name. I’m abusing him
right now.”
“Don’t hurt him.”
“It can’t be helped. I’m picturing me inside of your naughty little
mouth.”
The image flashed into my mind—me on my knees. Naked. My
pussy exposed. Wet and throbbing, just craving Chase to caress the folds,
gather my juices on his fingertips, taste his hand, and groan.
“Your flavor’s in my mouth. I’ve licked you until you screamed my
name,” he whispered. “But I’m so damn mad at you for leaving that I’m
about the ram my cock into your mouth.”
“Do it.” I toyed with that throbbing body inside of my panties. “I’ve
been so bad.”
“I’m fisting your hair and guiding that beautiful mouth onto me.”
“Show me what you want, baby.”
“I want you to take all of me. Go so deep you choke, so that you
remember not to leave again.”
“I won’t choke, baby.”
He moaned. “No, tesoro. You won’t.”
“Give it to me, Daddy.”
“Daddy?” he whispered.
“You’re disciplining me.” I slipped my hand under my shirt and
freed my breasts from my bra. “I’ve been so bad.”
“But, you always take my dick like a good girl. Tugging on the tip.
Milking me.” His words shifted into panted mumbles.
I pinched my nipples and groaned so loud I was sure Benny’s guards
or maybe even Vivian heard me.
“Fuck. I grab those beautiful breasts of yours with both of my hands,
and I’m rocking my dick into your mouth, letting you own me. They’re
soft and full in my hands. Do you see it?”
 “Yes, and I want you to come all over me.”
He could barely mutter the words through his heart-wrenching
groans. “Such a good girl.”
“Come for me.”
“Let’s come together.”
“I’m so close.”
“I’m about to explode all over my hand.”
“Me too.”
In my head the whole dirty scene played out—his cock moving fast
in my wet mouth. My body blazing with energy. Right when he was close
to coming, he would slip his length out and spill all over my lips. He’d
watch me, his liquid dripping down my chin and placing dots along my
breasts.
It would drive him crazy.
And still, he would pump that cock some more, spurting out onto the
rest of my face.
Spilling.
Warm.
His weakest moment.
A man naked cock in hands and eyes rolling.
No control.
The breakdown.
“Oh, tesoro.”
A ragged whisper left my parted lips, “Chase.”
My body transported far away. Miles past Benny’s crumbling
mansion. Somewhere up in the stars, to a place that held no sound or solid
view. Just blurring color bursting in my head—a flood of grass greens and
sunshine yellows, blood reds dripping along ripples of blue.
And then, I orgasmed.
“Oh!” The shades merged together. I slumped against the door,
humping the shit out of hand and murmuring his name over and over.
“Chase. Fuck. Chase. Yes. Yes.”
“Fuck yes, tesoro.”
“Baby.”
He groaned. “Don’t forget daddy.”
“Yes, Daddy.” I rode the last waves of pleasure.
“Argh.”
 I laughed at the noise. My hands went slack as my body fell to the
ground in exhausted horniness. I’d came, but my hunger hadn’t been
quenched.
“You think I’m funny, tesoro?”
“What was that noise?”
“It was the sound of a depraved man jacking off in his plane’s
bathroom.”
“I caught you as you were landing?”
“We’ve been here for some time. That doesn’t matter. You’ve
lowered me.”
“I did no such thing.”
“I don’t touch myself. If I’m horny, I point and get it.”
Jealousy panged at my heart. “Officially we’re not together, so if you
are horny, you have every right to—”
“What? You’re saying officially I can go have sex with other
women? Yet, unofficially, if we got back together you would kick my ass?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny—”
“Officially, no other man better touch that body, mind, or spirit.
Officially, we are together. Unofficially, we are together. Do we understand
each other?”
“Wow. A man can’t touch my spirit either? What if I want to go to
church or something?”
“Tell the priest to get the fuck out of your way.”
“I could go to hell for that.”
“We’re together.”
I pulled my hands out of my pants and checked the time. “Fuck. We
have to end this.”
“No.”
“I have to go and you have to be careful.”
“So you’ve accepted the fact that I’m involved in this situation, and
not giving up?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a madman.”
“Besides that?”
“You’re stubborn and used to following your own rules.”
“Close, but not yet.”
 I swallowed. “Because you love me.”
“There we go.”
“You can’t just come to this mansion. There are guards all over the
place.”
“I figured that. Any ideas?”
“Besides staying away from my mother, no.”
“Don’t worry about her. I know more about her than I want to.”
“What does that mean?”
“That’s another time and topic. Help me out here, tesoro. Do you all
plan on going somewhere? Has Benny scheduled something for you?”
“Ummm …” I thought about our last conversation in the car. “The
Jack the Ripper tour. He mentioned wanting to do that while we were
here.”
“Okay. That might work.”
“Be careful.”
“I will, but I’m starting to realize why Benny was always able to stay
several steps ahead of us.”
“How?”
“Your mother.”
I sighed. “Explain.”
“When we went to Italy months ago, to check on that old gun, did
you call her?”
Rage filled me.
“Yes.” I shook my head. “Yes, I freaking called to say hello to my
nieces and nephews. I didn’t say where I was at, but I sat on the phone for
twenty minutes at least.”
“Enough time to allow Benny to track the signal.”
“Probably.”
“Definitely. She also has Sherman doing any and everything for her.
How up to date with our situation in the past months did Troy keep
Sherman?”
“Sherman is the only one that Troy tells everything to.”
“Then Benny’s spy equipment was people. Your mother kept him
advised whenever she heard anything and probably let him track us.”
I blew out a long breath. “Now I know how Vivian feels. Here I
thought I knew my mother well. Gold-digger and neglectful mom, sure.
Behind-the-scenes-mastermind? No.”
 “Your mother is about to be out of the game.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not going to kill her, tesoro. But her schedule will be tied up for
a few days.”
I gulped in fear. “Okay. Chase, please just—”
“No.”
“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m running this now.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, really.” And then, raw anger laced his next words. “You left
me.”
My body stilled. “You know why.”
“But you left me.”
“Chase?”
“When I see you, I’m going to teach you to never do that again.
Trust, tesoro. Trust in the fact that I will hurt Benny for keeping us
separated for these few miserable days. Trust, tesoro, that your mother’s
games end today. Trust that Benny’s friends will be writing up a eulogy for
their great friend by the end of the week. Trust that you’ll be safe. Trust it
all, but most of all—”
“Chase—”
“No. I’m not done talking. Most of all, trust that when I see you,
your body will know your sins.”
“Oh God.”
“And God won’t be able to save you.”
“Do you ever have an ego break?”
“Our love is worth everybody’s death. Remember that.”
“It’s not true.”
“Remember that. It’s you and me forever. They can die all around us
for all I care.”
And then a boom sounded in the wine cellar. The phone clicked off
before I could respond. I wasn’t sure if I did it or him. That didn’t matter.
Vivian had dropped the dumb waiter.
Vivian’s signal. Fuck!
I jumped up and knocked my leg into the door as I tried to button my
pants, grab the flashlight, hurry out of the cellar, and follow the red
buttons to everyone’s nightmare.
Benny is here. Shit!
 CHAPTER 19

Chase
Jasmine’s phone call had come right on time. We’d just landed. I’d
rushed into the bathroom as everyone else left the plane and had kept her
on the phone as long as possible. The phone call required a serious clean
up afterwards. My pants were ruined, and my cock tired, yet still
unsatisfied.
When I finally get her in bed, I hope I don’t hurt her.
I’d just come back from the bathroom, when I spotted Sophia waiting
for me in the aisle. “You’re still here?”
“I thought I would wait on you. How was your phone call?” She
glanced down at my pants. Wet spots covered the front. I’d planned on
changing in the small bedroom in the back.
How much had she heard?
I leaned down and stared out the windows. A dark, wet sky hovered
above London and hid the moon. Sherman would arrive in an hour and be
guided to a hotel room far away from his mother and me.
If that’s not a sign that God approves of our love, then what is?
The smile never left my face. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“Was that my daughter on the phone?” she asked.
“What do you think?”
“I think, if it wasn’t you would have a lot of explaining to do.”
I’ll change at the hotel. I don’t care. I can’t be on this plane with this
woman anymore. She creeps me out.
I walked past her and headed to the exit. “Are you a religious person,
Sophia?”
“No.” She strolled behind me. “Are you?”
I didn’t like her at my back without the guards around. “No, but I’m
damn sure thinking about putting some God in my life.”
 “You shouldn’t curse when mentioning him. I had a lover that was a
mean son of a bitch, but always hated when you used the Lord’s name in
vain. I mean this was a killer.”
“Maybe he had a special relationship with God.”
“No, just with his counterpart.”
“The devil? How has that worked out for him?”
“Not bad.”
When we arrived at the opening of the plane, she paused and stared
out. I continued forward, glancing back at her every few steps.
She breathed in and grinned. For a second, she was a kid, all bright
eyes and full of excitement. “This is Paris? I’ve never been. I wouldn’t
know if I was or not. I know Paris has the Eiffel tower, but I don’t see it
from here. Jasmine had tons of pictures of—”
“This isn’t Paris.” I’d held onto the news long enough.
“No?” The expression changed to sadness.
“Not at all.”
“Then where are we?”
“London.” I studied her reaction.
“Oh!” She giggled. Her amusement returned. “I’ve never been to
London either.”
She’s excited. Is that good or bad? Does she even know where Benny
is, or is she just riding this out for the finish?
“I’ve never been out of the States. I’ve always had a kid to watch or
things to take care of.”
“Were you scared to?”
“Maybe.” Her gaze brightened as she took in more of the airport.
“Sometimes I was scared to leave my kids. I wasn’t the best mother in the
world, but I didn’t want them to die from me not being there. Then once
they got bigger, I just forgot about traveling. I let South End and the kids
be my main focus. Something is always dragging down a black woman’s
ankles.”
A limo drove forward. We waited for him to park and then headed his
way, right as the driver jumped out.
“We’re so amazing that everyone’s always trying to drag us down,”
Sophia continued. “There’s just something about a black woman in our
world that makes men want to chain and treat us bad. Keep us low and far
away from the rest of the world.”
 She drank the little airport in. “You wouldn’t know anything about
being a black woman. All you do is point and things happen. You got me a
passport in barely twelve hours. That’s that rich, white man stuff right
there. No matter how much money a sister gets, she still wouldn’t have
power like that.”
“Would she? I bet Jasmine could run my corporation in a few years.”
Her eyes twinkled. “I bet she could.”
“Wouldn’t that give her power?”
“I’m hoping, Chase. I’m seeing if it’s possible.”
So all you want is power, or do you want Jasmine to have it? Who
would have to die for that to happen? Who has the most power in your
mind, Benny or me?
Before I started my plan, I decided to talk to her a little bit more.
“I’m shocked that Benny never took you out of the States.”
“I’m not. Benny’s a bird keeper by heart.”
Bird keeper? No. More like bad, a lion tamer. It took him years to
realize how bad you were.
“Maybe Benny had other reasons for not taking you out of the
country.”
“He would always say that being out of the country was a dangerous
thing.”
“Let’s hope he’s wrong.”
I have to play the rest of these days safe. Benny thinks I’m on a wild
goose chase. Sophia believes I trust her. Jasmine just wants to save
everyone. I’ll have to break Jasmine’s heart. The only one who’ll be
protected is her. I’ll do my best with keeping Troy and Vivian safe, but
that’s it. I meant what I said. Everyone else could die.
“You look happy.” Sophia hooked her arm around mine. “Help me to
the car, sweet Chase.”
“Of course, Mother.”
A line crossed her forehead. “Mother?”
“That’s what you are.” I couldn’t stop the confident smile as I helped
her along.
“Why are you so happy?” Her gaze remained on the lit landscape far
off in the distance of the airport. I could bet all of my money that she
hoped to ravage the city. I doubted Jasmine lay on her mind, or that
Jasmine’s psychotic father Benny would lose control and hurt her daughter.
 “You look happy, too,” I said.
“I am.”
“Me too.”
“But,” she turned away from her enjoyment of London’s night time
view, “you would think that you’re not worried at all about Jasmine.”
“Oh, I’m worried.”
We arrived at the limo. A cool breeze passed through her wavy hair.
It lifted above her shoulders just like Jasmine’s did before she cut it all
off.
I released my grip of her hand. “It’s just that finally things have
changed.”
“Changed?” She smirked. “How?”
“Before, I was two steps behind Benny.”
“Benny has his ways of knowing things.” She raised one of her
fingers as if to put a period at the end of her sentence.
“I agree.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “So how are you going to stop him?”
“I have some ideas. I think my plans are strong.” Before my phone
call with Jasmine, I’d briefed all of my guards on the plane and held a
short phone conference. They had clear instructions, and now was a good
time as any to execute them.
“What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to be two steps ahead of Benny.”
“How’s that?”
I signaled for my two guards to flank Sophia. “I’m going to change
the game.”
Both men towered over her. Sophia’s excitement disappeared. It was
in the change of her expression. Her eyes lowered to almost closed, like a
wild animal would squint at its prey right before attacking. She let go of
my arm and arched her fingers. Those nails could’ve been a great weapon,
if not for my men’s guns which they held pointed to her chest.
“Son?” She stood still. The word sounded like poison on her tongue.
Thank God she didn’t possess the ability to lash that vile thing out of her
mouth and swipe me with it. “Should I be worried?”
“Yes, you should.” I stepped away to give them more room just in
case they needed to shoot her. Truth be told, I wanted to kill her myself,
after realizing she’d been the cause for Jasmine’s near rape in her
childhood. Plus, the woman had ruined Troy. He was such a smart man.
Her little move to get power in the hood had shoved Troy off into a
different path.
He’d become an unofficial killer.
You vile woman. The only reason why you’re still breathing is
because Jasmine doesn’t know, and she wouldn’t forgive me. Troy probably
guessed. If not, then he’d understand much faster than Jasmine. Your
daughter’s biggest weakness is that she sees the good in people, even when
they don’t deserve it.
Both men remained on Sophia’s side and hooked their arms around
hers. In each of their free hands, the guns continued to point at her chest.
“Excuse me?” She looked at the guy on her right and then left. “Do I
have special guards now?”
“Of course. You’re Jasmine’s mother. I have to protect you. Keep the
most important lady safe. I don’t want Benny trying to hurt you.”
She frowned at both of the guns. “Benny won’t hurt me.”
“He might.”
“I doubt it.”
“But we still can’t be sure.”
She spat the next words out. “I don’t like these fucking guns at my
chest.”
My smile widened. “Focus, Sophia.”
“Focus?”
“Yes, focus. The guns are not the problem. Benny is. Just focus on
helping me get Benny.”
“Have them get rid of their guns. I’m not appreciating this at all. I
doubt Jasmine would either.”
“They’re here for your protection.”
“No, they’re here to trap me.” She gestured to the guns. “Jasmine
wouldn’t appreciate this.”
“Did Jasmine know about Omar?”
Sophia’s attention left the guns and shot straight to me. “Omar?”
“Yes, the guy that came damn near close to taking her virginity at
twelve years old, if not for Troy stabbing him in the chest. Did Jasmine
understand the part you played with Omar?”
“You read a few journals and you think you’ve captured the whole
picture of our lives. I liked you better, when you were love-struck and
pussy-whipped. Don’t start trying to use your brain, Chase. It makes you
look ugly.”
“And you’re a scholar of ugly, right?”
Her expression hardened. “So you’ve decided to have guns pointed at
your mother-in-law? Do you have any other genius plans?”
“I’m just seizing opportunities and learning my enemies.”
 CHAPTER 20

Jasmine
“What took you so long?” Troy met me in the kitchen.
Where’s Benny? He must be near. How am I going to tell them about
the phone call, without saying things that Benny or his guards will listen
to and pick up?
“Was it long?” I wiped the sweat off of my forehead. “It felt like a
few minutes.
We did our best to speak in code, since we were in the east wing.
“You look well rested.” Vivian chuckled.
“What the hell are you trying to say?” I turned away and scanned the
space for Benny.
“You look like you just had sex.” Vivian tugged at the bottom of my
shirt. Some of the material had gotten stuck in between my pant’s zipper. I
looked like I’d just had sex and hurried to put on my clothes.
“It seems your exploration of the house involved a whole lot of
voyaging on the dark side,” she said.
So you think I got freaky on the phone call, fine. I slipped. Sue me.
“Oh be quiet.” I set the flashlight on the table. “Is Benny back yet?”
“I thought we were going to keep the sexy stuff to a minimum this
week?” Vivian asked.
I said through clenched teeth, “I did keep it to a minimum.”
“It doesn’t look that way,” Troy insisted.
“There’s no looking anyway. I checked out the abandoned parts of the
house and then returned.”
I made the call. Leave me alone.
Troy muttered, “Freak call.”
I pretended not to hear him. “Where’s Benny?”
Troy folded his big arms across his chest. “He’s not here yet.”
 “What the fuck? Why did you signal me?” I asked.
“Signal?” Troy nodded to the ceiling as if to suggest that Big Brother
could be watching. “I’m not sure what you mean, dear sister. However, if
there was a way to do what you said, I would’ve done that because we
don’t know how much longer you had or if there’s some sort of tracking
system.” Troy’s volume decreased. “And we figured we should end your
freak call.”
I mumbled, “Oh shut up.”
“So tell us about your walk around the house.” Vivian stepped
between us. “Anything interesting?”
“The walk through the house was good. It reminded me of my
conversations with Chase.” I hoped that they understood the meaning
between the lines. “Yes, that walk was just like our talks.”
“So very sexual with no depth?” Vivian asked.
My mouth parted. “We talk about deep things.”
“It’s like you two are in heat for a continuous span of time. Is there
ever a moment when you both just sit and talk, and it doesn’t deal with
sex?”
I scanned my mind. “We’ve discussed the Beatles and politics.”
“I bet you two were butt naked at the time.” Vivian picked up the
flashlight and placed it under the sink.
“Fine. We talk about food,” I offered.
“Again, probably butt naked or minutes later, butt naked.”
Troy raised his hand like a good little student. “I would rather we not
talk about Chase or Jazz being butt naked.”
I raised my hand, too. “I second that vote.”
He dropped his hand. “So … your walk.”
“Yes, my walk was interesting.” I headed to my room.
They followed behind.
“I didn’t see a lot. Most of the house is damaged, but what reminded
me of Chase and our old conversations was the vermin.” I opened the door
and flicked the light on.
Vivian’s beautiful murals glowed around us. Chase’s version of
Hades’s pale face brightened in front of my Persephone-brown one. Bright
red pomegranate juice dripped from my image’s lips. The liquid sparkled,
almost rippling a little bit right in front of my eyes.
 Or was it that magic flowed through me due to Chase’s deep voice
inside of my ear earlier?
Troy touched the wall, placing the tip of his finger right on the
pomegranate. “Why are they looking all sexy at each other and eating
fruit?”
“It’s Hades and Persephone.” Vivian got on my bed and lay on her
stomach.
“Jasmine is in love with the God of Death.” Troy bobbed his head in
agreement. “That sounds depressing.”
“Are you going to listen to my story about rats or not?”
“Go ahead.” Vivian stepped inside. “I’m listening.”
“So, yeah. There were a whole lot of rats all over the house. And all
of the rats are making sounds and talking to each other.”
Mom and Sherman are definitely involved. This shit is nastier than
we thought.
“Right.” Troy shrugged. “That’s nothing new. We knew there were
rats all around us. Big mother rats stealing people’s food.”
“Well, now it’s confirmed.” I hopped on the bed.
Troy followed and targeted me with a hard gaze. “Sherman was real
good at catching rats. I wish he was here. You know what, Jazz, when’s the
last time you talked to him?”
Sorry, Troy. Sherman was in another plane, and even if he wasn’t,
Chase wouldn’t have given him the phone.
I frowned. “I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to Sherman in a long,
long time.”
“Wow!” Troy’s voice raised higher than before. “That absolutely
sucks. You haven’t been able to talk to Sherman in a long time? That
really, really sucks.”
“Yes, I agree,” I groaned. “I thought about all of that on my walk.”
“A lot of good a long walk can do, if in the end, you don’t keep up
with your brother,” Troy grumbled.
“Maybe we should just focus on the rats,” Vivian suggested.
Troy muttered, “Yeah, let’s talk about the freaky ass rats.”
“None of these rats are freaky,” I argued.
“Well, next time you won’t be taking these walks by yourself, just in
case the rats get too freaky.”
Vivian whispered, “Now, I’m lost.”
 Troy glared at me.
“Can I get a hug, Bro?” I extended one arm and put my free hand in
my pocket.
He raised his eyebrows, yet leaned in anyway. “Sure, Sis.”
I embraced him with the one arm and slipped the phone to him with
the next. Thankfully, he figured it out, swiped it from me with no problem,
and snuck it in his pocket. “So anything else that was interesting as you
strolled around this house? Anything else about rats?”
“Well, the rats are definitely in London.”
Troy’s annoyed expression faltered.
“I ended up seeing a big rat, too.” I picked up my pillow and hugged
it. “I think she was a mother, but I’m not sure.”
Vivian ran her fingers through her blonde hair. “Mother rats are the
worst.”
“In my mind, I pretended that I called an exterminator to get rid of
all of the rats. It was the craziest daydream ever. It was just like putting
the phone to my hand and saying the address.”
I basically told Chase that we were on Bishop’s Avenue.
A nervous laugh left Troy. “What a stupid, stupid daydream. First of
all, you don’t even know the address.”
“True. I just know that we’re in an abandoned house on Bishop’s
Avenue. That’s not much information.”
“That’s enough,” Vivian whispered. “An exterminator would find us
based on that. The only question is, if the exterminator can actually get rid
of the problem.”
Troy frowned. “And will it bring more rat problems? Will the
exterminator bring more rats to us?”
“Or cats and dogs,” Vivian added.
Troy and I stared at her in confusion.
“What? Does that not make sense?” She checked both of our blank
expressions.
I tapped her hand. “I didn’t see any cats or dogs, Vivian.”
“If we had a cat, then all the rats would be gone.”
“Unless, the cat was not big enough to eat all of the rats.”
“What?” Troy asked.
“Then you would need a family of cats.”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “A family of cats?”
 “You two are really bad at this.” He rubbed that bald head of his.
“Rats or cats. Things are going to be happening soon, since our proposal
for your walk clearly didn’t go as planned. You seemed to go off in other
places versus right where I fucking told you to walk.”
“Sometimes things take you off the path.”
“Like cats,” Vivian insisted.
“Let it go, Vivian.”
Troy mumbled in a low voice, “Glad you got your freak on.”
“I did not,” I insisted.
“Well,” Troy rose from the bed, “I hope you did because shit is about
to get real.”
“Yeah.” Vivian jumped up. “And then the elephants will be
trumpeting and the lions will roar—”
“Just stop.” I shook my head. “You’ve completely lost it all.”
“Is this not the Lion King?” Vivian asked.
“No! What the hell?” I covered my head with the pillow. “There were
no rats in the Lion King. How would you even go to that movie?”
“There had to be rats in the Lion King. It was Africa.”
“Why did it have to be?” Troy asked. “Because it’s Africa? And
where there’s black people, there are rats?”
“What?” Vivian blushed. “No. Why are you making this a race thing?
Of course there’s rats in Africa. It’s a huge continent. Rats are everywhere.
I’m just saying—”
“There were no rats in the Lion King.” I pointed to the door. “And
you both can get out. I’ve told you about my walk, and now we’re done.”
“That was a great walk. I hope you burned a lot of calories.” Troy
headed for the door.
“Go blow yourself, Troy.”
“Such an invigorating little stroll through the house.”
I held two fingers up. “Blow yourself twice.”
“Wasn’t Mufasa’s main helper a rat? The one who kept watching
over his kid,” Vivian asked.
“He was a toucan, and now you’re no longer allowed to watch Disney
movies with me.”
Vivian placed both of her hands over the space above her heart. “I’ve
lost that right?”
 Troy sucked his teeth. “I would like to inform you two that you both
suck at Mission Impossible.”
“Mission Impossible?” Vivian scrunched her face in confusion.
“Now I’m lost.”
I kept my finger targeting the door. “Well, the trail to clarity is in
your room.”
Troy placed his hand on the door knob. “We need to talk tomorrow,
Jazz. Maybe you should get some much needed rest and then take a
shower.”
“I’m not dirty!”
“Hey, I only suggested a shower due to your long walk.” He tossed
me an innocent expression. “And Viv, I too am wondering if you would
like to walk with me.”
“Hmmm. I do love to walk.” She winked at him.
I waved my hands. “Absolutely no walking for either of you!”
Laughing, they both left.
The door slammed closed. I didn’t have the energy to take off my
clothes or fold myself into my blanket. Anxiety had rummaged through
my insides all day. If Benny wasn’t stabbing knives into plates or trapping
us to him some more, then Troy had me on edge with his constant need to
plan Benny’s death and his insistent reminder that Chase could die. My
dear love, a man whose hard head could crack steel and break that metal
into tiny pieces.
Chase is in London.
My body woke up again. Every cell missed him. My flesh tingled at
the thought of his hands on my body. How selfish I’d become that even
though he could be putting himself in danger, I craved his arms so much
and didn’t care.
That orgasm had exhausted me. If Chase was right about tomorrow, I
would have to get my rest.
Wait. Stop thinking about his dick, and figure out what to do with
Benny. And what about Mom? I can’t think about her now. How will we
take care of Benny? Do we ask Sherman to kill him? Wouldn’t that be
wrong? What kind of sister would I be? Troy’s convinced Sherman loves to
murder people. That’s not exactly a vote to get Sherman to do it. But is
there any other way? Will Benny ever listen to reason?
My thoughts collided.
 Darkness drowned the space.
Sleep found me fast.
I sank into a dark dream world. The ground glowed shiny, black. Its
cold surface smoothed against my back as Chase thrust his hard cock into
me. A blazing fire served as the sky. Clouds of gray dotted the burning
landscape and promised no rain. Stark, white beats flew around us, more
witnesses to our sex than the vultures of my world that circled the dead.
But were we dead?
It wasn’t necessarily my love. He wasn’t Chase. He was Hades, and I
Persephone. Shadows dressed his body. Those black wisps of smoke
danced around his pale, muscular chest. Silver sweat dripped down the
ripples of muscle on his stomach.
Chase tore away at my gown, ripping off the flower petals that
formed the garment. Tearing away at the thin branches that sewed the
flowers together. Yanking off the polished stones and gems that my
mother, Demeter, had sewn around the collar and wrists. The gown fell
into bits of nature, now looking more like the things left over from a
forest’s storm.
Lifting me up from the ground, he shoved his cock into me hard.
“How does it feel?”
“So good.”
“No one else will ever make you feel this way. No one is my size.”
He held my hips and like a true god he moved me up and down on him,
giving me no moment to breathe. And right when I was about to scream
his name out to the fiery heavens, his cock vibrated inside of me. “No one
has my power!”
I collapsed against him. My nipples smoothed along his hot skin.
Red liquid dripped from the sky and streamed all over our skin. I got some
of the sweet nectar in my mouth.
“You wanted it even more than me, good girl?”
“Yes.”
“Ride it.”
“Yes, Daddy.
“Drink.”
I leaned my head back and opened my mouth. More pomegranate
juice rained down from the sky. Those gray clouds had been full. And even
though fire served as the sky, once it touched my tongue, it was cool.
 Groaning with pleasure, I grabbed his shoulders and humped into
him.
“Yes, my hungry girl.”
The sweet liquid landed on my lips and I lapped at it as I bounced on
him.
“I only have you for six months out of the year.” He shoved that huge
cock into my body and it filled every part of me. It was my core. The
thickness that made me solid, and wet, and shivering.
Moaning loud, I trembled around his cock. “Chase.”
The dark god paused and gazed at me. His cold eyes blazed to red.
“Whose name did you say?”
“Uh.”
His cock ceased with vibrating.
“Hey, wait a minute.” I gazed down at that huge length as he pulled it
out. “No. Bring that back and make it move again.”
“Persephone, have you laid with another?”
“Uh.” I just stared at his cock as it glistened near moving shadows.
“We weren’t done.”
“Who is this Chase?!” he roared.
The ground shook under us. The orange burn of the sky bled into
solid black. The gray clouds shifted to ice blue. Lightning struck off in the
distance. Thunder rumbled. Smoke filled the sky in long, huge strips and
then formed into thousands and thousands of tiny bodies.
“Okay,” I covered my bare breasts, “what’s going on?”
“Where is this Chase? Tonight, he’ll die!”
The smoke soldiers thickened into solid forms. They had no real eyes
and mouths, just holes where those parts should be. Daggers appeared in
their hands. They marched our way and my heart pounded in my chest.
“My Dead Army will destroy him!”
“Wait, no! Bring back the vibrating cock.”
And then his shadows swirled around me as I screamed.
“No! No!” Those weren’t my screams.
I woke up in my strange room where Hades and Persephone glowed
in the darkness on the wall in front of me.
“No!” a female yelled like she was being tortured. “No!”
Rubbing my eyes, my body tensed.
“No, Dad!”
 Fuck. Is that Vivian? Is Benny back? What is he doing?
I rolled over as fast I could do, almost falling out of the bed, but
definitely bumping my damn leg again into the night stand.
I’m not going to have a knee after this trip. I’ll be limping back to
the US.
“Please, Dad! No!” she cried.
“Fuck!” I staggered toward my door. “Benny!”
I didn’t understand what the hell was happening, but whatever it was
I had to stop it. If Vivian cried about Benny, and Troy made no sound, then
things wouldn’t be pretty.
Please, God. Please don’t let it be anything I can’t handle.
I turned the knob, yanked open the door, and rushed into the hallway.
A shot sounded down the hall.
Vivian’s wail sliced through the house and cut at my eardrums. “No!”
The gun blasted again. Tears fell from my eyes, and I had no idea
why I was crying. Everything that could make Vivian cry like that flashed
through my mind. Troy’s dead body on the ground hit me the hardest.
The thought made me stumble. I pushed a few steps forward like a
drunkard, my heart heavy and weighing me down. My legs sluggish and
just as scared as me.
“Why?! Why?!” Vivian cried out over and over. Something kept
banging from her bedroom.
Boom. Boom.
Not a gun, but a hammer or a fist or a bat slamming into the wall.
Boom. Boom.
“Why?!” Vivian cried. “Why?”
I fell into the door and scrambled with opening it. Only seconds
passed, but it felt like minutes. Everything played out in slow motion.
Boom.
I stepped into the door.
Boom.
Benny punched his fists into Vivian’s bedroom wall. Boom. Cracks
streamed throughout what was once her beautiful mural of a fairy forest.
Blood dotted the lush nymphs’ faces as they chased after satyrs that broke
into the shattered sheet rock.
Benny punched the wall again.
Boom.
 Frantically, I searched the room for Troy and found him right on the
floor on the other side of Vivian’s bed. The blankets sat in disarray. Their
clothes lay in a pile on the floor. Naked, Troy knelt on the floor. Red
streams of blood streamed down his face and onto his bare back.
“And Viv, I too am wondering if you would like to walk with me,” my
brother had said.
“Hmmm. I do love to walk.” Vivian had winked at him.
Benny must’ve returned home and caught them in the act.
Fuck.
“Benny!” I screamed. “Stop. Look at me. Please, stop.”
Troy didn’t even show me his face. “Go back into your room, Jazz.”
“You’re a psychotic monster!” Vivian cried. “Monster!”
Benny punched the wall again and then shook his hand. His right
hand was now a dust-covered wound of flesh and bits of wall spilling from
the broken digits. “Yes, go back into the room, Jasmine. We’ll need to talk
later as well.”
“Monster!” Vivian screamed.
I took two careful steps toward Troy. “Maybe we should go and talk
now, Benny. You look like you broke your right hand.”
Glancing my way, Benny lifted his left hand and gripped the gun in
it. “Jasmine, I can shoot with both hands, so I would stay right where you
are at, if I were you.”
“I heard gun shots.” I didn’t move. “Did you shoot Troy?”
“Not yet.” Benny collapsed against the wall, but his gun hand didn’t
tremble.
“I think we should just stop right now.” I kept my hands to the side.
“Let’s go into the kitchen. Perhaps, we could even put that gun away.”
Benny smiled. Not a freaking good sign. He gestured to me with the
gun and then flicked the point it at Vivian. “You see that she calls me a
monster, while she sneaks away in the middle of the night and sucks her
brother’s penis?”
“Okay.” I blinked. “Let’s not go there.”
“Go back in your room, Jazz.” Troy still wouldn’t look at me.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I concentrated on Benny.
Vivian screamed and knocked over the lamp on her night stand. “He’s
not even my brother you pyscho fuck!”
Benny stared at me. “No?”
 I took in a long gulp of breath. “Let’s all calm down.”
Benny let his busted hand hang to his side. “I’ve been thinking about
a lot of stuff today. Your boyfriend has been busy, but then you already
know that, don’t you, Jasmine? You know that he’s a busy guy.”
“Can we put away the gun?” I asked. “It scares the shit out of me.”
“We’re not siblings you sick fuck!” Vivian kicked at the cracked
lamp.
“Not her brother. That’s what Vivian keeps saying,” Benny continued
as if I never spoke. “I considered that. Sophia had drawn a line in the sand
today. That’s what she did. She ended her twisted partnership with me, and
I couldn’t figure out why. Maybe she figured Chase was a stronger power
to side with—”
“We should go out to the kitchen.” I took another step toward Troy.
“Sophia knows you three are with me. Did you know that?” Benny
asked.
“Why did you have to hurt him?” Vivian rushed to Troy and held his
naked body.
Benny turned the gun to them.
“Please, don’t.” I held up my hands like I had some power to
magnetize his gun to my fingertips. “Please! Don’t, Benny!”
“What you don’t understand, my little Jasmine, is that your mother
talked me into having you three here with me in the first place. She didn’t
know where I would take you, but she did want me to take you. It seemed
like a good idea at the time. She knew that I’d unraveled.” He stared at the
ground and began to pace from side to side in front of the mural. “She
knew that I’d lost a sense of my reality. Chase has pushed me to the
madness. I’d had structure and foundation, and the damn man tore it all
apart.”
I swallowed down my fear. “Let’s go talk in the kitchen, Benny.”
He stopped pacing and pointed the gun back at me. “What makes up
a body?”
I held my mouth open and couldn’t find my voice.
“What makes up a body, Jasmine?” he asked again.
“Water.”
“No.”
“But, water makes up sixty-five percent of the body.”
Troy’s voice shook as he spoke, “Jazz, go back in your room.”
 “I’m not going anywhere.” I targeted Benny with a hard glare.
“Water makes up most of the body. Let’s go and check it on your
computer.”
“Now’s not the time to debate biology with me.” He raised the point
and targeted my head. “What keeps the body standing straight?”
“Jazz, please, go,” Troy whispered. “I can’t watch … anything
happen to you …”
Benny’s gun remained on my head. “What keeps the body straight,
Jasmine?”
My bottom lip trembled. “The legs.”
“What else?”
“The bones.”
“Yes, Jasmine. The bones. Without the bones, the muscle has nothing
to attach to. The lungs get no protection and shield. Everything falls to the
floor like a blob. Chase shattered my foundation. The truth of what I was
came to light. I had to answer to you as your father. I had to face Troy’s
accusing face. I had to reveal the monster that lives inside. Chase did this
to me, and your mother took advantage.”
I peeked at my side. Vivian still held Troy, although he didn’t wrap
his arms back around her. Instead, he gazed up at Benny as if waiting for
the best moment to leap at him.
Maybe I can keep him talking. Maybe we can kill him now.
“So my mother told you to take us?” I asked.
“Something like that.” Benny’s finger tapped at the trigger.
I was close to pissing myself.
He continued, “She set everything in motion and had already seen all
the outcomes. She would’ve understood what would come next.”
“But did she tell you to kidnap us?” I asked.
“No, but she told me to never rest until Lucy was dead. She told me
to bond with you three. Take a trip. She said she knew women, and that
Lucy had something to do with those other deaths, that Chase was too
blind to see it. She claimed you would be in danger as long as Lucy lived,
and then she flirted with my monster, whispered to him about how good it
would feel when I cut away at Lucy’s skin. She made love to my beast.”
Troy scooted closer to Benny, only an inch. They must’ve been a
good six feet away, so that little victory probably didn’t matter.
“Can we go into the kitchen?” I asked.
 “Vivian keeps saying over and over that Troy isn’t her brother.”
Benny moved me out of the gun’s target and returned to pacing. “You
missed quite a lot. For one thing, I was not in a good mood when I
returned to the house, but that’s another matter. Imagine my surprise when
loud moans are all over the house and I realize it’s my son.” He spat onto
the floor. “And my daughter, the only one who never could seem to keep
herself off her knees, is right where she always is, doing her woman’s
work with her brother.”
“Fuck you!” Vivian cried.
I didn’t even turn her way as I took another step to Benny. “Calm
down, Vivian.”
“Troy told her to be quiet. His eyes held fear.” Benny faced me. “I
know a lot about eyes, especially Troy’s eyes. They held fear, and I’ve
never seen them look that way before, not since the night he was a little
boy and he stabbed that pedophile in your bedroom. That was a child’s
fear. Tonight, he had a man’s fear.”
“Of course he was scared,” I argued.
“But why?”
“Because you’re Benny, and you scare us.”
He shook his head. “What is Vivian talking about?”
“She’s convinced we’re not related.”
He grinned some more. My stomach twisted with pain.
“She’s always been convinced of that, but this was the first time that
Troy didn’t look disgusted or even like she was crazy. No. Things have
changed. Something changed. And now he’s scared when she says it.”
Benny returned to pacing. His feet scraped against the polished tile and set
me even further over the edge. “Then your mother, who knows that I have
her kids, has now connected with my enemy, shown him all of my things,
robbed me, and commences to go on a great little holiday with him.”
“I don’t know what Mom is doing,” I muttered.
“Chase’s cock is probably deep down her throat right now.” He
twisted his lips into disgust. “That’s how bad she desires power. She would
suck him off, if he asked. That’s your mother.”
My body pulsed with anger, but I focused on staying calm.
“You told me you would handle this, Jasmine. You told me that Troy
and Vivian would stop.”
 My body quaked in hysteria. “You said I had three days. Please, don’t
do anything. Let’s talk this through.”
Benny formed his lips into a sad frown. He raised his gun to Troy.
“Son or not, this can’t go on.”
He pulled the trigger, right as Troy jumped up and charged at Benny.
But it was too late.
The bullet surged through the air.
Vivian’s screams filled my head.
How could a bullet be so small, when it caused so much damage?
That tiny thing snatched my twin out of my life. It hit his chest, traveled
through, and fled his back. Blood sprayed from both sides. But Benny
didn’t stop there, and I didn’t move. There was no reason to do anything.
Life had ended.
Benny shot again and roared, “But you didn’t think of this. Did you,
Sophia? You never thought I would hurt them. I told you I would!”
He shot at Troy’s head and chest over and over. My brother’s body
leaned forward and then crashed to the ground.
Although Benny ran out of bullets, he continued to pull that trigger
over and over.
Click. Click.
Blinking, I didn’t even turn my direction to the floor. Click. My
brother lay there, and I’d done nothing to save him. Click. I stared at the
cracked mural on Vivian’s wall and did something I hadn’t done in years.
Click.
I prayed.
I remember this one program that played on the television late at
night. Some reverend with blond hair, blue eyes, and a huge diamond
necklace on his neck. By twelve, I’d given up on God. What sort of
supernatural being would allow a place like South End to exist? I’d been
convinced that nothing existed after death.
Regardless, the reverend waved his hands on the screen and raved
about this awesome God. But something stuck out for me that night. He’d
said something that I never heard of.
“God doesn’t want you to walk to him with joy. He wants you to
crawl, and don’t we all crawl to him sometimes?”
The audience in front of him clapped and yelled yes in response.
 “Crawl to Christ!” He pointed to the screen. “Crawl to Him, and He
will save you.”
I shut my eyes.
Click.
Benny continued to pull that trigger.
And in my mind, I got on the ground and began to crawl to the only
thing in this world that could probably save us all.
In that moment, I crawled to God.
Please welcome and watch over my brother. God, please, don’t let
that be the last time I see him. Will I see him after this life? God, can you
hear me? Will I see him again?! Is there something after death?
God, why did you take him from me?
 CHAPTER 21

Chase
Would Jasmine and them come to the tour tonight? Had Benny heard the
phone conversation?
With that sick man, I had to prepare for everything. I bought up all
the Jack the Ripper tour companies in London, but I was betting on one
particular company to lure Benny’s dark side. It was Breaton Tours, the
most high-end and learned of them all.
My men researched and discovered that several tours were more
imitators. They pointed to any discarded street corner and claimed that
Ripper had murdered there. Only one had come highly recommended by
all major new outlets in the US. Everyone claimed to be an expert on the
psycho killer. Dr. Breaton had written several books on the madman and
his unsolved mysteries. The world proclaimed the doctor as the leading
authority on Jack the Ripper.
And Benny owned every last one of Dr. Breaton’s books.
If I was Benny, I would take the Dr. Breaton tour.
Earlier this morning, I’d checked Sophia, Sherman, my guards, and I
into the Royal Suite at the Mandarin Oriental.
Sophia had warmed to her armed guards, being that she had no other
choice. That being said, I was no jail keeper. Her prison would be luxury
and paradise, just in case I’d gotten it all wrong about her. Once Sophia
met the suite’s butler and stood out on the balcony that overlooked Hyde
Park, she relaxed and accepted her temporary prison. It there was one
thing I’d understood from Benny’s journals, it was that Sophia needed to
feel like a queen in every sense of the word.
The butler took her drink order and then handed her a wooden box
with an angel carved on the top. She opened it and eyed me suspiciously.
“Are these mine?”
 “Yes,” the butler answered before me. “They come with the suite.”
She pulled out gold binoculars. “O-kay.”
The suite also came with original artwork from the local gallery of
my choice, I let Sophia pick the place and the art pieces. They delivered it
all within the hour, and she giggled as she led the men around and pointed
to each wall where a painting should hang.
That’s right. Keep your mind busy with spending my money.
Our butler kept his distance from Sherman, who remained at the
dining table the whole time, monitoring us all and never saying anything.
He was just so goddamn big, tall, and scary. The scars and dead eyes didn’t
help either. He refused eat, get up, and check out his room. I made sure
several guards stayed with him.
No wonder Jasmine remained a virgin for so long. No one would be
stupid enough to date his sister, while he’s lurking around.
The butler handed Sophia the pillow menu and she almost passed
out. It was ten pages with pictures and prices of every pillow the hotel
provided for their customer’s comfort.
“This is crazy.” She brought it over to Sherman and set it on the
table. “Look. They have every pillow you can think of on this damn menu
—ergonomic to orthopedic, plume to … viscoelastic. I have no idea what
the last one is, but I’m ordering it.”
The butler took her order and rushed away to put them on her bed.
Sophia faced me. “How much do you have to pay to stay here?”
“I’m not sure. It’s around four or five thousand.”
“For the week?” She tilted her head to the side.
“No, for the night.”
Sophia clapped her hands. “Damn. Now that’s money.”
I gave her the master bedroom. 18th century Chinese paintings hung
on the wall. Crystal lights framed the massive vanity area to the right. On
the left, stood a walk-in wardrobe closet. The bathroom had been done in
cream marble. A thousand thread count linen covered the king-sized bed.
Do you like your beautiful jail, Sophia?
For now, she’d have to obey my security or get a bullet in her head,
but I would keep her as comfortable as possible. I wasn’t Benny. I didn’t
have time for torture or mind games, all I yearned for was Jasmine within
my arms.
 That’s all I dreamed about. Her small frame against mine. Her breath
skipping past my skin as I lapped at her skin and thanked God that she lay
right beside me, and not in that madman’s cage.
An abandoned mansion? I’m going to kill him just for that. A
destroyed and neglected castle, that’s where you bring your princess? How
gone are you, man? This isn’t even the Benny that I secretly respected, far
back when you saved Lucy.
But now I’d read it all. He was the devil I’d named him to be. My
theories proved to be correct. He’d killed my mother, tortured Dawn and
Lucy, and then snatched my tesoro away from me.
I would crush him.
The image of that moment played out in my head like a perfect
movie reel of the year’s best blockbuster action thriller.
I could see myself leaping through a closed window.
Why I would jump through a window, I didn’t work out in my head.
But it was my fantasy so I jumped through a motherfucking window for
my love! I tore away at the wooden pane and roared!
In the imagination, Benny stood in front of me. Rope bound Jasmine
to a chair, just like in any other action movie where the villain had just
gone too damn far, and everyone was excited to see the hero swoop in and
beat his ass.
“Let her go!” I would say, but I’d understand that he’d wouldn’t be
that easy.
We would have to fight it out. Man against man. Fists pounding into
flesh. Guttural grunts and biting at skin. Punches that knocked teeth out
and fractured arms. I craved a hit at his fucking face.
How many times had I beat at my punching bag in the gym with my
trainer? How many moments did Benny’s face replace the bag and I
pounded even harder than I ever had before?
I am He-Man and this motherfucker is Skeletor!
“Why are you walking like that?” Sophia flipped through a magazine
as I headed to the front door of our suite.
“I’ll be back.”
“You sure will be back in that get-up.” She peered over her
magazine. “The 1990s called, they want their style back.”
Through my sunglasses, I gazed down at my holey jeans, white wife
beater, and leather jacket. “I’m looking like a tourist.”
 “In what decade, Chase? Just because people don’t have money,
doesn’t mean that they dress badly.”
“I never said that.”
“You look ridiculous. And what’s with the hat?”
“What’s wrong with the hat?” I glanced at the two guards behind her.
“You both like my hat?”
They nodded.
“You look like you’re about to raid a lost ark.” Sophia flipped
another page. “Or maybe you’re considering exploring a temple of doom.”
One of the guards coughed. Although I could’ve sworn he was hiding
a laugh.
I cleared my throat and turned around. “I forgot something.”
“You probably forgot the rope for your last crusade.”
“Okay. I get it.” I walked off to my bedroom. “I look like Indiana
Jones.”
“What? No wonder they picked you to search out the kingdom of the
crystal statue.”
“It’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, not statue.”
I really dislike my mother-in-law. I can’t be the only man that dreams
of killing woman’s mom.
Twenty minutes later, I returned with jeans and an Elmo T-shirt. Part
of me didn’t care what she thought. The other wondered like a lunatic.
She laughed before I could make it to the door.
I looked back at her. “What?”
She smirked and returned to the magazine. “Nothing.”
“I’m going with single dad on a trip to Europe.”
“Oh okay. Now it makes sense. I thought you were something else.”
She grinned.
“What?”
“A pedophile.”
“You would know what a pedophile looks like.”
She didn’t even glance up as she laughed. “Don’t be mad at me that
you’re a grown man in holey jeans with kid’s characters on your clothes,
but no kids around you. Pedophile.”
I gazed down at my shirt, headed back to the bedroom, and changed.
Minutes passed and I returned only to meet with Sophia’s laughter.
“What now?” I walked by her.
 “You look like a male fashion model, straight from the runway.
Every woman over eighteen will notice you.”
I stared down at the pants and white button down shirt. “You’re over
exaggerating.”
“You need to tone down the swag. It’s in your walk and that confident
way you’re holding your face.”
Should I change again? Is she right? What am I doing?
“I should go with you,” she said.
And then it hit me. Perhaps my clothing choices were wrong, but in
the end, Sophia was trying to get back into the game.
Not going to happen. Besides, I look like a fashion model in whatever
I put on. I’m Chase Stone.
I could hear Jasmine laughing in my head, and wished she was there.
“Goodnight, Sophia.” I gestured for some of my guards to follow.
“Everyone will know who you are as soon as they see you,” she
called back.
She could’ve been right, or she might’ve been playing games. I had
no time for either and checked my watch. The tour would begin in an hour.
I had to be in place.
“My men will make sure you stay here and safe.” I continued to the
door.
“That’s what they’re doing?” She flipped another page in her
magazine. “Keeping me safe?”
“Of course. They’re here for Sherman and your convenience.”
“And if we decided to leave and check out London?”
“You won’t.”
Twenty men guarded the suite. Ten guys monitored Sherman and
Sophia. The place could have held a forty-person party, and many guests
that could afford the space would do so. I only needed a few guys to cover
me as I got into the car. More security would follow me to Breaton’s tour. I
hoped Jasmine would be there. If not, I would return again and again. If I
had to buy out tour tickets for the rest of the week, I would.
As soon as I stepped out of the suite, Sophia called after me, “Try not
to die tonight. I like you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I adjusted my shirt and headed to the elevator.
Will Jasmine come tonight? What’s going through your mind, Benny?
Wouldn’t you like to take all of your kids out on a fun field trip through a
serial killer’s history?
Benny raved about Jack the Ripper in his journal. Sure the person
had been the most famous serial killer in the world. Toward the end of the
19th century, he’d spread terror throughout London. But Benny thought the
man was his hero.
I thought back to Sophia, Dawn, and Wendy.
For all we know, Jack the Ripper might have been Janet the Ripper.
They probably couldn’t solve it because they were so backwards with their
thinking, they were just so sure it had to be a man. Women are some of the
most skilled murders.
I never underestimated a female. Any being that had the power to
hold life inside of their bodies for nine months, and then somehow push it
out of something so small and delicate, had my greatest respect. I would
never trade my cock for a vagina. Too much responsibility came with it.
What will I do with Sophia? And how much more will she do, once
Benny is dead? I can’t think of that. I have to focus on now.
Jack the Ripper, or maybe Janet, was claimed to be responsible for
eleven separate murders between the years of 1888 and 1891. Benny
described them over and over. For a few of my free hours in the suite, I’d
reread his musings.
I still hadn’t slept. Another day of no rest and I’d be well on to the
looney bin. I promised myself that I would sleep once Jasmine lay next to
me.
In my bedroom, I read more of Benny’s craziness.
Ripper killed the first girl in August 1888. I bet he did a whole lot
of others before then. They only called the ones in London. Those had
been his great work.
His final masterpieces.
The first was Polly. She’d been a forty-year-old whore, selling her
wrinkled pussy in Buck’s Row. The police had referred to the first
deaths as the Whitechapel Murders since Buck’s Row was located
there.
Later, the newspapers gave Ripper his due.
A delivery driver found Polly’s corpse. She had two slices to the
neck and jagged wounds on both sides of her stomach.
 Over a week later, the police found the second whore, another old
one. She was close to fifty. That had to have equated to and looked like
eighty years old in their day.
People died young then.
The police discovered the second prostitute, Annie, in the back
yard of a place on Hanbury Street. He’d severed her throat with a
sharp knife and then cut at her spine. Her intestines sat on her
shoulder. They never found her uterus or part of her bladder.
Ripper was Piccaso.
He showed off on the second one, performing a surgical skill so
clean, that the removal process would’ve taken him a good twenty
minutes. And he did it all in the dark public streets. Doctors of that
time guessed Ripper had in-depth knowledge of anatomy.
Killing does that to you.
Ripper showed off on the next deaths.
He’d sent a letter to the cops, signed it Jack the Ripper, and then
killed two whores within the span of forty-five minutes. More women
over forty. It was something about that age that messed with him.
Plenty young girls had to have gone into that work and made good
money.
Something about that age messed with his head.
Did his mom or grandmother do something fucked up to him? Or
was that just the easiest age of prostitute to walk down the dark alley
with him? It was always that one thing a murderer enjoyed, the one
type of person that got our death cock erect and read to bust.
Both women had cuts on their throats and abdomens, as well as
intestines placed over their right shoulders. Yet, he’d removed the
second victim’s left kidney and uterus.
Why was he so fascinated with those body parts?
Intestines had never been my thing. They looked so much like
snakes, and I hated serpents. Old horror flicks taught you to hate
snakes and Catholicism. All those demons sliding on the earth to eat
our innocent souls.
No.
I never had a thing for intestines, but Ripper loved them, relished
in removing them with precision and laying them carefully on the
corpse’s shoulder.
I bet a melody played in his head.
He’d gone overboard on one of the last ones, sliced her throat
completely, ear to ear. He hacked off her breasts and mutilated the
woman’s face well past recognition.
He’d wielded art with his knife.
Displaying his surgeon skills, he removed her uterus, kidneys,
and her breasts. He placed one tit under her head, and the other under
her foot. For some odd reason, he set her liver between her feet.
How much time did he have?
His signature remained, intestines on her shoulder, but he’d gone
wilder. Ripper set her spleen on her left and flaps of skin on the
bedside table. He’d cut off parts of her eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and
ears.
But most important, he’d cut her heart from its veiny binds and
taken it far away from the scene.
Every book I’ve read never discussed this detail.
Ripper had taken the heart away!
Why the heart?
For all the others, that organ remained in their chest, but for
some reason on that particular whore, he’d done something with it. No
one pursued that fact further. They ignored the symbolism.
The lovely, subtle nuance of love in the mind of a madman.
That victim was the one that broke his heart.
Evil men do bad things over love.
Had they considered that mere point, they might’ve solved all of
the murders. But investigating death makes many a callous people,
and by the time that victim surfaced, they’d probably lost their love
for humanity.
Ripper had hardened them.
And who could’ve done it? I had my suspects. The police pointed
to so many people from Prince Albert to the famous painter Walter
Sickert.
No one proved to be Ripper.
Then there was the clue dropped in the middle of East End.
Ripper had tossed a cloth in a dark passageway. The police found it,
and when the constable raised his lantern to the wall where the cloth
was discovered, a message decorated the break.
“The Jewes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing.”
Clearly he meant Jewish men, but why did he mention them the
police wondered. I knew as I always did. He hoped it would be seen as
anti-Semitic. He was being tricky. I believe he was Jewish, a particular
butcher named “Leather Apron.”
And Benny rambled on and on. It gave me no doubt that the sicko
would want to go on the tour. Even better, Jasmine confirmed it in our last
phone call.
And due to your fascination, Benny, I’ll trap you.
As my limo headed to Dr. Breaton’s tour site, my phone rang. I
expected my father’s image to come up on the screen or maybe Troy’s
unidentified number signal.
That time, security called.
I answered the phone, “Yes.”
“We’ve spotted Ms. Jasmine Montgomery.”
“Where?” I sat up in the seat, ready to jump out of the car, if
necessary.
“The Breaton Tour for Jack the Ripper. Mrs. Montgomery is standing
at the entrance with the other patrons. The person you identified as—”
“Is Benny there?”
“Yes, sir. He is the man on her right. Another man stands on her left.
He is of an old age with scars all over his face.”
“And her brother or—”
“No one else is with Ms. Jasmine Montgomery besides the one
identified as Benny and the other guy I just mentioned.”
“There’s no tall black guy there, thinking with his eyes?”
“No, sir.”
“What about a short white girl with blonde hair?”
“No, sir.”
This is a set-up. Benny must’ve heard our phone call. He’s expecting
me to show up, and save the day.
“What do you want us to do, sir?”
I let out a long breath. “Keep your target on his skull, and if you have
a clean shot that won’t put Jasmine in danger, then go for it. If not, wait
there, until I arrive.”
“Should we go to plan B, sir?”
“Definitely. And make sure everybody knows their parts.”
Let’s end this tonight.
 CHAPTER 22

Jasmine
Benny and I waited for the tour to begin.
Buildings surrounded us. Bright stars dotted the London sky. Stormy
clouds hovered over us. The moon lay full and stark white, almost showing
off its glow. The one night in this godforsaken city that Troy no longer
walked earth, and it didn’t storm.
I wouldn’t have minded a downpour. Something cold and dark,
booming thunder and laser hot lightning. I would’ve welcomed cold rain.
For once, the weather would’ve symbolized how my insides felt.
My heart sank in a thick sludge of black.
I hadn’t said much today. All I did was wrap my arms around Vivian
and rock her to sleep. Benny’s cook Lou brought a sedative tea. I gave it to
Vivian. She needed the sleep. I had to stay awake and deal with the pain.
Had it somehow been my fault? Was Troy’s blood on my hands? Sure
Benny played his part, and Vivian did, too, but what could I have done?
Alternatives ran through my head like a B-list film that remained on
repeat—the same ole cinematic action scene. A slow motion bullet flying
through the air. My frozen body. The cries. The screams. The blood as it
splattered. Troy’s blood. His body slumping to the floor. My brother’s
corpse.
Death was fucked up.
There stood a body, a husk of something that was filled with so much
amazingness. And then with a click of a madman’s gun, he lay lifeless on
the ground, hollow and empty. I’d seen so much death in these past
months, but not one of them prepared me to handle Troy’s.
My twin was gone.
A part of me lay dormant.
It had happened before.
 When he went off to jail, I could swear that somehow, someone had
cut something out of my insides—whether a lung or kidney, maybe even a
bit of my liver—something left me, when the police took him away. And
although I’d learned to live on without those empty parts of me, I always
knew that it would return once I saw him again.
And it did, for that short moment of time, in these past months.
He spent most of his life in jail, and now … he’ll never get a chance
to make it up.
“The tour is going to start in twenty minutes.” Benny turned to me.
“Are you as excited as I am?”
I didn’t respond. By now, he probably didn’t expect me to. I hadn’t
said anything more than a few sentences to him.
Hours ago, the first statement to Benny was an answer:
“Why are you holding that knife?” Benny asked, when he walked
into my bedroom.
I folded the blanket over a sleeping Vivian, stuck the pocketknife in
my pocket, and then zipped up my jacket. “I have a knife because you
killed my brother, and if I get a chance I’m going to stab you in the neck.”
Nodding, he turned his view to the bed. “Vivian isn’t going with us?”
Earlier, after he and his men buried my brother behind the mansion,
Benny had announced that we all needed a break. He decided that we
should go out and see London.
“No, Vivian’s not coming,” I said. “I finally got her to go to sleep. I
think she deserves that. Don’t you?”
“Yes.” He turned away from her sleeping form. Maybe the guilt hung
too heavy in his mind. Perhaps, his psychotic brain had a tug from
something greater than himself. “Where do you want to go tonight? I feel
like we should get out of the house. We’ve been cooped up in here all day
and I can still smell … I … we should get out of here for a while. Get
some fresh air. Where do you want to go?”
With no hesitation, I said, “The Jack the Ripper tour.”
He widened his eyes. “The Jack the Ripper tour? Are you sure?’
I nodded.
“But—”
“You asked me. I told you.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
 I said nothing else and thought of the knife in my pocket. How fast
could I take it out and pierce his neck?
“And maybe afterwards we can check out my favorite restaurant in
the area,” Benny said. “Lou told me you haven’t eaten all day. I
understand, but we need to make sure you get some food. I can’t lose you.
I can’t … I can’t lose you, Jasmine.”
He didn’t deserve a response, so I didn’t give him one.
“I’m so sorry, Jasmine. If I could bring him back, I would. Right
now. It’s killing me. I lost my temper. I went crazy for a few seconds. It’s
killing me. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t …”
I guessed that he stopped talking, once he realized that I’d gotten up
from the bed, walked right past him, and left the room.
He’s sorry? If he could bring Troy back, he would? Fuck you, Benny.
You’re going to die slow, and I don’t mind dying right along with you. We
can die together, if we have to. Chase would probably be better off without
us all. I wish I hadn’t even told him about the tour.
Benny brought several guards, but left most of them at the house.
Earlier during the moment when he’d wielded his gun in front of Troy and
babbled his evil-man monologue, I’d thought that he knew about our
phone calls to Chase. But he hadn’t known anything. He was just mad
about Chase and Mom getting together, and figured I knew about the union
the whole time.
He doesn’t know about the call. There’s no way. He’d have more
guards with us.
Earlier, I’d counted four men in the car following us, and two in the
vehicle ahead of us. Chase would have more because he was ridiculous,
and always overcompensated when it came to me. Maybe I should’ve
stressed that Vivian come along. Perhaps we would’ve been able to escape.
“This is the best tour company for Ripper,” Benny continued. “Dr.
Breaton wrote a lot of books on the murders. He’s exhausted more years
than anybody on researching him. He even earned his doctorate due to his
thesis on Ripper. I read his thesis.”
Benny leaned closer to me, probably so the other people waiting for
the tour wouldn’t’ hear him. “I’m a fan.”
Keep him talking and unalert.
“Of Ripper or Dr. Breaton?” I searched the area with my gaze,
wondering if Chase or his man watched us.
 Benny stepped back like I snatched the knife out of my pocket,
opened it, and pointed toward his jugular. “Now you’re talking to me?”
Saying words to him as I looked my brother’s killer in his face was
the hardest thing I’d ever done. I’d figured leaving Chase was difficult. I’d
knew earlier today that losing my brother was unbearably and emotionally
challenging. But to stare this devil, this ungodly creature who had just
taken Troy’s life in seconds, that had been so problematic for my mind and
my stomach. I came close to vomiting as I held my gut and tried to focus
on the plan.
Keep Benny busy, until I figure out a way to get in touch with Chase.
“Jasmine, are you talking to me now?”
“Am I?”
“I would say so. Your lips are moving.”
“Then I guess I am talking to you.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Are
you a fan of Dr. Breaton or Ripper?”
“Both.” A breeze rippled through his gray strands. “They’re both
geniuses.”
I remembered long ago how sad I was when I spotted the beginning
of his graying hair. I hated that old age had crept up on my idol and wished
that he was immortal. Now all I could do was imagine hundreds more
strands to come.
Die, motherfucker. Die.
“We’re at Aldgate East Underground.” Excitement dotted Benny’s
words. “This is the Heart of Ripper’s London. Other tours start at Tower
Hill Underground Station. Then they end up walking a good thirty minutes
to where all the action began.”
“So White Chapel is a street or something?”
“White Chapel District was right on the doorstep in the East End. It
was considered one of the most crime-ridden quarters. Over eighty
thousand poor people lived here. Think South End times ten. Every seedy
thing was here—sweatshops, overcrowded slums, shady pubs, and doss
houses.”
“Doss houses?”
“The people who lived here had no homes. Doss houses were a
fucked up hotel. They were a sort of small dormitory of coffin-like beds
stuck together. People paid four pennies to lay in one of those coffins for a
night. For two pennies you could lean against a rope tied up to a wall.”
 Are you here, Chase?
“That’s messed up,” I muttered.
“In South End the age expectancy is eighteen for black men. Back in
the day for Whitechapel, it was a fifty-fifty chance people would live past
five years old.”
Someone whistled twice and waved us to come over.
We headed that way.
“If you are on the Jack the Ripper tour, come this way.” A guy with a
black bowler hat on the top of his head, gestured for everyone to form
around him. “I’ll be your guide.”
Benny frowned. “This isn’t Breaton.”
I fingered the pocketknife in my jacket. “You expected him to be
doing the tour?”
“No, but I would’ve liked it.”
“I’m sure he’s passed down all of his knowledge to his employees.”
“Let’s hope. I’m going to correct this guy if he’s wrong.”
“Hmm.” I eyed the tall man that got on my side. He looked familiar.
Was he one of the main guards that stayed inside of Chase and my
condo? Well … Chase’s condo. Maybe, I’m just too hopeful for something
good to happen.
But then would Chase being here be good? I couldn’t take any more
death, besides Benny’s murder. Everyone else had to be safe for several
more years. I couldn’t mourn anyone. Troy’s image hit me, and I blinked
through the vision.
I must’ve done the eye-shutting pretty hard because Benny touched
my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Don’t touch me.” I gripped the knife.
“But—”
“I’m fine. Just don’t touch me. Never.”
His Adam’s apple moved a little as he must’ve gulped down some
emotion. But what did he swallow down—fear, sadness, guilt, or grief?
What did a monster feel bad about?
“Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way, first,” the guy in the black
bowler hat said in a thick British accent. He wore a white shirt and black
vest with jeans. Black gloves covered his hands and were cut off at the
fingertips. “Since we’ll be on public streets, we’ll always need to make
sure that there’s ample stroll room for the regular walker-byers going on
about their evening. Nothing worse for the mood than a drunken group of
teens staggering into you.”
A few people laughed as more men crowded around us.
“Next, pictures and videos are fine,” Bowler hat continued. “I’m a
pretty hot bloke, so feel free to snap a few of me in the process.”
More giggles sounded.
I kept my hand on my knife.
“However,” the tour guide said, “please keep all ringers off. Last,
we’ll be crossing major roads. Feel free to hold hands and all that sort, but
most important look both ways and follow me. At times it is a downer,
when someone dies on the Jack the Ripper tour, but for the few wives in
the group that have a big insurance policy on that rather annoying
husband, feel free to push him directly into traffic, and share the money
with me.”
Maybe I should push Benny’s ass into traffic.
I checked the area, and there was absolutely no other woman in the
group but me. That seemed odd. Didn’t couples take this tour? Wouldn’t
there be a few female horror enthusiasts excited to tramp around a historic
serial killer’s murdering grounds?
Is this a set-up? Are these all Chase’s people? Maybe I shouldn’t
even be thinking about Chase. I got to get him out of my mind. Stick with
the plan. Somehow … someway … kill Benny.
Troy and my biggest problem in taking care of Benny was that we
had an inkling of love present in our hearts. We couldn’t just work out a
way to hurt him because in the end, he’d been there for us for so many
years, even more than our mother. Now, nothing moved within me, but
pain. And he’d triggered it.
I can do this.
“This tour is interactive, meaning that I will be asking you questions
and expecting you to mumble back smart retorts.” He threaded his fingers
and pointed to me. “Hello, woman looking very scary over there.”
I looked behind me and realized that no other female had just walked
up. “Uh … yes?”
“Why did you come here today?” he asked.
“To do the Jack the Ripper tour.”
“Good answer. For this is the tour, but why did you come to learn
about him.”
 I gestured to Benny. “He has a special love of psychos.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Good job! That’s exactly the type of smart little retorts I’m hoping
for.” Bowler guy clapped. “And where are you from?”
I sighed. “The United States.”
“Oh goodness, America?” He cupped his hand around his mouth and
mumbled to everyone else. “Everybody watch your wallets and purses, we
have an American with us.”
More crowd enjoyment rang out.
Could we just get on with the damn tour, buddy?
“Just playing, Miss USA.” Bowler hat grinned. “Let’s give her a
round of applause.”
People cheered and I forced a fake smile.
Bowler hat decided to move on from me. “Jack the Ripper is a huge
thing. He’s big news even after all of these years. There’s hundreds of
books on him. Tons of movies with different endings of who could have
been the true person who did it all. There’s even video games. My
favorite? Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper.”
A few oohed and aahed.
“There are even Jack the Ripper toys,” he proclaimed. “Can you
believe that? There’s a Jack in the box where once you wind it over and
over, an angry man comes out with a bloody knife.”
A guy booed in front of us.
Bowler hat raised his hands. “I know. I know. But with all of this,
what people forget is that Jack the Ripper was a very scary thing.
Something to be taken very seriously.”
The crowd went silent.
“He did horrific things to women,” Bowler hat continued. “And
sadly, this tour can’t tell you anything about who he was. This has been
unsolved for all of this time, but what I can do is tell you more about what
he did, and show you the places where he did it.”
Some sicko cheered.
“We will go into White Chapel. We will learn about his victims and
details about this tragic time in history that changed London forever.” The
guide clapped his hands. “So are you ready to go back to 1888 where gas
street lamps cornered most streets and only provided a small
circumference of light?”
 “Fuck yes!” some guy yelled.
“Wow. That guy is enthusiastic.” The guide did a big motion of his
hands, drawing a circle in the air all around him. “White Chapel was a
maze of alleyways and courtyards with darkness, so thick the average
person had to struggle to see their own hand in front of their face. The
night was perfect for our murderer’s deeds. Follow me.”
We did.
I’d hoped to stay at the back of the group, but Benny guided us
forward so that he could hear every word. His man, Scar, remained far
behind us.
The whole group crossed a few blocks. Cars zipped by us. The air
chilled more than the States would in spring, or maybe it was the moment.
Death swirled all around me. Ripper’s murders, Benny’s torturing of
corpses, and my brother’s departure from earth. Goose bumps spread
across my skin. My bottom lip quivered, yet my heart stayed solid. My
insides thickened to rock hard.
Bowler hat stopped us at a regular building, nothing too special. It
was dark tan with no light in the many windows. It must’ve been at least
three floors. A black iron gate surrounded it.
“We’re entering White Chapel, which is a very swanky area now.
Lots of celebrities hang around here along with trendy people.” Bowler hat
made a point of spreading his arms around to showcase the building. “But
let’s go back to 1888, when times proved to be harder in this area. One
example is that sanitation in the area was non-existent. Residents simply
threw their trash into the street. The whole district held an unbearable
stench. People had no money. They starved. Think of Oliver Twist and his
pick-pocketing ways. Men and women did things for money that they
normally wouldn’t. Many mugged. Others ventured into prostitution. Can
anybody guess how much it cost to have a bit of fun with a working girl in
the alley?”
A man raised his hand. “Two hundred dollars.”
“Sir, this was 1888.” The guide tipped his hat. “We’ll need to go
lower.”
With a wicked grin, Benny raised his hand. “Four pennies.”
“It seems we have a time traveling pervert on our tour.” Bowler hat
gave him a thumbs up. “Four pennies is correct, and for some women, they
offered their bodies for a loaf of bread. And let me tell you, a lot of these
women were aged well beyond their years, full of disease, and not the
prettiest ladies to walk on the street. In October 1888, police documents
reported over twelve hundred prostitutes in the small district.”
Bowler hat pointed to the abandoned building behind us. “This used
to be a doss house. Think of several tiny coffin beds full of fleas and
disease, cramped with as many people that could fit, all coughing and
sleeping in the same space together. Sort of like a Motel 6 in America.”
The crowd roared with laughter.
What’s his hang up with the States?
The guide turned to Benny’s frowning face and cleared his throat.
“So anyway. We believe that our first victim slept in this very doss house.
Let’s go in.”
“We’re going inside,” Benny whispered to me. “I had no idea we
would get to go inside one. I doubt the other tours have gotten to go inside.
I wonder if they recreated the doss house.”
The tour guide opened the gate for all of us to follow him toward the
sad little building.
It took five minutes to get the small group inside. Benny tried to grab
my hand. I stepped aside and let a bulky man get between us.
“Come on in, everyone.” Bowler hat gestured for us to hurry. “Come
on. Don’t be shy. Ripper is not here with us.”
Only two small lamps hung in the large room that stunk of mold and
depression. Shadows dominated the dim lighting. A hushed silence
traveled along the space. Around thirty boxes lay next to each other in
three separate rows. It seemed odd that women could be comfortable
enough to sleep in them, but I understood firsthand what poverty forced
people to do. Scattered blankets sat on top of a few of the boxes, probably
more for effect than the actual ones used so long ago.
We all lined the walls, surrounding the coffin beds. One big square
room outlined by people.
Bowler hat walked into the center of the space and put his hands
together. “And here’s where things get interesting.”
The man between Benny and I drew a gun and pointed it at Benny.
What the fuck? Is this a part of the tour?
A guy yelped from across the other side of the room. As noise of
more movement came.
Everything happened so fast.
 Gun after gun appeared from tour attendees. Apparently, bowler hat
and I were the only ones who hadn’t planned ahead. Every other person in
that room pointed their weapons at another person. It looked like a war
between two gangs, except that they’d all worn the same casual street
clothing. An eerie silence flowed in the air. Everybody must’ve waited on
their command because all they did was point and wear scary expressions
on their faces.
“Interesting.” Benny laughed and didn’t even grab his own weapon
that I was sure he had, though two guns targeted him.
I had no idea what was going on, but I knew for certain, Chase
orchestrated it all.
I squinted at the faces in the low lighting and recognized a few of the
signature scars that Benny’s guards tended to wear, as if a person couldn’t
sign up with him unless he’d been branded by a battle.
A creak sounded behind Bowler hat man. I leaned to the side and
realized there was a door behind the guide.
Chase.
My man entered the room, and still I gripped my knife hard. Benny
had just taken one of my most prized possessions from me. Troy. I
wouldn’t let him take another. Too many people had guns in the space.
Anybody could just do a quick turn, target Chase’s chest, and pull the
trigger.
One person could start a war in that little room that already held
coffins. Chase and I could die right there in the middle of bullet-riddled
bodies, and never had known what it was to experience years of true love
and happiness.
“Do we really want to do this here?” Benny asked out loud.
“Someone shoots and anybody could die. I don’t think you planned this
out. It only takes one stray bullet to hit my daughter.”
“Which is why you won’t have anyone use their gun.” Chase stopped
by Bowler Hat and handed him a large stack of money. “Thank you. You’re
really good at your work. Sorry that you couldn’t complete your tour for
this evening.”
“Much obliged kind sir, but I believe I was well compensated.”
Bowler Hat nervously scanned the area, grabbed the money, and booked it
out of there as if Jack the Ripper himself had stormed through.
“Sorry I ruined the tour, Benny.”
 “Make it quick, boy. What do you want?”
“Did you really think we were walking into a real doss house? Have
you not gotten the memo that they don’t exist anymore?” Chase gestured
at the space. “I got my people to make a warehouse look pretty close
though. You described them all in your journals.”
Benny formed his lips into that wicked smile. “What’s your plan,
little Stone?”
“I don’t know, old man.” Chase targeted me with his gaze. “What
would Ripper do?”
“Kill with precision, and get in and out without being detected by the
police.”
“Sounds about right.” Chase took his time walking over to me, so
slow it ached. Each step that brought him closer made me tremble. I
hadn’t realized how much I needed him.
Benny didn’t move. “You’ll die first, before you ever get Jasmine out
of here.”
“Is that your goal for tonight?” Chase didn’t take his gaze from me.
“I’ve got men outside,” Benny continued.
“We both do. But for once, I have more.”
“If you get close enough for me to get at you …” Benny chuckled.
“Well, we both know what will happen with that.”
Chase slowly maintained his journey to me. A few men stirred
around us. I didn’t know which of Chase or Benny’s men got nervous, but
the tension in the space thickened. The place was a pot of hot water, ready
to boil over and sear everything.
“She left you,” Benny said. “Are you unclear with the message?”
Chase stopped four feet in front of me. “Tell me something, Benny.”
“Oh, I would be happy to tell you many things.”
“Good.” Chase placed his hands in front of him and crossed them.
“Do you think Ripper really fell in love with that last victim they found?”
“Of course.”
“So you think a madman is capable of love?”
“We all are, whether killer or normal man.”
“Do you think you really loved Sophia?”
“Is this why you came to destroy my tour?” Benny rolled his eyes.
“To talk about love?”
 “No, I’m just wondering why we’re really here.” Chase’s gaze
traveled from the top of my head all the way down to my feet.
My body shivered.
It didn’t matter that I’d had the roughest days of my life, or that I’d
lost so much, or even that a madman kept me in his abandoned castle for
days far away from the only man I loved. Chase looked at me, and my
mind went blank. All I could think about was running to his arms and
escaping within them for days, trying my best to forget it all.
Chase studied my body more and then returned to my face. That was
the moment he licked his lips. Real slow with his tongue. In my mind, I
remembered all the things he could do with that lovely tongue.
And then Benny’s voice shoved me out of my haze. “Why are we
here, Chase?”
“Sophia.”
 CHAPTER 23

Chase
Jasmine stood only a few feet in front of me and I couldn’t touch her. Too
many guns lay in our presence. I wasn’t the type of man to let many things
get in the way of tesoro and me, but a weapon was one of them.
Take your time. She’s almost in my arms.
Benny’s voice held venom. “Sophia?”
“The love of your life.”
“Make it quick, little boy. You’re talking on big man time now.”
“I’m sure you can see that Sophia put this together,” I said. “While
she did not choose this gory setting as our battlefield, she definitely set the
war in motion. She’s made our Jasmine, Helen of Troy. The face that
launched a thousand ships. Are we going to play into that?”
“Your death is worth any game’s ending, even if Sophia is the master
of it all.”
“You’re letting your hate for my family control your moves.” I
studied Jasmine some more, imprinting her every detail in my mind. She
held a small knife and had the blade out, probably ready to gouge
someone’s eyes. Something about her being in warrior mode made my
cock stiffen a little.
Focus. Now’s not the time.
“Boss?” the scarred man on Benny’s left mumbled. “What do you
want us to do?”
Benny’s dark voice raised in volume. “Did I tell you to say
anything?”
Silence served as the response.
Getting a bit jumpy, are we, Benny?
I decided to help the poor guy out. “What your boss is trying to tell
you, is that he’s close to crapping in his pants. He’s in somewhat of a tight
bind. Sure he has guns and I have guns and he has guys and I have guys.
We’ve played this game before. It’s rather boring right now. But what your
boss has noticed that you didn’t, is that not one gun is pointed at me. Ten
guns are targeting him. Which only leaves his three men, who are
defending their lives by focusing their own guns on my guys in front of
them. I’m in a rather convenient position right now.”
“That could change,” Benny said through clenched teeth.
“Awww.” I wagged my finger. “No. No. It won’t because lucky for
me you love Jasmine as much as I do. We both understand that if someone
makes a play to shoot me, then my men will go for you, and so on and so
on, until tons of bodies lay on the ground and sadly … one of those
victims just might be our dear Jasmine. Isn’t that right, Benny?”
“Get on with why you came and then leave.”
I turned to him and stared right through the evil fuck. “I came here
for my treasure.”
“Your treasure?”
“Jasmine.”
Loud laughter fled Benny’s grimy lips. “Your treasure? Is she now a
box full of coins? You’re objectification of women has no limits.”
“Your sickness has no limits. I saw your garden. I walked through the
madness that is Benny. I read your journals. I know the things you’re
scared to whisper out loud.” I could barely contain the rage in my chest. “I
hope none of those journals end up in police districts where you’ve
committed the crimes that I’ve read.”
“I’m not worried.”
“You should be.”
“I own cops like you. The whole legal system around this world is
corrupt and your father and me helped it right along to destruction. There’s
not many chief of police that will go after me. So get on with it, little boy!
What do you want?”
“I’m shocked you’re even asking.” I took another step closer. My
phone rang in my pocket. “Excuse me for a minute. I have an important
phone call. It will be quick.”
Benny growled. Or was it a groan of disgust?
I held the phone up to my ear. “Yes?”
My guard’s voice traveled over the line. “The helicopter has landed
on the roof, sir.”
 So goddamn close, I can feel her already in my arms.
“And the house on Bishop’s Avenue?” I asked. “How did everything
go?”
“All the guards are dead in the mansion. We only found the woman.
There was no trace of the man you identified.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir.”
Should I wait until they figure out where Troy is, or should I try my
luck and go for what is mine?
I gazed at Jasmine’s trembling hand as she held the knife in front of
her and muttered, “Okay. We’ll be there shortly.”
Benny growled, “Bishop’s Avenue. How did you know?”
“We’re done talking, Benny.” I hung up. “Jasmine, can you do
something for me?”
She parted her lips and scanned the madness around her. I’d had ten
of my men book the tour. Benny had only three. We’d guessed they were
with him, when their identities came up as fake. My security had checked
all the ticket buyers out hours before the tour began. Benny gave fake
names for Jasmine and him. Mrs. and Mr. Prockett. I hadn’t been sure if it
was them until my people spotted her in the crowd.
Buying the tour guide off was no problem. Most would do anything
for ten thousand dollars. Simply luring a group into an abandoned building
hadn’t been a problem. So there left just one thing. How the hell would I
get Jasmine out of the damn building, and still be alive enough to enjoy
our life?
That was plan B.
“Don’t even talk to my daughter.” Benny attempted to move forward.
My two men that had their guns on him raised their weapons higher, as if
aiming for his eyes.
“Benny, I have a question,” I said. “Do you trust Jasmine’s
counting?”
“What?” he asked in a gruff tone.
“Do you trust her ability to count?”
“Get on with it, little boy. The more you talk the more I’m thinking
about killing us all.”
“Fine.” I smirked. “Jasmine, do me a favor and look at Benny’s
face.”
 She leaned forward and stared at him. Once she realized what I was
talking about, she gasped and took a step toward me.
“How many red dots are on that devil’s face?” I asked.
She didn’t even hesitate. “Five.”
“Five red dots.”
Benny moved his face from side to side, searching out the snipers.
“Go ahead and show yourselves, guys,” I said. “The jig is up and I
have a ride to catch. And by the way, Benny, this is by far my favorite part
of the plan.”
In the coffin-like beds at the center of the room, my five men took
off those blankets that covered them and rose. It was a long shot that the
plan would work. Anything could’ve happened. Benny could’ve walked
into the doss house’s space and got nervous. No tour entered a building, at
least not any that my men had checked.
But his craziness for Ripper would be the perfect cheese to lure him
into the cage.
The snipers kept their target’s lights on Benny’s face.
“So,” I rubbed my hands together. “Jasmine’s counting says that
we’re done here. I have two guys at your side and five at your face. Not
even Houdini could escape those bullets. Even worse, I made this a little
competition among my guys. Anyone who kills you gets a million dollars
in cash.”
“They’ll die before they’ll see that money.” Benny glared at the
snipers. “You’ll be in a casket before you spend it. You don’t want my kind
of trouble.”
“Oh shut up, old man, and accept defeat for once.” I checked my
watch. “Okay, tesoro. Let’s go.”
Jasmine took another step away from the wall, but she didn’t come
my way. Instead, she went toward him. “No.”
“Jasmine?” I raised my eyebrows.
This is not the plan. What is she doing? Is she going to try and save
him?
She didn’t answer, and the stress of the room reached an all new
height. None of my men expected her to move closer to him. Even a few of
Benny’s guys stirred in their position.
Benny laughed. “Jasmine is very smart. She understands that I won’t
give up.”
 She closed the distance between Benny and her. “He’s right, Chase.”
Another step.
Her hands shook. “You don’t know the things I’ve seen him do.”
Barely a foot lay between them and I almost screamed,
until …
In a blur, she raised that pocket knife and slammed it into his chest,
and then she ran. Jasmine raced away. Blood spurted from Benny’s chest.
He screamed, grasping at the handle of that little knife. And my tesoro
sped right to me.
I stood there in shock, but not for long.
Because the shots came next. I didn’t know who pulled the trigger
first, but bullets began to fly as Benny sank to the floor, tears spilling out
of his eyes while he tried to yank that knife out of him.
“Let’s go!” Jasmine screamed at me.
“What?” I nodded my head like a crazy man. “I mean yes. Fuck. This
way.”
I held her hand and we rushed away, crouching somewhat as more
people shot. And then darkness came. Either some genius had shot the
lamps out or stray bullets got to them, but now we couldn’t see.
Please, God. Get us out of here!
I tightened my grip on Jasmine’s hand and dragged us forward.
Someone grabbed my arm. I punched them in the face.
“Mr. Stone! It’s me, Thomas!” The guy grabbed at my arm again. “I
can take you to the helicopter.”
I had no idea who the hell Thomas was, but if he knew about the
helicopter, then he was one of my men. “Let’s go.”
Somehow we made it out into the back stairwell, which was the way
I’d come in. Jasmine remained silent and kept up with us as we dashed up
the stairs. I wasn’t surprised. She ran every damn day like it was some sort
of religion. She probably could get up there faster than me.
“You stabbed him.” My eyes widened as I panted.
“Yes.”
“And holy fuck, I think you got his heart.”
“I aimed for it.”
“That was goddamn it fantastic!”
“I hope he’s dead.”
 “Hell yes. Me too.” I almost doubled over with laughter, if not for
the pain shooting up my legs. We continued up to the third floor. Booming
blared below us. The gun fight went on, and I doubted anybody else would
make it out of there alive.
And then a door slammed downstairs and footsteps boomed below
us.
“Someone’s coming,” Thomas announced.
“You’re a goddamn genius. Get behind us and shoot at them.” I made
sure Jasmine got in front of both of us. “All I care about is getting her to
this helicopter.”
Someone shot up at us, right as we made it to the roof ’s entrance, but
it no longer mattered.
Cool air hit my face. Jasmine ran right with me, hand-in-hand toward
the helicopter. She climbed in, and I followed. So close. So fucking close.
Thomas got in next to the pilot, reloading his gun and preparing to shoot if
he had to.
The helicopter lifted.
I caught my breath for a moment to mumble, “Sorry for yelling at
you, Thomas. You did a good job.”
He replied, but I had no idea what he’d said, because all of my
attention shifted to my tesoro as she wrapped her arms around me so tight,
buried her face into my chest, and cried, “He killed Troy.”
My body stiffened under her. “What?”
“He killed him,” she cried.
We rose higher into the air and I held her close to me. “Troy?”
“He’s gone.”
My heart broke. How the hell had Troy, her brother, somehow seeped
into my chest? How did he make me care? How did he want me to take
revenge out on his death? Just like Jasmine, somehow, he’d snuck into me,
and made me love him.
“No.” My body shook.
“He’s gone.”
I held her closer to me. “I wish I’d put a goddamn bomb into the
building to blow his body into bits of sand.”
And she cried in my arms the rest of the helicopter ride.
 CHAPTER 24

Jasmine
Besides the slicing of helicopter blades in the night sky, silence filled the
rest of the ride.
Chase held me and I didn’t think he would let me go anytime soon.
Every tear that fell from my eyes, he kissed away. Each cry of sadness, he
muffled with his mouth on mine. Anytime I tried to mumble some sad
word, he whispered he loved me, over and over in my ears.
“You’re safe now, tesoro. I love you.”
No woman should be this lucky. I’d lost my brother, underwent
anxiety from Benny, and had to ready myself to face even more
possibilities ahead. Yet, this man had organized a small army and saved
me.
His phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered,
“What?”
A few seconds passed.
“And his body?”
My heart boomed in my chest.
“I don’t pay you to think,” Chase said. “I pay you to know. I want
evidence that’s he’s dead, not a fucking percentage of possibilities.”
Chase slung the phone on the helicopter’s floor and returned to me.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“One of my men. There are a lot of bodies in the doss house. They’re
checking for Benny’s.”
I froze. “But is he dead?”
“It’s going to be okay.” He placed his hands on the side of my head
and stared into my eyes. “Whatever happens now, we’ll face together.
Don’t you ever leave me like that. Okay?”
“Okay.”
 “I almost went crazy.”
“Okay.”
“Vivian is at the hotel. Once I realized Benny and you were at the
tour, I had a team go in to take over that mansion.”
“How did you find it?”
“I had infrared light scans all over the documented vacant mansions
on Bishop’s Avenue. His was the only abandoned one that showed people
inside.” He frowned and looked away for a second. “Tesoro, I’m … I’m
sorry about Troy.”
Water glazed over my eyes, but I forced myself to not let anymore
tears fall.
“I liked him,” Chase said. “He was an amazing man. He was a good
brother to you. I really liked him, and I’m so sorry that you had to deal
with this.”
“I’m okay—”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, you’re not, and you won’t be okay for
a while. I know death. I know what it does to a person. When I lost my
mother, it crushed me for a very long time. In the end, it was probably why
I went on my ignorant path of possessing women. Either way, I’m here for
you. Every moment of the day, I’ll be here. If you need to cry, do it. If you
need to yell, do it. Just understand that I’m never going to leave your
side.”
“Okay.”
“Never.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“Good. You need to be scared.” He wrapped his arms back around
me. “You need to understand that I won’t ever let you free.”
I hugged him back. “Good.”
“With death, there is only moments. That’s the way you heal. People
say to take it day-by-day. I disagree. You have to take it minute-by-minute.
No more. No less. Just think about each minute in front of you, and the
task for that minute, and keep pushing on.”
“Okay.”
“What do you have to do for the next minute?”
“Hold you,” I whispered.
“Hmmm. I think that’s a beautiful task.” He landed kisses on my
neck and with every few, he nipped at my skin as if he yearned to devour
me in that helicopter.
And then a dark thought came to me, I pulled out of his arms and
leaned away. “Where’s my mother?”
“No.” He wagged his finger. “That’s not your task for the next
minute.”
“Where is my mother?”
“You’re not Goddess of the Day. You lost several of those days, when
you ran off. Now you owe me some days.”
“Chase, I’m not playing.”
“Neither, am I.”
I climbed out of his arms and he lifted the side of his lip into a sneer.
“Must we talk about Sophia now?” he asked.
“Yes. Why? Where is she? Did you send her back?”
“No. I wasn’t sure if I would need her here.”
“Need her?”
“She helped me get here. Granted, she helped all of us get here
through her plotting, but I still owe her for putting me on the path to you.”
“You owe her nothing.”
“I’ve got you.” He pulled me back to him. “I owe her the world.”
“Troy believed that she had a lot to do with—”
“She did.”
“You didn’t even know what I was about to say,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter. Trust me. I know a whole lot more about that
woman than I should. Whatever Troy thinks she did, most likely it’s true.”
“Meaning?”
He tapped his finger against my side. His signature nervous habit.
I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
“Now’s not the time to discuss her. You have to mourn. We have to
take care of Vivian. In the morning, I’m going to need to have my legal
team deal with London’s police. Back in the States, they’re still fending
off the police for Lucy’s death.”
“They suspect you?”
“I’ve heard nothing yet, but if they’re smart, they’ll come looking
for me. That being said, we deal with Sophia later.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “You’re hiding something.”
“What?” He tapped at my side some more. “You’re completely
ignoring my advice about taking every minute at a time.”
 “Fuck a minute, Chase. What did Mom do? What has she done?”
“Enough to put her in hell, tesoro.”
“You’re going to have to give me more detail.”
“You don’t want to hear this.”
“I do.”
“She’s plotted more than Benny ever could. Half of his kills deal
with her.”
Jasmine bit her lip.
“She even got us together. It was all her plotting.”
“Us? How could she have done that? You spotted me at that silly
Garden Party with the atrocious food.”
“Now wait a minute, I happened to think the dishes weren’t all that
bad.”
“The chicken was dry.”
“It wasn’t.”
I waved the comment away. “Okay, let’s just get back to what you
were saying.”
“Exactly, it doesn’t matter. Your mother got you to go there.”
“But, I didn’t even know about that party until Vivian got that
invitation. We figured Benny forwarded it to us. He was big on us
networking more, once we graduated. We thought it was his attempt to
have us make connections with rich people.”
“And wasn’t she there, the day Vivian received it?”
I thought for a minute and faintly remembered her stopping by. She
didn’t do it much often, but I was pretty sure she’d popped over that day or
at least that week. “Maybe.”
“It’s not a maybe, tesoro. She brought the invitation over herself. She
confessed to it, and was pretty damn happy with herself.”
“She got us together?”
“Yes. Well, it wasn’t all her. You captivated me on sight. I hunted you
and won. For that, I’m thankful, but she’s hurt you, too. She’s caused you
more pain than any person should have to deal with.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s all in Benny’s journals.”
“What’s all in there?”
He moved his hand away and raked his fingers through his chestnut
curls. “I think we’ve had enough for today. Let’s get you home and—”
 “What?”
“Jasmine.”
“Now it’s Jasmine? Not tesoro. The news must really be that bad.
What is it?” I moved away from him. “Just give it all to me now. Next
week, we’ll go off far away and get drunk off expensive champagne until I
heal from my brother and all of this, but tonight, we get it all out. Tonight,
we hide nothing from each other.”
“Benny thinks that …” He rubbed his eyes and blew out a long
breath. “Benny has always believed that the guy that Troy stabbed in your
bedroom …”
“No.” My mouth dropped open.
“Benny wrote about the guy, and it was pretty convincing. Your
mother had been trying to get Benny to kill him. His name was Omar—”
“I know … I can never forget that name.”
“Well, Omar owned half of the drug game in South End.”
“No. She isn’t that low.”
“Omar had a reputation for messing with children.”
“No.”
“Do you want me to finish, tesoro?”
“Yes … go ahead.” I climbed back into Chase’s arms, went limp, and
closed my eyes. “Tell me more.”
And he did, Chase told me everything that he’d read. Each sad detail.
It was hard to swallow. Difficult to believe that my mother craved power
so much that she would put Troy and me in danger. After he finished
telling me everything, I just lay against him and listened to his heartbeat
as the helicopter’s blades sliced through the air.
Like a gentle hero, Chase didn’t push me to talk. He just ran his
fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead every few seconds. I took
his advice and focused on each minute’s task. I counted his heartbeats, the
moments he touched my scalp with his soft fingertips and then slipped
them through my strands. The sweet gesture soothed me, delivering
calming waves through my body.
This was love.
The thing that people dreamed about in their beds late at night. Sure,
Chase had money and looks, a swagger-filled ego and cock that could out-
shadow any man, but he possessed something more. That special part of a
person that was so hard to find in this world.
 He possessed the biggest heart and had the ability to drown the
average person in a passion so deep that I never hoped to breathe again or
even float up to the top.
When the helicopter landed on a brightly lit hotel that screamed
high-end luxury, I lifted my head and stared into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I shouldn’t have left you. It was stupid. I’m sorry you got involved
with this whole thing.”
“Benny and I have hated each other all of my life. We would have
had this battle regardless.”
“He might’ve left you alone.”
“I wouldn’t have left him alone. I’d always thought that he had
something to do with murdering my mother.” An exasperated breath left
his lips. “In Benny’s journal, he admitted that he did stab her.”
“What? Are you kidding me?” I sat up to get ready to leave the
helicopter. “The bad news just keeps coming and coming. Why the hell
would he do something so horrible?”
“He figured he was saving me.”
“From what?”
“Mom used to …”
“What?”
He got out of the helicopter first, and helped me out. “Wait. Let me
carry you.”
I stepped onto the hotel’s roof. “I can walk.”
“I don’t give a damn.” He lifted me up into his arms, and I held onto
his shoulders, resting my hand on him. Every cell in my body felt safe and
protected. I could’ve cried for joy right there.
I continued to focus on that moment, and not think too far ahead or
delve back into my past. “What did your mom used to do?”
“We can talk about this later.”
“Remember, we say what we have to say now.”
“Fine. Remember the house in Italy?” He walked past his men,
holding me as if I weighed nothing. “You had questions about that weird
room next to my mother’s art studio.”
“Yes. Troy said that it was the oddest little girl’s room he’d seen.
Lots of dark paintings and weird decorations. He came up with all types of
reasoning for the place, but none of them ever made sense.”
 “There’s no sense to make of it. My mother had some mental illness
problems. I’m not sure if it came before she married Dad or after. Our
world can make you go crazy. You’ve seen it with Lucy and Dawn.”
“And Benny,” I added.
A man in a black suit, white shirt, and cream tie held the double
doors open for us and walked us over to the elevator. “Welcome back, Mr.
Stone, and is this the lovely Ms. Montgomery?”
Still in his arms, I looked at Chase and then back to the man. “Uh,
yes. I’m the lovely Ms. Montgomery. I guess.”
“Welcome.” He did a half bow. “I’m Mr. Sharpe. I attend to your
penthouse suite and provide you with any needs you may have.”
“He’s our butler,” Chase announced.
“Do we really need a butler?” I asked.
“Well, I do like to travel in style, no matter how urgent the
emergency or situation.”
I smiled at the butler. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Sharpe. Chase, you can
let me down now, please.”
Frowning, Chase obliged.
I stood in the hallway and took it all in—polished marble floors and
bright lighting, an exquisite elegant fragrance in the air and intriguing art
hanging on the walls. The paintings sparked my attention. Black people
covered every canvas. In each piece, they played jazz, their gold
instruments gleaming against their milky brown skin.
“Wow. These are some cool paintings.” I held Chase’s hand.
“Your mother picked them,” Chase mumbled.
“I’m sorry. Could you say that again? It almost sounded like you said
my mother picked those.”
“Part of the amenities of the suite is that we get to choose the art that
is hung on the walls.”
I’ve now walked into the Twilight Zone.
“And will my mother be sleeping on a throne and taking a dump into
a diamond toilet?”
“Not a throne, but she has been enjoying the pillow menus and—”
“I don’t think I want to hear any more.”
“Fair enough.”
Mr. Sharpe followed us down the hall. Chase looked back at the man.
“There’s no need to escort us. Thank you. I’m sure you haven’t gotten any
rest all today.”
“No, sir. I have not.” Mr. Sharpe bowed again. “The other Ms.
Montgomery has required many things.”
I bet she has.
The butler bowed again. “Good evening, Mr. Stone and Ms.
Montgomery.”
“Goodnight.”
Chase watched the butler disappear through another exit and then he
held my hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I glanced at the penthouse door, gulped, and then returned
back to him. “You never told me about what your mother did.”
“We can save it for another time.”
“No, tell me now.”
“Are you stalling?”
“A little. However, I do want to know what the big mystery is.”
He shifted a little in front of me. “My mother always wanted a girl,
but when she had me, it was a difficult pregnancy. She barely survived the
labor. Her doctor recommended that she have no more children. So …
when my father wasn’t around, she would dress me up as a girl and have
me live like one.”
Ummm. Maybe we should have left this for another day.
My eyes widened in shock. “How old were you?”
“It started at four.”
“Four years old?”
“Yes. I thought it was completely normal. She and the staff would
call me Cynthia. I’d wear dresses and … panties. I had to sit on the toilet, I
couldn’t stand in front of it.” He blew out a long breath. “It just so
happened that Benny came by one time and realized what was going on. I
heard him yelling at my mother one night, telling her that it wasn’t right,
that she was going to fuck up my head.”
“Oh my God, Chase.” I embraced him. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“No, I’m fine now. Clearly, I didn’t end up as a cross dresser, and I’m
a very secure man.”
“Yes.” I smiled up at him. “You’re a god.”
“Exactly. Look, I’m only telling you all of this because I can’t have
any more secrets between us. Benny killed her because of it. I’d planned
on telling no one about the whole dress-up secret. Dawn and the others
never knew. All of the paintings and pictures that Mom had done of me as
Cynthia, I’d destroyed.”
I frowned.
“What?” he asked.
“I kind of would have liked to see what Cynthia looked like.”
“It was me with a dress.” He shrugged. “Of course, I was adorable.”
“Of course.”
“But what I’m trying to say is that I want a future with you. You’re
all I think of, when I write my goals down in my head. My forward plans
all have your name within them—from business ventures to simply
purchasing a proper home for you and me to live permanently in. Do you
understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes.” I grinned. “You love me.”
“No.” He fumbled a little as he dug into his pocket. “I mean ... Yes, I
love you, but there’s something more—”
And then the door opened and all the peace in the hallway ceased as
my mother stepped out and rushed to me with open arms. “Oh, Jasmine,
baby.”
I could’ve stepped back or held my hand up to stop her.
I could’ve simply just let her hug me.
Give her the moment.
Not make it awkward for all of us.
Just give Mom her way so I could walk on by her and go straight to
our room and pass out within Chase’s arms.
But instead, I did the opposite.
There was this rage inside of me that I had no idea was bubbling
within my gut. Chase had kept it at bay to the point where I’d thought it all
left, but as soon as I spotted her twisted face, it rushed back. I boiled into
anger. It unwound in my body like a stiff ribbon, ramming into my frame
and pushing outside of my skin.
I raised my hand in the air, formed my fingers into a fist, and socked
her right in her pretty little jaw. “You evil bitch!”
Shrieking, she fell back into the doorway and struggled to get to
standing position, even glancing at Chase as if he was supposed to help
her.
I turned to him and he did his best to remove the grin off his face,
but he couldn’t.
 “Jasmine,” Mom shrieked again and held the side of her face.
My fingers screamed in pain. I raised my fist in the air one more
time, hoping she would come closer. “I don’t want to see you the whole
time I’m here. Do you understand me?”
“B-but, Jasmine. What’s wrong?” She stepped back into the opened
doorway.
“Your son is dead!” I screamed and then gave her a standing ovation.
“Good job! You put it together. I don’t get how, but we all know that
you’ve orchestrated all of this, and now your son is dead. Good job, you
evil broom-riding witch!”
She swayed back to the floor. “Troy is dead?”
“Yes.” I clapped again. “Good job.”
“Tesoro.” Chase wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me
close to him. “Let’s go. This isn’t going to make you feel any better.”
I almost pushed him away. I had more to say, and she needed to hear
it, but it was something in the way Chase’s hard body smoothed against
me.
It was something in the way he embraced me.
I stood next to a man. He loved me. He got hot for me over all the
others. He saved me, when I couldn’t rescue myself. But most important,
he had my back in everything.
And in that moment, his arm told me that none of this mattered
anymore. We stood together, and everyone else could either bow down or
get crushed by our feet.
“Okay, baby.” I leaned into Chase and let him guide me to his
bedroom.
We entered the room and Chase’s expected sense of style greeted my
eyes—plush extravagance within the heart of luxury.
I tore off my clothes and slung my shoes away. The carpet lay
unbearably soft under my feet. Chase’s hands explored my flesh. His
fingers didn’t probe, he massaged the tension away. His gaze soared down
to me, owning my every essence. Wild things rested behind those eyes,
and I wanted to answer its call, give him all of me and more, if I could.
But in the back of my mind, darkness slithered and part of me just
yearned to hide under a blanket and cry.
Chase slipped his hands along my hips and then splayed his fingers
against my tummy. My breathing came heavy and thick in my lungs. The
darkness that steered in my mind instantly flew away.
The real world vanished around us. Like my dreams of Hades and
Persephone, we stood in a deserted world where only we existed. Blue sky
hovered above us. A breeze swept against my bare skin. Maybe it was his
warm breath blowing along my skin, or perhaps it was our world’s wind.
He pressed his mouth against mine and slipped his tongue inside, and
like a master, he made me feel him all the way down to the middle of my
thighs.
I burned for him.
So hot.
Fire couldn’t have done more damage.
Nothing could compare to him.
How the hell had I thought I could live without him?
He leaned away from me and lapped at his own lips. Come back.
Groaning, he sucked on his bottom lip and shook his head over and over.
My nipples stiffened. Wetness dripped between my thighs. “Why are
you looking at me that way?”
“When you’ve had your rest,” he licked those lips again, “I’m going
to make you feel it.”
I giggled. “Feel what?”
“My cock. I’m going to stretch you all the way out. Go so deep, I
won’t be able to climb out.”
My breasts went heavy with hunger.
“You’re going to need to sleep and relax.” He formed his hands into
fists. “I’ll start your bath.”
“Don’t we have a butler for that?”
“No one else draws your bath, but me. It’s too intimate.”
I stepped toward him.
“No.” He put his hand in front of his chest. “Stay right there.”
“Why? I want to feel what you’re trying to show me.”
“Oh, you will.” He stepped back again. “And you’ll need your rest
after that, too.”
“Don’t hurt me.” I bit my lip.
He placed his hands inside of his pants and groaned as he moved it
up and down.
“Now you’re teasing me.” I inched closer to him.
 “No, I’m trying to adjust myself enough so I won’t tear through these
pants.”
I extended my hand. “Let me help you with that.”
He blew out a long breath. “I’m trying to take care of you like a
proper man. Be nice.”
“You are taking care of me.”
“Let me continue to.”
“I need your hands on me, baby.” I cupped my breasts and squeezed
my nipples, moaning as he sneered at me.
“Be good,” he warned.
“Make me feel it, baby.”
“Not tonight.”
“Why not?”
“You need your rest.”
“I need your cock.”
“Umm.” He covered his face with his hands, breathed in and out for a
few seconds, and then put them to his sides. “I’ll be right back. I’m going
to do your bath.”
I started to talk, but he stopped me.
“No. You’ve been through enough. You’ve just been dealt a great
loss. You don’t need to be fucked, you need time to heal. You need me to
bathe your body as you lay back in the tub and close your eyes. You need
my arms around you for hours, just holding you as tears come.”
I parted my lips to speak.
He held up one finger. “No.”
For some reason, I kept my mouth closed.
My flesh on fire.
My nipples stiff.
My cunt hungry and aching for his mouth.
Yet, I remained quiet.
“Welcome back, my only love.” He studied my nude body for a long
time before finally turning around and heading to the bathroom. “Heal
now, so I can break you later.”
 CHAPTER 25

Chase
Am I doing enough?
We lay in bed. I hadn’t fallen asleep. Jasmine rest in my arms, her
head leaning against my bare chest. Her skin against mine. She was so
warm and soft. I knew I’d been lost without her, but I hadn’t realized how
hollow my insides at been, until she returned and filled me.
My phone rang.
“Fuck.” I didn’t want Jasmine to be woken up. I took my time lifting
her head and putting it on the pillow next to me. By the fourth ring, I
grabbed the phone and answered, “Yes?”
“Sir, we have bad news,” one of my security guys said. By now all of
their voices had merged together in one bad news sound. I hated to hear
any of them talk, because if their lips moved, then something had gone
wrong.
Relax. How bad can it be? Jasmine is naked and next to me safe.
Fuck everyone else.
“Go ahead,” I said.
“A woman was killed last night. The police found a young black
prostitute in front of last night’s building. We checked in with our sources
in London police. Got a chance to get the report and there was something
startling about it.”
“What’s wrong?”
“We wouldn’t have bothered you with this unfortunate news, but the
corpse’s description in the police report is just like Jack the Ripper’s first
victim.”
I considered the entries in Benny’s journal. “She had two slices to the
neck and jagged wounds on both sides of her stomach?”
“Yes, sir.”
 “So we can assume that Benny is still alive?”
“Yes, sir. We never found his body.”
“Okay. Let’s meet in an hour to decide some possible strategies. I
want to end this.”
“Yes, sir.”
I hung up, set my phone on the night stand, and turned around.
Jasmine’s eyes were open. Fear crept around her lids. “Benny is still
alive?”
“I’m sorry—”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. You’ve done everything, more than
enough.” She sat up and hugged me. “We’re in this together. What do you
think we should do?”
“You’re not going to be a part of this. You can do whatever else you
want. Feel free to lay in this bed for as long as you want. Shop. Dance. Eat.
I’ll have people bringing in anything you desire. Let me handle this.”
“No. Both of our problems have been trying to do everything on our
own. This time, we get rid of Benny together.”
“Together?” My stomach knotted with tension. “I’m not too excited
about that.”
“Too bad.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I wanted to point out that she’d lost her brother to this sick man, but
I couldn’t remind her of that tragedy, so I gave up the fight and nodded.
“Okay. Do you have any ideas?”
“What did he do? What did the guards tell you, that made you think
Benny was still alive?”
I sighed. “He killed a young black prostitute in the style of Jack the
Ripper’s first victim.”
She covered her mouth.
“Don’t think about it.” I hugged her.
“That girl died because of us.”
“Don’t think about.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Just think
about how we’re going to stop him from killing more innocent people.
What’s worked so far?”
She looked up at the ceiling as if the answer hung there. “The only
thing that’s worked is the element of surprise.”
 “I have no way to surprise him right now.”
“But we do have ways to lure him.”
“How?” I asked.
“You’ve got all of his women—Vivian, Mom, and me.”
“None of you are going to be bait.”
“We won’t necessarily be bait, we’ll more be the cheese in the trap.”
“That’s bait.”
“It’s not, if we plan it just right.”
“No.”
She threaded her fingers together and gazed at the ceiling some
more. “We could throw a party of some sort. You know how he likes to just
drop by. He wouldn’t be able to resist showing up. He’d be happy to find
whatever hole he could in your security and drop in to scare everyone.”
“A party is your plan?”
“Yes. Some type of party that we have.”
“Where you’ll be bait?”
“Focus.”
I groaned. “I’m so tired of that word right now.”
She placed the tip of her finger into her mouth and sort of chewed on
her nail. “But what would we be celebrating?”
“Our engagement,” I blurted it out.
She laughed, stared at her finger as if she just realized she’d been
chewing on her nail, and took her hand away from her face. “We don’t
have to be that extravagant. We could just do a charity event.”
“No.” I climbed out of bed and walked over to the chair where my
pants rested. Ever since the damn masquerade ball, I’d been trying to
propose. Granted, the ring more sat in my pocket than me actively pulling
it out to seize the moment.
The question scared me. Those four words crept me out.
“Will you marry me?”
It wasn’t the act of saying them, it was the possibility of a negative
response that lowered me.
I won’t accept no. If she says that word, I’ll just figure out a way to
get rid of it. Relax. It will work out.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To get something.” I got to the chair.
“What?”
 I dug my hands into my pants pockets. “Mind your business.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I pulled out the box, made sure she couldn’t see it,
and placed it behind my back as I walked back to her.
“What are you doing?” She eyed me suspiciously. “I thought we were
planning a way to get Benny.”
“Forget him for a minute.” I put the black box on the bed between us
and sat down on the edge. “Let’s talk about our future.”
Her mouth dropped open as those beautiful eyes widened.
“The expression on your face tells me that you know what this box is
about.”
She held her hand to her chest. “I … I don’t know if I’m even ready
to discuss what could be inside of that box.”
My fingers almost shook, but I calmed myself. “Just say yes, tesoro.”
“What? Just say yes? That’s … look … we’ve known each other for
less than a year—”
“And been through more things than people in twenty-year marriages
have been through, and we survived.”
Nude, she got up from the bed and backed away. Her full, bare
breasts in front of me, didn’t help my mind stay concentrated on the topic.
“Come here.”
“I need some space.”
“You had your space.” I stood, picked up the box, and climbed on top
of the bed.
“What the hell are you doing?” She edged away.
On the bed, I towered over her like a lunatic. “I’m coming over there
to put my ring on you.”
She waved her hands. “You can’t just put a ring on my finger. We
need to talk about this, and think about all of the possibilities.”
“No.” I traveled over the bed, hopped down, and got in front of her.
“Stop, Chase. I’m serious. We can’t just jump and do something like
an engagement. I’m young and I can’t even take care of myself.”
“Sometimes when you talk like this, it just sounds like womp womp
womp. Did you know that?”
“Maybe you should fix your ears.”
“Maybe you should fix your attitude.” I lowered down to my knees.
“What are you trying to say?”
 “Just because my name is Chase, doesn’t mean I plan to race around
the world after you. You know what? Who am I kidding? I will chase you
all over this goddamn planet.” I opened the box and pulled out the ring.
“Say yes.”
“So much has happened. Let me just deal with everything before
answering you and then—”
“No. Now say yes.”
She looked down at me. “This is not how you propose marriage to a
woman.”
“Fuck it, you’re mine.” I grabbed her hand. She sighed, but didn’t
move away.
On bended knee, I gazed up at her. “Will you be my wife?”
“Chase …”
I just looked into her eyes and tried to let her truly see me. The man
behind the money and popular name, the alpha boss stare and the playboy
reputation. I tried to reveal the sensitive man inside of me that couldn’t
live without her.
I tried to show her my heart.
We stayed like that for the longest minute of my life. I refused to get
up, and she couldn’t speak. When I couldn’t wait anymore, inch by inch I
slipped the ring up her finger.
Don’t hurt me, Jasmine. If you take it off, you’ll kill a part of me.
Don’t run away. Let me love you.
“Chase.” Her voice left those parted lips as they shivered.
“Yes?” I stared at the ring on her finger, feeling the weight of this
decision much heavier than when I’d proposed to Dawn. This time it was
all different. Dawn had done it all like a business arrangement, and in
some ways it was just corporate benefits and reasonable companionship.
No passion lay within our deal.
But with Jasmine, I could barely breathe as I studied the ring on her
finger. It was as beautiful as her—an elegant vintage, marquise-shaped, 10
carat diamond mounted in platinum. If Jasmine knew how much it cost,
she’d probably take the ring off and sell it to feed all the poor in South
End.
“Chase,” she whispered, “are we ready for this?”
“Yes.”
“It’s huge.”
 “You’re lucky you can lift your finger. The jeweler almost convinced
me to go twice as large.”
“I don’t think you can go larger than this.”
“Trust me. You’ll know how large diamonds can get with each
anniversary. I’m going to add a carat for each new year.”
She pulled her hand away. “That’s okay.” Gazing at it, she blew out a
long breath. “Let’s just concentrate on the minutes.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She breathed in and out. “Chase …”
“Yes, tesoro.”
She nodded. “My answer is yes.”
“Yes?” I stood up and raised my eyebrows. “Yes?”
“Yes.” She glanced at the ring again and sighed. “Hells yes. I’ll …
holy fuck … I’ll marry you.”
I almost knocked her over, when I grabbed her. “Yes is my favorite
word.”
“Of course it is.”
My phone rang. I didn’t want to let her go and answer it, but I knew
that it would have to be from the security team and probably important. I
released her. “Don’t move.”
“I won’t.”
I headed to the phone. “Remember, we’re planning our engagement
party. That should draw Benny out. I don’t like this event being a part of
this situation, but it would be a good memory, if we succeed.
“And if we don’t?” she asked.
“We’ll think of something.”
“Do we have the party in London?”
“No. Benny is international, and he’s not stupid. We do it here and
fast, he’ll know it is a trap. If we wait and do it back in the States, we have
a better chance.”
“And we don’t tell my mother.”
I stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “No, we do tell your mother
about the party, even invite her. We just don’t tell her that it’s a trap.”
“Yes.”
My phone continued to ring. I didn’t answer, grabbed my wallet out
of my pants, and decided I would just call the number back. I threw the
wallet to Jasmine.
 She caught it. “Why are you giving me this?”
“I want you to plan the party.”
She shook her head. “I could do the food, but …”
“Get a party planner and a staff. Just do your magic, and once you
have a venue, I’ll have my team work out a perfect plan to deal with
Benny.”
“This is insane.”
“Insanity births the greatest things.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like many of the masterpieces you see in the museums all over this
city. All of the artists were mad in some way.”
“Okay.” She looked at her ring again. “What’s the budget for the
engagement party?”
“Budget? I don’t understand.”
“What do you mean you don’t understand, Chase?”
“What the hell is a budget?”
She giggled. “Very funny.”
“My future wife doesn’t say that word.” I took my phone out, spotted
the security team’s number, and dialed it.
“Let’s just calm down with the w word for now.”
“What? Wife?”
“Yes.”
“Is fiancée better?”
“That still scares me,” she admitted.
“Good.”
She rolled her eyes.
The head person from security answered. “Mr. Stone?”
“Yes. You called?”
“Yes, sir. I just wanted to let you know that more dead girls were
found in White Chapel, also in the same way that Jack the Ripper killed
his victims and almost the same exact places where they were discovered
centuries ago.”
“He’s reenacting his hero’s murders.”
“Yes, we think so, sir.”
“Have the police checked the other areas where Ripper’s victims
were discovered?”
“We’re going to check them now, but we assume we’ll find more.”
 “He was a busy man last night.”
“Yes. No fingerprints have been found.”
“Doesn’t matter. We know who did it.” I turned away from Jasmine.
“Keep me up to date.”
I hung up the phone and tried to prepare myself for the future days to
come. Benny hadn’t planned on bowing out of this battle like a gentleman.
He would keep killing women and doing as much as he could to ruin
Jasmine and me.
Jasmine grabbed me from behind and rested her head at the center of
my shoulder blades. “Benny has done something else?”
“He’s killed more prostitutes.”
Her body stiffened against me. “Then we really have to make this
party count.”
“Yes. We can’t wait that long.”
“Then let’s do it next week.”
I readied myself for the craziness that would come. “Next week
sounds fine.”
 CHAPTER 26

Jasmine
How could I ever repay him?
He’d done so much. My spirit remained lifted around him. Just the
feel of his body could soothe me all through the night. In this mania of my
life, he symbolized love and peace.
Can we be happy? Will we survive all of this? What does he want out
of a marriage? We never discussed it all.
I’d never entered any of the arrangements that Dawn allowed. I’d
have to make sure he understood that.
Could he just be with me forever? Could I be with him forever?
And then the confidence in my decision kept me strong during this
hard time. My brother had died, but there was one thing his murder taught
—live my life to the fullest. Troy had just been there, right next to me,
making jokes and then boom … he was gone.
Am I rushing into the decision because I’m mourning? Should I
change my mind? Oh God. I can’t do that to Chase, and besides, I can’t see
myself without him. We’ve been through too much. He’s mine as much as
I’m his.
Although I was scared, saying yes was no longer a problem.
Without eating, Chase dragged himself away from me to meet with
the London police. He planned for all of us to be out of the UK by
sundown. That made me happy. I couldn’t sit in the place anymore. I was
done with London, and all the horrific memories that happened on my
visit.
Chase appeared stressed right before he left me. I could’ve sworn a
few gray hairs sprouted around his temples. And all I wanted to do was
ease his sorrow, even though I drowned in my own.
 I put him through too much crap by leaving. God, I wish I had never
left.
I’d decided to start planning the engagement part that day, but my
mind went to Vivian and how lonely she must be feeling right now. I got
dressed, called in the suite’s butler, Mr. Sharpe, and asked him to bring a
breakfast for two people to Vivian’s bedroom.
Once ready to brave the outside of Chase and my bedroom, I rushed
off to Vivian’s bedroom. Darkness hit me when I opened the door. A
lavender fragrance came next. Vivian had lit up several candles and placed
them all over the room.
On the bed, she lay in the center, smoking one of the fattest blunts
I’d ever seen. It looked like something out of our college years.
“Where did you get the marijuana?” I asked.
“Chase.”
“Oh he’s Chase now, not pimp or dog man?”
“Yes, I’m calling him Chase now. He saved me.” She blew out a
cloud of smoke. “I thought we would die in that rotting mansion, and your
lover sent in all of those men and I swear it looked just like a crazy scene
out of one of those Die Hard movies. Men crashed through the windows
attached to rope. Shots blared. I woke up, rolled off the bed, and got under
it. I came close to pissing in my pants.”
I sat down next to her small frame. “I’m sorry you went through
that.”
“No need to say sorry. We know whose fault this is.” She handed me
the blunt.
“Yes we do.” I took it from her.
“Have you talked to Sherman yet?”
“No. You’re the first person I’ve seen.”
“Our butler is bringing breakfast.”
“Our butler?”
“I see you haven’t met him yet.”
“Can Chase do anything in an unfabulous way? Must it always be
Big Willy style?”
“I doubt he knows what Big Willy means.” I blew out and tried to
make a floating smoke circle, but it didn’t happen. “How are you doing?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to live vicariously through
you.”
 “But, Vivian—”
“Please, just tell me about Chase or somebody. I can’t think about me
… I just can’t right now.”
“Okay.”
She grabbed the blunt from me. “So what’s new in our sensitive
playboy’s world?”
“Sensitive playboy?”
“Since he saved my freaking life, I must say, he’s growing on me.”
She inhaled and then coughed. “What has he done now?”
I raised my hand and displayed the finger.
Vivian coughed some more, so much I had to hit her back twice.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“He proposed? He fucking proposed? Is he absolutely insane?”
“Yes.”
“But …”
I shrugged. “This is Chase we’re talking about. He does what he
wants. He doesn’t consider traditional anything. He’s now decided we
should be married.”
“And what have you decided?”
I blinked. “That I can’t live without him. I mean, I could … maybe,
but it would be the worst days of my life, and I’m not going to waste any
more days. I want to live to my fullest.”
Vivian took a hit. “That’s death talking. When Mom passed away
from cancer, I refused to pursue anything but art. Before, I’d considered
doing something safe like computer science. Then Mom died, and all I
could think about was doing my best to explore my passions.”
She gave the blunt back to me. “Months ago, I would’ve said no, but
the more we move forward, the more he wins me over. He loves you. He
may see you as an object at times—”
“Vivian.” I rolled my eyes.
“You know what I’m saying. He’s all possessive like a vampire.”
“Chase doesn’t suck blood.”
“But he sucks away your energy. He exhausts you.”
“Yes.” And I couldn’t even hide my smile. “But I love how he makes
me tired.”
Vivian twisted her face into disgust. “Ewww.”
“I’m just playing.”
 “No, you’re not.” Smiling, she stared at me, and her cheeks shivered
as if she struggled to keep her expression up. “You love him, and he’s
going to make you so happy.”
Her look faltered into a sad frown and her eyes watered into a stream
of tears. “I’m sorry.”
“No, Vivian.” I took the blunt from her, stabbed it out in the ashtray,
and pulled her into my arms. “It’s okay. I’m here, and I know how you
feel.”
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I am happy for you. I am.”
“I know, but you miss Troy. I do, too.”
“I loved him.”
“And he knew you did.”
“And that monster took him.”
“Yes, and we’re going to make him pay.”
“How?” Vivian asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Chase and I have a plan.”
She leaned away from me. “That makes me worry more.”
“We’re going to lure him to our engagement party and then …”
“What?”
“We didn’t figure that part out yet, but I’m sure it’s going to be him
dead on the floor.”
Vivian’s eyes widened. Her frown deepened. “You say that you both
are going to kill him like it’s no problem.”
My voice came out flat and with no emotion. “It’s not. For once,
Chase and my intensity toward killing Benny is the same. It’s our new
passion. We’re going to kill him together.”
Wrinkles gathered around her forehead. “Yeah. That scares the shit
out of me. You two may want to seek some counseling after this.”
“I will, after I kill Benny.” I winked at her and held back my own
tears. “And frankly, nothing will be better than watching his blood spill as
I celebrate my engagement party.”
“This idea is insane.”
“Our entire situation is insane. You want to make sense of this, then
take your time. That’s my present to you. I give you the time to lay in bed
and ponder the wrongs and rights of what we’re about to do, but me, I’m
going to do anything to kill this man. He took away my brother, and I now
have the financial capability to crush him, and I’ll do it with Chase right
by my side.”
“Then let me know how I can help. Oh well. If you go down as
insane, I’ll dive down in the craziness with you.” Vivian reached for her
blunt and also picked up a lighter. “But, be careful.”
“Be careful of what? Benny?”
“No, make sure you don’t become your mom.”
“No. That won’t happen.”
“Okay, it’s just that power can be addicting.”
“I don’t have power.”
She pointed to my engagement ring. “I see a big ass rock that
disagrees. You could probably purchase a small island off the coast of
Miami with that thing. So I’m just saying, be careful. Make sure there is a
limit.”
“I just want Benny gone.”
“And what about your mother?”
I looked away. “I don’t want to talk about her right now.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just leave that alone for now.” I pictured the moment I
punched her. “I’m not stressing over her right now, and besides, she’s just
as scared about Benny as we are. We’re actually all on the same side right
now. He’s going down.”
“You sound like a bad 80’s movie.” She punched the air. “He’s going
down!”
“He is!” I punched the air, too. “Die slow, motherfucker!”
“Now you’re doing a 90’s gang movie.”
“Eh!” I saluted her. “Just don’t let 5-0 come through, man, and my
hand will stay on my nine all day for my homies.”
“Please, stop.”
“That’s my gangster impression.”
“It scares me, and not in the way you hoped it would.”
I stuck my tongue out. “Everyone’s a critic.”
“So how are you going to celebrate your engagement? Enough about
Benny and this horrible stuff. We need to escape. What are you going to do
to celebrate?”
“We’re doing the party.”
 “No, that’s about Benny. You both need something that is separate
from him.” Then she shrieked and clapped her hands, dropping the blunt
and lighter. “What about a private dance? Something sexy and hot. Maybe
rent a strip club and all of that.”
“Rent a strip club?” I asked.
“You know your bank account is going to be awesome.”
I stirred uncomfortably. “He gave me his wallet to plan the
engagement party. I felt like a mistress.”
“Shut up. Mistresses don’t wear engagement rings.”
“Well, maybe more like a gold digger.”
“Oh get over it, Jasmine. Just think about your life.” She gave me a
weak smile. “All of that other stuff, let it go. All of these thoughts and
insecurities about what you are and what he is, just forget about it. Love
him as much as you can.” She sighed. “Love him as much as you fucking
can.”
I picked up the blunt from the bed. “I will.”
“I want to help.” She kept that smile on her face, even though her
eyes held a sad gaze. “Let me live through you.”
I gave her a thumbs up. “I’m down to be your avatar.”
“Okay.” She raked her fingers through those blonde strands. “Then if
it’s my choice, we’re renting a strip club. Where are the best ones?”
“New York?”
“Maybe.”
“Miami?”
“Oh damn. Beaches, alcohol, and hot Cuban men.” She tossed me a
slanted smile. “Maybe that’s where I should be.”
“Where you should be?”
“That’s right. I’ll need to travel with you as you plan. I’m sort of a
counselor.”
“Fine.”
“We’re renting out a strip club in Miami.”
“To celebrate the engagement?” I chuckled. “Chase will love that.”
She hit my arm. “And you know that you have to dance for him.”
“No.”
“You have to dance for him,” she argued.
“I can’t dance.”
“Get an instructor. How long do you have?”
 “We’re trying to do the big party in a week.”
“Wow.” She waved it away. “Never mind. Maybe we’ll get a stripper
to help you put something quick together.”
“I cannot dance.”
“You’ll be fine. Chase watching you on a stage, half-naked and in
heels will make him explode in his seat. Oh God, you should have other
dancers with you!”
“I’m not dancing, and especially not with other women.”
“We’re going to surround you with tons of naked ladies!”
“Do we really want him seeing me around multiple women? It might
give him ideas.”
She laughed. “Oh he’ll be fine. He’s so into you, he probably won’t
even see the other women.”
“He better be.” I placed the blunt between my lips and lit it. “Okay.
Let’s plan this.”
A knock came at the door. I turned to it, and Sherman peeked his
head in. He filled up the whole doorway, looking big and deadly as usual.
“Sis, can we talk?”
“Yes.” I coughed and hurried to hand the blunt back to Vivian. I
didn’t like him in my business. He’d taken on the role as father to all of
us. Even as a grown woman I found myself worried about disappointing
him. Additionally, he held his own morals in life. If he didn’t like me
doing something, he’d interfere, just like Benny.
I’d been through enough to know that I couldn’t underestimate any
of these men anymore.
“That shit isn’t good for you.” Sherman sneered at the blunt.
“I know.” I coughed again. “This is my last one.”
“Do better, Jazz.”
“I will.”
“We can talk, when you come down from that high.” He left without
figuring out, if I agreed or not, and shut the door.
Vivian and I stared at each other for a few seconds as if we’d just
been caught doing something, and then burst out giggling.
“Why is Sherman so fucking intense all of the time?” Vivian took a
hit.
“He’s always been like that. Even when we were young. Plus, only
God knows what he’s seen in his lifetime.”
 “You think he heard what we were talking about?” She offered me
the blunt.
“I hope not.”
“So Miami?”
“Miami.”
“Let’s hope I meet an art gallery owner who is so captivated by my
beauty he commissions me to make a massive mural.” She fluttered her
eyelashes, but the effect wasn’t the same fun Vivian as it used to be. She
was trying to be strong and bright, but all I saw was pain.
“Yes.” I hugged her. “Let’s hope.”
 CHAPTER 27

Chase
After meeting with my men, I had to make a hard call. Our plan was
crazy. So ridiculous it might work. In this world of psychos, Jasmine and I
were kids pretending to be adults. Benny did the unimaginable and
unspeakable. I could never guess his moves because I wasn’t crazy enough
to predict them. He colored outside of the lines.
Now we had to do the same.
The engagement party would serve as a perfect trap. He’d probably
think to himself that it was our cage, the cheese luring the mouse inside.
But then he would realize how much smarter he was than us. He would
assume that he could outthink us. Not this time. I’m going to go further
than you would think, Benny. I picked up the phone and did what I
should’ve done months ago.
I called my dad.
“Something wrong with your phone that you can’t pick up when I
call?” Dad asked.
“I need your help.”
“You need my help? Mine?” he said again. “Our PR people are
considering ending our contract, the publicity of Lucy’s body is all over
the news channels. You don’t release a public statement or anything? And
then the next time America sees you, it’s someone’s video from their
cellphone of you entering a project building in a South End ghetto like
you’re a mafia boss. Now no one can find you. It’s like you’ve disappeared
or started hiding. The world thinks you’ve lost your mind, and I agree.”
“I don’t need your help on PR. The media is always hungry for
something. I’ll give it to them tomorrow. For now, I need you to call some
people.”
“You listen to me, Junior, you’re done—”
 “Done with what? Running the business?” I laughed. “Stop. Let’s not
waste each other’s time. You’re too old to come back and have no idea
how to properly deal with the tech world. You’re slow in making fast
decisions and confused during major negotiations. Replacing me is not
even an option. Old age has kicked in. Who else would you let run our
corporation in my place? No one. Why? Because I make us money, and the
media eats me up.”
“You’re a big man now. Good job to the big man. You should be more
humble in this conversation—”
“I’m your son. I never learned how to be humble.”
Dad chuckled. “Maybe you’re right about that.”
“But now we’re off topic. We need to talk about Lucy’s death.”
“Yes,” he said. “And you need to talk to your team of lawyers.”
“We both know who did this and how that person won’t bow down to
the justice system.”
He remained quiet, probably nervous that someone would be
listening on the phone.
“Father, I need your friends. To deal with the devil.”
“Those friends have high prices,” he warned.
“How high?”
“Money won’t pay their price. They need power. Our power.”
I rubbed my face and sighed. “They’ll want favors?”
“Yes, and sometimes there are no limits to their favors.”
I tapped my finger on the desk. “How bad are some of your friends?”
I knew Dad stirred in his chair without seeing him in front of me.
Every now and then, my father talked about his friends in high
places. He called them gods and monsters. Told me that they weren’t one
or the other, they represented both—something holy and all-powerful as
well as vile and inhumane. I guessed that they dealt with terrorism or
maybe even controlled drug cartels, although I never had their identities.
Dad wanted to be the only contact for our family. He didn’t relish in the
idea of people like this having any of the Stones on speed-dial. For that I
was grateful. I believed terrorist and the cartel served as the scum of the
Earth.
And here I stood, asking scum for a favor. Please, kill Benny.
What would we they ask from me in the future? Would it be worth it?
Could I just figure out a way to avoid whatever favor they’d needed in the
future?
“If you have me call these people, there will be no bowing out of it
or changing your mind,” Dad warned.
“I don’t plan to back out of this. We both know that our special
friend should have been put to sleep a long time ago.”
“I’ll give you that,” Dad said with disgust. “I shouldn’t have passed
the devil to you, but in some ways I trusted him.”
“He’s gone too far.”
My father remained quiet for several seconds. This was his typical
behavior. If he had to think things through, he simply expected you to sit
on the phone and wait until he’d come up with a solution.
And then finally he said, “I have a group that can take care of him.”
“Good. I have a way to trap him in a location.”
“How?”
“I’m holding an engagement party.”
“With who?”
“You mean who will be hosting it?”
“No, son. Who are you getting engaged to?”
“Jasmine.” I sighed again. “You know who. Don’t be disrespectful.”
“Calm down. I just don’t think you’re serious. That girl is not
someone you marry. She’s just for—”
“I don’t think you want to say anything disrespectful right now. I’ve
seen enough death in these past months. This week has been the roughest. I
have no patience with you right now, old man.”
“Old man?”
“It’s been a long week.”
“I just think it’s a bad idea to—”
I interrupted him before he could say anything else. “Call who you
have to call so we can finish this.”
“I’ll make the call. Don’t you worry about that. However, is this
engagement party just a trap or are you actually thinking seriously of
marrying that girl?”
“Her name is Jasmine.”
“And you want her to be your wife?”
“Yes. Without a question.”
His laughter traveled over the phone line. “You’re going to make a
big fool out of yourself this time.”
 “Just contact your group and have them phone me, please.”
“You can’t possibly be serious about marrying her or—”
I hung up, satisfied that he would do what I asked, but aggravated
with his judgement of Jasmine. If things had been easier for all of us, I
would’ve had the time to introduce her to him, take her up to New York for
a week, give him days to be around her, and slowly fall in love like I did.
He probably would still not like Jasmine after a week. All he cares
about is body and pedigree. His only thoughts about my future wife has
been, how will it help my dick or our company be happy. He never
concerned himself with my heart.
 CHAPTER 28

Jasmine
We had two hours before sunset. The press conference would begin in a
few minutes, and I was scared shitless. Chase and I had arrived at the
Sherlock Holmes museum. Right at 221B Baker Street in central London.
Chase wore his signature look—a designer black suit that formed
around his chiseled frame with a white button-up shirt opened at the top.
His hair lay back in chestnut waves. My hair was pinned into an updo. A
team had done my makeup and outfitted me in a simple black and white
dress with red pumps.
Still, my heart boomed fear.
“Why this place?” I’d asked to keep the scattered thoughts out of my
head.
A chilly breeze blew past us. Camera crews parked their vans on the
small street as more press gathered several feet in front of us.
“Do you remember the Ripper tour?” Chase asked.
“How could I ever forget it?”
“True.” He captured my hand. “At the beginning, the guide discussed
video games that featured Holmes against Ripper.”
“You were around to hear what the guide said?” I asked.
“Yes. I was parked in a car across the street, forcing myself to stay
inside and not rush out of the vehicle to grab you.”
Although freaking out about talking to the press and being on
camera, I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m glad you stayed focused on your
plan.”
“Me too.” He touched my hand. “You’re shaking. Stop that.”
“I’ll try.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t see why we have to get on TV.”
 “This is my life, Jasmine. Ever since Lucy’s body at the ball, the
world has been asking questions.”
“And today you’re going to answer them?” I asked.
“No, today I’m going to dance around the news team and keep
everyone busy, while placing the cheese out for Benny.”
I bit my lip. “This is dangerous. Maybe we should try something
else.”
“As long as he’s alive, every place and event will be unsafe. It’s time
to deal with him head-on. What happened this week won’t happen again.”
I blew out a long breath. “Okay, Sherlock.”
“It’s Mr. Holmes to you. In fact, very soon I want you to moan that to
me while I take you from behind and call you Mrs. Hudson.”
“Absolutely not.” I turned around and gazed at the building behind
us. It represented more of an old famous person’s dwelling than a grand
information center. The curator had taken over an old boarding house,
delved into the mind of the genius sleuth created by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, and decorated the whole place in the fictional character’s delights.
Before the press came, a Victorian-era costumed museum assistant
gave us a private tour. The ground floor served as a shop, selling an array
of goods from deerstalker hats to novelty teapots, magnifying glasses to
several Sherlock Holmes books.
Hand-in-hand, we strolled through the ancient home.
The study overlooked Baker Street and maintained the same décor
any room of that sort would in Victorian times. Every space was dressed as
if the characters still lived there. I sat in Holmes’s armchair by the
fireplace and Chase snapped pictures like a giddy tourist. We entered his
bedroom adjoining the study where all of Holmes’s possessions lay out—
Persian slippers near the bed, a disguise or two on the shelf, his pipe
resting in front of his chemistry equipment, and a violin across from a
calabash pipe.
Even the landlady Mrs. Hudson had an area with a beautiful fireplace
And the tour continued as we delighted in the peculiar objects of the
mystery genius’s laboratory. Once the assistant left us alone for a few
minutes, we lingered for far too long in Dr. Watson’s room where I
checked out the character’s books and Chase copped a few quick feels of
my behind.
 When Chase’s legal team and publicist showed up, they briefed us on
the best methods for answering the press and then guided us back to the
front to meet the crowd.
And it was a big group. A sea of cameras and news reporters from all
of the UK’s major television networks surrounded us. International
journalists were sprinkled throughout the space. Chatter filled the air.
Flashing came next. Several men and women moved in with their cameras.
Chase’s publicist signaled for us to begin.
Let’s see if I cannot embarrass myself on national television.
As I stepped up to the podium in front of the museum’s entrance, my
stomach rumbled in fear. Eight microphones stuck out of the platform like
little severed heads. In fact, with the horror of these past months it might
have been better if those mics were actually tiny cut-off heads.
This may be my future. News teams and press conferences. Can I do
this?
“Are you nervous?” Chase whispered to me.
I leaned his way and forced a smile. “Hell yes. There’s about thirty
people in front of us holding microphones.”
“Fifty actually.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I usually
count them all to calm myself down.”
Shock hit my voice. “You’re nervous, too?”
“I hate cameras.”
“It never looks like it.”
“That’s because I’m an amazing man.”
“Clearly,” I mumbled.
“My best advice to you is to remember who you are. They are
standing in front to hear your voice. That’s powerful. You’re somebody in
this moment, and there’s not much you can do to upset them, besides not
talking at all, and even then you standing up here silent with your mouth
open is still good TV for the evening.”
“The chances of me freaking out are high,” I admitted.
“I’m here. Don’t worry about anything.”
“I don’t want to embarrass you, Chase.”
“You can never do that. And if you do something foolish, I’ll buy up
all of the major news channels and forbid them to show the clip.”
“I think that’s a bit much. Don’t you?”
 “Nothing is too much.” He leaned my way and brushed his lip
against my ear. “I’ve already proved I would kill for you. I can’t think of
anything that I wouldn’t do for you.”
My eyes widened. “You don’t have to—”
“I do.”
“You didn’t let me finish,” I smirked.
“Doesn’t matter. The sentence started off with madness. I don’t have
to what? Love you? Protect you? Keep you out of harm’s way, no matter if
it’s your family or the world? No. I do. It’s going to be my job. I might as
well start now.”
My words left me.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
I gathered my strength. If he could profess to ruin the world for me, I
could freaking keep it together for a ten minute press conference. “Yes,
I’m ready.”
He kissed me on my cheek. “This goes down in a few seconds.”
I frowned. “I thought we had five to ten more minutes.”
“More like five to ten seconds.”
Bile rose in my throat. “Great.”
A few uneasy chuckles fled him. “It will be fine.”
“And if it’s not?”
“Then we’ll destroy the problem around us.”
“Alrighty.”
“I’ll start.” He inhaled, exhaled, squeezed my hand, and guided me
closer to the podium. The publicist and legal team stood on our right.
The crowd came alive around us.
Chase tilted toward the biggest microphone. “Good afternoon,
everyone. I’m thankful that we were able to hold a quick press conference
on such little time. Who wants to go first?”
A ballsy female journalist with long, black hair began, “Mr. Stone,
do you have any information on the dead woman’s body that was
discovered at your ball just a couple of days ago?”
“Thank you for getting this out of the way early.” He nodded at her.
“I will not be answering any questions dealing with the masquerade ball
and the horrible events that took place there.”
“Then why hold a conference?” she asked.
“We have other news to share—”
 She interrupted him. “More important information than the facts and
details of a young woman’s death at your masquerade ball?”
“Don’t waste my time and everyone else’s by asking things that I
won’t answer.” Chase centered his attention to the reporters on her left.
“And from now on, please raise your hand so I can make sure everyone has
a chance to ask something.”
The same journalist raised her hand.
“No.” Chase shook his head. “Someone new and less annoying.”
She huffed, “I just have one more question. There are girls dying
here in London. In fact, it seems that dead women have been following
you around—”
“What is your name?”
“Felicia Waterson.”
“Great name.” Chase grinned. “Mrs. Waterson, do you like your
job?”
She held her hand to her chest. “Excuse me?”
He targeted her with a hard gaze, one I’d experienced many times.
That look used to make me cringe inside. His eyes said he owned the
world and took it by shedding blood, while his mouth always sneered as if
he was hungry for more war. “Mrs. Waterson, you’re done asking
questions.”
She opened her mouth. The guy next to her nudged her arm, and then
she shut her mouth and remained silent.
“Thank you, Mrs. Felicia Waterson.” Chase nodded. “Anyone else?”
A man with black glasses gestured that he wanted to talk. “Can we
ask why you are here in London?”
“Yes, of course.” Chase stared into the cameras close to us. “I had a
small problem that has been fixed. Due to that solution and the recent
events, I’ve begun to see life differently. I’m ready to finally settle down
with my beautiful girlfriend, Jasmine Montgomery. Today, I want to
announce our engagement.”
The ballsy reporter decided to say something else, “Weren’t you
already engaged to someone else?”
Chase frowned. “Does anyone else have a question?”
A redhead put her hand in the air. “Will there be a party?”
Chase chuckled. “Good question. Yes, there will always be a party. I
want everyone to join us in celebrating our engagement.”
 Someone yelled out from the far back, “Will you hold the huge gala
in London?”
Chase turned to me, but still spoke in the microphone. “That is up to
my new fiancée. Jasmine, would you like to tell everyone, and me, where
we will be holding this fun event?”
No. I absolutely don’t want to!
I leaned in and cleared my throat. “Miami.”
A few people mumbled some things in disgust. Others cheered.
I could imagine why people would not like a party leaving this city.
Chase could draw in a mega rich group of guests to London. Money would
definitely be spent throughout the area—from high end hotels to shopping
for our presents. His wealthy friends would spare no bill.
More questions came, but with the tight expression on Chase’s face
getting even more annoyed, I handled the rest of them myself and left him
to stressing behind me. After a good ten more minutes, his lawyer team
stepped in and took over the conference to handle the ones dealing with
Lucy, where they continued to say that Mr. Stone had nothing to do with
her body getting there.
Minutes later, we walked off in silence. Chase tapped his finger on
my hand as he held it. A serious expression spread across his face.
“What’s wrong?” I kept his slow pace toward the car.
“You mean besides Benny trying to murder me and destroy
everything I love in this world?”
“Yes. Besides Benny, is there something else?” I asked.
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“What is it?” I asked again. “When we were on the tour, you were in
a decent mood. And in front of the conference you claimed to be nervous,
but now … now you’re pissed.”
“It’s not big enough to discuss,” he explained.
“I still want to know.”
“Why?”
“If I’m going to be your wife one day, I should—”
“It’s not an if you’re going to be my wife, it’s a when.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You will be my wife.”
 “Okay, Chase. Stop getting me off of the topic. What’s wrong?”
“In fact, we need to set a wedding date.”
“We have time.”
“Do we? I want Stone to be your name now.”
“Fine, Chase.”
“I won’t let you go,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I’ve got that message.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. In fact, come on. Let me show you something.” Instead of us
strolling over to the car, I guided him back into the museum.
“Will it involve you becoming nude?” he asked.
“Perhaps.”
He frowned.
“What?” I giggled. “Wouldn’t you like to see me naked?”
“Yes,” he licked his lips, “but I already told you that I’m going to
wait until you’re done mourning.”
I poked my bottom lip out as we entered the Sherlock Holmes
museum. “Well, I still want to show you my surprise.”
“Hmmm.”
“What?”
“I’m wondering what your surprise is.” He held my hand as we
climbed the stairs.
“No. What’s really wrong?” I asked again.
“I told you it wasn’t a big deal.”
I paused, let go of his hand, and placed mine on my hips. “Damn it,
Chase. Just tell me.”
He rolled his eyes, which was the cutest thing ever because he barely
did it. And when he did, it made him appear like a spoiled little boy, one
that needed to be whipped and …
Damn, I’m horny.
Chase raised his eyebrows. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Because I want to have you inside of me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The reporter. Mrs. Waterson. She pissed me off with that comment.”
“Which one?”
“The one where she said dead women follow me around.”
“Not true.”
 “I don’t have enough fingers to count all of the dead bodies in my
past.”
“But they’re not all women … and almost all of these bodies are the
result of Dawn, Wendy, and Benny. Forget what that reporter said.”
We continued upstairs.
“What are you going to show me in here?” he asked, when we arrived
at the top of the stairs. “I thought we’d seen it all.”
I got in front and guided him toward Sherlock’s made-up bedroom.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Sure.” He followed behind me.
I stepped into the fictional character’s space. Items lay on his bed as
if he’d just rushed out of there and forget several things. It was a small
bed, around the size of a twin mattress. A burgundy and brown blanket lay
on top next to big fluffy white pillows. Green patterned paper dressed the
wall, along with framed maps and old black and white family pictures. A
simple Persian rug lay on the floor.
Chase scanned the room. “What’s the secret?”
“I don’t have a true surprise.”
“No?”
“No. I just wanted to get you alone, and the car wouldn’t give us any
privacy. No divider from the driver, and I’m sure a few news vans would
be following us.” I pressed my lips against his and inhaled as much of him
as I could. When I pulled back, he groaned and grabbed at my hips.
I pushed his hands away and edged back. “Do me a big favor.”
He quirked his eyebrows. “What?”
“Unbuckle those suit pants and let them fall to the ground.”
His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed.
I clapped my hands. “Chop. Chop.”
A soft plea escaped his parted lips. “Tesoro.”
“Do it.”
“We’re in a museum.”
“I understand. That doesn’t mean you can’t undo your pants.”
He grasped his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” I marched to him, snatched at his belt
buckle, and undid it like a mad woman who hadn’t seen a dick in several
long years.
 “Tesoro, what are you doing?” He stared at my hands as I moved to
the top button.
“Returning a favor.”
“What favor?”
I lowered the zipper. “Pick one—saving my life, getting me away
from Benny, rescuing Vivian, proposing to me, calming me down just now
before the press conference—”
He grabbed my hands and stopped them before they could go inside
of his pants. “That’s what a man does when he loves a woman.”
“You’ve got a pretty huge definition for love.” I pushed his hands
away and lowered to my knees.
“You’ve got a pretty huge definition of appreciation.” He gazed down
at me, and with both of his hands he held the top of his head. “Fuck. Get
up, before I can’t stop myself.”
“Shh.” I pulled his boxer briefs down in the front and searched for
that lovely cock.
“Here?” he asked as I brought his length out.
“Yes, here.” I wrapped my fingers around his long, thick hardness.
“Your job is to be lookout.”
“I’ll only be focusing on you.” His breathing shifted to deep inhales
and long exhales as he watched my hand slip up and down his cock. I kept
the tip an inch from my lips, teasing him and hopefully making him
wonder if it would ever get a chance to slide into my wet mouth.
But in the end, I couldn’t wait to taste him and pushed him into my
parted lips. His thickness traveled along my tongue.
“Tesoro,” he whispered.
I pulled his wet cock out of my mouth and stroked. When I bored
with that, I parted my lips, stuck out my tongue, and let it trail along his
the thick length, starting at the tip and inch by inch heading to his balls,
where I lowered even more and sucked them, one by one into my mouth at
a time.
“Aww, fuck.” Chase grabbed the back of my head and held onto it,
not limiting my movement or forcing me to do anything. Just a gentle
touch. A small caress of his fingertips along my scalp.
When I finished licking, I counted our blessings that we hadn’t been
interrupted yet, and then sucked him into my mouth, my knees pressing
into the Persian rug as I focused.
 “Damn you, tesoro.”
Sucking Chase’s cock was never pretty.
I loved the thickness too much, and it was too big to take it all in and
still appear all cutesy and seductive like a porn star. I drew him into my
mouth with an urgency. Up and down, I bobbed my head on his length. At
times, he went down into my throat a little and I had to focus on inhaling
and not gagging. Salvia dripped along the corners of my lips. My eyes
watered and teared.
Still, I sucked him off.
This man had saved the day in more ways than one, and had
promised to continue to rescue me in the future.
I sucked that cock like it was my own personal duty in life. And with
each inhale of him, my panties moistened. My jaw tightened. His soft
murmurs of pleasure shifted to loud groans.
Downstairs, the museum staff had to have heard us, but no one dared
to bother the millionaire and his new fiancée.
He tightened the grip on the back of my head, and with a weak moan
he pushed that lovely cock deeper into me. I almost came close to
vomiting.
“You’re going to get us arrested,” he whispered as I pulled him out of
my mouth.
Spit spilled from my lips and onto his length. I gathered it all up with
my hands and stroked him in slow movements. “Focus.”
“Finally an appropriate time for that word.”
“Focus.”
“Trust me, tesoro, I’m focused.”
I flicked my tongue at him. “Are you?”
“God yes.”
I rubbed my hand over the head of his cock, massaging all of the tiny
little senses around the rim that made him go crazy.
He shuddered.
“I want you to come all over me.” I spit on the tip of his cock some
more and returned to stroking. “I want you to make this black and white
dress all white.”
“Dear God, you’ve become nasty.” He ground his cock into my
hands. “I fucking love it.”
“Focus.”
 “You say that again, and I’m going to spill my seed all over that
pretty little face of yours.”
“Mmmm.” I licked my lips. “Do it, baby. Put it all over me.”
“Ah!” His cock pulsed as that white liquid burst from his tip. It came
out warm and thick, spilling all over my hand as I continued to stroke him
some more. “Oh God yes.”
“That’s right, baby. Give it all to me.”
His body shook as more sperm sprayed out, dots hit my chin and he
gazed at that white liquid on my face and growled like a wild animal.
I laughed and stopped stroking him, sure that the werewolf howl had
signaled the end. A few drops spilled onto the Persian rug.
“Uh oh,” I said. “Look what you did to Mr. Holmes’s room.”
“What I did?” He gestured to his cock, now shining and covered in
spit and sperm. “You dragged me in here.”
“I did not.”
“You forced me into a blow job.”
“I doubt anyone would believe that.” I chuckled and rose from the
kneeling position.
His chest rose and fell as he stared at me with lust in his eyes. “You
think this is funny?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.” I edged away.
“Come here.”
“No, we have to go.”
“You didn’t come.”
“This wasn’t about me.”
He rushed for me, before I could get out of the way. Laughing, I fell
into his arms.
“It’s always about you.” He buried his face into my neck and sucked
on the sensitive curve. My body prickled with excitement. Tiny little
sparks throbbing all through me.
His lips on my skin was ecstasy.
There would never be another. I grabbed at the back of his head,
running my fingers through those soft, chestnut curls. His cologne sank
into me—this woodsy scent mingling with fresh mint and money. Sweet-
smelling, yet earthy. At times I would just lay in his big arms and swim in
his fragrance as he slept.
I’m so lucky.
 I got ready to tell him everything on my mind, but then he groaned
and lifted me up, rushing us over to the wall and knocking everything over.
A small antique table, glasses, a photo of Holmes’s parents, another pipe,
and other items crashed to the floor.
We’ll never get invited back here again.
“Chase,” I shrieked.
Whispers rushed up from downstairs, but no one came.
Ignoring us all, he continued to suck on my neck and squeeze my
behind as if he’d never had the opportunity to touch one in his life.
“What are you doing?” I moaned.
Only grunting, he slung all of the museum items from the bed to the
floor and laid me down. The soft mattress smoothed against my back and
moved a little under me as he got on the bed, too.
I planted my hands on his chest and stopped him from lowering
down to ravish me some more. “Chase, what are you doing?”
“Repaying you for your kindness.” He rose over me and sucked on
his bottom lip. “You know what I want to do.”
“We’ve ruined Sherlock Holmes’s bedroom.”
“Fuck him.”
I giggled and let my hands fall to the bed. “We should go.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a question, Chase.”
“No.”
“We already ruined—”
“They’ll be lucky if I don’t take you in every room in this museum.
You woke the beast.” He nipped at my chin. “He was sleeping inside of me
the whole time, and here you go taking out my cock and putting it into
your pretty little mouth.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You owned it today.”
I widened my eyes in shock. “I would never give a blow job. I’m a
lady.”
He whistled. “Yes, you are.”
I tapped at his chest. “Get off me so we can go.”
“We’re not leaving until you come.”
“They’re going to call the cops,” I argued.
 “They won’t. You think we’re the first rich couple to hook up in
here?”
“Oh wow. Is that how the rich do it?”
“Yeah.” He groaned and rubbed against me. “I’m so mad at you right
now.”
“What did I do?”
“I wanted to wait until you were more healed.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
I frowned. “Then I will be.”
“You will.”
I tossed him a wicked smile. “I actually think sex would help me
heal.”
“Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Yes. Really bad, nasty sex,” I whispered. “Wet and hot.”
“Mmm.” He bit his lip some more and just stared down at for me a
long time. “You want to be bad?”
“Yes, baby.”
“It’s about to go down.”
“Really?”
“I’m listening to rap now. Check this out.” He crossed his arms.
“Stay ten steps ahead of the game, I’m focused. Dumbledore to these
bitches. Hocus pocus.”
Laughter fled from my lips. “Oh God. You’re never allowed to go to
South End without me. Too much has rubbed off on you.”
“Look. Open your legs wider. It’s about to go down!”
“Chase, shhh.” I covered my face to stop my laughing. “They’re
going to come up here if we don’t keep it down.”
“I already told you what is about to happen, tesoro. There’ll be a
whole lot of noise coming from here.” He yanked at the top of my dress,
pulling it down like a deranged lover, and freeing my breasts. “I’m going
to make your body sing.”
“Well, at least you won’t make it rap.”
“You’ll pay for that.” He wrenched away at the material, exposing
my breasts some more. They flopped out to greet his eyes. Hard nipples
and soft flesh. They craved his touch, and I almost begged him to suck on
them.
 He leaned down and lapped at one nipple. Fire blazed there. It went
wet with his mouth, and I moaned, sliding my body against him to feel
even more.
He suckled on my nipple and I squirmed under him in pure pleasure.
“I love you, tesoro.” And then he touched me.
Like it was his first time.
Like he’d never had it.
He gazed at my body with lust.
My breasts.
My neck.
He looked at me and energy moved through the air.
Pushing the bottom of my dress up, he slid my panties to the side and
toyed with my pussy. Just as those full lips continued to suction on my
nipples.
I couldn’t stop the cries of lust from ripping out of my throat.
I had no dignity. No sense of ladylike values or misogynistic views
on what a proper woman should be doing. I wanted to fuck, and do it hard
and nasty. Just take over my body and never hold back. I needed him
inside, on top, and behind me, slipping all over my skin.
“Give it to me, Chase. Now, please.”
He grunted. “Say please again, tesoro. I love it.”
“Please,” I moaned.
He positioned his cock to my opening. “Say it again.”
“Please, Chase.”
He plunged into me, stretched my body around him and pushed more
moans out of me. “Do you want it deeper?”
“Yes.”
“Look at me.”
Moaning, I gazed in his eyes. “Chase.”
Lifting me up from the bed and into the air, he thrust into me slower.
“Fuck.”
He still remained in the bed on his knees, fucking me hard, his hips
grinding in circular motion. He was a sexual athlete. His muscles rippled
along his arm and chest. Sweat dripped down his chiseled stomach and
still he ground that hard cock into me as if I was paying him a million
dollars.
 His warm breath brushed against my moist skin. My heart drummed
in my chest. Holmes’s bed thumped with our hot movements.
Up and down.
Up and down.
Our groans matched each other.
Breath per breath.
“You feel so good,” he mumbled.
“Yes, baby.”
Chase growled, “I want to go so deep I can’t come out.”
I almost laughed, if not for the orgasm that crashed into me. “Ah!”
“Yes, tesoro.” He bounced me on him, my head bobbing back and
forth like a pinup doll bursting with heated sensations.
Drowning, I fell into him. “Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.”
It was all I could say. There was no sense of alphabets or things
called words and sentences. I was trying to tell him to not stop, but he
drove that cock into me with pure precision and watched me breakdown
the whole time.
“Yes, such a good girl.”
“Oh.”
“Take it.”
“Oh.” Waves of pleasure rippled through me.
“This is how you’ll heal.”
And then all of me came apart.
 CHAPTER 29

Chase
Benny stayed silent.
No more copycat Ripper murders in London. No threats to my family
or me. No severed heads delivered in pretty boxes. No one spotted him.
He’d disappeared.
Jasmine and I had peace for the first time in months, and it made me
nervous as hell.
What will be his next move? Will he fall into our trap?
After the press conference and my tesoro’s lovely blow job and
sexual session in Holmes’s bedroom, we decided to leave London the next
morning. The museum hadn’t been pleased when we got downstairs. I
doubted the check that I wrote them made the staff any happier. The Brits
had their traditions and cultural ideas about certain things.
It probably had been a bad idea to shoot a load on Sherlock Holmes’s
rug.
Nevertheless, we planned the next days out. Sophia, Vivian, and
Sherman would all board separate planes that took them back to the States.
Vivian would go with us to Miami, and Sophia would return home.
But we hadn’t figured out what to do with Sherman. I actually
wanted him around. He loved his sister, and hoped to keep her safe from
Benny as much as me. Jasmine believed he couldn’t control himself.
“Do you think he’s crazy?” I asked her on the ride home from the
Sherlock Holmes museum.
“Sherman is very much out there,” Jasmine said. “He’s not like
Benny, but he’s not that much different either.”
“Give me an example.”
“No.”
 I almost sneered at her. How I hated that damn word on her tongue.
“Why not?”
“I’ve given you enough for today.”
My cock jerked in my pants and craved a round two, but I knew I
couldn’t do that to her. In fact, I was pissed that I let her suck me off. It
felt so good with that soft, wet mouth warming my length and searing my
insides with desire.
I craved her even more.
Those plump breasts and ripe nipples, just begging to be nibbled with
my teeth and lapped at by my tongue.
I hungered for her.
Every part of me screamed to lift her up, knock all that Sherlock
Holmes crap on the museum bed and break the motherfucking frame as I
barreled my cock into that soft, velvety flesh.
I had no control when it came to Jasmine.
Tesoro.
My love.
My future wife.
I remained imprisoned within her heart, and if the warden brought
me a key to free myself, I would fling the little thing at him.
I was finally free.
Of all the hollowness that took up in my chest.
Of all the pleasure seeking flings with other women.
Of the need to have more than who’d I gave my heart to.
I’d escaped this dark thing that I’d lived in for years, and hadn’t even
realized it was there, until she came around me.
This was love.
That I was sure of.
Love didn’t resemble romantic comedies and TV sitcoms, where it
all came together in the end. Love served as that strong connection
between two people that could never be unbroken.
Not by death or other women.
Not by serial killer fathers and emotionally manipulative mothers.
Not by society.
Not by my father.
Not by a hurricane or any other natural disaster.
 I breathed her in, the first day I kissed that beautiful cunt and told
her she would be mine, and now …
I would never exhale.
I could choke on her,
die with her inside of me.
Jasmine’s voice broke my thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”
“How much I love you.”
A smile spread across her face. “I love you, too.”
“Tell me about Sherman.”
“Why, Chase?”
“Maybe we can use him.”
“According to Troy, the only person that can control him is Mom.”
She blinked a few times and then looked away.
Oh, tesoro. How are you doing with Troy’s death?
I pulled her into my arms. “I love you so much. Anytime you need to
talk, come to me.”
She leaned against me. “On my fourteenth birthday, Sherman killed
my rabbit.”
“You had a rabbit in South End?”
She lifted her head up. “Hey, I can have a rabbit in the hood.”
“I don’t know. I rode through that area. I believe someone would
have stolen that rabbit.”
“Definitely. Crackheads would catch squirrels around the park, cook
them up, and sell them for a couple of dollars on the streets. I’m sure they
would’ve taken my rabbit and got paid.”
I cringed. “I’m not a fan of rabbit meat.”
“I am.”
“Of course you are.” I kissed her forehead. “Why did Sherman kill
the rabbit?”
“Because I had a boy bring me home.”
“That’s it?”
“He thought I was dating him, and all my brothers had told me that I
couldn’t talk to any boys like that. I was forbidden.”
I grinned. “Yes, that’s probably why I like Sherman so much.”
“My brothers were freaking crazy.”
“I think they were protective.”
 “Psycho protective. Either way, he watched me step out of the car
and close the door. The guy that had brought me home was just a kid I
knew in Algebra. I’d missed the bus from staying in class and talking to
the teacher. He offered me a ride home because he was nice—”
“And he wanted to fuck you.”
“No way.” She shook your head. “He was just a boy from math
class.”
“I’m a man, and I know many of them. I was also a fourteen-year-old
boy. You, my lovely tesoro, have some of the biggest, pillowy breasts I’ve
seen. And then those luscious hips of yours and ass.” My body heated. I
had to stop talking just to make sure I didn’t rip her clothes of and go in
for a round two.
“O-kay.” Jasmine giggled. “Either way, Sherman jumped off the
porch to talk to the boy, but since he was a math white kid driving a decent
car in the hood, well, he sped off. And Sherman wasn’t pleased. He pretty
much questioned me for a good hour, and told me that I couldn’t date him
anymore. Being fourteen, I thought I was close to being a woman so I told
him that I would do what I wanted. So he stormed into my bedroom,
opened my rabbit’s cage, yanked her out, raised her in front of me, and
snapped her neck. Just like that. No warning. No discussion. Just one quick
snap. And then he told me that if I didn’t stay away from boys he would do
the same thing to me.”
I couldn’t find the proper words to say.
“And he continued to get worse as I got older,” she said. “I just
ended up doing as he said, and staying away from most of my brothers.”
“All of this means that we need him. He’s more invested in you being
protected than any man in my security team.”
“No. I don’t want him going up against Benny.” She got out of my
arms and scooted to the other side of the backseat. “I’ve already lost Troy.
I can’t lose anyone else, even though Sherman is insane.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll keep him out of it.”
Can we kill Benny without Sherman? Can we kill him period? Will I
lose her? Am I doing the right thing?
On the last morning of the London trip, we all sat at the table, while
our butler attended to the kitchen staff. I was between Jasmine and Vivian.
Sherman and Sophia stared across from us.
The whole mood was odd. Tension rode the air, and I didn’t like it.
 “Are you going to tell me your plan?” Sophia looked at me, and
didn’t even give a glance to Jasmine.
I had no idea if Sophia had contacted Benny. My men monitored her
and Sherman the whole time, but they’d shown in these past months to fail
at the worst times. Sophia could’ve figured out a way. In Benny’s journals,
he claimed that she was resourceful. Her planning exemplified how skilled
her mind could be. Anything was possible, when Sophia put her hands in
the situation.
“Chase, did you hear me?” Sophia pursed her lips. “Are you going to
tell me your plan?”
“There’s no plan.” I returned to the newspaper in front of me.
Our butler appeared. “Breakfast is ready.”
Two gray uniformed women entered the dining area with separate
silver carts.
The butler explained the dishes that the servers put in front of us.
“Here we have a small bowl of fruit salad dressed with lime and rosewater
syrup. On the plate next to it, we have caramelized plantain fritters. On
top, sugar-cured prawn omelet with smoked chili sambal.”
Neither Sophia nor Sherman appeared overjoyed at their plate.
“Is everything okay, Mrs. Montgomery?” Mr. Sharpe said to Sophia.
“If you would like something else, I can go into the kitchen and ask the
chef to make something else.”
“Yes, please.” She pushed hers and Sherman’s plate to the side. “We
would both like two eggs, sunny-side up, wheat toast, bacon or sausage,
and some fruit on the side without all of that rosewater syrup.”
The butler nodded.
“Wait,” Sherman lifted his hand, “I don’t want that. I’ll have this
right here.”
“You want this crazy stuff?” Sophia gestured at his plate.
“Caramelized fritters and chorizo omelets.”
“I read about chorizo in jail,” Sherman countered. “I want to try it.”
“It’s really good sausage,” Jasmine added.
Sophia pretended like her daughter didn’t say anything. “Eat what
you want, boy. But don’t start asking for my food, when it comes.”
Sherman picked up his fork with those huge hands and commenced
to eating the meal up. Jasmine dug into her plate, too, murmuring her
pleasure of the flavor between bites. The butler rushed off to put in
Sophia’s new order with the chef.
Sophia glared at me. “Do you have a plan?”
“No.”
“You should.”
“Really?” I asked. “And why is that?”
“Just because Benny has been quiet, doesn’t mean he’s not coming
for you. In fact, that’s probably the worst time to close your eyes and go to
sleep. It means he’s right on top of you.”
I winked at her and flipped the newspaper. “I believe I would know if
Benny is on top of me.”
“This isn’t a game, Chase.”
“No, it’s not.”
She pointed at me. “That man shot my son. I want in on whatever is
going on.”
At the mention of Troy, Sherman and Jasmine both paused from
eating. Tesoro held her fork in mid-air and just stared at the chorizo for
several seconds. Sherman put his utensils down altogether. Vivian chose
that moment to stop eating, scoot her chair back, rise, and leave the table.
Sighing, I folded the newspaper and placed it on the table. “You’ll be
returning home, Sophia.”
“And where are you two going?” she asked.
“Miami.”
“Why?” she asked.
“For our engagement party.”
“Benny will show up.”
With a bored expression, I stared at her. “Will he?”
“Yes!” she screamed.
I tapped my finger on the table and turned to Sherman. “I was going
to send you home, too. Did you want to go anywhere else?”
“Yes.” Sherman nodded. “I want to go to Disney World.”
Everyone’s attention went to the big man.
“I’ve always wanted to see Mickey Mouse,” Sherman said.
“Mickey Mouse?” Jasmine still held her fork, but hadn’t eaten the
eggs yet. “You do know that he’s a fictional character.”
“Go on, girl.” Sherman touched his plantain, picked it up, and
munched on it. “I just want to do Disney.”
 “So you want me to fly you to Orlando?” I asked.
“Yes. That would be good.” Sherman returned to eating. “I would
like that. And I don’t need a way back. I got my ways.”
“What does that mean?” Jasmine asked.
“Don’t worry about what that means,” he countered.
I waved them both away. “Doesn’t matter. I can get you a nice suite
in one of the Disney Kingdoms, and if you would like a driver and car, I
could take care of that, too.”
“Thank you.” Sherman shoveled chorizo into his mouth. “This
sausage is spicy, but I like it.”
And then Sophia banged her fist against the table. “Enough! What’s
the plan? I want in.”
“Stop it,” Jasmine said through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare
disrupt this breakfast again.”
Sophia’s angry face faltered into sadness. “My son died.”
Jasmine pointed her finger at her mother. “And you caused it.”
“No.” Sophia held both of her hands to her chest. “I didn’t know that
Benny would hurt Troy. He said he would never hurt his kids. He’s always
protected you all—”
“Just shut up!” And it was then Jasmine’s turn to jump up from the
table and march off.
Sophia glanced at me as if asking for help.
I could’ve came to her rescue in some way. Perhaps, I should’ve
talked to Jasmine, or maybe considered adding Sophia to the plan against
Benny. But I didn’t.
Instead, I grabbed Jasmine’s and my plates and walked off to our
bedroom. “Have a safe trip, Sophia.”
For the rest of the day, we lay in bed, between soft blankets, smoking
some of Vivian’s weed, and reminiscing about our lives. We talked more
than we ever had before. Whispered about our dreams. Laughed about our
nightmares. Cried at the deaths that had come to hurt us. Rejoiced in our
love, and kissed until our lips ran numb.
However, I never let myself completely go as I lay next to my tesoro.
Sophia was right about one thing—Benny would come for us. Even worse,
he probably watched us now, peering deep into a dark corner as he wielded
a knife.
 Those sort of thoughts caused tension to build in my shoulders. Kept
my focus off of Jasmine and on our possible demises.
He’s too quiet. What is he doing? Will our plan work?
That night, we returned to the States, and I got an odd message from
my lawyer. Apparently, Sophia had taken all of those expensive suite
paintings back to the States. The same ones she’d picked out from the
London art galleries and decorated the suite with. I had no idea how she’d
done it. No one spotted people loading them onto the plane.
Somehow, she’d stolen them. The hotel billed me high. The gallery
threatened to file a suit. And all I could wonder was what the hell Sophia
was planning now with all the money she would get from those paintings.
 CHAPTER 30

Jasmine
Chase’s top security guard and I stood in front of the Doll House adult
entertainment nightclub. And he did not enjoy our conversation.
We were at a standoff.
It was two days before the engagement celebration. Benny had
remained out of sight. Vivian and I thought it was a perfect time to do my
surprise for Chase.
Since the Holmes museum, my baby had stayed true to his word and
didn’t touch me anymore, no matter how many times I begged. Chase
thought I needed to heal. He might’ve been right. I lay in his arms as much
as I could and he massaged my back and ran his fingers through my hair.
During the mornings, he did his best to get work done in small pockets.
Every hour he checked on me, whether by phone or stopping by wherever I
am and spending time with me.
By the afternoon, we boxed in the gym. He worked on my punching,
sparing with me every few lessons, and getting me hot and sweaty as we
wrestled on the mat. We’d turned his boxing gym into an erotic mixed
martial arts space. Half the time, I think we both just wanted to rub our
bodies against each other.
Then we went to the gun range. We were done being targets, and I
was tired of needing to be protected. If Benny came in front of me, I would
shoot him. No questions. Statements. Last words or ponderings. I would
raise my gun and pull the trigger with no remorse or second thoughts.
The first day we spent three hours in the gun range, competing with
each other on who could get closer to the center dot. Chase bought us guns
before we left. Him, a gold fifty caliber desert eagle. Me, a sig sauer .380
automatic pistol. Chase wanted to dress it up, get diamonds on the
stainless-steel, maybe even make it all gold plated somehow. I couldn’t do
it. People purchased weapons for just in-case emergencies. Benny had
forced my hand. This gun would be used. No matter how many gems and
jewels covered the pistol, I would need to focus on learning how to aim
and shoot with precision.
I called my gun Nina, and I spent more time with her than anyone
else in the past days. Some mornings, I skipped breakfast and Chase found
me filling her with bullets and blasting them at white and black targets in
front of me.
Sometimes he found me shooting with tears, when I didn’t even
realize I’d been crying.
At night, he bathed me, spilling warm bubbly water over my body
and gazing at my flesh with lust. He might’ve groaned a few times as he
slid the washcloth over my nipples. Every time, they hardened under his
heated touch, and I whispered how much I wanted him inside of me.
He never did.
Chase deserves a break. I do, too.
Tonight was’t about stopping this no sex nonsense, but letting him
understand how much I appreciated his taking it slow with me as I
mourned Troy.
However, the freaking security guard had been doing everything he
could to block my efforts.
“Ma’am, why are we at a strip club? We’re supposed to be at the
caterers. Mr. Stone won’t be pleased.” Sweat beaded around the poor guy’s
forehead and I knew it wasn’t the Miami heat. On edge, Chase had been
screaming at security left and right all week.
No one relished in a silent Benny. It was like walking through a dark
forest at night, hearing leaves crumble off in the distance and a low growl,
and not be able to see where the danger was coming from. That being said,
Vivian and I had been careful to keep our plans away from all ears.
I tossed him an innocent smile. “I want to surprise Chase.”
“Mr. Stone doesn’t want any surprises right now.”
“He said that?”
“No, but—”
“Then relax.”
“This is an exotic dancing place.”
“Yes,” I nodded, “I’m aware of that.”
 A cool breeze blew through the palm trees, and the guy wore a thin
linen shirt and beige pants which went great with the shoulder holster
packing his gun. Yet, still the man sweated as if it was a hundred degrees
and he was wearing a turtleneck sweater.
“Ms. Montgomery, I don’t think I can do that.” He wiped away the
sweat and rubbed it on his pants.
“It would just be a few hours.”
“This isn’t the schedule that Mr. Stone approved. He was adamant
that there be no surprises and that everyone follows it.” He unfolded the
white page he’d been holding. “I’m supposed to take you to the caterer
right now. We already have a team over there, waiting inside the shop.
You’re going to do a food tasting there to pick the engagement party’s
menu and then—”
“Correction. Vivian is going to do the food tasting for me. Chase
doesn’t know that because this is a surprise. I already told you this.”
“Ms. Montgomery, we cannot do surprises right now.”
I held up both of my hands. “I understand.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Then we can leave this place?” He wouldn’t even look back at the
strip club.
The Doll House stood behind him—all black brick and metallic gold
outlines around a towering black and gold checkered roof. A huge
billboard hung above the place and displayed a big doll house with shapely
nude women peeking out of the windows. Music boomed inside. Anytime
a man opened the door as he walked in, a heavy-hitting bass filled the
parking lot. Several males had left due to the club closing down for me,
during these designated hours.
I did my best at an innocent smile. “I just need two hours here and
then—”
“I can’t, Ms. Montgomery.”
“You have to.”
“I can’t. We have to stick to the schedule.”
“We’re talking two hours.”
He glanced over his shoulder and surveyed the parking lot. “This
doesn’t look like a good neighborhood.”
 No other business, but two bars were located on the block. Broken
glass littered the corner. Vacant lots and abandoned factories surrounded
the area. However, expensive cars crowded the front. Vivian had
discovered the club and claimed that it was the most talked about spot in
the city of Miami—the area where the tourists didn’t go.
We both hoped to keep this surprise away from the paparazzi, but not
be in a dump either.
The Doll House seemed to be the best option. We called the manager.
He agreed to let me rent the place out for the day as well as hire four of his
hottest dancers. His top girl was going to give me a sensual routine to a
song named “Seduction”. The other girls would dance in the background
of the stage to add to the erotic performance.
“It would be better if you did this another time,” the guard said.
“I need to do it now.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Excuse me?” Annoyance dotted each word. “Is this how you talk to
Mr. Stone?”
He looked away. “Mr. Stone will fire me if I get you harmed.”
“Then let’s make sure that I’m safe.”
He sighed. “I’m unable to do that, if you don’t listen to me.”
“I’m not completely helpless.” I tapped my hip. I wore a heavy duty
wilderness belt and holster with my jeans and shirt which displayed the
Sesame Street gang at the bar telling dirty jokes. The funny tee covered
the holster and belt enough, but not entirely. Anyone with sense would get
that I was packing.
He didn’t even glance at where I kept my gun. “I understand that
you’re not helpless, but you’re going to have to turn around and ask your
driver to take you to the scheduled activity. I cannot let you go inside.”
“I’m going inside there, and you and your three guys over there in
the car can watch my back in here. Not to mention the fact that if
something happens, I’m more than prepared. This holster allows me to
naturally press the release, when I pull my firearm out in a quick-draw
self-defense scenario.”
“Quick-draw self-defense scenario?” His expression shifted to
worried.
“I’ve been taking a class at the gun range.”
“I’m aware of that, but I still don’t think you should—”
 “What’s your name?”
“Martin.”
“Great name.” I winked at him. “Martin, trust me on this. The
surprise is going to blow Chase’s mind. He may be upset if you spoil this
for him. And besides, I’ve purchased everything.”
Vivian and I had picked out all of the costumes. Diamonds served as
the theme. Those gems sparkled over the background dancers’ corsets and
tiny G-strings. Diamonds even covered the tips of their nine-inch heels.
I would wear an outfit made from several straps of rubies. They
would wrap around my thighs, breasts, behind, and the space between my
legs, revealing so much and hiding very little. Red nine-inch heels went
with the outfit. Rubies decorated the points. A makeup artist and hair
stylist were supposed to show up later that night for the true performance.
“Could you let me know what you’re going to do?” Martin folded the
paper back. “Maybe if I understand, I can give you permission in other
ways.”
“Listen.” I shook my head. “I hate to do this to you, buddy, but I
don’t need your permission. But I will explain the plan. I’m going to do a
dance routine for Mr. Stone tonight at eight.”
Wrinkles formed around Martin’s forehead as he unfolded the paper
again.
“Don’t bother looking at the schedule,” I said. “It’s not on there.”
He muttered a curse word.
“I’m sorry to do this to you, but I need these two hours to practice
the routine and then later tonight, we were due to go to a play, but that was
just a lie to have him ready for that time.”
“Does anyone know about these details?” Martin asked.
“Only Vivian and my driver as well as all of the people in the
performance with me.”
“And the owner?” Martin asked.
“Yes.”
He mumbled another curse word. I thought it might have been shit
buckets, but wasn’t sure. He dove his hand into his pockets and pulled out
his phone. When he pressed several buttons, he placed it on his ear.
“We’ve got several serious changes of plans. I need as many people as
possible over to the Doll House, immediately. I’ll send the address at the
end of this phone call.”
 I gave him a thumbs up.
He responded with a frown.
Well, we all can’t be friends.
I headed into the club without Martin, confidant that he’d follow me
in as soon as he finished the phone call.
I pushed through the doors. Thankfully, no cigarette smoke hit me,
just the lush scent of perfumed women. Five dancers stretched on the stage
and talked to each other. Most lay on the floor touching their toe as they
wore yoga pants and tiny spaghetti-strapped tops.
A tall girl with long blonde hair and red shorts and a matching shirt
waved me over. “Are you Jasmine?”
“Yes.” I strolled to the stage, excited about the performance.
And then gun shots boomed outside.
There was no mistaking it. Tires screeched. Men yelled. Women
screamed. All of this outside. And inside of the club, I stood frozen with
my hands out to their sides.
Benny.
The dancers snapped their faces from side to side as if wondering
what the other girl was thinking and wanted to do.
“Were those gun shots?” The blonde turned to the other girls. “It’s
twelve in the afternoon. Why would there be gunshots outside?”
My heart hammered in my chest. The whole thing could be a
coincidence, but with the way my month had been going, I needed to treat
everything like an emergency.
More shots boomed in the front.
“Is there a back entrance?” Taking out my gun, I hurried to the stage,
checking my back every few steps. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Are you a cop?” the blonde asked.
“No. Is there a back entrance.”
“Why does she have a gun?” one of them asked.
Another boom hit.
“Fuck. We’ve got to get out of here.” I jumped on the stage and
pointed the gun at the front door, unsure of who would be coming inside.
“Where’s the back entrance?”
“What the fuck is going on?” one of them shrieked.
Outside, something crashed into something else—metal to metal and
glass shattering against concrete. Men screamed. Women howled.
 “We’ve got to get out of here now! There’s a guy out there trying to
kill everyone.” I shook a little, but not my gun hand. I just hoped whoever
walked into this place was the one to get shot, because I didn’t think I
would wait to check their face. I was done with the walking around in fear
bullshit.
Troy’s death had hardened me.
Benny had cut out the only gentleness left in me.
Chase had remade me back to whole, but the woman I became wore
heels and kept a gun by her side. She loved harder and would murder
anyone who stood in the way of her heart.
The dancers barreled me with questions, but like true survivors they
kept it moving—grabbing their bags and trucking it toward the back.
How did you know I was here, Benny? You followed us? Or did you
know I would be here?
In the back, shadows filled the space. If not for the red and white exit
sign, we probably would’ve had no ability to see where we were going.
“Who turned off the lights?” someone said.
I followed behind them, worried that I would end up shooting one of
them in the dark.
“How do we know the motherfucker won’t be right in the back?” One
of the chicks yanked off her heels and pushed ahead of me.
“Fuck. You’re right.” I stopped.
I think because I had the gun they paused with me and waited for my
direction.
Did you know I would be here, Benny? Only Vivian and I knew. I just
told the driver. Security thought we had got lost at the club. And the
manager knew.
Gun shots boomed from the back.
“Oh, hell no.” The only white dancer ran past us and headed back to
the stage. “Their asses are in the back, too.”
“Let’s go to the locker room.” The blonde turned to the right and
everyone rushed after her.
Pounding came from the back. “Ms. Montgomery! Are you okay?”
The door is locked back there, too.
Remaining in the hallway’s shadows, I let the girls run ahead of me
and dipped into the shadows at the end of the hallway. Energy prickled my
skin. Not the good kind. Or maybe it was that sick adrenaline rush that
coursed through the worn and wary soldier’s veins, when they were faced
with yet, another battle.
Then shouts sounded from the front of the club. “Ms.
Montgomery!?”
“The doors are locked in the back and the front!” another man yelled
from outside.
Benny locked them out. He knew I would be here. How did he know?
He’s probably inside. How did he get inside? How the fuck did you know
about this idea?
“Ms. Montgomery!?” Something slammed into the door. The guards
were probably trying to break in. Logic told me to stay quiet. If Benny had
planned this, then I needed to act in a way that he wouldn’t predict.
You expect me to yell out to them. Let everyone know where I’m at? I
run to the front or the back, and you get me?
I tightened the grip on my gun and kept it in the air in front of me.
Edging away, I kept my back pressed to the wall and scanned the area. The
girls chatter came out of the locker room. They mumbled their fears and
wondered what would be happening next. They all talked about texting
their boyfriends and another had dialed the police.
Booms continued at the front and back doors.
No sound came from inside.
With each loud noise, I took a step to the side, moved one hand from
the gun, and touched the shadowed hall, hoping for a door.
Boom.
I found a door handle, possibly to a closet.
Bang.
I turned the knob and opened the door.
Slam.
I got into the small dark space without taking the time to look inside.
Crash.
I got to the side and closed the door behind me.
Boom.
In that moment, I realized someone else stood in that closet right
next to me.
I’m not alone.
“Hello, Jasmine.” Benny slammed into me and knocked the gun out
of my hand. It fell to the floor.
 “Congratulations on your engagement.” He held me against the
closet’s wall.
 CHAPTER 31

Jasmine
I punched at Benny and then tried to bite his hand as it came close to my
mouth.
“Really? This is how you treat your father?”
“Get the fuck off of me.” I shoved away from him and fell back into
the other side of the closet.
“Try and leave and I’ll hit you.”
I froze, but kept my eyes on him.
A line of dim red light sliced against his face, showing me only one
of his eyes and part of his nose. The rest of him remained in darkness like
me.
“We need to talk.” He didn’t smile.
I took that as a good sign. “Why?”
Keep him talking. Find the gun.
“I don’t understand everything that’s going on.”
“Maybe you’re going crazy.” I slowly slipped my foot around the
floor to figure out where the gun had fell.
“We both know I’m far past that.”
The toe of my shoe tapped the end of a hard object. I hoped it was the
gun. “Maybe you should kill yourself.”
“I should murder you for saying that.”
“You took Troy away from me. You think I see you as anyone I could
love?”
“What’s going on, Jasmine?”
“Are you joking?”
“Not what I’ve caused. Where’s your mother?”
I quirked my eyebrows. “At home.”
“How do you know that?”
 “I don’t know for sure.”
He muttered something under his breath.
“What?”
“She’s doing something.” He kept rubbing his hands together and
never remaining still. Booms continued in the front of the club, but still
the men had not gotten through.
Hurry, guys. Before he kills me. Keep him talking. I got to keep him
talking.
“How did you know I would be here today?” I asked.
“Your mother told me.”
I should’ve been shocked, but it seemed that nothing could hit me
hard anymore. “How the fuck did she know I would be here? Not many
people knew.”
“Sherman told her. He said he overheard Vivian and you talking
about doing something with a strip club to surprise Chase.”
“What?”
“He walked in on you both in the hotel in London, smoking and
talking about surprising Chase with a dance, and that it would be in
Miami. It was an off chance that you would actually do it, but I headed
straight to Miami and put guys in all of the strip clubs in the city. Days
later the call came from Vivian to the Doll House.”
“Now, you and Mom are working together?”
“I don’t know. She gave me all the information to find Chase and
you.”
I swallowed all the hope I’d had left. “And now what?”
“I don’t know.” In a sudden moment he hit the top of his head over
and over. “Why? Why?”
I edged away from him. “Why what?”
“Why did she tell me?”
Bang.
The men continued to knock at the door outside, and Benny kept
hitting his own head.
Bang.
“Ms. Montgomery!” the guards yelled. “If you’re by the door, stand
back.”
Shots boomed next.
 I should’ve had my mind on escaping, but it left and went to Benny’s
statements. Mom told Benny where I would be, with the understanding
that he might kill me just like he’d did it to Troy. I looked up at him.
“What did Mom say when she talked to you?”
“What?” Benny stopped hitting himself.
“What else did she say? How did the call go?”
“She answered. I told her that I wanted to know where she was. She
said that it wasn’t my business. I told her that she didn’t want me to have
to spend energy searching for her because if I did, I wouldn’t be nice. Then
she sounded real scared for a few seconds. Told me she loved me. Said all
these things about us.”
Vomit threatened to come out of my mouth. These were my parents
—two sociopaths plotting together and it all made me sick.
“She told me that she would help me kill Chase,” Benny said. “She
was mad that he was treating her like a second class citizen.”
“That’s what she said?” I asked.
“Those exact words. And then she gave me the information.”
More shooting sounded far off in the club, but it seemed they still
hadn’t opened the door.
“Don’t worry about Chase’s men getting in here,” Benny said. “I
bought this club up and had the doors reinforced with ones similar to what
you would see in the Pentagon. We have time to talk.”
I’ll have to save myself. I’ll have to kill him. I can do it. I can ….
I gulped in fear. “But you’re wondering why Mom has been so
cooperative, when recently she’d been working with Chase out of
nowhere?”
“Yes.”
Talk to him. I can talk my way out of it.
The closet closed in on me even more as I stood next to him and tried
my best to talk my way out of dying in his hands. He scared the shit out of
me, and he’d earned my fear. But, I had to get out of here alive. I would
walk out. Benny would leave in a body bag.
“She put Chase and me together,” I said. “Did you know that? She
got the garden party invitation from your apartment and brought it up to
Vivian. We’re together because of her. How long do you think she has been
plotting Chase and me? How far do you think her planning has gone back?
I bet she wanted us in the closet right now.”
 “She’s a fucking spider and her web goes on and on.” He leaned away
from me.
“Let’s leave the closet.”
“No.” He began rubbing those hands over and over again. “What else
has she done? What else do you know?”
“You already know that she led Chase to the penthouse and to us in
London. And Chase told me about your suspicions on her getting that …
pedophile in the house.”
“So what does she want right now?”
I inched away. “You dead.”
He stayed quiet for a minute, and silence filled the whole club. No
chatter came from the women. Security had probably given up on the
doors. Nothing boomed or banged.
Finally, Benny whispered, “It’s more than that.”
“What is?”
“Killing me is something that Sophia has wanted for a long time, but
she would only go that route if she possessed a clear line of power at her
hands. The only reason why I’ve been alive for this long is because I can
keep her safe.”
Keep him talking. Get the gun off of the floor. Shoot him.
It was still unusual to hear about Mom in this way. “So if you’re
dead, then she doesn’t have a big power person to protect her, when she’s
doing whatever?”
“Yes.”
“But then found an opportunity for her daughter to mess with the
Stone family,” I said. “It was a long shot, but I’ve skimmed some of your
journals and it sounds like that not only is she good at hiding who she is,
she enjoys playing around in people’s life. She thinks she’s a puppet
master.”
Benny’s voice came out in a dead tone. “Chase could give her power.
She’d been muscling him since you both first broke up. I found it funny at
first, then something about her doing it started to make me uneasy. She
stopped asking me for help. Had the large sums of money to get the people
she needed to do the things I wouldn’t.”
“Muscling him?”
Benny ignored my question. “Then Chase’s girlfriends came after
you.” He clapped hard and I jumped. “Those goddamn dirty girls of his
tried to shoot you, and I think that was when things got messy.”
“Maybe we should go out of the closet.”
“That made me go crazy.”
“I feel like you were already a bit—”
“All I could think about is snapping each and every one of those
sluts’ necks. You shoot my daughter? Die!”
With my foot, I slid the hard object closer to me and prayed with that
it was a gun.
He bobbed his head. “Sophia started plotting then.”
“How?”
“I had blood lust and she would come over and we would make love
all night in my—”
“Oh God.” I scrunched my face in disgust.
“She whispered things in my ear, after we made love. Told me that
Chase should die. He was in the way. ‘He’s making you look like a fool,’
she would say and then kiss me for a long time. ‘We have to get rid of
him.’”
I paused from messing with the object. “She told you to kill Chase?”
“Yes. This started with her.” He hit himself. “And then she turned
around and took a large part of my savings and hooked up with the boy
wonder. Why?”
“I … I don’t—”
“If I die, then I’m out of her hair. Fine. Chase dies, then what does
she get? You’re not his wife. Nothing would go to you.”
And then it dawned on me. “She didn’t consider the fact that Chase
would die.”
“She thought he would win?”
“No,” I said with sadness. “It didn’t matter to her. If you went up
against him and died, then she’s closer to Chase and getting more power. If
you end up killing Chase, then you’re still in her grips and the only one
that’s lost is me. And as we know, she couldn’t care less about ruining
me.”
“She has no heart.”
“Or soul.”
“You have to get Mom out of your ear.” I moved the gun closer to the
wall. “Do the opposite. She wants you to kill Chase. Don’t. She wants you
to terrorize us. Stop. You got us to London from all for her plotting, and
what happened? Troy is dead. Vivian will never forgive you. I’m terrified
of you. So many innocent people have died, and for what? Mom?”
Silence sank into that closet.
Sweat trickled from the side of my face.
I strained to listen for what was going on outside.
Nothing came.
What happened to the girls? Where did the security people go?
What’s going on out there?
Then Benny cut through the quiet. “I should kill her.”
And like my mother’s child, I lifted my head and whispered, “You
should, Daddy.”
His lips parted when I said the last word.
“You called me Daddy.”
And I forced down the bile in my throat, and nodded. “I called you
Daddy because that’s who you are.”
“How should I do it, Jasmine?” He displayed a sad smile. “How
should I kill Sophia?”
Being careful, I took my time with each word. “Let’s work together.”
“You would help me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m different than I used to be,” I said.
His gaze saddened. “Death does that to you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“I never meant to hurt Troy.”
A heart-wrenching ache cut through me.
“I never meant to. I never meant to.” He blinked and tears fell from
his eyes. “Never. Never. Do you hear me?”
My eyes watered. I was slowly losing it. All that careful soothing to
Benny had come undone in my chest as he spoke about my brother. I no
longer had the patience. Rage boiled in my veins.
“Never,” he said. “When I pulled the trigger, I died. Every part of
me. I wanted to rush to that bullet. And he wouldn’t move. Did he know?
Did he want it? He didn’t move. Did he have time? I ruined it all. Never.
Never.”
“Shut up!” I screamed and fisted my hands. “Get me out of here. I
can’t. I need air. Open the door.”
 “Okay. Okay.” Benny patted the air, touched the knob, and turned it.
“And then we can plan.”
“Yes,” I growled.
Benny got in front of me.
The door opened.
Scar stood in front with a gun pointed at Benny’s chest. My dad’s
friend with the huge gash who’d been in our lives forever. The man that
walked with a shadow hovering over him. He never had anything much to
say to us, always lingering in the background with dead eyes and no smile
on his face.
“What’re you doing?” Benny asked him. “I told you to handle the
front.”
“You went too far, when you killed my son.” Scar pulled the trigger.
The bullet made no sound. It just zipped through the air, faster than
the one that had taken my brother’s life. It whipped past and more came. I
fell to the ground and covered my face. No noise left my lips. But in my
head I screamed, Kill him! Kill him!
Scar shot out all of the bullets in one gun, pulled another out, and
filled Benny with that load.
And Benny?
His body did a sort of dance.
The impact of the bullets had him twisting and turning in the small
space.
His arms wagged around.
His tongue and mouth flopped open as if he’d already reached
unconsciousness.
His knees went under and he crashed back, falling into me.
“Oh God!” I screamed as blood and his heavy weight fell onto me.
Scar jumped in the closet, pulled me out of there, and shoved
Benny’s dead body to the side. Is he going to kill me, too? When Scar
helped me to my feet, I turned back to Benny’s body and waited to see if
he moved.
This had to be the end. Benny lay on his stomach. Blood pooled
around his center. His face lay to the side. His eyes were open and didn’t
move.
I hadn’t heard Scar step up closer or anything. But I saw another
bullet zip by and land in the center of Benny’s forehead.
 “He’s dead, Jazz.”
He’s calling me Jazz. Okay, I guess we’re friends. I guess he’s not
going to kill me.
I stumbled back and faced him. “I-I thought Benny was your friend.”
“Yes.”
I scrunched up my face in confusion. “Yes?”
“Yes, he was my friend.”
I glanced down at Benny’s corpse. “Um, would you like to say
anything else or are we just going to walk off and pretend like none of this
happened?”
“I’m not a man of many words.”
“Could you tell me why you killed Benny?”
“He killed Troy.”
“And you cared because …”
“I’m your father.”
I swayed a little. “Okay. Okay.”
“Are you all right, Jazz?” He didn’t make a move to grab my arm.
And then Sherman showed up as if out of the shadows. My knees
wobbled a bit, but I was fine. “Okay. Okay.”
Sherman walked by Scar. “Just give Jazz a minute.”
I blew out a long breath to calm down. “Okay. Sherman, why are you
here?”
“Mom,” Sherman said. “You think I really wanted to see Mickey
Mouse? Naw, I needed to be close without you or Chase thinking I was
near. Mom set Benny up. Plain and simple.”
“I was the bait?”
He gave me a sad frown. “You’re always the bait, Jazz.”
My voice scratched as I spoke, “What do you mean?”
“Mom used to say that little girls can make the most money. Get
them smart and pure. Make sure no other man touch her. Get her in the
books and a little degree. Any rich man would go after her with careful
planning.” He reached for me, probably to help me walk.
I staggered away from Scar and him. “I don’t even get what you’re
trying to say. I mean, I heard something, but this is not even a logical thing
that one person can set up in their mind. Are you trying to tell me that
Mom—”
 “Look.” Sherman lowered and lifted up Benny’s body. “We grew up
in the hood. You know how it is. Everybody had to play their position. A
woman has boys in the hood. She’s thinking to herself, I’m going to put all
of them in sports. One of these boys are going to have to hit it big and get
us out of here. So she focuses on football or whatever. Makes sure he
keeps his eyes on the prize.”
He slung Benny’s body into the closet and then closed the door.
“Mom made her boys soldiers. Well most of them. Troy was never no
soldier. He liked to read and learn shit. He always asked too many damn
questions. Mom has no patience for smart men. You always got to act
stupid around her.”
“That’s what you do?” I asked while Scar walked off.
Well … nice meeting you guy number two that now thinks he is my
father. What the fuck, Mom?!
“I never play dumb with Mom,” Sherman said. “She knows her kids
are smart. It’s no use trying.”
I turned to him. “Am I safe? What the fuck is going on? Benny is
dead. Scar is my father? Now what?”
“Why you think I’m always doing whatever Mom wants?”
I wring my hands in the air. “Because you love her? Because she’s
our mother? All of the usual—”
“No. Love? That shit left me long ago, Jazz. Love? Mom doesn’t
love. She appreciates you. She finds you valuable, and that’s how you
make it another day, another year.”
“And you’re valuable to her because you listen?”
“Yes, and I always remain loyal.”
“And are you remaining loyal now, by telling me all of this?” I
asked.
He nodded.
“She wanted me to know all of this?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I sighed. “Why?”
“We all need to play our part.”
“And what’s my part?”
He formed his mouth into a straight line. “Marry Chase.”
“And then what?”
“Who knows?” He shrugged. “You know what I always say?”
 “Rock up?”
“That’s right. Rock up. This family needs a queen, sweetie. Maybe
Mom should retire.”
“A queen? We don’t have a fucking dynasty.”
“Open your eyes, little girl.” He picked up the guns he’d put on the
floor.
“My eyes are opened.”
“No, they’re not. You’re just around this rich guy, playing princess.
Get your ass back in South End, Jazz.”
“And do what?”
“Fix it?”
“Fix what?”
“All of the lives that she destroyed.”
“Help me.”
He frowned. “I’ll try.”
 EPILOGUE

Chase
Kyle was my best friend from college, and very, very drunk. “Toast!”
Everyone at the table paused.
The waiters continued to pass out lovely delights.
Jasmine had convinced me to change the huge engagement
celebration to a small dinner with my closest friends back in Oshane City.
She wanted to truly get to know me, and figured the best way was to meet
my friends.
So far, they hadn’t presented me in the best light.
Kyle clinked the wine glass. “So my buddy Chase right here is
actually one of those people that are named for what they do. He chased
the most women back in our school days. Half of the college girls on
campus registered for his unofficial Intro to Anatomy course.”
My buddies snickered and chuckled around the table. A few of their
wives rolled their eyes.
Kyle’s drunk behind continued, “And he ran after them all, chasing
and racing. He had this voicemail message with this jazz music in the
background. Anytime I would call, Chase’s voice would come on all
smooth and he would whisper, ‘Hello, this is Chase Stone and I am here
for all of your needs.’”
Everyone laughed.
Jasmine especially. She even hit the table a few times and mimicked
me, “I am here for all of your needs.”
I frowned. “This isn’t a toast. This is an assault on my character.”
“No!” Jasmine chuckled. “This is so far the best toast of the night.
Tell us more, Kyle.”
“I do not remember this voicemail message.” I shook my head.
 “Oh no! I didn’t forget the message.” Jonathan joined in on the
joking. “Oh do you remember that time he got locked in the sorority
house, spent the night, and in the middle of his stay, two of the women
realized that he was messing with them both and so they tortured him!”
Jonathan roared with laughter.
Jasmine hit the table again and cracked up. “Oh yes, what was the
torture?”
“Yes!” Kyle spilled some of his drink. “They waxed his eyebrows
and his testicles. He was bare like a newborn baby. They had him
stumbling back home in a dress.”
“It wasn’t a dress. It was a sleeping shirt thing,” I argued.
“That’s right. It was a gown!” Jonathan hit the table.
“Waxed his eyebrows!” Jasmine roared with laughter.
“It’s not that funny.” I tried not to laugh, but a giggle or two left me
as I remembered that day, walking back through campus with everyone
honking and whistling at me. My skin blazed in pain.
Jasmine set her fork on the table and grinned. “Now I see why you’re
all into waxing women. It’s all of that pent up resentment.”
“Very funny.”
“Just very funny?” She placed her hand under the table. “Very funny
who?”
I cleared my throat and leaned her way. “Very funny, Goddess.”
“Huh?” She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t make me get out my remote
control.”
“Please, don’t.”
She tossed me an evil smile. “What’s my name?”
The guys trucked on through their stories as I worked hard at
appearing as sweet as possible so my tesoro could have mercy on me and
not do the thing that I knew she was begging to do.
Don’t you do it, tesoro. I’ll get you back. Don’t you even think about
it.
“What’s my name, Chase?”
“Goddess,” I said a little louder.
“Huh?” She dug her hand into her pocket book and pulled the small
remote control out. “I can’t hear you that well.”
I whispered in her ear, “Damn you, woman. Do not do it right now.”
The evil woman narrowed her eyes at me and pressed the button.
 The ring vibrated on the point of my cock. I held the edge of the
table and groaned. People paused from talking and glanced at me.
I just had to introduce toys to our bedroom. Now she’s found a toy for
me.
My cock throbbed from the ring around it, buzzing and vibrating. I
gritted my teeth and did my best to not jump up and start fucking the air.
“Everything okay over there, Chase?” Kyle asked.
Sweating, I nodded my head. “Ummhmm.”
That was all I could get out through the drumming in my cock.
Kyle returned to the long, drunken toast.
Jasmine giggled.
Get her pussy off my mind. Think through this, man! You will not
start humping the fucking table. You are Chase Stone. You are a god … oh
God. It feels so good. Just one little push.
I grunted as Jasmine stroked the back of my neck.
“Evil,” I whispered. “Evil woman.”
“Payback.” She landed a kiss on my cheek and rose from her seat.
“I’m sorry, Kyle. I really have to go to the ladies’ room. Promise me you
won’t tell all of the good stuff.”
“Don’t worry.” Kyle laughed. “I’ll save all the really embarrassing
stuff for when you get back.”
“Thanks.” She trotted off in that tight blue dress that tightened
around her body just so. I glanced back at her, the toy still vibrating inside
of my pants. Where are you going, evil woman? She wore no panties under
that outfit. A fact that she’d enjoyed telling me, during the ride to dinner.
And she wouldn’t let me touch her. Not until I put her toy on in the limo’s
backseat.
I had no idea where she’d found the damn thing. The small ring was
the perfect circumference size of my cock with a small part on the side to
adjust it, if needed.
Did she measure it while I was sleeping? This woman will always be
a mystery to me.
It was silver and barely an inch long. I slipped it on my and the cool
metal hugged the erection’s rim. My cock hadn’t gone down since. It just
stayed stiff in my pants, ready to bust, she kept pressing that remote
control.
I jumped up from the table. “Let me show you how to get there.”
 Kyle stopped with his story and asked, “What’s that buzzing sound?”
“Nothing. Talk about your damn story.” I tripped over my seat. The
chair fell back. The buzzing sound rose. “Tesoro!”
She looked back at me and pressed the button on the remote in her
hand. The toy shut off, and in that moment I realized I’d been gripping my
cock the whole time. The whole dinner party started at me.
“I don’t think I hear the buzzing anymore,” Kyle admitted.
“There was no buzzing. Just tell the damn story.” I stalked off. “I’m
going to show Jasmine where the bathroom is.”
My friends snickered.
Jasmine walked away, twisting those succulent hips. “I know the
way.”
Jasmine and her surprises. They’re going to kill me one day.
The incident at the Doll House hit my head for a minute. It took a lot
for me to push through my emotions and keep walking toward her. That
day, she was supposed to be at the caterers. Next hour, she called and told
me that Benny was dead. Days later, she sank deeper into depression. I
took Vivian and her away from Miami, put us on a boat, and had us sailing
around the Caribbean Islands for a month. We swam, fish, laughed, drank,
and cried.
I think both of them healed a little, although it would probably take
them years to be able to say Troy’s name without crying.
We cruised all over.
Then one day, Jasmine woke up and said it was time.
“Time for what?” I continued to spoon that lush behind.
“Time to go.”
“Where does my tesoro want to go?”
“South End.”
“Dear God, anywhere but there.”
“I’ve got some ideas.” She inched away from me and pulled away the
covers.
“You’ve got ideas? That scares me.”
“What are you trying to say?” She hit my chest and climbed out of
bed.
I got up with her, and gazed out the yacht’s lower deck window. The
boat rocked us into a soothing calm. I’d enjoyed that rocking. I might not
have been ready to return to Oshane City, but I damn sure wouldn’t be
going to South End.
Why does she want to go there now?
Out the window, the sea spread out in lovely waves that crashed into
themselves over and over. The surface rippled as the sun hit it with golden
light.
And then a theory hit me.
“You want to go after your mother?” I asked.
“It’s not go after,” she corrected. “It’s survive.”
“I think we should leave your mom alone.”
“That’s the last thing we should do.”
I exhaled. “What are you thinking?”
“We play her game for a little bit. See what she’s doing and try to
figure it out.”
“You understand that when we start talking this way, we’re going to
have to consider all of the alternatives.”
She said nothing.
“There’s many ways to fix a solution.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“Sometimes options are a little less easy to swallow.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Like several bullets to the head?”
“Yes.”
Her gaze shifted to one that reminded me of Troy. Every now and
then I could see the resemblance more and more. I guessed a part of me
missed the man, too.
But that look of his ...
It was the one he gave me after I shot Wendy. His eyes had grown
cold, almost completely unmoving. As if he was dead. I shivered. Here I
had just killed a woman, but Troy’s gaze was the thing that shook me the
most of that day.
Jasmine’s eyes went dead just like her brother’s. “If a bullet in the
head is what it takes, then maybe we should buy more bullets.”
Sherman has those eyes, too, and now my Jasmine.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t have to think of that option now,” I said, although deep
down inside I hoped to just clean the earth of Sophia. The woman had put
my fiancée in enough danger all of her life. The world could do without
her.
“Perhaps, a bullet in her head should be the priority.” And then
Jasmine walked off. “Are you hungry?”
She’s talking about killing her mom, and just asked me if I wanted
breakfast?
A cold shiver sliced up my spine.
My tesoro has gotten a bit harder in these months.
“I’ll grab us some coffee and bagels, and then we can talk about
these special bullets.” She laughed.
Another shiver waved through me. “O-okay.”
That was what happened every now and then. Sometimes Jasmine
scared me a little. She’d seen too much. Her thoughts had to be altered
from where they’d been. The world meant different things now to her. Life
meant more after so much death. It was why no matter what I held her
close to me.
She might’ve lost it. So what? I think I’ve lost it, too. Let’s be crazy
together.
Back at our engagement dinner, Kyle continued more dumb stories
and I trailed behind Jasmine, stalking her as she escaped to the bathroom.
“Goddess?” I asked. “Shouldn’t I be right next to you, guiding you?”
“The Goddess doesn’t need assistance.” She rounded the corner, and
I followed after.
“I really want to assist the Goddess.” I rubbed my cock through my
suit pants and picked up the pace. Thank God we were in the hallway and
far from our guests.
“Are you stalking me?” She raised the remote control by her head
and pressed the button.
I slumped into the wall like someone slammed into me. “Fuck!”
Laughter trailed behind her as she marched on. Leaning against the
wall and thrusting my hips into the air a little, I licked my lips. “Come
here, tesoro.”
“No.” She opened the bathroom door and walked through.
I growled at her. “Come here now!”
“You’re going to get us kicked out of here!” she called out.
“Let them do it!” I dug my hands into my pants and wriggled the ring
off of my cock before I exploded in the hallway.
 Thankfully, none of my friends walked in on the show or they
would’ve really had a story—Chase Stone, by himself, humping his hand
in the hallway like a perverted maniac.
“Oh damn you. I’m going to fuck the shit out of you.” I slipped it all
the way off, slung it on the ground, raced to the bathroom, fumbled with
opening it, and barged in on her.
I froze. “Tesoro?”
Jasmine and her surprises.
It wasn’t a bathroom.
Jasmine had rented out another room. Everything was done in black,
from the walls to the carpet. A small stage was in front, and Jasmine
leaned against a stripper pole that stuck out of the center.
Four amazing women stood behind her in diamonds. But none could
take my gaze off of Jasmine.
Rubies.
Someone had strapped Jasmine in rubies, that quick.
Is the woman made of magic? How long did it get me to take that
vibrating cock ring off of me?
Her body remained exposed except for the perfect spots where my
tongue wanted to explore the most. I almost buckled over and spilled out
right there. Her blue dress lay on the ground in front of me.
How long did it take her to get this thing off and up on the stage?
“Earlier tonight you had no panties,” I said. “How did you get the
rubies on?”
“They just helped.” She gestured to the half-naked women behind
her.
“That was fast.”
“You were in the hallway for a while, I almost thought you wouldn’t
make it.”
“Not funny.” I turned to the other women. “Thank you, ladies.”
They giggled.
“However,” I returned to my tesoro’s breasts, “I think that whatever
was going to happen should occur later because right now I’m going to do
some improper things to this beautiful goddess right here.”
“No.” Jasmine held the remote control in the air. “You’re going to sit
down in that chair over there so I can dance for you.”
Funny. Now I have a surprise. I took that damn thing off.
 I licked my lips. “Dance for me later.”
“I have the power, Chase.” She jiggled the remote control above her
head.
I turned back to the other women. “Ladies, you have less than a
minute before your eyes are going to see some serious hard-hitting sex
magic happening—”
“Go sit down, Chase.” Jasmine pushed the button.
I smirked.
She pushed it again, looked at the control, and then turned back to
me. “Really? You took it off?”
“You now have fifty seconds, ladies.” I unbuckled my belt.
Jasmine bit her lip. “Stop that, Chase. I have a whole routine.”
“I can catch it later.” I unbuttoned my shirt. “It’s about to go down!”
The women fled with giggles.
The blonde whispered to one of the others, “This girl isn’t ever going
to get to do that damn dance. First the strip club gets shot up. Now he’s
about to shoot her up.”
“For real.” Another laughed and high-fived her.
My shirt was off and pants down, by the time the door closed behind
the dancers.
Jasmine placed her hands on those rubied-hips. “You’re hard to
surprise.”
“Only when it concerns my cock.” I rushed for her.
She shrieked as I grabbed her.
“You know these straps are going to be nothing but rubies and torn
cording on the floor, right?”
Her eyes lowered to a sleepy cat gaze. “Yes, I was hoping so.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, Chase.”
I didn’t get why, but I believed I had to say it again. She’d seen it.
We’d been through enough, but sometimes people had to be reminded of
the love in front of them. “I would kill for you.”
“Me too, baby.” She got on the tips of her toes and pressed her lush
mouth against mine. “In fact, I hope to kill for you soon.”
There it went again. The dark Jasmine shoving into worry. How much
had she changed? She scared me a little more and more each day, and then
like nothing happened, she would be Jasmine again.
 But none of that mattered, once I thrust my cock into her wet
opening and moaned like a beast in heat.
I moved through a perfect storm.
I swam within pleasure and pain.
Falling.
Drowning.
Suffocating, and not trying to breathe.
This was life with her.
A continuous high.
Salvation within a tornado.
Everyone, no matter where they came from or what they were born
with, everyone wanted the same thing.
Love.
And not just the romantic side of love. The yearning for
companionship. They hoped for that specific thought that no one ever
wanted to say out loud.
They just didn’t want to die alone.
Wasn’t that what everything was all about? Benny killing for Sophia,
thinking he’d had some sort of partner in crime. Vivian and Troy fighting
for the truth of what they were. And Jasmine ran away from me, just to
return, renewed and even more dedicated to us.
No one truly wanted to die alone, and in this short life, why not
spend all of this borrowed time being loved?
When I gazed into my tesoro’s eyes, her love spilled out and I knew
deep down in the corners of my skull, that I would never die alone. As
long as she walked this earth, I would be next to her, following her down
any journey that sparked her interests.
“What are you thinking about?” She landed kisses on my chest.
“I’m wondering how many kids I’m going to put inside of you.”
“You’re so romantic.”
“And you’re all mine.”
She wiggled her finger at me. “Just because you put a ring on it,
doesn’t mean you’ve bought me, baby. We’re just engaged. I still have
options to walk away.”
Growling, I buried my face into her breasts and showed her what she
couldn’t run from.
I conquered her flesh.
 Lapping.
Tonguing.
Sucking and nibbling.
Thrusting and stroking.
Straps and rubies lay tattered on the floor and I held tesoro up in the
air, bouncing her on my cock until her arousal spilled down my thighs.
“Damn you, woman!” I groaned so loud the foundation vibrated.
“Oh Chase.”
“Where you going?” I moved her on my cock. “Huh, tesoro? Where
are you going?”
“Nowhere, baby.”
“Nowhere?”
“No,” she moaned and let her head fall back as she orgasmed. “N-
nowhere. Nowhere.”
And in that moment, I knew with a clear certainty that whatever
obstacle we had to face would be conquered. We’d already taken out
monsters—from Dawn to Benny. We would take out more.
Our wedding would happen.
And then the kids.
I wasn’t ready to be a father, but I hadn’t been ready to be a husband
either, and somehow she had me following her in that direction.
I loved every second of it.
“Who am I to you?” I nipped at her chin and slipped her body up and
down on me, ready to blow.
Every part of wet flesh was ecstasy.
“Oh!”
“Who am I, tesoro?” I sucked on her nipples.
“God. You are my god!
And then I exploded.
Fragmented into nothing.
We merged together, and I didn’t think anything could ever pull us
apart.
Should there be a Book 4 of the Chasing
Love series?
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