For the Love of Chocolat Read online

  “You were so good to me last night, good for me.” He sighed, flicking his tongue at her earlobe. She closed her eyes upon contact, and her passion for him swelled in her chest. It was physical torture to resist him. He was running his hands all over her now. She could feel a growing urgency in his touch, which would have her bent over his desk soon if she didn’t put an end to his affection. Lee captured her breasts in his hands, fondling them gently, causing her to release deep sighs of pleasure. Her mouth turned to his. Though his lips parted and his tongue lay waiting, she delayed their kiss.

  “The Chalice is the way for me to settle all debts, even the one between me and you. Get your dick hard for that.”

  She moved out of his lap. The baffled look on his face almost made her smirk. It was never wise to laugh at a man with a hard-on, so she swallowed the urge. “I’m going to visit my sister. I need transportation,” she said coolly.

  Lee swallowed. He tried to regain his composure. His cheeks were hot with arousal, or embarrassment. Michelle wasn’t sure. She felt a minuscule pang of regret for torturing him. Her empathy soon passed.

  “I’ll have someone take you,” he offered in a terse, clipped manner that forbade any objection.

  “No thanks.”

  “Michelle, this isn’t up for debate. Rawhead is serious about revenge. He can’t touch you here, but he’s stupid enough to try.”

  “I’m not going to be imprisoned. Besides, you’ll have your men following anyway.”

  ***

  Lee stared up at her. He wanted to grab and shake her. Make her release that will of hers and submit to his. But with Michelle, there was winning the battle and losing the war. Instead, he gave in. Reaching into the drawer next to him, he removed a pair of keys and tossed them to her. She caught them mid-air.

  “Don’t worry, Lee, I’m a big girl…daddy’s girl.” She turned and walked out.

  ***

  “How is it you feel softer today?” Kumar asked, kissing the side of Sasha’s face. She lay between his legs. Together they watched a kung-fu movie.

  “I should get up and clean away breakfast.”

  “No, stay,” he groaned from the back of his throat. “Besides, we aren’t going anywhere and neither are those dishes.”

  Sasha agreed. He’d gone to his AA meeting last night and gotten back late. She paced the floor the entire time. There was danger out there for him, too. Rawhead’s band of vampire freaks were hunting him, same as they hunted her. When he came home to her, she showered with him and asked few questions. Joining him in bed, she held him and thought of their future. She wanted to be with him always. But she couldn’t live this way, fearing jail or some gangster’s gun. No, she wanted what Michelle always told her she should have. Sasha craved a normal life with her computer-geek guy. Ironic it was, but her love for Kumar was the final key to her growing up.

  Kumar cupped both her breasts to keep her close. Her nipples tingled from the contact. Soft purrs escaped her as his fingers kneaded her breasts like dough. She struggled for a breath when he released one nipple then eased his hand into her underwear to finger her sensitive button. Sasha’s head went back into the nook of his shoulder, and she threw one toned leg over the edge of the sofa, opening herself for him.

  “Mmm…so sexy.” He spoke in a gruff, huskier tone. He fingered her and sucked at her neck until she was coming in his hand. Kumar chuckled over her release, and she blushed.

  “I hope it’s always like this.” Sasha giggled, snuggling him, as Kumar rubbed out the fire between her legs. Her thigh muscles twitched through the last shocks of ecstasy.

  “You and me are in it for the long run.” He then dipped his tongue in her ear, eliciting more giggles from her.

  “Kumar, when things with Rawhead’s crew are settled, let’s just go, let’s run.” She turned and faced him.

  “We wouldn’t get far without Lee’s blessing. And there is no such thing as ‘settled’ with Rawhead’s crew, unless he and that psycho Casper are dead.”

  “Then Lee will kill them.”

  “Lee would never kill them for us. Lee’s a thief, not a killer. If he kills someone, trust me, there has to be something in it for him. Besides, Rawhead is part of the elite circle. There’s a code between these men, a code that doesn’t extend to their followers. Rawhead can’t be touched.”

  She rose from between his legs. “So what are you saying? We’re his? Nothing we can do?”

  “I told you before we did the job that you could choose another path. You chose this one, my love. Nothing can take you off the road we’re set on now. Unless Lee says so.”

  Sasha stood before him, motionless in the middle of the room, processing everything. Processing what her future would hold. In a cut-off tee and a pair of his boxers, she realized she wasn’t Pops’ little girl anymore. Now she perceived the burden. Felt the suffocation as it tightened like a noose around her throat and heart. She’d done this to herself, just like Michelle said.

  A knock at the door made them both jump. There was a guard posted outside. No one should be knocking. Kumar reached down between the sofa cushions. The door opened and Sasha stepped back behind him. He held the gun out in shaky hands. Her sister nodded her thanks to the guard as the door closed behind her.

  It took a tense moment for both Kumar and Sasha to let go of the stark fear that gripped them.

  “Michelle?” Sasha finally managed, and Kumar lowered the weapon. “What are you doing here?”

  Sasha’s visit to Lee’s mansion left her with frostbite. Michelle couldn’t have been colder. After several failed attempts to reach her sister, she was convinced there was no hope of gaining Michelle’s favor or forgiveness. In fact, she had vowed to just stay back for now. “What are you doing here?” she asked again.

  “I needed to talk to you both,” Michelle announced, her arms crossed before her. “About a job.”

  Kumar and Sasha exchanged looks.

  Michelle walked through their small, cramped place. She stopped and frowned at the kung-fu action on the television. Finally, she returned her gaze to Sasha, then Kumar. “Don’t look at me like that. You heard me right. There’s another gig, and you will help me with it.”

  ***

  The office on the lower level of his home was set to the back of his estate. Tall windows offered him full access to the million-dollar landscaping across his acreage. But Eddie ‘The Butcher’ Cumminskey never gave a shit about landscaping. And since his quest for revenge left him sleepless most nights, he barely noticed the sun rising and setting. The door opened and closed. Someone approached.

  “Boss, we got your package. There’s a lock on Chocolat’s location.”

  “Let me guess—” Eddie bit off the tip of his cigar and spit it out, then tucked it in his jaw as he fished out his lighter “—Lee has her held up at his place?”

  “No, she’s downtown at one of his high-rises.”

  Eddie’s thick brows drew together. “Really?”

  “We can take her. She’s got two tails on her, but we can get to her.”

  “Then what the fuck are you standing in front of me for! Get her!”

  ***

  “What’s that?” Michelle asked, leaning over Kumar’s shoulder.

  She and Sasha stared at the screen. Kumar typed, pecked; his fingers working the black buttons on the keyboard were almost mechanical in their precision. The green and red lines on the flat-screen monitor blended, then connected into an intricate maze.

  “The green are the sensors, and the red is for the hotspot triggers. Set any one of them off and the place shuts down tighter than the Pentagon, and no one gets in or out until every police agency within a hundred miles is on the scene.”

  “Wow,” Sasha said in wonder. She looked to her sister, confused. “Why would you even consider a place like that?”

  “It’s not me who chose it,” Michelle snapped.

  “Lee?”

  “It’s not Lee.” She stood upright. “That, little siste
r, is what Pops Dixon gave his life for. This is his playground.”

  Sasha hesitated, blinking in bafflement. “No way in hell Pops got past all that.” She pointed back at the screen.

  “He did it. I know he did, and the Chalice is in there.”

  “But why? Pops was a drunk. He killed himself by getting behind the wheel and driving.”

  “I was wrong. You were right,” her sister admitted.

  The admission sent Sasha’s pulse racing. Half in anticipation and half in dread, she spoke. “What did you say?”

  “Before his death, Pops showed up and said he was clean and sober, said he had a big job. Said he was telling the truth.”

  “But he died driving drunk?” Sasha asked.

  “No, he was murdered. Pops scored the Chalice, a rare golden goblet, older than the Jesus Stones. He had it hidden before he could finish his crazy plan, and some rookie with a quick trigger-finger killed him.”

  Sasha was hit with a gamut of heart-wrenching emotions all at once. Not since the police arrived at their door and informed them Pops was dead had she been so rocked. She backed away from Michelle and the new truth. I was right? Pops was murdered? How could she profess it all this time and not truly believe it until now? Tears brimmed in her eyes, then glazed over her vision as a sob lodged in her throat. She found it hard to speak, but her voice held the tremor moving through her. “You said he was a lying drunk! You let me believe he was nothing more than a parasite when you threw him out. I told you he was in trouble.”

  “I only found out the truth recently.”

  “You knew it when he came to see you!” she shouted through streaming tears.

  “It’s done, Sasha. You of all people have no right to question my motives or any truths I forgot to share, seeing as how you’ve been lying to me from the start.”

  ***

  Michelle knew her energies were wasted on punishing her sister further, but it was damn hard to resist the urge. Forcing herself to see her sister’s pain and identify with it, she walked over and hugged her. They both loved Pops. They both lost him for nothing.

  “Pops risked it all to protect us. If he had left the Chalice behind, it would have been the death of us both. These men searching for it are dangerous; he did what he did to free us.”

  “I can’t believe he was murdered. How could someone hurt him?”

  “Pops wasn’t who we thought he was.”

  “What are you saying?” Sasha wiped her tears.

  “He created the organization hunting you now. They refer to themselves as The Order.”

  “No, it’s not true. Pops was rogue, his own man. It was just us three, remember?”

  “Sasha, there’s no time to explain. Trust me on this.”

  “No! All I know is someone killed him. Murdered him.”

  “Well, those people were made to pay.” She returned her gaze to Kumar, who never deviated from his task. Lost in some geek trance, he tapped away at his keyboard. “Get everything you can on their system: layout, everything. Whether we want to or not, we’re doing this job.”

  As Michelle left, Sasha dropped on the sofa, lost in her grief. Kumar whistled through one discovery after another. She never bothered to look back. She headed for the elevator, wiping at the tears trapped in the corners of her eyes. When the doors parted, she entered briskly, head down. In the corner waited a man, darkly dressed. Something about his presence stilled her. The elevator doors closed slowly behind her, preventing a quick retreat.

  He gave her a slight nod. Michelle pressed the L button. The 4th floor button was the only other one lit. She dismissed her paranoia. Her gaze slowly lifted to the reflected image of the man who stood behind her. She noticed his eyes were set on hers, and again warning bells sounded off in her head.

  The adrenaline began to rush through her veins, and her chest became tight. Michelle’s left hand opened then closed into a tight fist. Senses alert, she watched the floors count down. A quick glance up revealed the reason why. The stranger’s reflection gave her the vantage point to see him attempt to ease his hand inside the front flap of his suit jacket.

  Damn.

  The doors opened and though Michelle wished it were a surprise, another man faced her. Both were caught off guard when instead of stepping forward, she stepped back. Swift and agile, she swung her bent elbow upward and around, connecting with the stranger’s temple. It sounded off with the soft crack she desired. He dropped to his knees, unconscious. She kicked the man rushing in with her boot heel, striking hard at his chest. He yelled in pain as he was thrown back out of the elevator.

  Run.

  Michelle bolted out of the elevator, through the hall to the emergency stairs. She could hear them behind her. It sounded like more than the two she escaped. She didn’t stop, didn’t dare look back. Racing down the stairs, she nearly fell in her heeled boots. Thankfully, she was able to grab the railing to balance, though her ankle twisted uncomfortably.

  Michelle kept running. Looking up, she counted four of them, two floors above and gaining. Ignoring the sting to her ankle, she scaled downward two steps at a time at a dangerously accelerated rate. Her breathing was heavy; fear overwhelmed her common sense. Her inner voice cursed her for not going for one of their weapons. It also warned if she didn’t get to that bottom floor, soon it was over.

  They weren’t firing at her. Suddenly there was hope, but not much. Nearing the bottom and even more desperate than before, she vaulted over the rail, landing awkwardly on her hands and knees.

  The pain was intense. It went up her arms and formed sharp cramps in her legs. But she gave little thought to it. On her feet again, she rushed the emergency exit door.

  A gun was pressed between her brows.

  Huffing and breathing hard, Michelle held her hands up. The man behind the gun wore dark shades and a suit like the others. These men couldn’t belong to Rawhead. Those vampire freaks wouldn’t dare come out looking sensible. The man grabbed her by the arm and snatched her out the door into the alley.

  Her questions were answered in short order. Forced into the back of a limo, she found herself face to face with Eddie Cumminskey. He stared at her as if their reunion were the most natural thing. The door closed on Michelle and she glared at Eddie, confused. “What’s this about?” she demanded.

  “You need a minute?”

  Michelle’s vision narrowed on the sly smile tugging the corners of Eddie’s mouth. His dark eyes were flat and empty as an onyx stone. She caught her breath and returned her gaze to the window once the car pulled out into the street. What about her tail? Where were Lee’s men now? Why hadn’t any of them made a move to stop and protect her? Were Sasha and Kumar safe?

  “That job you pulled off at Joker’s Wild was flawless.”

  She cut her eyes back to him. “I didn’t do a job at Joker’s Wild. Who told you that?”

  Eddie grinned. “Sure you did. How does it feel to have gotten your revenge on Bill Dwyer and that stupid blonde he was banging behind Yacazza’s back?”

  “What do you want?” She backed up a step.

  “You start by answering a question for me.”

  Michelle held his stare.

  Eddie chuckled. “Are you Lee’s whore, or just a partner with benefits?”

  “What the hell does it matter to you?”

  He moistened his lips and lowered his gaze. “Guess I’m looking to cut a deal of my own. I’m into chocolate, too, you know.”

  The limo rolled to a stop. She returned her eyes to the fogged-over window, ignoring the lust and meanness in Eddie’s glare. She weakened with dread at their destination. A vacant lot faced the shipping docks, offering all the isolation needed for something nasty to go down. The bridge connecting to the city loomed out above the murky waters that would conceal “the butcher’s” deed. She was a dead woman if she didn’t think quickly.

  “Take a walk with me.” Eddie tossed the words back over his shoulder as he exited the vehicle.

  The passenger
door opened. Michelle was left with no other choice but to obey. It was cold. The wind rolling off the river blew like ice, sending chills down her spine. She closed her jacket and stepped around the limo, mentally counting the avenues to flee. Men with guns narrowed that count down to zero.

  There were several gathered for this meeting. They shadowed the cars, watching her closely. Eddie was known for his cruelty. His specialty was the way he personally disposed of his victims. She had no chance of escaping if he wanted to do her harm. Which meant she needed to play nice and use her head to survive this.

  Where the hell were Lee’s men, anyway?

  “I’m psychic!” he announced.

  Michelle frowned.

  He walked around her with two fingers pressed to his brow. The tails of his trench coat blew out behind him. “I…I…I see, Chocolat, and she doesn’t like Lee’s control over her.”

  She smirked. “Psychic, huh? You hear people in your head now, Eddie?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. It’s people or divine intervention. My guess, though, is Lee would never willingly agree to you riding around town without him.” With a chuckle, he wagged a finger at her. “This must have been all you, which means you’re desperate for freedom to risk it with a contract on your head and your sister’s.” He nodded behind her. Another car arrived. Hers. It was driven to a stop not far from them. One of his men got out and approached. He put the keys in her hands and walked away. Michelle almost said thank you, she was so relieved.

  “What do you want, Eddie?” she asked, careful to tuck the keys in her jacket pocket.

  “Revenge. Something you seem to be good at, judging from your performance at Joker’s Wild. Lee knew all along about Pops’ murder and did nothing. He broke a golden rule of The Order. Told them motherfuckers he didn’t belong on the council.” Eddie waved off his distraction. “My question is, doesn’t his duplicity in your father’s death bother you?”