For the Love of Chocolat Page 6

  “You apparently knew, too, and did even less,” she shot back.

  Eddie clasped his gloved hands behind his back. His eyes glistened with amusement. “True, but I’m more than just a diamond smuggler. I’m different than Lee. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. I just chose when to.”

  “Then what do you want from me? Because all I am is a thief.”

  “Oh no, sweetness, you’re more than a thief. Lee showed me his hand on the island. His weakness is you.” Eddie let out a deep chuckle. “Before you, his weakness was Pops. Did you know your father walked away from his chairman position? He gave it to Lee instead. Now Lee’s giving it up for you.”

  “No. He’s not.”

  “Yes, he is. He’s uncovered now. The Order is fragmented. Lots of infighting. Doesn’t matter. The brotherhood was Pops’ idea and a bunch of shit. We are men, our own men, and it’s time we behave that way. Seems you Dixon babes done pissed off Rawhead. Nasty, nasty nasty, Chocolat. Maybe I should thank you. The vampire freak has gone mad. There is no going back.” Eddie turned and looked out at the murky waters of the lake. He spoke to the wind, and Michelle shivered, listening, while taking slow, small steps backward. “Why would Lee give up all that power, Chocolat? My guess is he wants something else, or someone else. Am I right?” He cut her a look and it stopped her retreat. “See, I’m psychic.” His gaze narrowed on her. “It’s always been about you and that sweet piece of ass for a sister of yours.”

  “So you expect me to turn on Lee? In exchange for what?”

  Eddie stepped in close, looking down at her with such intensity. His cologne held a spicy fragrance that was quite overwhelming. Not as amazing as his catlike, hazel eyes with flecks of sunburst-yellow glittering underneath. He spoke in a whisper; it stroked the dark side of her heart. “For freedom, sweetheart.” His mouth was so close to hers their lips almost met. “The one thing a wildcat like you has to have in order to survive. Something Lee will never give, now because he’s obsessed with you. He showed me his weakness in a men’s bathroom, you know?”

  Michelle frowned.

  Eddie laughed. “No, sweetheart, not the way you think. He caught me off guard and took a swing at me because he didn’t like the way I looked at you.” He clapped his hands, then rubbed them together. “Turn around. Your gift has arrived.” His stare lifted, going to someone behind her.

  She did as he asked. A white van stopped about a hundred feet away. Men jumped out both doors. The side door slowly drew open. One reached in the back, and then another, to drag out two badly beaten men. Rawhead and his accomplice. The one Sasha called Casper. They were both thrown to the ground, then forced to kneel before her.

  The side of Casper’s face was badly burned. He gagged under the silver duct tape covering his mouth. His body convulsed as if he were choking, yet he remained kneeling. Rawhead was the bolder of the two. He looked up. One of his eyes was bloodshot and though his face and body were badly beaten, he still wore a mask of defiance. His mouth was taped shut.

  “What are you doing, Eddie? You know the code. Rawhead can’t be touched.” She backed away, bumping into him. He threw an arm around her, locking her to his chest. “Let me go. I don’t want any part of this!” she cried out. For the first time, she was truly frightened.

  “Calm down.”

  “No! I didn’t ask for this, dammit!”

  Eddie kissed the side of her face, and she struggled against him to break free. “Pops pissed on our code. Lee walked away. I make my own fucking codes now. So does every man. The Order used to protect us. Now it limits us. I hear Pops wanted this all along. The end of The Order. Chaos. This, my sweet, is chaos. The rise of the rogue, every fucking man for himself.”

  “Why? Why are you involving yourself in this?” She grunted when he squeezed her breast, recoiling at his touch.

  “Lee humiliated me. He forgot the rules, not me. See Michelle, I’m the one who has your back. I took care of the guard at the museum. Now I’m taking care of this.”

  “You killed that guard?” she gasped. She thought Lee had him killed. She was punishing Lee for doing something so heinous. He denied it of course, as he did everything else, but she hadn’t believed him.

  “What does Lee do besides get between those pretty thighs of yours?” Eddie flicked his tongue at her ear.

  “We aren’t killers. That’s not our business!” she said, looking down at the men with renewed disgust and pity.

  “Tell that to Bill Dwyer and poor Nancy.” Eddie laughed. He stuck out his free hand before him, but continued to hold her breast with the other to keep her pressed to his chest. She and Rawhead made eye contact when Eddie gave his men the thumbs down.

  “Don’t!” Michelle shouted and broke free from Eddie to rush toward the men.

  Both Rawhead and Casper were shot in the back of the head. They were dead before their bodies dropped. She stopped. She stumbled a few feet backwards in shock. She had never seen a person killed. She now understood why Lee made her leave before he took care of Pops’ killers.

  Eddie strolled over as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She pushed him away but he took hold of her again, snatching her up ruthlessly. She was too weak with shock, fear, and regret to fight back.

  “See, Chocolat, I can make things happen. Now Sasha and that Indian she’s fond of have nothing to worry about. I know all about your sister, the Chalice, everything.”

  “I didn’t ask you for that! You killed those men in cold blood!”

  “You don’t have to ask, lovely. Consider it a gift from me to you. All you have to do is give me Lee, and what happened to Rawhead won’t happen to someone you care about.” He turned her to face the dead bodies. He gripped tightly to both her arms. “Say thank you.”

  “Go to hell!” She seethed.

  Eddie laughed. “What is it about you that makes a man weak? Care to show me?”

  She held her tongue and steeled her nerves; terror weighted her feet. Finally he let her go. Michelle’s reaction was swift. She whirled on Eddie and slapped his face. It was a reflex reaction. She didn’t care what it cost her.

  Eddie enjoyed violence. He licked the blood from his split lip and winked at her. Then he removed a business card. He dipped it in between the crease of her breasts.

  “You’ll be in touch, or I will.” He turned and walked away. His trench flowed behind his echoing departure; he slipped into his limo and drove off.

  The others disposed of the bodies, their movements practiced, routine. Michelle found the strength in her legs once more. She ran for the car, jumped in, fumbled with the key but inserted it finally and got it turned to the ignition. She sped off in a cloud of smoke, racing from murder to mayhem, to the only person who’d make her feel safe again.

  ***

  “We got trouble, boss,” Abahti announced.

  Lee dropped the phone on the receiver. He waited. Abahti never used the word “trouble” unless it was a problem not easily resolved. “What is it?”

  “We lost contact with our boys. I sent another team out. They found them. Chocolat wasn’t with them. Her car is gone.”

  “Where is she?”

  Abahti shook his head no. “I believe Eddie got to her. Our men are dead.”

  Lee rose. “You believe? What the fuck does that mean? He either has her or he hasn’t! Where is she?”

  “We—”

  He narrowed his eyes. The excuse died on Abahti’s lips.

  “Nothing to say?” His question was met with silence. “Damn it!” Enraged, he swiped his hand across his desk, tossing everything to the floor. Lee dropped his fist on the desk and leaned forward. “Where is she?”

  “I, um, we’re looking.”

  These words, he didn’t want to hear. He knew he should never have allowed her to leave. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Instead he tried to appease her, be a different man for her, ignore his better judgment. All of it bullshit. He never should have let her go. He snatched open his drawer and retrieved h
is gun. “How long?”

  “Over an hour, maybe longer.”

  “Get to Kumar and Sasha, bring them in. That place is too hot for them now. If Eddie got to her, then Rawhead isn’t far behind.”

  “Boss, what are you doing?” Abahti stepped into his path.

  “I’m going after her.”

  He grabbed his arm. “I can’t let you put yourself at risk like this. I won’t. You have to stop and think this through.”

  “Get your fucking hands off me,” Lee ordered.

  His touch dropped away. Lee shoved the gun through the back of his pants and charged the door. He stopped when it opened and Michelle limped in. He blinked at her appearance. She wasn’t hurt, but he’d never seen her so pale. She looked almost green. His rage and fear for her diluted his relief over her return. “Where the hell were you?”

  Michelle rushed at him and threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her, alarmed by her trembling. “What did he do?”

  “Where were your men? You said they’d be there, Lee. You said you’d protect me. Where were you?”

  “Did he touch you?” Lee checked her. Besides the limp, she seemed okay. But why the hell was she shivering so hard?

  “No,” she said. “But he....”

  “He what?”

  ***

  Michelle had driven home as fast as she could. Deep in her consciousness, the horrible events of the evening were on autoplay. She still could hear the crack of Rawhead’s skull as the bullet splintered it into bloody chunks. “I can’t talk about it.”

  She pulled away and limped toward the hall. The swelling of her ankle made her hop more than walk. She hurried to her bedroom. Lee, of course, was in hot pursuit. He pushed the door open as she tried to close it, and marched in on her.

  “Tell me what happened. Now!”

  “Get out.”

  “What games are you playing? What are you up to?”

  “Me?” Michelle stammered.

  “You tell me now. What deals are you making behind my back? You were with Cumminskey. Weren’t you?”

  “You asshole!” she shouted. “For your information, he didn’t want to make a deal. He wanted to give me something you won’t.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Freedom. Away from this hell! Away from you! He killed Rawhead and Casper as a gift to me. I guess you two are both alike, killing people instead of giving a girl a box of candy. Roses, for fuck’s sake.”

  Lee’s expression stilled and grew serious. His jaw clenched. His mouth was tight and grim. They both knew what it meant if the treaty among The Order was broken. They feared it had been, but Eddie’s actions confirmed it. “That’s not fair, Michelle. Bill Dwyer was never part of our brotherhood. I killed him because of what he did to Pops. I’m not a killer. Eddie does this for sport.”

  Michelle lowered her gaze. She sighed. Lee wasn’t a killer, and she knew what he did was one of the many reasons he’d walked away from The Order. This thing between them was becoming a nightmare.

  “You holding back on me, babe?” he asked.

  “No, Lee. I’m just selective with the truth. Same as you.”

  ***

  Lee sucked down his anger with a deep breath. It’s back to the old days of anything goes. It would expose them all. Their protection was in their secrecy. No one would trust anyone and deals would be undone as each man suspected his brother.

  “He killed Rawhead?”

  “He’s not going to stop. He wants his revenge.”

  Michelle went to the bathroom. She rinsed her mouth and put a cold washcloth to her face. Hearing her cry was the final straw. Before he knew it, he was throwing a lamp into the wall. He calmed himself, waited until his anger had less of a hold on him before going to her. Beneath it all he was scared. Terrified she could be hurt or worse because of the games he played. Because he’d brought her into his life again. The fact Eddie got to her proved how fragile his hold on her was. Lee entered the bathroom behind her. She tensed. He removed the gun tucked into the back of his pants and set it on top of the commode. He stepped in close. She braced for his touch. Body heat from his nearness enveloped her. She belonged in his arms and comfort came swiftly. He drew her to him, his chest curving to fit her back.

  ***

  Lee’s touch was much different than the way Eddie held her and violated her space. With Lee, there had been undeniable security. Michelle wept. What else could she do? She wished she hadn’t seen it, wished many things. She was as guilty as any of them. She had taken pleasure in the death of Bill Dwyer and his Nancy because she thought it justified. But murder was never justified. Not Pops, not that innocent guard who saw her face after the museum heist, not anybody. Now there was no going back, if there ever had been. And nothing Eddie offered could bring the freedom her heart longed for.

  The comfort in Lee’s embrace felt safe. When he ran his hand down her abdomen until it slipped into her jacket, all tension in her chest loosened. He eased his hand up to her breasts and caressed the nipples until they were painfully tight. When he kissed the side of her neck, all his attempts to remove the pain, the trauma, began to work. Michelle was his. This she did freely, because more than ever, she needed the sense of belonging. He pressed kisses up to her earlobe. She turned in his arms, returning his affection, wanting to forget, needing him to make her forget.

  Between hurried kisses, Lee helped remove her jacket. He brought her shirt over her head, freeing her breasts. His palms were fiery hot against her sides as he forced her to rise on the toes of her good foot. He buried his face between the swell of her breasts and licked away all traces of her sweat. Michelle braced a hand against the sink, and her head fell back with a deep release of breath. He sucked her nipple through the cup of her bra as he lowered his hands to the front button of her jeans and eased down the zipper. She knew what would follow when he pushed her pants and underwear down the curve of her hips. He couldn’t do it fast enough for her.

  Their shared passion was nearing eruption when he suddenly put a halt to it. He looked down at her panties, at her knees, the apex of her sex. Lee smiled. The delight on his face and in his gaze made her hot and moist between her thighs. He lowered her gently, taking care to help her balance off the hurt foot. Michelle hissed a tight breath through clenched teeth as he lowered the zipper of the boot and eased it from her tender foot. As his fingers grazed the swelling, his touch was the balm that soothed the ache in her ankle.

  “How did it happen?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  Instead of continuing to question her, he tugged on her pant legs and eased them down first, then repeated the action with her panties. Michelle leaned back, bracing herself against the sink. She carefully stepped out of her pants and underwear. The promise of what was to follow made her move too quickly. A sharp, searing pain ripped through her ankle when she pressed down too hard. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, sucking in a strained breath through clenched teeth. Lee, her man, understood her agony. She felt him lift her foot, and she opened her eyes. Lee kissed the tip of each toe, before drawing the pinky digit into his mouth.

  Michelle couldn’t help but relax. Her stare went down the line of her body, searching for his eyes. He knelt before her, as if he were worshiping her. His fingers massaged the sole of her foot, with both thumbs rubbing up and down the center. The caress of his strong hands and soft licks of warmth from his tongue and mouth on her toes helped, make all the pain go away. She heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction when he gently lowered her foot.

  Lee stood and lifted her up on the sink. She perched on the edge, balancing. His pants dropped; she didn’t see it but she could hear it. Under his spell completely, she raised her leg and hooked it around his narrow waist, drawing him close. One hand came off the sink to grab him by his neck so she could slip him a kiss. Lee responded swiftly. Penetration came with a single thrust as the salty taste of his tongue overwhelmed her mouth.

  Michelle took half of his cock in and held on. Ha
rd, uncompromising lust spurred her on; she managed to thrust a bit so he could sink deeper.

  There was no explaining how much she enjoyed his kiss. It was a mouthwatering explosion of his love, sweeping her along with delicate probing of darting tongues. The muscles under his skin bunched, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, pumping her hips forward to meet his thrusting cock. Lee gripped her ass. He worked his hips in a frenzied, uncontrolled rhythm, hooking his arm under her free leg so he could open her wider and hit her core with each powerful thrust. The back of her head smacked the mirror behind her. For Michelle, it was one thrill after another delivered with each meaty strike of his jerking cock. He pumped harder, faster, longer, stronger, no mercy. Pinning her to the mirror, with the faucet painfully pressed into her right buttock, he forced her to take him until she was begging for release.

  “Lee, please, please…no more.”

  She ran her hands down and gripped his clenching butt cheeks in her hands as he went deep with a loud, guttural grunt. Michelle gritted her teeth, then gasped as all sensation in her pelvis shattered into a trillion pangs of pleasure.

  Thankfully, he released her leg and she lowered it. He backed away. The separation was a heart-stopping experience, for both of them, if the look on his face was any indication. His cock, still semi-erect, swayed as though it sought her still.

  Michelle shook her head at her actions. How far would she slip into the darkness that was Lee’s life? She eased off the sink and rested all her weight on her good foot. Her gaze finally lifted and locked with his. The truth was strong and unwavering. She wanted back into his arms. She limped over and kissed him once more. After all the love in her heart had been planted since she was sixteen. She’d never let go of that feeling, never. Lee was hers.

  “I’ll protect you, Michelle,” he said through his heavy panting, his lips grazing hers. “You’re safe with me.”