A Lighter Shade of Blue (Kings of Chaos 2)

Glancing up, I nod. “I’m here.”

“You going to take care of this?” He nods toward the ring.

“Yeah, Pop, I will.”

“Good. We want you to move into Cal’s house. I think the boy has had enough upset. We don’t need to add a relocation to a new place to the list.”

His reasoning is sound, but I hate it. My apartment is perfect. An upper scale building where I nabbed a two bedroom close to work, and decorated to my taste, wouldn’t be easy to leave behind. I bit my tongue to hold back the venomous words. This is for Bolt. He deserves far better than what Cal gave him. Maybe I can reach him now…one-on-one. I watched him grow cold as he turned inward and began to form a hard shell around himself to protect him from the hurt she unintentionally inflected. The thought gave me peace. “Where is Bolt now?”

“Spending the night with Rugger and his Old Lady, and their kids.”

“He doesn’t know?” I ask.

“No. I want to tell him tomorrow. Let’s give him one last night to be a child.”

“He hasn’t been that for a long time,” I answer honestly.

He sighs, and I can hear the weight of the world he carries on his shoulders in that one expression of frustration.

“She needs to get her head out of her ass. I’m not coming to her rescue this time. Her bail is fifty thousand dollars.” He shakes his head.

My father’s admission stuns me. “Pres is good for it.”

“That’s not the point.” He runs his hand over his mouth and shakes his head. “She has to stop this shit. She’s thirty-five, and I’m getting old. I can’t keep covering her ass when she fucks up. If she can’t get right…” He shrugs.

My mind fills in the blanks. He’s ready to cut her loose, which means permanent guardianship for me, split with Shadow. “What do you want me to do?”

“Get your things moved over. I’m sending prospects over to load up some trucks and help you relocate. Just the things you need. We’ll get a storage room and get you packed away when all the drama has died down. You’re coming up for renewal on your place, aren’t you?”

I roll my eyes. The man knows everything. “Yes, in a couple of months, but—”

“Good. No sense in paying for the place when you won’t be living there,” he continues, bulldozing over me.

I silently try to wrap my head around the major changes coming down the pipeline at the speed of light.

I sit in the chair, shifting as the hard surface wreaks havoc on my rear. I tuck stray strands of hair behind my ear and look around the visiting area. Families and significant others are lined up at small tables across from inmates. I feel out of place and nervous. I didn’t want to be the one to deliver the news.

Not to Shadow.

My cheeks fill with blood, and I thank the Lord above for my mother’s partial African American heritage. The tan tone she provided to me and my sister gives us an almost sun-kissed glow, and thick, dark hair. The club knew, but never mentioned it. Technically, it went against the old by-laws originally written in the post-Vietnam error when racism was rampant.

I trail my fingertip over the table. I’m not afraid of Shadow, not in the way most people would think, he just makes me nervous. I’m always afraid if I’m not careful, he’ll see the things I try so hard to hide.

Another reason I despise Calla.

The door opens, and I turn to see him brought in by a guard.

He’s doubled in size since I saw him during Christmas. My jaw drops, and I can’t help but let my hungry gaze swallow him whole.

His broad shoulders, firm chest, and long russet-colored hair did funny things to my tummy. His beard is kept short and adds to the rugged maleness he exudes without trying.

Ashamed, I break eye contact and pretend my hands have become insanely interesting.

He sinks into the chair across from me. “Not that I mind, but I wasn’t expecting to see you,” Shadow says.

His gravel filled voice sends chills up my spine. I peer up and catch his grayish blue gaze.

His cobalt eyes narrow, and he’s studying me with the still calm that I associate with him.