Motown Breakdown (Motown Down #4) (4 page)

Crews, the panty sniffer, wasn’t completely brain dead. After coffee and a lot of dirty looks he reluctantly took me back home. If you understood where I lived it wouldn’t shock you to know Frank was exactly where we left him. With no room for argument, I ordered him over to his apartment while I sat in mine, trying to get my head straight. I needed him as far away from me as possible when I made this call. Like I had told him, I had loyalty to my family and he knew too much as it was.

Dialing Shade, I closed my eyes hoping this headache would go the hell away but also knowing I was never that lucky.

“Luna, baby,” he purrs in greeting. Women would find Shade the ultimate male in looks and charm. I, however, have been witness to him killing, stealing, lying to protect his own ass
and
mine. He was deadliest human I’ve ever encountered outside of Marco, completely stone cold. He never asked, only took. Shade did not apologize or know remorse. He knew business and handling me. And I was going to marry him for the greater good, our greater good.

“A heads up about Frank wouldn’t have been remiss,” I say with pure frustration. “Did you order him to bring me back?”

“What are you talking about? I sent him to make sure you were safe. He was to stay out of your way. I did not send him to bring you back,” he says. Add honesty to the minus column because he cannot tell the truth. Okay fine, so I can’t either but that wasn’t the point… The bulk of the time we were fairly honest with each other, at least with shit like this. “Where is he now?”

“He’s temporarily cooling his heels in my hallway,” I explain.

“Is that so?”

“It is,” I confirm. “He wasn’t exactly asking me to leave nicely when he was kicking my ass.”

When Shade went silent that meant people would die. In this case, he wouldn’t be granted the luxury. My abductor/neighbor beat him to the preverbal punch. “This was Marco’s work. I will handle him personally.” He promises me and I will say this, he did keep his promises.

“No need,” I tell him. “My neighbor walked up on it and shot him in the head for you.” If I was a bad ass killer like Shade I could have said I’d done it and that would be that. But I’m not a killer so I gave him a half truth. The full truth would get Crews killed and I liked him alive, for now.

“Saves me the trouble then,” he says evenly. “Did he mark you?” Because yeah, in my world, that’s a no-no… Except Marco marked me all the fucking time, he just avoided my face where Shade could see it. Little did he know Shade was well aware, always had been too. Tick tock goes the clock and all that.

“Outside of a busted nose, two black eyes and some missing hair I’m fine.”

More silence.

“Shade, I thought he was going to…” I whisper in true fear. “I really thought this was it, that Marco sent him to kill me. Is it fucked up that I’d rather Marco be the one to do it?”

“His death belonged to me, like Marco belongs to me,” he growls then sighs. “It seems I owe this neighbor.” Shade also had more mood swings than ten women, at once.

“Forget the neighbor, can you send someone over to take care of it please? Dead bodies ruin my feng shui vibe.”

“Baby,” he says regaining his calm. I knew what he’d say next, something like
I was worried this would happen
.

“Don’t,” I stop him. “I’m okay and like you said, this is the safest place for me to be right now.”

“I worry about your role in this game, Luna. The shit with Monarch is coming to a head and while he is no threat to you, Marco very much is. He used my own man against me, against you. Don’t go out of your way to piss him off. Both of our roles are dangerous, remember that.”

Hanging up on me, I drop the phone in my lap asking myself, how could I forget? Marco made it a point to remind me this taste of freedom was just that, a taste. I won’t lie, I like the taste of freedom and it beat the taste of blood but would it kill Shade to consider what this was costing me? To be fair, we didn’t do the ‘feelings’ thing. Both of us had a part to play and me whining about my part wouldn’t change the situation anyway. For a long time, I thought I was born to be something more. But Marco taught me at the ripe old age of thirteen that I could take a hit. And since then, the hits just keep on coming.

“I can’t believe you’re marrying this guy,” Crews says from the door.

“I wasn’t asked what I wanted,” Which was true.  “I was told how it was going to be.” Not true. Shade had asked me before approaching Marco with a marriage appeal. At that time, I was eighteen and getting beaten on a daily basis. Marriage seemed like the smarter less painful way to go.

“He has people watching you? He doesn’t trust you, is that it?”

“It’s a long story,” I mumble and decided to give him the partial truth. “Basically, there’s a war going on that Shade doesn’t want me anywhere close to. He proposed living on my own for a while which I wasn’t going to turn down since I’ve never been on my own before. This way he could focus on what needed to be done without worrying about me.” Or my father trying to kill me, but I left that part out.  I owed Shade for this taste of freedom and I was paying it back with less frequent beatings from Marco and eternal vows to him. A little steep in my opinion but I’d worry about that later. Frank was sent for two reasons: To protect me from Marco and to keep Shade in the loop
about
Marco. Except Frank was a miscalculation, wasn’t he?

“How old are you?” he asks coming to sit next to me.

“Twenty-two,” I whisper feeling much older than that.

“Christ,” he groans. “I could be your father.”

“Should I call you daddy then?”

“You’re feisty, mama, I’ll give you that. Shade will never get bored with his wife.”

“If I make it to the wedding,” I mumble feeling pathetic about my life.

“Care to explain?”

“No,” I tell him looking away. “I don’t talk to strangers.”

He smiles at that, which was nice. Crews had a decent smile; oh, and he wasn’t insane. This ups him in my book. “Word is your father adores you. There’s gotta be a way out for you.”

“There is,” I tell him moving away and proud of myself for not snorting at the thought of Marco adoring me. “But it will never happen.”

“What is it?” he asks following me.

“A male would have to challenge Shade to win me.”

“You are fucking shitting me,” he grounds out.

“Afraid not,” I shrug. “And since every guy that comes within touching distance dies…”

“Mama,” he whispers reaching for me. Having had enough of his
poor Luna
looks, I move out of touching distance in favor of my bedroom. “You should have stayed out of my world, Crews,” I say from the door. “No one makes it out alive. Lock up on your way out.”

Sealing myself off from him, I crawl on to my bed wondering what was worse? Crews thinking my father adored me or the look on his face when he realizes why he doesn’t; right before his head is blown off.

While I freely admit to not understanding her world, I did understand loyalty. What I didn’t get was why when an opportunity presented itself to rid her of the likes me of me; she didn’t take it. Not only that, she pinned the swollen nose and black eyes on a dead man.  I didn’t like that she had to lie for me, for herself. I didn’t like that she was so God damn good at it either. Adding to the list of things I did not like, I was very disturbed to find her curled up in another ball. No, I didn’t belong in her bedroom and I wasn’t invited but I owed her an apology, fuck that, several.

Luna did not seek me out to help with my cause, I forced her and the more of her I get to see it’s obvious she’s spent her life doing shit she’d rather not do.  Reaching for her, I stroke her back then tell her, “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I’ll be fine,” she says softly not shrugging off my touch.

“Her name is Evie,” I tell her. “She was taken about nine months ago; I’ve been trying to find her ever since.”

“You love her,” she says rolling to face me and I keep my hand on her bare arm.

“I do.”

“Okay,” she says softly. “How do you know she was taken?”

“Two of her friends went with her to your father’s place,” I explain. “Both admit to being too scared to follow through but they watched her go in and made it clear she never came back out. Cops won’t help me, fuck, they
can’t
help me. You’re the only one who can.”

“You love her enough to sacrifice your life for hers?” she asks in a soft voice and I don’t meet her eyes because the bruises triple my guilt. In my life I have never put my hands on a woman and my conscience didn’t give one shit if it was an accident or not. Proof that I hurt her was right there on her face and it was killing me.

“Yeah.”

Seeming satisfied with that, she sits up and was about to speak when there was a knock on the door. “Stay here and don’t make a sound,” she says throwing a robe on and leaving the room. Doing as she said, I didn’t leave the room but I stayed by the door. It was the cleanup crew, letting her know Frank was taken care of. Thanking them, I heard her chain the door before coming back to me.

Sitting on her bed she looked older, tired and resigned. I didn’t like it at all. Crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap she looks out the window before speaking. “I could be called home anytime. I’m just selfish enough that I won’t give up what limited time I have for you, or Evie. Wherever she is, whatever happened to her is already bought and paid for.”

“Luna,” I interrupt but when she turns to face me, I shut my mouth.

“The second she walked through those doors her fate was decided, Crews. You need to come to terms with the fact that getting her
back
isn’t an option. Like I said, I’ll help you but I’ve gotta do me while I can.  I’ll help when I go back and not a moment sooner. That’s my offer, take it or leave it.”

“
Her fate was decided…
what the fuck does that mean? The whole God damn point of any of this was to trade you and get her back!”

“Simple,” she says shutting down on me. “She was either placed with a proper match, passed around, or executed. Ergo; no getting her back because she is no longer your Evie. And using me to get anything is just plain fucking dumb.” Swallowing that piece of info back before I got sick, I changed the subject and asked about her.

“What happens to you when you go back?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she says looking away.

“It matters to me, mama.”

“Well, it shouldn’t matter to you,” she says pushing me away. “Focus on Evie, not me. My future is already decided.”

“According to you, there is no Evie to even focus on so where in the fuck does that leave me?”

“At my mercy, Crews,” she says evenly. “So don’t fucking push me right now.”

Not saying another word, I left her room locking up on my way out. I could have gone back to my house, but I wanted to be across the hall, in case she needed me. Fuck, not true. I wanted to be there because I knew she needed me, the same fucking way I needed her.

When Crews left, I finished my pity party then took a shower. My hair required real product, not dollar store quality. Men might not need the good stuff but my hair demanded it. According to Marco, my mother had hair like mine but she was a pro with it, took pride in it. Me, not so much… Dressing for work, I was about to grab a banana and bolt when my phone rang. It didn’t ring much but when it did, it was rarely good news.