Chapter 3
Hazard
To anyone who asked, the Bloom Estate was considered perfection.
A manicured lawn. Multiple buildings and facilities.
An enormous garden off to the side. A new pool.
Even apartments for a few of the staff members.
And like the rest of the city of Fairview, the sun always shined. Rainy days didn’t exist here.
It took me over ten years to finally find someone who knew that women were disappearing into Fairview’s famous private community, Opulent Gates, owned by the Marked Blooms Syndicate. Now that I was here, I wasn’t going anywhere.
Gore Bloom, the director of the Syndicate, wanted a new private gym, which meant that the entire upstairs library and adjacent guest room would be remodeled into a home gym, with new insulation and walls, to help with heating and cooling.
As I swung my hammer into the wall, pulling out the last contractor’s insulation, I angled to the side, staring out the window at the green grass.
Even watching the lawn grow was better than remodeling for some rich prick. This shit was boring.
To get my blood pumping, I wandered over to the supplies shed and instantly caught sight of a white bikini.
Zira. Her golden skin shined with oil, and I salivated over the sight of the curves of her breasts and thighs.
But then I remembered that white-haired mother fucker groping her breasts at the Masquerade like she was a foosball table before he clicked the guillotine’s remote.
He didn’t deserve to look at her, let alone touch that pretty body.
I’d have to take care of him later. I shoved him out of my mind, trying to focus on the good things, like how sweet Zira probably tasted.
Her blond hair was tucked into a bun on the back of her head, heavy and daunting.
I strode over to the pool. Kneeling down, I dipped my fingers in the chlorinated water, imagining the queen soaked. What would she do if I threw her in?
“What are you smiling at?” she asked.
I blinked. Everything was a good time, even being questioned by the infamous heiress; you just had to look at it from the right angle.
“Just taking in the view,” I said.
“You’re not remodeling the pool.” She lowered her sunglasses, aiming those blue half-lidded eyes at me. “Why do you insist on following me?”
I stepped closer, licking the water off of my thumb. Her eyes lingered on my tongue, and the chlorine tasted like pure lust. At this rate, the pool would get to lick her before I did, but I wanted my own taste.
“I would follow you into a fire, my queen,” I said.
A huff escaped her nostrils. She put her giant sunglasses back over her eyes, bored with the conversation.
“I don’t know what your fetish is with me,” she said, “but I’m not interested. You can try your games on my father or one of the staff members.”
“You don’t know what I have to offer.”
She gazed at me with sudden focus. Even through those oversized sunglasses, I could see her studying me. She was trying hard not to be interested, but I had baited the fish long before she even knew she was caught.
She leaned back, finding herself again. “I don’t need to know. You’re a staff member. You work for my father.” She flung a hand to the side. “And I don’t trust anyone who works for my father.”
“Your daddy doesn’t know who I am.”
She stilled. Her chin curved the slightest bit toward me, losing the battle, letting her curiosity win. I licked my lips, and her eyes darted to my tongue.
My sister had disappeared into the Marked Blooms Syndicate well over a decade ago. I had a feeling this devious little heiress would vanish too if she wasn’t careful about it. She had more enemies to worry about than little ol’ me.
“I’ve been watching you for a while now,” I said.
“Oh?” she added, her tone feigning like she was bored of me, but I knew better.
“You act all charming with Daddy Bloom in person, like you’d do anything for him and his sweet, sweet Syndicate,” I said.
“But you don’t give a shit, do you? You’re using Daddy Bloom for all the riches he can give you.
A little taste of power.” I grabbed my dick, squeezing the head through my jeans.
“The only power I want to taste is yours.”
Her nostrils flared, then she settled back into her seat, slumping like she was suddenly irritated with me. I had hit a nerve, then.
“Go remodel a bedroom or something,” she muttered.
I bowed, then made my exit. Queen or no queen, I don’t beg for attention.
But by the time I had torn apart a good chunk of the interior wall, I was bored again.
The staff had been instructed not to use this side of the estate, to give me as much space as possible, and Daddy Bloom was out, which meant that I had the place to myself.
I whistled, tracing my fingers along the wood framing in the hallways.
Every few feet, another expensive item decorated the walkway.
A gold vase. A diamond-encrusted planter.
An abstract statue. But my eyes focused on the closed door at the end of the path.
Nothing else was closed, so why that room?
I was smart enough to know that Gabby, my sister, was probably dead. But finding out what happened to her gave me some entertainment. A goal, really. I always needed one of those, or I lost focus.
Once I found out what happened to her, then what would I do?
As I drew closer to that room, I contemplated my options. I could kill the murderer and have fun with it. Or I could get something else out of the killer. The possibilities were endless.
I reached for the doorknob. It would probably be locked, but I had to try.
It turned. I pushed open the door.
Inside was a dark room with walls in a deep maroon.
A black-and-white photo of a woman with blond hair, like an older version of my little queen, hung in a solid gold frame, a thick layer of dust resting on the glass.
I skimmed my finger along it, then flicked the particles off of my fingertips, letting them scatter in the air.
A tall bookcase ran along the back wall.
I pressed in every few books, looking for a trap door; in the movies, they always had secret compartments when you were this rich. But nothing budged.
Then a shining case in the corner caught my eye.
On top of a black pillow sat a golden crown with rubies adorning the metal.
A matching scepter lay next to it. I neared the case, my fingers twitching with excitement.
My jaw clicked. There were so many things I could do with it.
Sell the jewels. Use it as a bribe. Make it bait for a nice little ransom fee, getting Big Bloom on his knees in front of me.
I could even shove the jewels down someone’s throat, lodging them in there until they choked on literal riches.
The case wasn’t even locked.
My fingers flinched as I held the crown. Heavy. Probably solid gold. Rubies. All for a crown. The Marked Blooms Syndicate had been around for centuries, but how far back did a relic like this go?
A throat cleared behind me. I spun around with the crown in my palm.
Zira stared at me. Her skin was still oiled, her long legs against the doorframe. Her blue eyes should have belonged to the girl next door, but there was nothing innocent about her; you could see every evil thought in those blue eyes, like she could tear you apart and not even lift a finger.
My dick twitched at the thought.
I bowed, smirking at her. “I was wondering when you’d show up,” I said.
She tilted her head, her tongue snaking across her pink painted lips. This close and in the darkness, her dark brown roots were beginning to show on her scalp, only furthering the idea that she hid her evil truth behind a veil.
“Did you find what you’re searching for?” Her voice was cool and tart, like a perspiring glass of lemonade made from the good powder. I nodded, then ran my hands over the hard metal.
“Your daddy wanted me to incorporate these materials into the wall fixtures,” I lied, giving her a view of my teeth.
We both knew that I was full of shit, but the question was whether or not she’d indulge me.
“He said this little thing shouldn’t be sitting here, locked up, all pretty in a glass case.
You’ve got to put something this precious into good use. ”
She gave me a thin smile, reading the subtext behind my words. Perhaps she was amused.
“You better do what my daddy says, then.” Her chest expanded as she glanced at her nails. “Though personally, I’d just steal it.”
I cocked a brow at her. A smirk tugged at her lips. She wanted me to steal it, didn’t she? She was taunting me with the knowledge that she knew I was lying.
But if the woman was smart like I thought she was, she wanted to use it as blackmail against me.
Screw it. I didn’t care. I wasn’t scared of the Blooms, or jail, or death. I opened my mouth, letting my jaw pop like a tap on a drum.
“So the heiress likes to play games,” I said.
“I simply like a little chaos in my life. Don’t you, Hazard?”
My tongue swiped over my teeth. A vein throbbed in her neck, begging for my mouth. But I passed to the side, gripping the crown in my hand.
“I best get going,” I said. She was up to something, and it both excited and unsettled me. We were like two predators circling each other, waiting for the other one to pounce first. She stepped to the side, giving me room to exit.
“Hazard?” she asked, grabbing my arm. I stopped. “You forgot the scepter.”
A wave of heat brushed over me, then cooled.
This woman had gotten under my skin and made me forget the scepter.
I waltzed back, my shoulders straight, picking it up, the damn thing like a sword in my hand.
I tossed it from one hand to the other, debating whether to smack Zira’s ass with it. It’d leave a nice bruise.
I’d have to save that for later.
“Thanks, love,” I said, winking as I passed her.