Chapter 2
Grace
I”d sworn off men like Zephyr. After Liam, whom I married when I was twenty and divorced when I was twenty-two after two years of hell, I”d promised myself no rich trust-fund babies. They were spoiled, and their families protected them. Liam”s father was Senator Carta, now retired, and Liam was an heir to the family shipping empire—all of which meant that he didn”t respect people; he only used them.
The Doucets, I became convinced, were no better. But as I saw them up close and personal, I wasn”t sure. They cared about one another. Blaze was a bulldozer, sure, but the way he cradled Nick was…well, adorable, and nothing about it was Blaze”s normal demeanor. He was a big man with tattoos and a gruffness that didn”t say softie inside; it said hard as nails. He was one hell of a sax player and, apparently, very much in love with his fiancée.
Gaia Doucet was a softie, and her husband was hot as hell. I remembered him and Zephyr from school. They were thick as thieves. I”d always had a crush on Zephyr. Most girls in the parish did. I”d hated that he had sex with my best friend Sheryl, and I became incensed when I discovered that he”d gone blabbing to his moron friends about it. I called him names and kneed him in his jewels. I was sure the cops would come get me for assault. They never did, and I got busy because Mama died. I moved to Sacramento to live with my aunt. It was better than foster homes, but not by much. My aunt was a serial dater of assholes and was either falling in love or having her heart broken. It was like living with a teenager who needed Adderall to calm down.
I worked my ass off and got into UCLA and never looked back. My aunt now lived in Portland with her latest fling. She called me when she needed money, and I sent it to her. I had money.
I”d made sure Liam paid for his sins against me—that was the one thing I took from him. It wasn”t nearly enough, but that was the best I could do. I liked the money. It gave me security. It allowed me to feel clean after two years of abuse.
I”d promised myself never again, and here I was with Zephyr Doucet”s hand on my thigh and liking it. Hell, that hand had been inside me.
He was a handsome son of a bitch. And stuck his dick into anything and everything. According to the grapevine, he had a long-term mistress, Angela, whom we went to elementary school. She dropped out somewhere down the line and became a prostitute. NOPD knew to call Zephyr if Angela was arrested, and he showed up to bail her out along with the family lawyer, Henri Allard.
I was probably going to get a disease if I let his dick anywhere near me. What the hell was wrong with me? I removed his hand from my thigh, feeling like a fool. Another rich asshole who fucked around. I couldn”t imagine Zephyr being abusive. He seemed like such a charming and fun-loving man. But then, so had Liam when I first met him.
My therapist had told me that I”d always carry the trauma—but it didn”t have to define me.
”Now, I need to talk about BBH shit,” Blaze said. ”Grace, this is when either you stay, or you leave.”
”What does that mean?” I asked.
”It means that if you stay, you”re with us, and if you leave, no hard feelings,” Zephyr explained.
”I”m an officer of the court,” I clarified. ”I”m not your personal lawyer like Mr. Allard here.”
”I know, darlin”, and that”s why I”m telling ya that you can leave. I”d prefer if you didn”t ”cause we need your help.” Blaze was rough, not just around the edges, and he reeked of honesty.
”Mr. Allard, would you be comfortable with an ADA being here?” I asked him point blank.
”No,” Henri replied promptly. ”But Nick says we can trust you. The situation is already fucked with two NOPD detectives in the fold; what”s an ADA?”
”Could be the difference between going to prison or not?” I snapped.
”Honey, ain”t no one goin” to prison, sha,” Nick grinned.
Blaze kissed her, and I felt something run through me that felt a lot like longing. I”d love to have a man hold me the way he held her. A man like Rome, who let his wife have her feet on his lap while he was massaging absently.
”We don”t have a case on the books,” I offered.
I should leave. I knew that, but…I wanted to stay. There was something about these damn Doucets that made me want to be part of their close-knit circle—the outsider who sought acceptance.
”No,” Henri confirmed. ”The show is yours, Blaze.”
Rome raised his hand, and we all turned to look at him. ”Grace, I got nothin” against you, ma chérie, but this is BBH business. Z? I”m sorry, man.”
I felt like something struck me. Just for a second, there, I was part of something. I understood. Of course, I did. I got up.
”Sit your ass down, Grace.” Zephyr took my hand and yanked me down. ”Don”t be an asshole, Rome. She helped us with the whole Zakone situation. I trust her.”
Trust me? He didn”t even know me. And I hadn”t done much. Vory Zakone had shot Blaze, while Ash and Nick had chased him through the Mardi Gras parade. Ash had taken him down after getting hurt himself. I”d made sure the IA investigation moved quickly by making it clear there would be no prosecution of Ash or Nick and that NOPD had acted in an exemplary manner. I got a lot of points from the NOPD for that, which was a relief because I”d gained a reputation for being a tight-assed bitch since I came to New Orleans.
”I don”t want to cause—”
”Alina Volkov approached Blaze,” Zephyr filled in. ”She”s the one who hired Vory Zakone according to…sources.”
Blaze chuckled. ”Alina wants me to allow VK Corporation, owned by Anatoly Volkov and Ivan Kuznetsov, to continue to launder money through BBH.”
I gasped. ”What? Did she say that to you?”
”Nah, she ain”t dumb. She mentioned somethin” about bein” friends and shit like that.”
”Do you know if this outfit is under investigation?” My forehead furrowed with concern.
”Yeah, the Feds are looking into them, which is why BBH ended our partnership with the company when we dissolved our Huntsville subsidiary,” Rome informed her.
”What does this VK Corporation do…legally?” I asked.
”They say they”re into real estate and logistics,” Rome offered.
”But they”re the Russian mob.” Blaze nuzzled Nick”s neck as he spoke as if he were soaking her in, gaining his energy from her. She kissed his forehead, and he smiled; holy hell, the man was sinful when he smiled.
”You ogling my brother, Little Tempest?” Zephyr whispered.
I jerked, embarrassed. ”No. Just thinking.” I cleared my throat. ”So, what do you want to do?”
”I want them to think we”re working with them to find out who the fuck is running this circus.” Zephyr leaned back. ”Which is why I wanted you to stay.”
Rome gave out a bark of laughter. ”Fils de pute.” Son of a bitch. ”No one”s using my company as bait.”
”Blaze is a board member,” Zephyr pointed out.
”Me too.” Gaia raised her hand.
”I want Zephyr to join,” Blaze added.
Rome sighed. ”At this rate, I”m just giving all my shares away to your fuckin” family, Calla Lily.”
”Our family, mon roi.” She smiled broadly.
The intimacy of them using endearments in front of everyone made me uncomfortable like I was looking into a private scene, but no one else seemed to notice. He called her Calla Lily, and she called him her king. I knew their story. They were high school sweethearts who”d broken up and now were back together again. Rome Decuir was polished now, unlike Blaze, but I had a feeling he was just as much of a thug as his brother-in-law.
Zephyr, on the other hand, looked like the chill jazz musician who lived his life by letting the good times roll. I couldn”t place this family. Liam”s family had been so formal. Nothing like this ease with each other. Lots of hugging and kissing. Lots of touching.
”I have a couple of years before I retire, so I”d prefer to not end up in prison before that,” Miss Matty announced. ”Even though I love y”all.”
”Oh, Miss Matty, that would never happen,” Zephyr said seriously. ”But if it did, I”d make sure you”re stocked with all the crochet you can manage in your prison cell.”
”You”re all heart, Mr. Doucet,” she teased.
”I think it”s a bad idea,” Henri spoke up. ”Whatever y”all are thinkin”, it”s a bad idea. May I remind you all that Rufus Stark, your mother”s husband, was murdered, fucking execution-style? There have been attempts on the lives of Rome, Gaia, Blaze, Hugo…and Nick. And let”s not forget Yves was murdered.”
Ash leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his neck, supporting him. ”Speaking of murder. Last time someone went missing, it was Rufus, and he was found with two bullets in his skull in the bayou. Do we need to keep an eye out for Camille as well?”
”Where could she be?” I asked no one in particular.
”She didn”t say anything to me, but she was frightened, and I wouldn”t be surprised if she”s hiding,” Henri said when everyone turned to look at him.
I wondered if Henri was having an affair with Camille. I”d seen them together at the mayor”s Masquerade Ball, arm in arm. It had been a good party until someone killed a woman who had been dressed similarly to Camille—and had been wearing the exact same mask. The police were going with the theory that Zakone meant to kill Camille and pushed the wrong woman to her death in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton.
”Where would she hide? Y”all know her, what do you think?” I looked around the room.
”I hope she”s dead,” Rome muttered.
”I want her alive,” Zephyr said bitterly, ”so she can live a long life behind bars. I don”t think orange is her color.”
I wasn”t surprised exactly that Camille”s kids had a problem with her—that was an open secret, and she deserved the venom in their tone.
”So, let me get this straight” — I put all the information that I”d just received together — ”you want to run a sting operation to bring VK Corporation down?”
”Yeah,” Blaze said.
”And you also want to make sure you get Camille for hiring assassins to try to kill her own children,” I added.
”This is going to be a clusterfuck,” Ash groaned.
”I don”t recommend it,” Henri warned.
I looked at my nails. I”d had them painted burgundy the last time I was at the salon. ”Nick, Ash, will your captain let you work on this?” I asked.
”If the DA”s office makes a request.” Ash sat up straight.
I nodded. ”Let me talk to my boss and let”s figure this out. In the meantime, I think we should put out an APB for Camille Doucet.”
”No,” Henri cried out. ”That will be a scandal, and the Doucets don”t need anymore.”
I turned to look at Zephyr, who put his hand back on my thigh and smiled warmly at me.
”Fine,” I relented.
”That”s my Little Tempest,” he crooned softly so only I could hear him. Little Tempest? Now I have a nickname. As much as I wanted to resent it, I couldn”t. It made me feel good. Liked. Appreciated. Seen.
”If we do this, we have to be careful and keep it to the people in this room and maybe a few other key people.” I pulled out my phone to look at my calendar for the next week. ”And you need to agree that a lot about this operation will be on a need-to-know basis. Not everyone will know everything.”
”Except you?” Zephyr challenged me.
”Yes, and probably the detectives here.”
”Deal.” Blaze rested his chin on his fiancée”s shoulder.
I knew he said that so quickly because Nick would be part of such a task force. The Doucets trusted her. She was one of them. As was Ash and apparently, the delicious Dr. Gabe Santana.
I was getting excited. A RICO case that could bring the Russian mob down was exactly what I needed to take my career to the next level. Maybe being friends with Doucet was not as bad as I thought it would be.
I got an orgasm, the best I”d ever had, and a juicy high-profile case.