A Lighter Shade of Blue (Kings of Chaos Book 2) (3 page)

Shadow

I can’t stop thinking about my visit with Blue. I’m not shocked to hear Cal has fucked up again. It’s her M.O. She makes messes like it’s her job. I could never figure out why, other than because she can. She came from a pretty solid home. Sure, her old man is a hard ass, but he treats his girls with respect. Not everyone can say that in this lifestyle.

I roll onto my back and lace my fingers behind my head. Blue looked so dammed sexy. Her jeans showed her curves off without cutting off circulation, and her shirt highlighted her breasts. Damn, she always had a banging pair of tits and ass for days. It’s what attracted me to her in the first place. That’s my dirty ass secret. I didn’t want Calla. I always wanted Blue, and I hadn’t given a shit how young she was at the time. The girl had a head on her shoulders. Half the time she was smarter than most people’s sweethearts and Old Ladies.

Calla noticed me watching her sister. She was always an opportunistic bitch. I don’t do lies, so when she asked me if I was interested in her baby sister, I told her straight up I was. She feigned interest and offered her assistance. That’s when the lies started, and I found myself in the quicksand I couldn’t escape.

Seventeen Years Earlier …

I sit at the picnic table and sip on my Scotch on the rocks. The club is infested with family, friends, and hang arounds for Calla’s graduation party. It was a big deal to see the often troubled teen walk with her cap and gown. She hit a rough patch at sixteen, and gave her father, Psycho, a lot of hell. With the sun down and the alcohol flowing, the kids were shuffled back home while the adults continued to party on.

The woman of the hour would flit from person to person like the social butterfly she was. Her tiny black skirt skimmed the tops of her upper thighs with a swatch of skin showing in between her tube top and skirt. Objectively, it was attractive, but she’s not the one I have my eyes on. I look behind her to where her baby sister, Bluebell, stood chatting with friends.

At seventeen, she was a bombshell in blue. Her curvy frame hypnotizes me in the black dress that stops just above her knees. She has an understated beauty I dig. I’d been sowing my oats since I was eighteen and earned my patch. At twenty-one, I was ready to settle down and do the serious thing. I wanted family outside of my brothers and that meant an Old Lady.

The King chasers got old. They were fun to dip my wick in when I needed to scratch an itch, but I could never be serious with someone all my brothers have experienced. Blue has innocence to her. All the brothers love and trust her. Treated with respect, she often babysat and was a frequent presence at the clubhouse.

Psycho believes in keeping his family close. He wanted to know what his girls were doing and who they were doing it with. Most of us have tracked both girls at one point or another. It’s where my obsession began. Last year when she hit sixteen, Blue started dating a guy Psycho hated and I followed her every move. It was then that I noticed Bluebell was all grown up. Intelligent, thoughtful, kind, and laid back, she’s everything a man could want. Her age made me wait. It sounds crazy wanting to be locked down, but the thought of her with someone else drives me insane.

“I’d say you have a wandering eye, but it’s pretty obvious you’re focused on one person.”

I look up and see Calla smiling, a drink in hand.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I reply.

“Are you lying to me, or to yourself?” She arches a delicate eyebrow and pouts. “I’ve always liked you, Shadow. You’re good people. If my baby sister ended up with anyone in KOC, I’d have it be you.”

I eye her cautiously. “Good to know.”

“She’s my baby sister. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

It’s the first indication I’ve seen that she cares about someone else in a long while. “She seems fine to me,” I say with a shrug.

“Yeah, I bet she does.” She winks. “I’m on your side, Shadow.” She sashays away and joins Blue, pulling her into a hug.

I hold my breath, waiting to see if she’s going to rat me out. They don’t look my way, so I figure I’m safe.
Maybe graduating has matured her?
It would be nice to have an ally on my side. Lord knows, Psycho will try to kill me when I make a play for Bluebell. I don’t want to say he’s given up on Calla, but he treats the two girls differently.

“At least try to pretend you aren’t stalking the poor girl.”

The gravelly voice makes me smile. “What’s going on, Wiz?” I ask.

Wizard was my secondary sponsor, alongside my dad when I decided to patch in.

“Playing chaperone and seeing what kind of trouble I can get into,” Wizard replies, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.

“Anything interesting?” I ask.

“The fixation you have on Bluebell. I don’t think Psych would appreciate it. You want to have a bit of fun, you go for Cal, and he’ll turn a blind eye. He did the best he could do with that girl. She was born to be wild. But Bluebell.” Wizard shakes his head. “That’s his heart, and he’ll rip yours out of your chest if you do wrong by her.”

“Why do you assume the worst?” I ask.

“You’re twenty-one years old. How serious could you want to be? She’s just a baby for Christ’s sake.”

“She’s two years younger than Calla, and three times as mature,” I counter.

“What? You trying to make her your Old Lady or something?” Wizard asks in a teasing tone.

I throw back my drink.

“Shit. You’re serious,” he says on a gasp.

I slam the glass on the table and nod. “You know I never kid about shit like this.”

“What the hell’s been going on between you two? I mean, I know you trailed her for a bit…”

“Nothing. I’d never disrespect her or Psycho like that. I want to do it proper.”

“You want to die,” Wizard says with a snort.

“Come on, man. He can’t keep her under lock and key forever.”

“Don’t mean he wants to let her go at seventeen.”

I roll my eyes.

“All I’m saying is tread carefully with this, brother, and maybe make sure she feels the same before you put your nuts on the chopping block,” Wizard adds.

“Yeah, you got a point.”

“I usually do. Look, you know I don’t like to get into brother’s business, so we never had this conversation, and I don’t know anything. But if you hurt Blue… I’m going to personally hand you your ass after Psych gets done.”

“Understood.”

Wizard pats my shoulder. “You’re good people, Shadow. She could do worse.”

A smile flickers across my lips. That was as close to approval as I would get from the enforcer. It made me feel good. I couldn’t talk like this to my old man. He had this ancient old world code he followed to the letter. I could never get him to see the club was changing, progressing with the times, and the younger generation were ready for change to happen. The things that applied when Kings of Chaos was founded in the late sixties were antiquated. The bylaw that excluded any African Americans was one of them. It caused issues for more than one person coming up. I glance across the room and zero in on Dixie Rose.

The brown-skinned girl had experienced her fair share of looks, whispers, and isolation. The only daughter born of an African American woman to a patched member, she stood out like a sore thumb. She and Blue were the same age, and pretty friendly. They both had their heads on straight, and grades that would take them to college if they wanted. It fills me with pride.

Bikers need our women strong, intelligent, and capable of taking care of themselves when they need to. The truth was, the women will be alone, and nothing compared to the peace of mind that came with a strong Old Lady. Mom was like that. She always made me feel safe and loved, no matter how long Dad was gone on a run or behind bars for one thing or another. Blue could be that for me. I’ve had a dozen conversations with her while I trailed her. She never had a mean word to say or made my job any harder than it needed to be, unlike her sister. Calla was notorious for acting out if she caught wind of her tail.

I wait until Calla returns to the dance floor and walk over to the table where Blue stood with Dixie. “You girls having a good time?” I ask.

“Hey, Shadow,” they say in unison.

“It’s nice,” Blue answers, smiling.

“Anything to celebrate the end of the school year,” Dixie adds.

I nod my head, keeping my gaze glued to Blue’s face.

A sweet smile lines her full lips, and her brown eyes are sparkling with happiness. It’s a good look. Much better than the heavily painted faces and revealed bodies of the women trying too hard to catch a brother’s attention.

“I’m going to go get a refill,” Dixie says.

Always an observant girl.

Blue focuses her attention on me, and I study her carefully.

She then shifts her weight from one foot to the other, looking everywhere but at me.

“You nervous, Blue?”

“No, are you?” She quirks an eyebrow.

I can’t help but chuckle. “You got guts, girl. I’ve always liked that about you. What you plan on doing this summer?”

“Having as much fun as I can get away with, and working at the garage a couple days a week. You guys have got to stop letting the dumb ones do the paperwork. Turns everything into a total cluster fuck.”

I snicker. “As long as we don’t have to do it, that’s all on Stone. Now if you want to talk to him about it, be my guest. He likes you better than me.”

She smiles. “Perk of being a youngin’ in the family. One of the few.”

“You still mad I been trailing you?”

“No, you I like. Some of the prospects?” She scowls.

“You got a problem I need to take care of?” I ask.

“No, but I love that about you.”

Her voice drops so low, I can barely hear her. I lean closer. “Love what?”

“That you see me and look out for me.” She peers up at me. “It’s something that doesn’t happen a lot.”

I see the longing in her eyes. “You know we’re all here for you, don’t you?” I ask.

“Yes, but with you, I never have to ask, because you’re already there.” Her lashes lower.

My heartbeat kicks up a notch. She’s feeling this the same as I am. “And I will always be.”

Our gazes clash, and she gasps. “Why?” she asks, suspicion clouding her eyes.

“I think you know why, Blue,” I say.

Her eyes widen and her lips part.

“Blue, come over here, we’re doing pictures!”

Calla’s voice is like a bucket of cold water. We step apart.

“I, um, have to go. It’s her day.” She walks away.

I watch the gentle sway of her hips. I’ve got my sights set on what I want. Tonight, I’m going to hone in and go for the kill before someone else does. I’ve seen more than one person eyeballing her tonight.

The rest of the evening continues with us passing like two ships in the night. Calla keeps her busy, and I want to strangle her. As the night continues, it’s finally clear to me, I’m not going to get a shot with Blue. I finish off my drink and head down the hallway toward my room.

“You figure things out?” Wizard asks. He has his arm wrapped around a petite blonde with bronze skin and swollen pink lips.

At least one of us is enjoying the night.

“Yeah, brother, I did.”

“Remember what I said.” His eyes go into killer mode.

It’s an expression I recognize, because I’ve seen it on my own face. “I will.”

He nods and leads the King chaser toward his room.

I go to my room, toe off my boots, and crash with a smile on my face. The game is on. I’m good at tracking people down, and she’s a prize worthy of a hunt.

A knock rouses me from my sleep.

“Yeah?” I croak.

“Shadow.”

The whispery voice makes me heart speed. “Blue?”

“Can I come…in?” Her voice wavers. When she opens the door, the dim lighting frames her form. She closes the door behind her and tentatively makes her way to my bed before sinking to the edge of the bed.