Renee 3 Page 9

  Renee’s eyes rotated to Calloway, who was mashed deep in a corner of her living room between the patio door and fireplace. For four days, he sat stationed in that nook, stalking Renee’s every move. She insisted her ties with Dane were severed and her only motive was to rebuild her life. However, the truth she told sounded fabricated in Calloway’s ears. Renee entering the equation broke away pieces of his plan and demolished the security he felt in terminating Carmen and Dane. She had to go. There was nothing Jared could say that could persuade him into believing that Renee was an asset instead of a liability. Having Calloway fill the shoes of his twin brother would benefit him greatly, but if Jared didn’t see things his way, he’d kill Jared along with Renee.

  “What did she do to you, Calloway? She killed Fergus? She got you back for the secret you hid?” Renee smiled so hard and bright it resembled the lights in the room. She kicked back her vodka trapped within its clear glass walls.

  “Jared can’t save you.” Calloway was so detached from reality and mentally unstable that his mind convinced him the entire world was against him and Dane was one of the reasons for all his enemies. Renee seemed to have picked up the weight Calloway had lost, because his obsession had taken him to the brink of starvation in exchange for sleepless nights in preparation of Dane’s and Carmen’s executions.

  “I don’t need him to,” Renee growled. Like a magician with the snap of a finger, her smile disappeared, and one of her many alter egos appeared. “Keep it up, and I’ma show you why Dane crowned me queen and left you to clean up my mess.”

  It was never forgotten that Renee’s rank surpassed Calloway’s. He cleaned up the messy jobs, which sent him down to the bottom of ditches with some of his victims. Respecting Renee for her savage-like behavior came unknowingly, but questioning Dane’s choice of royalty always dangled over his head while laughing in his ear.

  Snarling and now at eye level, because Dane had pulled her down by the ankles, Calloway grinned. “You’re no longer royalty, Your Highness. You’re but a mere peasant, a rodent guarding the palace entrance and getting your hands dirty like the rest of us. You are nothing!” he screamed. The vibration in his voice and volume in his tone raced throughout her home and alerted Jared like a loyal canine to her side.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Jared questioned.

  Calloway allowed the question to settle before answering, “Just telling Renee that we’re all in this together and that there is no more hierarchy.”

  * * *

  Get to Miami now. Metro.

  Repetitively, endlessly, and persistently, Renee read the text and dissected each word typed into the iPhone. She held the phone firmly. Multiple thoughts turned inside her mind as to whether she should take the trip and kiss goodbye the isolation given to her by the couples. Some time ago, the answer would have been simple without giving it a thought, but some time ago had passed and left her mind in disarray.

  Why did they want her now? Why were they summoning her when just weeks ago they kicked her out of their club? The comfort she felt with Jared being near confirmed how much she missed the past and how she would give anything to go back to it. But how could she fly back to people who disowned her and deserted her in a time when she had abandoned herself?

  In the replica of her Manhattan bedroom, Renee sat at the top of her king-sized bed, analyzing the message. Slow, soft footsteps approached the room on the other side of the door. The termination of movement caught Renee’s attention, and her eyes fell on Calloway, who was visible through the slightly ajar door. His judgmental stare locked on the mobile device, then back at Renee. After their millionth stare-down for a total of five seconds, Calloway gradually and sluggishly made his departure.

  When first reuniting with the unstable, deranged man, Renee looked to time to cure Calloway’s displeasure with her and have it perish into thin air. However, with every day, second, and instant that passed, his distrust in her escalated and seeped from underneath the lid of the boiling pot known as rage. Exercising logic, having Calloway on her side was a highly needed move that would only strengthen her position. However, when his mind was broken and set on retaliation, there was no logic or peace working for her. So focusing on the lengthy and slow footsteps, Renee made up her mind to end their battle of annoyance and unite him with Fergus.

  Stepping in her bubble of thoughts, Jared entered her bedroom. His face and aura were less animalistic and more human. His construction boots caught her eye: same style, different pair, walking in a world neither of them had ever stepped foot in and both questioned as to where it would lead them. Taking in her beauty and noticing the silk robe Renee used to wear sticking out of the closet doors caused him to reflect on a time when his love for her was new and unhampered.

  He took a seat in a chair decorating the corner of the room and looked at her. A flashback of when she woke up in the dark to Jared sitting in her room crossed her memory.

  “If we’re going to be together, there are some things I think you should know,” Jared told her.

  Time slowed, and each person approached the set, acting as the exact person they did the night everything between Renee and Jared went horribly wrong. His need for her love reared its head and spoke as if they were a couple. Working again for Renee was Jared’s definition of being together, faith drawing them to one another like magnets.

  His belief that they were together withered Renee’s selfishness and painted dots of sadness in her soul. She didn’t need a body to fall into and lose herself in again. She needed a body to help her win and a mind that she could manipulate and program to do her bidding. Jared expressing his same mind frame from months prior confirmed she had him right where she wanted him, but this time she was not letting him go until her dirty work was done.

  “I’m listening.”

  “The way things ended with us left you in a place I never wanted you to be. I wanted to break you in every way possible, and when I was done, repair you and love you until the end of time. Your lack of commitment sent me to a dark place.” Jared stopped speaking, reflecting on the time he took Carmen to bed then agreed to work with her. “I agreed to work with Carmen in exchange for you,” he confessed.

  The lifeless, blank stare dominating Renee’s eyes said more than her mouth ever could. The threats and anger that were spewed the night she told Jared where they stood dug more into him than she could have ever imagined. Believing that they were a couple, Renee could wave it off as puppy love mixed with wishful thinking, but cooperating with the enemy was obsessive. She already assumed he agreed to work for Carmen. Tina had warned Renee that Carmen was looking to recruit for her crew and that she had recommended Jared, but him agreeing to work in exchange for her was frightening.

  She was too quiet for his liking. Jared continued speaking. “I wanted you back. You left me no choice. I hope you can understand.”

  Silent for a few more moments, Renee now understood the love Jared was throwing her way and the person he truly was. “I figured as much,” Renee said. “Besides, you were alive, unemployed, and she was in need of a team. What I didn’t expect was for me to be the prize.”

  “Why wouldn’t you be?” Jared stood and gravitated beside Renee. “You should be happy I agreed to have you. If not, she would have killed you. The exchange kept you alive. I kept you alive,” he enlightened her.

  Jared grabbed her chin and forced her to turn his way. Her neck jerked in his direction, her eyes meeting his.

  “Are you happy, Renee? Please tell me you’re happy.” He stared into her face, falling into the ongoing beauty he hoped he would never land from.

  The need, the want, the severity in his words boomed throughout her being and gave her plans and ideas of how this man could help her conquer the world. She just had to tread lightly and play the game of conquest as well as him.

  “I’m ecstatic.” Her lips folded into his, and they sealed their suicidal relationship with a kiss. Jared could not be trusted. He had worked with the enemy for his
own personal gain and not for her well-being. That deed could not go unpunished, so like him, she would be selfish.

  Brutality and passion filled Jared as he devoured her face with kisses of ecstasy that traveled from her lips down to her belly button. Losing herself in a moment of hunger, Renee clasped her eyes shut. Whisked away in paradise, Jared grabbed her by the sides and laid her higher on the bed. Renee opened her eyes and smiled when she landed on cotton sheets. His shirt separated from his body. He was on top of her. She admired the creases in his chest and bulging muscles. “Breathtaking,” she mumbled.

  The journey his hands took throughout her body sent lightning bolts surging through every vein and organ within her frame. She forced herself up, with him taking the initiative to strip her of her clothing. She clung to him, her nails penetrating his skin and her lips feeding off his kisses. Pulling from her, he wrapped his left arm around her waist, securing her position. Then, while he stared her in the eyes, his right hand ripped away her sweatpants and panties.

  He then flipped her on her stomach, her body crashing on the mattress. She quickly got on all fours. In anticipation of pleasure, she hurled her head back, and Jared grabbed a hold of her hair. Entering her from behind, moans erupted into the air like waves crashing against rocks. He released her mane. Renee’s head fell forward, her eyes closed, and her body rocked to the beat of Jared’s thrusting.

  Cracking her eyes open, she peered at her vibrating phone as a text came through, fighting for her attention.

  We need you in Miami. Julian.

  Jared pushed himself farther inside, and her mind shifted to her happy ending, interrupted seconds later by her phone vibrating in its seat once more.

  I need you. Julian.

  As she stared at the phone, her mind raced and took her back in time. There, like a movie, she watched herself as a child lose her father, fall victim to rape, and become verbally and psychologically abused by her mother. She saw her love form and grow for Julian, the young boy willing and determined to save Renee from abuse, the only bright spot in her cloudy life. They were kids transformed into adults who were taken under the wing of an assassin and drug dealer who became family and stood by their side during battles against family and friends.

  Renee saw repetitive pain, struggles, and death. She relived ongoing betrayal. Her dire need for family, and ignorance on her behalf, had led her to almost die and innocent hearts of gold to be murdered. Renee’s hopes and dreams were front and center, along with shattered love followed by wrecked friendships that sent her down a spiral of grief she’d visited before. It was the same journey responsible for leading her to her current state, where she was consumed by feeling incomplete, desperate, and homesick. These were three components that, when paired with these constant texts, confirmed that regardless of what she’d been through, whatever anger she felt, it didn’t outweigh or eliminate the fact that she missed Julian and couldn’t go on without him.

  Chapter 15

  Two Hours Later in Miami

  Hours passed, and Madison sat in her car across the street from the cemetery watching the after-events of the shooting unfold. Police officers examined the area and spoke with staff along with mourners. Coroners retrieved Prue’s body, and in the middle of it all, Madison watched people try to make sense out of what just happened. It amazed her how no one noticed her. No one noticed her race out of harm’s way when the shooting began and then hide out in her vehicle. Even after popping her head out to watch the police scan the area, no one noticed her. So much for safety, since she could have been the murderer hiding in plain sight and no one would have known.

  The last three officers at the scene called it a night. Caution tape decorated the burial site yellow and black, as the moonlight bounced off the tape that shook in the wind. What just happened? Her eyes witnessed it all, yet her brain couldn’t process the events. One second she was angry at the attention given to Carmen, and the next, her aunt was dead. Madison’s heart sank deep into her ribs and fought for a comfortable space to dwell in.

  Her eyes remained on the area Prue lay in, studying the blood coloring the grass. Slowly they inched to where Carmen had lain, comfortable and protected by Zeke. After Prue was hit, the unknown intruder approached Carmen with her gun pointed directly at her. This shooting was no mistake. The uninvited strangers wanted Carmen, and they came for her, but instead took Prue. A piece of Madison cheered for the armed woman to shoot her younger sister, but Carmen shot her first. It was clear the instant Carmen saw the opportunity to get away. She took it and left everyone else behind. There was no caring for the family who saved her. Carmen was her only priority.

  * * *

  “Would you die for me?” Renee asked. The sheets clung to Renee’s naked body, her sweat acting as glue. Her raccoon eyes grew larger than average and pulled Jared into her world. Lying on his back, Jared didn’t speak. Instead, he just eyed her, tracing her features with his vision and falling prisoner to her unnoticeable deceitfulness.

  “I’d do more than die for you. I’d leave heaven if it meant joining you in hell,” he finally replied.

  The comment rocked Renee’s soul, convulsed her heart, and severed her feelings. “I need you to come with me to Miami. Metro and Julian need me.” She waited for the verbal lashing.

  Jared looked forward and fell silent for a moment. “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

  “Then I’ll have to kill Calloway.”

  The response left Renee puzzled and jumbled.

  “If I don’t, he’ll kill us. Seeing them only confirms the alias he accused you of having the second you sat in his car. You have to pick a side, Renee.” Jared looked at her, awaiting her reply.

  “I can’t without knowing what they want.” It pained Renee to acknowledge that her past life was dragging her back in, but at the same time, it gave her relief.

  “That solves it. He’s dead, and we head to Miami in the morning.” Jared sat up. Teetering on the side of the bed, he grabbed his pants from the floor and salvaged his phone from its pocket. Punching his thumbs on the keys, he took the steps needed in booking their flights.

  “That’s it?” Renee asked.

  “What?”

  “You’re coming with no further questions? We don’t even know what we’re stepping into.”

  “Which makes things all the more interesting. Besides, what if they want to make good? I wouldn’t want to help Calloway carry out his hit on Dane now that we’re together. I don’t like her, but I understand that she’s your family.” Renee instructing Dane to kill Jared disappeared from his mind. Nothing was any longer of interest to Jared. He had Renee, and that’s all that mattered.

  Renee’s eyes dropped. The realization of her and Dane no longer being comrades was disheartening. However, hearing Jared verify why he and Calloway were now in cahoots validated her suspicions.

  “And killing Carmen with you would be much more fun than with him.” Jared grinned.

  Hearing Carmen’s name stiffened Renee’s blood and tugged at her nervous system.

  “Why would he want to . . .” Renee stopped speaking, the curiosity of what Calloway wanted with Carmen fading into a cloud of confusion. The answer didn’t matter. Calloway no longer mattered.

  “We have a flight for tomorrow morning at nine a.m.,” Jared informed her.

  Renee nodded her head. He put the phone away, clicked off his lamp, and kissed Renee on her forehead.

  “Go to sleep. I’ll deal with Calloway. You have nothing to concern yourself with,” Jared instructed. He turned his back on her, the sandman’s dust quickly putting him to sleep.

  Renee stretched her neck, kinks and knots popping with almost every movement. She straightened her back and took a deep breath, her eyes closing and opening. Immediately her sight zeroed in on the bottom of the door. Feet on the other side were visible. She smiled and then turned the lamp on her night table off.

  Chapter 16

  Sleep was never eas
ily obtained by Renee. Once she fell into a deep slumber, her subconscious would take over, and all that she tried to suppress, eliminate, and devour took over her sleep and relived itself in its true form. For a number of nights, she bowed down to the nightmares and stayed up, watching the hands on the walls clock change positions and the night lighten in color. Renee would lie stiff, whether alone or with company, waiting for time to pass and multiple distractions to occur. That was her typical night almost every night, all except tonight.

  She landed out of bed. The cold floorboards broke her feet’s fall and chilled their soles. Eerie, loud sounds transpired from the house settling while she walked down the long hall. A gust of wind titled the large picture frames hanging on the walls and swaying in the night, the line of frames guiding Renee to her victim. Under the arch of her living room’s entrance, she looked at the back of Calloway’s head. Light from the streetlamps shining through the windows landed on his high-back chair. Silence filled the room and was shattered by Calloway’s unpredicted voice.

  “I’m going to kill you. There is no escaping that,” he warned.

  “You need to leave the past in the past,” Renee advised, her entrance into the room slow and calm.

  “I’ll leave the past in the past when I put you in it.”

  Calloway’s bloodshot eyes and glossy white skin revealed the toll the loss of his twin took on his soul. His brother’s death, paired with the thought of murdering Dane, stole his energy. Calloway didn’t want to kill his mentor. She was the only living thing left connecting him to his past life, but out of loyalty to Fergus, he had to.

  Now standing behind Calloway, Renee threatened, “You first.”

  The heavy, oily, dandruff-covered strands covering Calloway’s head were enough for Renee to grab and force his head back with. She spat a small box cutter out of her mouth, a hobby she and her baby sister, Page, adapted during childhood, but neither knew they shared. Quickly, she slit a long, thin, and beautifully clean line across Calloway’s neck. His body bucked, and his hands shot up to stop the release of blood. Calloway fell backward into Renee’s arms, where she slammed the small razor deep into his Adam’s apple. Her fingertips lunged inside his flesh, his blood acting as a rosy lotion. Calloway’s legs kicked, his vision blurred, and his eyes fluttered, his existence nearing extinction.