CHAPTER FIVE

JASIEL

I was ready to get out of the car and fight whoever shot at us. We needed to know who it was, and thankfully Daddy stopped me from making any big mistakes, like getting in way over my head. I knew I could sometimes bite off more than I could chew, and jump the gun, but I didn't like people to think they could just come to us and shoot without there being any repercussion.

We went back into the convenience store off the gas station while Daddy spoke to the man about getting CCTV footage, or whatever it was Trojan could do, and I refilled my big slushie drink. I got a couple extra to save for later.

Back at the apartment, he told Midas and Trojan about what had happened. It was apparently the same gas station they'd been at earlier when they saw my gorgeous face on the TV.

"I spoke to the man working there," Daddy said, squeezing a hand at my knee as we sat on the couch. "He said didn't know about how to give access to the footage, but I think if you go down there, you could grab the footage and we could see who it was."

I slurped on my slushie, going slower this time to savor the flavors on my tongue. "Don't worry, we paid him off too."

Trojan nodded, glancing at his laptop screen. "I haven't had any police alerts, so I believe that."

"I also grabbed this," he said, revealing the shell from the bullet. "Might trace it back to the Coronado family, but honestly, it could be anyone. And they've probably put a bounty on Jasiel's head too."

I let out a giggle, musing about my potential price, and whether they wanted me dead or alive. Quickly, the idea dissolved into anger as they'd shot at me and that wasn't something you did to someone you wanted to keep alive. "When we find them, there's gonna be a bloodbath," I said before returning to my slushie.

"Absolutely," he said, giving my inner thigh another squeeze. "We also need to remember to keep our masks on, even in the car, well especially the front seats, the back windows are blacked out for that reason."

"We'll head over, and I can see what serial numbers are on that shell," Midas said, taking the shell. "I think it's also time we think about moving."

There was an agreed nod around the room. I didn't care much, I probably preferred a change of scenery, especially since the bed was broken here. And I cared little for how rundown the entire place was.

"Where's Blubby?" I asked.

"He's with your things, baby."

I hadn't noticed him earlier when I went to get dressed, but there he was, at the bottom of the bag surrounded by all my clothes. I'd missed him the most. Almost the most, Daddy was the one person I'd missed since he made me feel like I could do absolutely anything, but the one item I'd missed was Blubby.

I'd had this worn brown bear since I was a child. It was probably won at some carnival, but my mom gave me it, that's all I remembered. And it was the only thing I had from her when she died. Over the year, its stuffing had come out and there were all different things that happened with him, like stains, and tears, and even a torn limb. But my grandma always took care of him, until she died as well. Then Atlas came into my life, and he was good at sewing, probably from sewing cuts up on his body, but he saved my little bear so many times, it was the one constant in my life.

"Missed you," I said, squeezing Blubby to my chest. "I hope you've been taken care of. If he's kept you in this bag all this time, I won't be happy. You need sunlight and love, otherwise you get depressed. Remember. I don't want you to be unhappy."

Blubby was a worrier. He took all my worries. It's why I lived as freely as I did, because I didn't have any worries left. Blubby took them all. He ate every single last one with his soft furry feel.

"Hey," Daddy said, kneeling behind me. he stroked a hand down the front of my chest and cuddled me. "We can't be reckless like we used to be." He kissed at the side of my neck. "And you know I love letting you do what you want, but in our current situation, we can't afford it."

I understood that, and I didn't want to blow his cover. The entire thing hanged on balance of everyone thinking he was dead. Me, being an escaped prisoner, put me on blast for every TV station. If they found me, they'd find him, and then we'd never get our dream. "I know. I won't do it again."

His soft chuckle came at the back of my neck and prickled my hairs on end. "Don't change, baby," he said. "But they're all looking for you. So, we're gonna get packed up here. Trojan is running the serial numbers. Then we're going to see who that bullet belonged to. We'll bring them here, and you can have first cut." His finger traced a line down my neck. "What better way to welcome you home?"

"Sex," I said. "Are you ready for round two?" I turned around on my knees, still squeezing Blubby at my chest. "Because—"

His phone rang, cutting me off. "Always," he said, grabbing his phone. "But it'll have to wait."

My pushed out my bottom lip and huffed. "Fine," I said. "But only because you promised me first cut." And that was exciting. I was going to use a knife again. It had been so long since I'd had a real metal knife. None of that plastic cutlery bullshit they gave you in prison. I was going to put the point of the blade to someone's skin and watch as it made a nice new opening.

He spoke on the phone, presumably to Midas and Trojan who were at the gas station.

I continued to muse about what I would get to do when we found the person who tried to kill us today. I had had plenty of time to think about this, but now it was becoming a reality.

I wasn't listening to their conversation, but I heard him confirm they found out it wasn't someone from the Coronado family or connection. It was highly unlikely that someone noticed me long enough for them to figure out it was me who had a bounty on their head, which I still wanted more information on. How much was my life really worth?

"They found the guy," he said, coming off the phone.

Jumping with excitement, I yanked on his arm. "Let's go get him!"

"Someone already shot him. Bullet to the head. Dumped him by the dumpster where I grabbed those crates," he said, shaking his head.

"The CCTV?"

"They're looking at it," he said. "That's how they know it's the same guy. The person who dumped him there was wearing a balaclava. But the dead guy has no ties to the family."

I sighed, throwing myself back on the bed, forgetting it was broken, I slipped down it. "When we find out who killed him, then we find who told him to shoot us," I said. "And I want to know who that was, now."

"Baby," he said, picking me up. "We'll find them. But we need to stay focused. The man who shot me could pop up at any moment."

In his arms with my legs around his waist, I rested my head on his shoulder. "Do I still get first cut?"

"Of course."

That was a relief. I didn't like it when they were already hurt, and that one cut was just adding to all the other pain in their body. I liked to be first. It tickled my belly with power. I liked to see them suffer, but only if they'd made me suffer first, and I think believing Daddy was dead for almost a month was pain and suffering.

Midas and Trojan were back in the apartment, they brought a roll of black bags with them, alongside plastic sheets and tape. It was looking like they were preparing to set up a murder room.

"We got a partial plate on the bike," Trojan said.

"No," Daddy said. "We're not chasing that lead. We need to stay focused. Our first target is Alonzo. We need to stick with that. He'll give us the intel. I remember him being weak, so it should be easy."

"He can still run the plates," I said, nodding to Trojan. He smiled at me, which I think made up for how I had offended him earlier. In all fairness, I had just got out of prison and those tattoos weren't exactly amazing. "The man knows something. So, more knowledge is good."

"True. Run the plate, but we can't detour."

"Fiiiiiiiine. No detour." I winked, plus, I had my fingers crossed. I had a lot of pent-up stress in me, and I wasn't just about to let that leave my body with sex, it needed another release, and I could soon get that release in the form of violence.

They continued to talk about all the technological stuff about finding the Alonzo. They had the plastic tarp sheets, ready for an interrogation. And now, we were ready to pack up everything we had so that we could move to our new safe house.

In the bedroom, I continued to go through all my things he'd bagged up. We didn't have much, since before we'd left, we decided to only have our essential items, and that was mostly our killing equipment. I had my lighter, and soon, I had my knives. They were all rolled into a bundle. My throwing knives were special to me. I was given them by one of the carneys. Mr. Bainbridge. He ran the entire operation and took me under his wing for three years.

"You're not going to do anything dangerous with them," Daddy's quiet voice came from behind me.

I pulled one out, slipping it upside my arm. "Of course not," I said. "And what do you mean by dangerous? I turned, pushing myself to my feet. "Like, no stabbing, no slicing, no—" I swung my arm around and let the edge of the blade touch his cheek.

He was completely unfazed by the action. "Baby, are you trying to get me hard?" he asked, pressing the side of his cheek to the blade. "You want to cut something? You want to make someone bleed?"

I pulled the knife away before. It left a small impression on his skin, but no cut. "Not fair," I sighed. "You always—you always stay calm."

"Because you know I could hurt you," he said, taking my hand by the wrist. He pressed at a pressure point. My hand open as it shocked, and the knife dropped to the floor. "But the only pain I want to give you is with pleasure." He turned my hand over and pulled the back of it to his lips. "Tonight, my sweet boy, we're staying in, packing up, and I'm going to show you exactly what we've both been missing out on."

I liked the sound of that. "So, we are talking sex," I whispered.

"Depends on how fast you can pack," he said. "We're turning the living room into our interrogation room when we get Alonzo."

Sex and interrogation. My cock became alert, and my hole tightened with excitement.