Page 16 of Blue

“I guess the MC has changed a lot.”

“Seems so.” I slid my hands into my pockets. “I wasn’t around before Blade was president, but I heard his old man wasn’t anyone I’d want to know.”

“I wish I’d never met him.” Her voice took on a sharp edge. “Razor gave me my wings.”

“Fuck.” I wasn’t going to walk her down memory lane in the MC. Giving her wings meant shooting her up for the first time.

Before I could change the subject, Jazzy opened the door. She glanced from me to Kiss. A moment of hesitation thickened the air between them. Kiss’s eyes were glossed with fear, pupils blown with condemnation, and teetering on the edge of a choice that was going to tear her apart.

“Come on, baby girl,” Jazzy said.

I stepped out of the way, and she pulled Kiss into her arms. Kiss clung to her as sobs racked her body. I swallowed the tightness in my throat.

There were five stages to recovery and a dark path to relapse. Kiss had made it through two. First, she thought about getting clean, and after three times in rehab, she made it through the second step. She understood life was going to feel like shit for a while. This was step three. She was going to make changes.

“Are you ready?” Jazzy whispered to her.

For two painful beats of my heart, I worried Kiss would change her mind. But she inched away, wiped her eyes, and a small smile found her lips.

“I want to be.” She released a shuddering exhale. “This time feels different, like I’m choosing, but I’m afraid.”

Jazzy kept an arm around Kiss and led her into the apartment. “Then you do it scared. You say yes, and you figure it out.”

Rogue stood at the kitchen counter and started a pot of coffee brewing.

Jazzy’s place was an open loft. A couch and chairs created a living room in the front of the loft, and a small kitchen with a bar-height table and stools were on the left. At the rear of the space was their bedroom area with a bed, closets, and a bathroom.

Jazzy was a minimalist. Since her dad and Rogue were part of the fabric of the Hellers, all she needed was in the MC. Her mom was around, but Jazzy was definitely… I’d say she was a daddy’s girl, but I’d heard her whispers to Rogue. She wasn’t calling Sully daddy.

I stood next to Rogue in the kitchen, and Jazzy sat with Kiss on the couch.

“Where did you find her?” Rogue asked.

I didn’t realize anyone other than Cruz knew I was looking for her. “At a party.”

No doubt, Kiss was going to confess everything to Jazzy. I hadn’t been patched in for long, and I was about to drop a bomb on Rogue. But I couldn’t risk shit coming back on Kiss with Jazzy involved.

“Last night, Cruz and I went to a party on the west side. I found her there. We got her out just before the cops raided the place.” I rubbed dirt from my knuckles. “We hid in a vacant trailer with Cruz and a couple other guys. Some shit went down.”

Rogue poured a cup of coffee. “What kind of shit?”

“She’s in deep again. I threatened her dealer. Told him if he ever put another needle in her arm, I’d kill him.”

Rogue paused in his sip of coffee. “Blue, come at me straight. What happened?”

“I guess he didn’t think I was serious. It’ll look like an overdose,” I said.

“Fuck.” He set the cup on the counter. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

Jazzy and Kiss turned toward us.

Rogue took a breath and lowered his voice. “Who all was in the trailer?”

“Me and Kiss. A guy named Kane. Cruz knows him.”

“And the dead dealer? Don’t leave out the fucking corpse. Jesus Christ, kid.”

“I fucking lost it. I gave him the choice. Lethal dose of the heroin he’d hooked Kiss on, or I’d fill his veins with cleaner. He went out the same way he would’ve killed Kiss. He died high.”

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