Page 35 of Sins of Seduction
“I’m not.” Cruz stuffed the mask, invitation, and note back in the box. “Did the captain sign off on who else is going undercover with us?” Cruz shifted the conversation toward work, not wanting Greyson in his business.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m over here. With your relationship with Ms. Wright, Cap wants us to go through her lawyer or her assistant once we figure out the schedule on what nights and times we’ll be there.”
Cruz stood up, suppressing his eye roll. His relationship with Raven had always been volatile. The fact that his captain thought it was a good idea to send him into Lush made zero sense considering he was sure the two of them would exchange words the second they crossed paths.
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Cruz muttered as he looked down at the package on his desk. Hopefully once he hit this party, he’d have the answers he needed to find the killer, shut down Lush, and get Raven the hell out of his town.
Raven was back in her office at Lush. Diane had passed along the message that it was now okay for her to open up, but there would be undercovers in her club once she opened it to the general public again. Raven looked over the names she’d been given and wasn’t surprised by the annoyance she felt when she saw Daniel Cruz’s name on the list. The man was going to be a nuisance to the clientele, and she wasn’t sure Cruz would be able to keep his cover intact enough to catch whoever killed Bastillo.
She let her head fall into her hands as a yawn took her by surprise. She was exhausted even though last night had been the first night in a long time she’d gotten a good night’s sleep—a whole eight hours, to be exact. Her and Jax had settled on giving their relationship another try. They decided to go slow, without titles, and see how things unfolded, but the following two days had been them falling back into their routine as boyfriend and girlfriend with Jax spending most of his time at her house. Sleeping next to him had put her entire body and mind at ease, which made sleeping come easy and leaving her bed almost impossible.
She missed his warmth, even now she was eager to get back to him, her body craving him in an addicting way that should have made her concerned, and she was—partially. It was why she was in Lush tonight instead of giving Danielle the names to input into the system. She wanted to put some type of space between them before she was too consumed with Jax.
Raven saw the pile of paperwork on her desk and groaned. This would definitely keep her busy, even though she hated dealing with the paperwork. She typed in the name of one of the detectives into her system, giving him the highest membership in Lush, so he had access to all areas of the club. She sent him an email with explicit instructions and contracts to sign before he was allowed into Lush. They might be here on duty, but Raven was protecting herself at all costs when it came to them and her clientele. She looked down at the next name and cursed when she saw it was Cruz and completely abandoned her task. She didn’t want him anywhere near her club if she could help it and decided to tackle the pile of paperwork next to her computer instead.
Fuck Cruz. He could wait.
A lavender piece of paper fell out of one of the folders, and Raven quickly picked it up. She hesitated a moment when she got a whiff of the lilac and jasmine scent Lea used to wear. It was the second time she caught the smell. The first time had been on Danielle, and now it was on the piece of paper in her hand.
It was unnerving.
It took Raven almost three years to get Lea out of her system after her death. The grief and guilt that it had been Raven’s fault that Lea took her own life had crippled Raven. She thought her love had been the thing that poisoned Lea, turning her from this sweet woman that picked up the pieces of Raven’s broken heart to someone who had become so unhinged Raven hardly recognized her.
Lea had made up stories about being robbed and assaulted so many times after they broke up in hopes that Raven could swoop in and rescue her and they would get back together. Raven tried to find that spark that she felt in the beginning of their relationship, but it was no longer there. Raven felt shitty, but the truth was she was never in love with Lea, not in the way Lea needed to be loved. Raven thought letting her go had been kinder, but some days she wished she held on a little longer, hoping that love would bloom if only to save them both.
“I’m never going to be enough for you. You were the only one who understood me. Now, because he’s sniffing around, I’m nothing to you,” Lea spat. Her entire body shook with rage, and Raven could do nothing but stand there and take the hits Lea threw at her.
“You’re just like everyone else, Raven. You used me to feel good and now you no longer have a need for me. You tossed me out with the trash. I loved you and you couldn’t even be bothered.”
“I’m sorry, Lea,” Raven whispered as she opened up the note. A chill ran down her spine as she read the words that had been typed on the lavender paper:
I was a rose in a garden you should have watered.
Under your love I should have flourished
But under your love I began to wilt.
And while I was dying you found a way to thrive.
I was never enough for you
So you destroyed me.
Can you see me?
In the golden light that surrounds you
Can you see me?
Am I in your blood
The way you crept under my skin?
Does every breath you draw fill you with pain
Because I am in the air you need?
Do you see me?
