Chasing Bliss (13 page)

Chase looked instantly placated. He gave her a peck on the lips and smiled. “I see you stepped
me up.”

Bliss smiled back. “Well, you stepped me up first, according to Corey.”

Chase kissed her again, another one of those soft, lingering, not quite closed-mouthed kisses.

“How many interviews do you have?” he asked, letting her go.

“Two.”

“Okay, good. I got a couple things to do, and then I gotta talk to nosy-ass Corey about the liquor
license. I gotta talk to J.T. about the progress with the renovation too…and I should give Dee a
call.”

Bliss looked at him expectantly. “What then?”

Chase smiled at her devilishly. “Well, after that, I’m gonna drop you off at your place so you can
change into somethin’ real sexy, then I’m gonna pick you up and take you to dinner. Then, I might
stop at Cream and dance with you for a little while.
Then
…I’m gonna take you back to my place
and talk you out of your clothes. Maybe I can convince you to get naked for me
like that.
”

She smiled. “So you think you’re sleeping with me
tonight
, huh?”

Chase laughed softly and looked at her cockily. “Sleepin’? That’s the last thing on my mind,
Bliss. If you need a nap, you better take one now.”

Bliss put her arms around his waist and looked up at him warily. “Plan on wearing me out?”

Chase smiled and gave her another one of those sweet kisses. “I plan on seein’ if you can live up
to your name…
Bliss
.” He took her hand and walked her back to the main room of the club. Chase
kissed her again and patted her on the ass, then spun her out into the room like he was dancing with
her, slipping his hand out of hers.

Bliss watched him walk back down the hallway, loving the set of his shoulders and admiring
his easy stride. His swagger was so exhilarating she could have skipped down the street shouting
his name. Bliss took a deep breath and closed her eyes; she could still smell his cologne. It had
become entwined with her own and created a new and lovely fragrance. She loved it so much that
she wanted to lick the feel of him off of her fingers. She wanted to go back into his office and…

“Hey, Bliss! You all right, girl?”

Her eyes flew open and found J.T. looking at her with a knowing smile on his face. Bliss
blushed furiously. “Oh! Hey, J.T. I was just—”

J.T. laughed, a bit indulgently. “No need to get flustered around me. I promise not to tease you
and Chase. I’m happy for both y’all.”

She smiled. She honestly liked J.T., who handed her a clipboard. “Your interview is down
front.”

“Got it. And thanks, J.T. You’re very sweet.”

He laughed. “Yeah, okay…just don’t say it too loud.” He walked away.

When she was sure he was out of sight, Bliss licked her finger and rolled her eyes.
Wow, I’ve got
it bad…and I’m not sure that’s good…

Chapter 9

A
fter Chase dropped Bliss off, he stopped and got his hair cut, then went straight home to his
loft on Riverside Drive. He’d chosen a loft over a brownstone or condo because one of his
quirks was that he insisted on being able to see all around him. Chase wasn’t fond of places with
a lot of hidey-holes. At least there, in his personal space, he would know it if someone was lying
in wait for him. He wasn’t particularly worried about anyone doing that, though, because he knew
most everyone was scared of him—for good reason.

He rode up in the elevator, and it opened up right into his apartment. Chase stepped out and
walked to the bedroom and then into the master bath. He took his clothes off and took a rather long
shower, running the events of the day through his mind. He hated what was going on between him
and Cyrus. Cyrus had threatened him with Corey for years, and their little run-in that afternoon
was the last straw. He knew that if Cyrus forced Corey to do it, Corey would…and he would fuck
it up and get himself arrested or killed. Chase was a risk-taker to some degree, but he wasn’t will
ing to risk his little brother.

So, he’d get rid of Wolf himself, but he’d also start working on Corey. He hoped he could
convince his little brother to leave New York with him so they could live and operate in a place
without Cyrus and his bullshit around. That had been his plan all along, and he knew eventually,
he’d get Corey to go along with it. He had to get Corey away from Cyrus before Cyrus ruined
his life too. Now, though, there was a major knot in Chase’s noble plans, and the more he thought
about it, the more Gordian that knot became.

Frankly, now he was stuck where he was because he wasn’t about to leave Bliss. He laughed at
himself: All it took to bring the almighty Chase Brown to his knees was nine days with one sweet
little fine-ass woman who’d walked into his office in a dirty gray skirt and shown him a muddy,
smeared résumé. He hadn’t even slept with her, yet he loved her so much it hurt to look at her.
Chase knew she owned his heart already. Even there, in his own hot shower, thoughts of her had
him covered in goose bumps.

Chase was not a stupid guy by a long shot. He knew that feeling so completely in love with
someone so fast was a rarity. He also knew it was rarer, still, for the object of a man’s affection to
feel the same way—like Bliss did. He knew it with his entire heart.

Chase thought this over as he stepped out of the shower and toweled off. The very last thing
on Earth he wanted to do was hurt Bliss. He had to walk a tight rope to keep everything separate,
because if Bliss ever found out the
real
reason people called him Smoke, he was sure she’d walk—
no…run—away from him without looking back.

His life had been so full of sadness and darkness, and he just wanted a happy ending. He thought
there might be a slim chance of finding that with Bliss. He knew he couldn’t let his brother Cyrus
even suspect what was going on between them. If Cyrus had any idea, he’d use it to his advantage
to keep Chase bound to him.

As he dressed, his brother infected his thoughts again.
Fucking Cyrus. I’m so tired of him—really
tired.
There was only one end for Cyrus. He was blazing a path of destruction and ruin, determined
to take everyone down with him, just to feed his own greed and have his own way.
Well, fuck that.
He’s not taking Corey or me with him—not if I have a damn thing to say about it.

Chase couldn’t lie to himself: Greasing someone was thrilling to him in a very dark sort of way.
It made him feel powerful and invincible, and he was extremely good at it. He would almost have
labeled it fun, except for the inevitable bouts of guilt and self-loathing that always followed. He
hadn’t killed anybody in a while, and he was seriously hoping those sick feelings were gone, but
he doubted it.

Chase was not a psychiatrist, and he didn’t try to over-analyze himself; that job usually fell to
J.T. Chase’s life was what it was. If he wanted to twist it so that Cyrus was the only villain in the
whole sordid story, he could have easily said that the first life he’d taken was only to impress Cyrus
and make him need him. He could even claim,
“I just wanted my big brother to love me more. After
all, I was just young, hurt, and a goddamned orphan.”
He was, after all, just misguided and aching for
approval from someone he assumed probably hated him from the start. Even then, though, he knew
he’d never get much in the way of affection from Cyrus—something Cyrus probably didn’t have
to give. Cyrus obviously had his own issues, though, and Chase was sure he would die a selfish,
hateful, manipulating, greedy bastard.

It was probably the truth, but he wasn’t trying to live his days out in Hell on Earth. Chase had
never been one to just sit around and wait for shit to happen or to wait and let things fix themselves.
He’d always been a man with a plan, and he was about to set one in motion.

Chase put on his pants and stepped into his shoes. Usually when he made an appearance at
Cream during club hours, he wore a suit, and the one he’d chosen for the evening was a straight,
black Armani-cut so classic it looked like a tux, along with a crisp white shirt. He ran a brush over
his hair and thought of Bliss again. He wondered what she would think about working at Shelter
or Delight instead of for Cyrus. He’d decided he really didn’t want her around his brother because
Cyrus was trouble. Also, by getting her away from Cyrus, he hoped if he kept Bliss as close to him
as he could until he could pull up stakes, there was a chance she’d never find out about his razor-
wielding ways. He hated the deception, but he was only leaving out some parts of the truth that
she’d never asked about.

He looked in the mirror again and promised himself that Wolf would be the last of his kills.
Bliss was his future—he knew that—and Chase wasn’t about to risk her or Corey for Cyrus’s sorry
ass.
It’s time to make my move,
he resolved, checking his reflection one more time.

He walked out of the bedroom as he fastened his watch. He rang for the elevator, and his
eyebrow went up when it started to rise from the garage because he was sure he’d left it on his
apartment level. Chase stepped back and put his hand in his pocket, instinctively curling his fingers
around his straight razor.

The elevator popped open, and out stepped Corey, looking angry.

Chase relaxed and smiled. “Hey, little bro.”

Corey looked at him, frowning. “Why the hell did you break Cyrus’s nose?”

“Because that fool put his hands on me.”

Corey shoved him in the chest, hard enough to move him. “There. So did I. You gonna break
my nose too?”

Chase smiled at his younger brother and shook his head. “It’s not the same, Corey, and you
know it. And don’t mess up my suit. I got a date.”

Corey smiled. “With Bliss? I really like her.”

“Yeah, me too. Listen, Corey, before you ask…yeah, I
meant
to break Cyrus’s nose. It wasn’t a
mistake or an accident. I was fuckin’ aimin’ for it. He deserved it for disrespectin’ me.”

“Y’all gotta stop this shit, Chase.”

“It’s stopped. Everything is beautiful.”

“Come on. I’m serious.”

“No,
you
come on, Corey. I said everything is cool. I’m gonna do him one last solid, and then
I’m gonna step away from his grimy ass for good. I mean it.”

“Chase, y’all can fix whatever this—”

Chase turned on Corey with an disbelieving look on his face. “Corey, do you hear yourself? There’s no fixing
this shit. Don’t you fuckin’ get it? Cyrus wants me to
kill
people for him! This ain’t a fuckin’ game. I’ve been
putting people in the ground for him, and I don’t want to do it anymore, but he keeps forcin’ my hand.”

“Can’t you just fuckin’ say no?”

They stared at each other for a long, drawn-out moment before Chase shook his head, realizing
Corey must not know what it was all about. He felt such a sudden wave of love and ferocious
protectiveness for his little brother that he almost grabbed him and hugged him. If Corey was
clueless that Cyrus would try to use
him
as an ersatz assassin, Chase planned on keeping it that way
for as long as possible.

“No, Corey. I
can’t
just say no,” Chase said, looking away so Corey couldn’t read his
expression.

“Why not? You still owe him money or somethin’?”

Chase laughed. “I don’t owe Cyrus shit, Corey.”

“Then why—”

Chase cut him off by throwing a companionable arm over his shoulder. He picked up his keys
and rang for the elevator. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not rushin’ you out, but I’m late. I got some
stuff I need to talk to you about, so get with me for lunch on Monday.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

Chase laughed. “I don’t plan on leavin’ my house this weekend, so Monday’s better.”

Corey laughed too. “If you plan on lockin’ yourself in here with Bliss, I ain’t mad at ya, son.”

“Yeah, that’s the plan.”

They rode down together. Chase walked Corey to his Lexus, and then got in his Porsche. He
had a million things on his mind, but they all took a backseat to Bliss. He grinned as he pulled his
car into traffic. He couldn’t wait to see her, and his heart was already racing at the thought of her
all dolled up.