“The fucking front page of the Courier Journal?!”

Antonio Wayne was unfazed by his brother’s booming voice and didn’t so much as flinch when Ricardo’s fist struck the top of the desk. He’d become accustomed to Ricardo’s temper years ago. The best thing to do was let him get it all out. At times like this, nothing anyone else said would be right anyway. He gave a long-suffering sigh as Ricardo thundered, “Has she lost her fucking mind? Well?!”

“You didn’t give me time to answer.” Antonio Wayne’s clenched jaw was the only outward sign that he shared his brother’s displeasure. “Blue doesn’t like pimps, and with good reason. And, at this point, we’re not even sure it was her kill,” he said soothingly.

“Oh, aren’t we? We both know it was her.”

“Oh…I’m not sure I’d go that far, brother.”

“She’s gotten a taste of blood and she likes it. Now she’ll be looking for a reason to kill. So, there’s that. But more importantly, I didn’t order a hit on some small-time pimp. I can’t have self-sanctioned hits by our people. There’s too much potential for such impulsive actions to attract unwanted attention.” He tossed the newspaper onto the desk. “Like this. I want a meeting with her today.”

Ricardo looked up when there was a discreet knock on the open door. “Sir, you have a visitor,” the frazzled maid informed Ricardo. Both men were shocked to see Blue emerge from around the corner. The maid gave Ricardo an apologetic look and he waved her away with a nod of his head.

Blue took a shaky breath and squared her shoulders. Better to deal with the brothers before they sent for her. ‘Face your fears’ was her motto and when reluctant to do so she did it anyway.

“Speak of the devil herself,” Antonio Wayne smirked. He was looking forward to seeing Blue squirm. It would be interesting to see how she handled being in Ricardo’s hot seat.

“You’ve saved me the trouble of hunting you down. Sit.” Ricardo growled. “This bullshit about you feeling the need to clean up the streets of Louisville on your own has got to stop. I’m concerned about your state of mind and about the potential blowback to the cartel if you start leaving bodies lying around. And that was a fucking mess, by the way. Wasn’t the gunshot wound enough? Did you have to run his head over and leave his brains all over the street?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t intend to do more than shoot him. The rest was just a happy coincidence.”

“Really. What, do you think you’re liberating Louisville’s ladies of the night? You’re cartel, Blue,” Ricardo bellowed in a rare show of outright temper, “not a social worker.”

“Well, actually, I’m a hooker.” A pensive expression crossed her face for a second as if she’d suddenly realized she couldn’t stay in her line of work forever. Time was her enemy. “My new protégé doesn’t know I killed him. I couldn’t very well leave the bastard alive so he could come after me, now could I? It was a simple matter of opportunity. I apologize for not clearing it through you first, but I got him before he could get me. I’m not in the habit of awaiting the inevitable revenge of my enemies. We all know how egotistical pimps can be. Poor bastard’s ego was damaged because I poached a woman from his stable. It can’t be easy listening to all the other pimps on the playground laughing when they have their pimp conventions, or whatever it is they do to build up or tear down each other’s reputations.”

“It isn’t your job to rescue hookers,” Ricardo repeated.

“You know, you’re quite a contradiction—a soft heart for innocent victims and yet so coldblooded toward men. What’s that all about?” Antonio Wayne asked flippantly. “I mean, you just don’t seem to be a big fan of men. What are you, a hooker that doesn’t like dick? Are you gay?”

“Plenty of hookers don’t like dick, Antonio Wayne. In fact, plenty of them who like it eventually learn to loathe it. Would it matter?” She shrugged easily. She knew the Ramirez brothers didn’t give a shit if she was gay or not. Antonio Wayne was just trying to get a rise out of her, as he did with everyone. “Maybe I haven’t decided yet and want to keep my options open.”

Antonio Wayne laughed and regarded her with open admiration. He’d expected her to be uncomfortable in the hot seat but, hell, she was doing just fine. He could respect that. Ricardo’s head whipped around in Antonio’s direction so fast it caught him off guard. He’d pushed the issue far enough.

Ricardo directed his attention back to Blue, who was now examining one of her long fingernails as if it were flawed somehow. It was an utterly ridiculous idea considering the amount of money she spent on them. She glanced up through long dark lashes, acknowledging her boss as he spoke through clenched teeth and a ticking jaw.

“I don’t care…if you swat a fly or step on a fucking bug…you better clear that shit with me first. You feelin’ me?”

She pursed her lips then nodded, albeit reluctantly. No sense in tempting fate any more than she already had. These Ramirez boys can be so damn temperamental. Men.

With that point resolved, Ricardo’s shoulders relaxed. “This woman you rescued; you’ve made her a potential witness, even if she wasn’t there when you did the deed. You know I don’t tolerate loose ends. If she figures out you killed that pimp, I’ll be watching you put a bullet in her head. That will be far more merciful than what will happen if I turn this one loose on her.” He nodded in his little brother’s direction.

Any trace of amusement that had been on Antonio Wayne’s face only moments before had been replaced with a flat, dead stare. She had no intention of ever encountering the business end of his whip.

Ricardo wasn’t finished. “The newspapers are claiming a rival pimp killed Huggy over a woman or possibly a territory dispute. You make sure your protégé believes that. Keep her close so you can keep an eye on her.”

Antonio Wayne broke in to needle her a bit more. “That won’t be a problem, will it? Keeping her close, I mean. And when are you going to give up hooking, anyway? I thought you didn’t like dick.”

She turned a saccharine sweet smile his way. “My customers certainly think I do. That’s all that matters.”

“You’re too beautiful to be selling your body to strangers. I’ve always wanted better than that for you. You’re meant for bigger and better things, Blue. We’re thinking about opening another club,” Ricardo informed her, his words becoming clipped as he shifted into business mode. “I like your initiative, even if it does give me a migraine occasionally. You could run it. Consider it a promotion. You’d be a Madam; you could select your own stable of girls to entertain from the stage or give lap dances on the main floor. Or they could take the party to a backroom to suck or fuck if they want the extra income.”

Antonio Wayne nodded his agreement. “No man will want you if you keep whoring yourself out. How are you ever going to settle down with a man if you keep doing that kind of work? Cartel men are too possessive. They don’t want to build a life with a woman their friends have already had. They’ll fuck you, sure, but they’ll never want more from you than that. Why would you limit your options like that?”

Ricardo shrugged. “You want to manage your own stable of girls? Fine; that’s respectable. But fucking strangers for cash? No. Absolutely not. You’re better than that.”

“Like I said, I haven’t made up my mind what side my bread’s buttered on yet. I can handle a dick and make it do what I want as well as anyone – better than most, from what I’m told. I get absolutely no complaints and most of my business is repeat business. I just won’t put up with all the macho bullshit that comes with a relationship that’s based on anything but cash. I say that with all due respect, sir. Being a man’s doormat just isn’t for me.”

Antonio Wayne chuckled. Though he didn’t harbor sexual interest for any woman other than his wife Roxanne, he’d always liked Blue. She was a confident, sexy woman. He respected her unapologetic gutsiness.

“Are we finished here?” At his nod, she stood and moved toward the door.

“We are. The question is, are you?”

“Time will tell.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and winked, eliciting another chuckle from Antonio Wayne.

She exited the office and smiled at the beautiful blonde bombshell who strode down the hall toward her. Blue reached out and embraced Juanita Ramirez, one of her favorite people and someone who had been a friend from the moment they met. Any woman who could handle a Ramirez brother as grumpy as Ricardo deserved respect.

“If you’ve been meeting with my husband, that means you did do it,” Juanita said quietly. “I knew it was you. You really do loathe pimps, don’t you? Don’t tell the boys, but I don’t blame you. Bastard got what was coming to him.”

“I despise pimps. Kind of ironic that the brothers want me to be a madam for a club they’re thinking of opening.”

“Not so ironic, really. It wouldn’t be the same thing at all. You’d be protecting the women, not abusing them, and not forcing them.” Juanita searched her friend’s face. “We all know you feel a calling to protect the weak. The women who work for us do so by choice and not because they’re being hustled by some lowlife. You should think about it.”

“I will. Right now, I have my hands full with my new protégé. A club doesn’t really fit into my long-term plans -- eventually I want to open my own boutique with my designs. But that won’t be any time soon. In the meantime, who knows, their offer might do for now. We’ll see. I’ll have to think about it.”

“I think it’s a smart move to open a legitimate business. We went semi-legit and, I tell you, I sleep so much better at night. Alright, then. Good seeing you.” Juanita hugged her again and then looked back at her over her shoulder as she sashayed down the hall. “And by the way – seriously, don’t kill anybody else unless you’re doing a job for the guys. I don’t want you taking any more years off my husband’s life. I kinda like having him around.” She stepped into the office and Blue could hear her teasing voice. “Okay, Antonio Wayne, off you go. It’s my turn…”