Page 58 of Love is Blind

“I don’t want that and none of what you just told me puts King as her dealer. So why are we having this conversation?”

“King was already in bed with Valeria by that time. He had access to drugs,” Shady argues. “Where else was she going to get them from without you finding out?”

Valeria is one of the cartel’s leading ladies and she got her hooks into King by spreading her legs for him. When Bianca wanted blow, I got it from King, but at the time I didn’t know about his relationship with Valeria. I just thought he had a street connection.

“Bianca knew you got blow from King,” Maverick chimes in. “Maybe she went to him without you knowing.”

None of this makes sense to me. Shaking my head, I clench my fists on top of the table.

“And what? He just offered her heroin instead? Why would he do that?” I sneer.

“Why did he do anything that he did?” Maverick returns. “He put us in the middle of a goddamn war—got Colt killed.” He shrugs his shoulders and clenches his jaw. “Maybe he was trying to take us all out. Pin us against one another. I don’t know but after Shady came back and told me all of this, I did some investigating of my own and King is the one who got Bianca into that rehab.”

Mind reeling, I stare at him.

“What?”

“I don’t think he did it out of the goodness of his heart, we know the man didn’t have a fucking conscience. If anything he probably was just looking for a way to get rid of her.”

“Especially if the plan to bring Parrish to our door and pinning the charters against one another was already in place,” Shady adds. “If you found out he gave her the drugs, he wouldn’t have been able to put that ball in motion. You would’ve uncovered his connection to Valeria and we would’ve taken him out.”

I don’t know if I’m more mad that we’re having this discussion at all or that I’m engaging in it, but I can’t unhear what they’re saying.

“Why not kill Bianca then?” I grind out.

Maverick shrugs his shoulders.

“Too risky.” He pauses for a beat, then releases a heavy sigh. “Look, the only way we’re going to get to the bottom of this is if we press Bianca, but if that happens, it’s gotta be you who does it. She ain’t gonna talk to Shady and she sure as fuck ain’t gonna come clean to me.” He brings his eyes back to mine and goes silent for a moment. “But, brother, that’s only if you want the story. King is gone and this whole thing can die too if you want it to.”

My nostrils flare as I grit my teeth.

“Then why did you tell me?”

He holds my gaze for a minute before glancing back at his brother. I can read Maverick well—I always could—and I’m starting to think this is all Shady’s doing. He pressed his brother to sit down and spill this shit to me.

I’m just not sure why.

Shady looks at me and sighs.

“If King did supply Bianca, or play her in any kind of way, then she’s another victim of King’s treason,” he says. “Abigail too. I don’t know what revenge on those crimes looks like seeing as he’s already dead, but maybe retribution on an innocent baby isn’t supposed to be bloody.”

Tearing my eyes away from him, my fingers curl around the edge of the table. I push back my chair and hang my head. It’s a lot to process and even if King did have a hand in the way things played out, when is it over? When does Abigail rest easily? When do I find peace in any of this?

Lifting my head, I look back at Shady. I can’t dismiss what he’s telling me, without understanding where his intent lies.

“What are you saying?” I growl.

“I’m saying we take down Valeria’s entire operation before another child becomes a casualty. Before any other woman is used as a pawn.”

“And that ain’t bloody?” I argue.

Bianca is no one’s pawn. She’s weak and selfish but she’s not the victim here. Even if she did get the drugs from King, he didn’t shoot that shit into her veins. There is no merit here and what Shady is suggesting would entice a fucking massacre.

Pushing up off the chair, I turn back to Maverick.

“Appreciate the intel, but my head is already fucked and that is not good for this club. I’ve been struggling, trying to figure out a way to let my daughter rest in peace and digging up King’s secrets isn’t going to fair well for the cause. I gotta find serenity, man, and there’s no peace to be found in war.”

Maverick nods.

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