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Blurred Lines Ch. 02

By: VictoriaWright



Disclaimer: This is the 2nd part to Blurred Lines. So if you haven't already read the 1st part, you will definitely need to read it to understand what's happening or else you might be thoroughly confused. The link to the first part is: https://www.literotica.com/s/blurred-lines-5

Many thanks to my editor Lucifer013 for all her wonderful editing. And to fermpera for her many suggestions, translations and for just putting up with me. As always, thanks for reading & feel free to drop me a comment or send me some feedback! I love hearing from you all.

-VW 

****

The masked gunman aimed the gun at Sophie's face and I opened my mouth to scream 'no' but no sound came out. There was a quick pop that sounded a lot like a firecracker. Followed by Vanessa's bloodcurdling scream, as she attempted to break free of my arms, to get to her baby whose young lifeless body now lied on the ground. The bullet hole in her forehead would forever be burned into my memory and her gorgeous, bright green eyes which were once so full of life and excitement were now glazed over. The gunman then turned his attention to us and again pointed the gun. My first instinct was to push Vanessa out of harm's way but he was too quick and squeezed off another shot before I could step in front of her. And she too, instantly collapsed like a rag doll in my arms.

I fell to my knees holding her, while frantically trying to find her bullet wound to stop her from bleeding out. Her blood, however, continued to flow freely and stain my hands and clothing. "God no, please no," I pleaded. My tears fell and I didn't even bother to wipe them away. "Keep your eyes open," I begged and cradled her against my chest even though the life began to slowly drain from her eyes. "Vanessa stay with me please, I never meant for any of this to happen. Please, please forgive me. Don't go."

"I'll never forgive you," she gasped coughing up her own blood. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I repeated over and over again as her breathing began to slow down. Unable to do anything except simply hold her, I watched in horror as she took her final breath.

I choked back a grief-stricken sob, before slowly rising to my feet to face the shooter, who stood there silently observing the carnage. Without saying a word, he finally aimed his gun at me and squeezed the trigger. Mortally wounded, I fell to my knees clutching my fatal bullet wound as memories of the last month and a half played over in my mind. I had never wanted it to end like this. It was never supposed to end like this. Defenseless, I could only watch as the gunman once again pointed the gun directly at my face. But instead of putting me out of my misery, he pulled his mask off revealing his hidden identity.

How was that even possible? I sucked in a deep breath as my own reflection came into view. I was the gunman. I was the one who had just murdered Vanessa and her young daughter in cold blood. It was me. Their blood was on my hands. 

"Natalie! Wake up!" 

The continuous ringing of my doorbell snapped me out of my nightmare and I sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily and bathed in my own sweat. I glanced over at the alarm clock on my nightstand which read 8:05. At least I'd finally been able to sleep completely through the night. That was something I guess. 

Another knock. "Natalie! Baby it's me, open up." Fuck. It was C.C. This was so not what I needed this early in the morning. 

"Just give me a sec," I called out, stumbling out of bed and into the living room to unlock my front door for her. She handed me one of two Starbucks coffee cups that she was carrying, and a brown paper bag before stopping to give me a quick kiss, "Good morning beautiful. I thought you might like some breakfast."

"Good morning to you too. What brings your sexy ass by this early in the morning?"

She strolled inside, "I wanted to apologize for passing out on you last night, I guess I had way too much to drink."

"Don't worry about it," I remarked before taking a long sip of my coffee. "It happens to the best of us."

She shrugged, "I know but that wasn't how I had hoped our evening would end. I had a really nice time with you yesterday, I'm just sorry that I ruined our night by getting wasted."

"You didn't ruin my night," I replied honestly. "Besides, I was exhausted anyways. I came straight home and fell asleep watching tv."

"That sounds boring as hell."

I hid my smile before answering, "There were a view highlights."

"If you're still interested, I'd love to finish what we started last night," she insisted. 

"That's completely unnecessary. You don't have to go through all that trouble."

She took the opportunity to fondle my breast through my wife beater, "I was thinking that I could cook dinner for you tonight, we could eat on the patio by the pool. I promise I won't drink any alcohol."

"That sounds extremely tempting, but I already told my neighbor that I'd volunteer with her at her church. They're holding a food drive," I replied. After all the lying and deceiving I'd done recently, maybe going to church tonight with Mrs. Rodriquez wasn't such a bad idea. .

"Can she get someone else to help her?" C.C. questioned and once again pressed her body against mine. "Come back over tonight and let me show you everything that I planned on showing you last night. I'll make it so worth your while."

**

A few hours later while out on a much needed run, Mason called again. "For the record, I really don't appreciate you hanging up on me last night," he stated once I picked up.

"Well good morning to you too," I replied sarcastically. "I tried explaining to you that I couldn't talk but you wouldn't shut up so I had no choice but to hang up on you."

He made a disapproving sound through the phone, "Of course ya did. You had more important things to attend to, right? Such as sleeping with a married woman."

"And how would you know?" I asked. "I've met plenty of other women since I've been here."

"Because I can hear it in ya voice whenever ya call to talk about this guy's wife. So don't even try to lie to me, I've been exactly where you are."

"Well if you called to give me a moral lecture about sleeping with Vanessa, you're wasting your time," I replied bitterly not wanting to think about the night before. "Whatever we have, more like had, imploded right after I got off the phone with you."

"It's probably for the best," he responded. "And I didn't just call to bust ya balls, I found out a few more things about Cecilia's father that might be of interest to you."

I took a seat at an empty bench, "Sounds serious. What did you find out?" 

Mason explained, "Cecilia's father didn't start up his company all on his own. He and a college buddy of his, Jeffrey Stark started the company way back in the early 90's. At first business was doing really well and they were makin' millions but then a couple of years ago, things went south."

I frowned, "What do you mean things went south?"

"Some other software company wanted to buy the company from them, even offered them double what it was worth but Campos refused to sell. He said he'd die before he allowed anyone else to run his company that he'd built from the ground up," he explained. 

"What about Stark? How did he feel about it?"

"He was all but ready to sign on the dotted line for that much money, he'd even made a deal to sell them his half of the business. However, a few days before he was set to sign the contracts, his housekeeper found him dead."

"Somehow I don't think that's a coincidence. Did you find out what the cause of death was?"

"Coroner ruled it a suicide," Mason responded. "He OD'ed on prescription sleeping pills. There was also a suicide note reportedly found beside his body."

I shook my head in denial. "You seriously expect me to believe that Stark was suicidal, days before he was supposed to sign the deal of his life? That doesn't make any sense, why would he be suicidal?"

"His family argued the same thing," he paused on the other end of the line. "And according to this article that I just found online, they even requested that a second autopsy be performed but that coroner also ruled it as a suicide."

"So what happened to his half of the company?" I asked. 

"His widow ended up letting Victor buy her late husband's shares. She figured it's what her husband would've wanted."

"So Jeffrey Stark ends up six feet under while Victor Campos got to keep the company all to himself? Please tell me that you find this just as suspicious as I do."

"Of course, but I'm telling ya this so that you know what kind of people ya dealin' with. Cecilia's father more than likely murdered his own business partner because he double crossed him. And he fuckin' got away with it. What the hell makes you think they won't kill you and do the same to you if they find out what you're doin' behind their backs?" 

I sighed deeply, this day just kept getting better and better. "They don't suspect anything. I'm making sure that I'm covering my tracks every step of the way," I argued back.

"Ya still forgetting that Cecilia is somehow connected to the Ferelli's," he contested. "They're not the kind of people that you fuck with and live to tell about it."

My assurance to him fell on deaf ears. "I know you're worried about me but I'll be fine, I can handle this by myself." 

"These people are dangerous, ya can't underestimate them."

"And you can't underestimate me. I can handle this," I maintained. 

My best friend sighed, "Alright, fine then. If you insist on gettin' yaself killed, I won't let you do it alone."

"What? You can't just come here!" I exclaimed loud enough for a few people who were walking by to stop and stare at me. I smiled apologetically at them and lowered my voice so that only he could hear me, "Do not come here."

His voice sounded determined as he answered. "I can and I will. I have to take care of a few things first but I can be there by later this evenin'."

I shook my head. "As much as I appreciate that, you have a very pregnant and very hormonal wife at home that needs you. You can't just leave her to come watch out for me."

"Tori would understand. Hell she'd probably try to pack a bag and come with me. You know she considers you family."

I laughed knowing good and well he was telling the truth. "I have to do this on my own. I can't let you put yourself at risk too, you have a wife and unborn child to think about."

"I just have a really bad feeling about this," he insisted. "I really wish you'd reconsider and let me come there to help you."

"Well that's not going to happen, besides I already told C.C. that I'd have dinner with her again tonight. Hopefully I can get my hands on her phone and see if there's anything on it that can help us. I just need time, Mason."

"If you insist," he replied grudgingly. "But before I let ya go, you should know that ya mom called me late last night. She said she texted you a couple of days ago but got worried when she didn't hear back from you. I told her that ya were good, just busy workin'."

"Did she sound okay? The last time I talked to her, she mentioned that she had an appointment this week to see her oncologist. Please don't tell me her cancer came back." 

"Whoa, she didn't mention anything about cancer or her doctor's appointment. She just said that she was on her way to work and needed to know that her baby girl was doin' okay."

I smiled, "Do me a favor and call her back as soon as you get off the phone with me. Let her know that I'm fine and will call as soon as I can. I don't want her to worry about me."

"I have a better idea," he suggested. "I'll go by her apartment tonight when I get off and see if she'll join Tori and I for dinner."

"Thanks Maze, I really appreciate it. Sorry again for just hanging up on you."

"Just make sure you watch ya ass from here on out. I'll be in touch," he promised before disconnecting the call.

I sat on the bench a while longer and thought about what Mason had told me. No way had Victor's business partner committed suicide, it just wasn't possible. Someone had to have killed him and then made it look like a suicide. Victor didn't strike me as a cold-blooded killer though, but then again, neither C.C. nor Jay struck me as the type to deal drugs. I needed to find out more but how? 

An idea instantly came to me and I quickly Googled the name that could help me. Once I found it, I quickly hit the send button and waited for the other line to pick up. "Hello, thank you for calling Vienna Software," the receptionist answered. "How may I direct your phone call?"

If I wanted to find out anything directly, I would need to go to the man himself. "Hello, could you please connect me to Jason Westbrook's office?"

**

My head was down reading a tech magazine in the lobby when Vanessa's husband finally appeared. He walked over and apologized, "Sorry to keep you waiting, my meeting ran way over." 

I returned my magazine to the magazine rack and stood up. "Oh it's fine, thanks for making time to see me."

"It's no problem, we can talk in my office." He guided me into the elevator and hit the button for the third floor. "So what can I help you with?"

"You've known C.C. for a while right? We're having dinner together tonight and I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to handle her," I explained. "We're still getting to know one another and she's kind of a hard person to read at times."

Jay chuckled softly and nodded. "I know on the surface she seems like a very vain and selfish woman but she's very genuine. She's just been hurt a lot."

"How long have you known her exactly?" I asked.

"We met several years ago though a mutual friend. I had just gotten laid off at my construction job when a friend introduced me to her. She liked my background and convinced her father to hire me right away."

"The company was going through some major changes back then, right?" I asked as we stepped off the elevator onto the third floor. "I read an article online a few days ago that mentioned something about Victor's late business partner committing suicide. Is that true?"

He nodded sadly, "Yeah it happened a few weeks after I got hired but it was totally unexpected from what I've heard." He stopped by his secretary's office for his mail before leading me to his plush, cozy office. He unlocked the door by swiping his keycard and motioned to a chair in front of his desk, "Please have a seat."

"Do you know if Victor and his business partner were very close?"

He nodded again as he took his seat. "They grew up in the same neighborhood. Vic was hit pretty hard when he died."

"You and him seem like you're pretty close," I observed. 

"My dad split when I was eleven. And when I met Victor, he taught me what it meant to be a real husband and a father. He's the closest thing I've ever had to an actual dad. I trust him with my life, he's done a lot for me and my family."

"I can totally relate to that. My dad and I don't really have a relationship either. But that's another story for another day."

He picked up a framed picture of his kids and admired it, "When Vanessa first told me she was pregnant, I made myself a promise that I would always be the kind of father that they could be proud of. They mean the world to me. Everything I do, I do it for them."

The intercom buzzed and Jay's secretary's voice interrupted us. "Mr. Westbrook, your wife is here to see you."

I stood up quickly and nearly tripped over my own feet in the process. "I should get going, I don't wanna hold you up any more than I have already."

"Don't worry about it, hang around. I'm sure Vanessa would love to see you." 

That I seriously doubted. 

There was a quick rap at the door, and the woman who'd been occupying my mind ever since we'd first crossed paths suddenly appeared in the doorway. The blood nearly drained from her beautiful face as soon as she saw me, and her eyes briefly and suspiciously darted between her husband and I. "Natalie, what are you doing here?" she asked recovering quickly. 

"I was in the area running a few errands and thought I'd stop in and check out your husband's office." 

Her husband stood up and leaned against his desk and exposed me for the liar that I truly was. "Natalie has a hot date with C.C. tonight so she came by to ask me a few questions about how to romance her."

"I just figured that Jay would be the best one to ask since they work together and know each other so well," I attempted to explain.

His wife nodded slowly. "I hope you two have a nice time together," she replied but her body language revealed otherwise. She turned towards Jay, "You ready to leave, babe?"

He nodded and turned to me, "Care to join us?"

Vanessa interjected, "But I only made a reservation for two."

I added quickly, "And I should really get back to finishing up my errands."

"I'm sure the restaurant can add another chair to the table, just let me give Janet these files and we can all head out." He walked past Vanessa and gave her a kiss on his way out. "Be right back, ladies."

She waited until Jay was completely out of earshot before blowing up on me. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded angrily. "I told you to stay the hell away from us."

"No," I corrected in a soft voice. "You told me to stay away from you. I can't help it if your husband enjoys my company."

"Why did you come here?" she demanded, hands on her hips. "What kind of twisted game are you playing at? People like you always have some sort of angle."

"People like me?" I asked with a deep sigh. "As hard as this is for you to believe, me being here doesn't have anything to do with you or with what happened between us last night."

Her eyes blazed angrily and her nostrils flared. "How could I forget? You already had me so now you're back to C.C. I thought you said there was nothing between you and her? Or was that another one of your lies?" she spat out angrily.

"What I do or choose not to do with C.C. shouldn't even concern you," I countered back. "You said you never wanted to see me again."

She looked away. "And I don't. I wasn't planning on seeing you today or anytime soon."

"Look, I-" I took a step towards her and she backed up. "I'm sorry you feel that way," I told her in a quiet voice with my hands raised. "What we shared last night was amazing and I could never regret it. I've been with other women before but last night with you was unlike anything I've ever experienced."

Her voice was soft but firm, "It was incredible but it was also a mistake that can't ever be repeated. I think it's for the best if we don't see other for a while."

"You're probably right," I admitted and turned to leave until she reached out to touch my arm.

"Please don't tell him what happened between us," she requested quietly. "He would be completely devastated if he found out."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You came over and we talked. Nothing else happened."

She released my arm and gave me a tiny smile, "Thank you."

I forced my own smile in return, "No problem. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry if I said anything last night that hurt your feelings."

"You don't have to apologize. It was in the heat of the moment."

"Apologize for what?" Jay asked rejoining us. 

"I just now remembered that I have a shitload of laundry that needs my attention," I explained. "So I won't be able to join you all for lunch. Maybe next time?"

"Sure thing," he answered and reached for his wife's hand. "Ready to get out of here?"

She nodded and turned to look at me, "It was good seeing you. Take care."

"Same here. You two enjoy your lunch," I replied and watched the husband and wife duo walk away, hand in hand. It was an unbelievably awful feeling to watch her leave with him. I wanted to scream and demand that he get away from her. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and run out of the building with her. 


Blurred Lines Ch. 02



But I did nothing except watch them leave together. Truthfully, I hoped she would at least turn around and look at me but she didn't. 

I think that was what hurt the most. 

**

The rest of my day thankfully remained relatively slow and uneventful. I had just finished doing laundry, and was walking back to my apartment when I felt the cold metal of the barrel of a gun against the back of my head. "Don't make any sudden movements," the deep masculine voice warned from behind me.

I instantly froze and a sudden chill ran down my spine. "Take it easy, alright? You don't wanna do this," I stated calmly.

"Don't talk," he warned. "Someone could be watching." 

Why did that voice sound so familiar? "Who are you and what do you want from me?" I asked.

He ignored my question, "Keep walking towards your front door like everything's normal." 

I followed his orders and walked the remaining few feet to my apartment but stopped at the threshold. He nudged the gun against the back of my head, "Unlock it and go inside."

"No because if I go in there, I'm not coming back out alive," I argued.

His voice softened, "Just open the door, I promise I won't hurt you."

With shaky hands, I pushed the key into the lock and unlocked it so that we could both step inside. "Put the laundry basket down and kick it away from you," he commanded. "Now turn around and get a good look at me. I want you to remember this exact moment."

I turned around slowly and was completely unprepared and astonished to see who my kidnapper was. It was Mason's longtime friend Rico. He laughed as my fist slugged him hard in one of his broad shoulders. "Fucking asshole! You scared the living shit out of me."

He grinned and put his gun back in his holster, "Sorry about that but I had to be careful just in case someone was watching your place."

I sat down on my couch, adrenaline still running through my veins. "Let me guess, Mason sent you down here to look after me?"

"Like you even have to ask," he answered as he shut the blinds and closed the curtains. "He's really concerned. So it was either him come here or me."

"What if they catch us together?" I asked. "How am I going to explain you?"

He took a seat at the other end of my couch and dropped his duffel bag on the floor. "Just say that I'm a friend or cousin who came to visit. They'll never know the truth."

"I guess there's no use in arguing so I won't even try."

"You got that right," he agreed. "Mason tells me that you've really stumbled onto something and could use my help. Care to fill me in on everything?"

I wasted no time in giving him the cliff notes version of everything that had happened since I'd moved to town and befriended Vanessa. 

"You mentioned that Cecilia's father was in debt, any chance he's involved?" Rico asked.

"I didn't think so at first, considering him and his wife are two of the nicest people that you'll ever meet. But after Mason told me about his business partners' murder, I'd say that there's definitely a possibility that he's somehow involved."

"Well think about it," he argued. "Her father is in debt, drug money even though it's dirty is easy money. And who better to push your product for you than your own daughter?"

I stood up in frustration, "That's too simple though. We need to think outside of the box because whoever this bastard is, he's good and he has connections. We need to find a way to gain access to their computers or even their cell phones."

"If you're serious about that, I might have an idea," he proposed and pulled out a USB flash drive from his bag. "This little baby right here will give us complete access to all their emails and computer files."

"What is it?" I asked hesitantly. 

"It's a Trojan, corrupted JPEG file that a friend of a friend of mine developed," he went on to explain. "Insert it into the USB port of their laptop, desktop or whatever and Voilà. Instant access just like that."

"Very sneaky," I concurred. "But how in the hell am I going to talk them into letting me use their computers."

Rico thought for a minute then smiled, "Have you already shown them the proofs from their photo shoot? Because if you haven't, I can embed it into one of the pictures."

"You can actually do that?"

He smiled, "Babygirl I can do anything. I'm not only good looking and good in bed but I'm also kind of smart too."

"Has anyone ever told you that you kind of have a big ego?"

"Of course," he replied grinning. "My ex-boyfriend used to tell me that all the time. But then again, that wasn't the only big thing he told me I had. Anyways, has C.C. taken you up on your offer to shoot for her? This would be the perfect opportunity."

Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. "Hey you, change of plans for tonight. How would you feel about a sexy photo shoot instead?"

**

She and I were near the end of her photo shoot when she stepped away to go to the bathroom to change into the last piece of lingerie. She'd been in there for a while and I was getting restless. I checked my watch again and yelled towards the bathroom that she was changing in, "You've been in there for like thirty minutes. Do you need me to help you get dressed?"

"It's only been ten minutes and I almost have it on!" she shouted back through the door. "And this is the last one so hold your horses."

"Yeah yeah, I better get dinner out of this like you promised," I replied going back over the previous shots of her that I'd taken with my camera. "I want a full course meal with dessert! Preferably strawberry cheesecake!"

The door finally opened and she emerged wearing this red, sexy, silky looking robe. She did a complete twirl before strolling over to me, "How do I look?"

"Hot," I responded telling her the truth. "Very fucking hot."

"I have an idea if you're up for it," she stated. "My favorite movie of all time is Titanic, and I've always wanted to reenact a certain scene from it."

My lips curved into a smile, "Which scene? Do I get to fuck you in the back of a car?" 

"If you're lucky," she replied and tossed a dime at me. "But as a paying customer, I expect to get what I want." Without saying a word, she began to undo the knot on her robe before untying the sash. Her eyes never left mine as she shimmied the thin red garment off her shoulders to reveal her matching red silk teddy underneath, "I want you to photograph me like one of your French girls," she replied seductively touching the material. "Wearing this."

"Alright," I replied doing my best Leonardo DiCaprio impression.

"Wearing only this," she stated and then to my surprise, she then slowly pulled down each strap of the teddy before sliding it down the rest of her body. She stepped out of it and stood before me naked and proud, wearing only a pair of black high heels. 

I sucked in a deep breath, feeling a little hot under the collar all of a sudden. "Over on the bed. . .the couch," I replied correcting myself. "Lie down."

She took her place on the couch and recreated the same pose as Kate Winslet's character Rose had in the movie. "Is this okay?" she asked and I nodded, snapping the first picture of her naked body.

"It's perfect. Now tilt your head to the right a little bit," I instructed. "And keep your eyes on me." Her eyes followed me around the room as I moved around trying to get various shots of her from different angles. 

"Do you like what you see?" she questioned holding my gaze.

"It's beautiful, but maybe you could show me some more?" I suggested.

She placed her left index finger inside her mouth and sucked on it. Getting it nice and wet before touching her exposed nipple. She rolled it between her fingers and pinched it, while she bit down on her lip, "You should so be doing this for me." 

I snapped another picture, "But I'm really enjoying the show."

"What do you want me to do next?" she asked breathlessly waiting for my command.

"Show me your pussy," I ordered moving closer to her. 

Like a good girl, she obeyed my command and rested her left leg on the couch cushion while her right foot was firmly planted on the floor. Even from where I stood, her pussy lips were easily visible and swollen. "Are you wet?" I asked.

Using one hand, she parted her puffy lips open exposing herself to me and the heavy aroma of her arousal filled the large room. "Drenched," she confessed with a whisper. "Why don't you touch it for me?"

I stood above her and slowly ran my hand down her knee along her inner thigh, "Why don't you do it for me? Let me see you come."

Needing no other encouragement, she slipped three fingers inside and plunged them into her cunt. She closed her eyes as her long digits eagerly thrust in and out, her chest rapidly rising and falling with each thrust. The only sounds in the room were our mutual heavy breathing and the shutter sound that came from my camera as I photographed her. 

She moved to a sitting position on the couch and once again opened her legs wide so that I could really get a close up view of everything she was offering me. She motioned for me to come join her, "Come see how I taste." 

As horny and tempted as I was to join in, I knew without a doubt that my sleeping with C.C. would only complicate things ever more than they were already. I needed to put a halt to this before things spun out of my control. I cleared my throat and put my camera down, "Maybe we should finish this upstairs?" 

C.C. laughed and reached for her robe, "You didn't even let me finish."

"No because if you kept that up, we weren't going to make it to dinner and I've been looking forward to this meal all day long."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, "How about I run upstairs and take a quick shower, and then I can get started on that dinner I promised you? What do you have a taste for?"

I looked at her from head to toe, "After what you just did? I have a taste for something that's not on the menu." 

There was a knock at her door and she excused herself to answer it while I packed my equipment up. By the time I had everything packed, she still had yet to return. So I went to see what the holdup was and found her talking at her front door, in a low voice with a man who was wearing a dark suit. He saw me lurking and she turned around to introduce me. "Natalie this is Diego. Diego this is Natalie Martin, she's a really good friend of mine."

I nodded an acknowledgement to him but made no move to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you," I lied.

"Likewise," he told me though his narrow eyes indicated otherwise.

"I have some stuff to take care of so it looks like we're gonna have to cut our date short again. I'm really sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, I understand." I kissed her in front of the guy and allowed my tongue to briefly linger in her mouth. "Call me later?"

Her friend in the suit, eyed me and I resisted the urge to shudder in disgust. "You know you look really familiar. Have I seen you somewhere?"

"I doubt it, I just moved here." 

"Maybe you've seen some of her work?" C.C. suggested. "Natalie's a phenomenal photographer."

He said nothing, but continued to eye me suspiciously, "Photographer, huh? That must be it."

By the time I got back to my apartment, Rico was sitting on my couch with his laptop in front of him. He laughed as I flashed him the SD card from my camera, "Damn, girl. These ladies just can't say no to you, can they?"

I grabbed a pillow from the couch and popped him upside his head, "Just shut up and do your thing."

He inserted my SD card into his own laptop and started sorting through the pictures from my photo shoots with C.C. and Vanessa's family. He shook his head at some of the more risqué ones of Cecilia, "Damn girl, she was all but throwing it at you if these pictures are any indication."

"Well she can throw it someone else's way because I'm not interested."

He laughed and continued to sort through the files. He paused at one of my pictures of the kids together. Cameron had his arm wrapped around Sophie and their baby sister sat between them on the living room couch. "Cute kids," he commented.

"Yeah," I smiled. "They're pretty amazing."

Rico paused and slowly looked at me with a funny expression on his face. "Amazing?"

"What?" I asked with a deep scowl. "They're adorable and funny as all hell once you spend some time with them."

He laughed and shook his head, "Since when the hell did you become all mushy over kids?"

"I'm not mushy," I countered back. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to them. They're really sweet kids."

He turned back to his laptop and went back to work, "Have you thought about what's going to happen when it's all over? Or what you'll do if it turns out that she's involved in whatever they're doing?"

"I have and I can't stop thinking about that," I admitted.

"What do you think is going to happen when she finds out the truth about what you're doing? This thing between you two is a recipe for disaster. I just don't want you to going into this with your hopes up."

"I know," I told him affectionately kissing him on the cheek. "I appreciate your concern but I have things under control."

He handed me the flash drive with the Trojan file on it, "If you say so. It's all ready to go, go do your thing." 

**

"I thought we agreed to stay away from one another?" Vanessa asked as she tentatively opened her front door to me. 

I flashed her the USB flash drive as a peace offering. "I know but I thought you might want to see how your pictures came out."

Her voice softened. "How did they turn out?"

"See for yourself," I told her walking inside. "Got a laptop or computer I can use?"

"Yeah there's one in Jay's office that we can use," She walked a few feet down the hallway and led me inside the room that I'd saw him and C.C. talking in. She turned on the light and I looked around trying not to appear overly interested. 

I studied his business degree that hung on the wall, "Jay went to Rutgers?"

She nodded and sat down in his swivel chair and logged into his MacBook while I closed the door. "He was my RA," she explained.

"What's your degree in?"

"Childhood Studies but I never got to finish it."

"You should go back," I told her sincerely. "You owe it to yourself."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't even know where to start. I'd feel so old sitting in a lecture hall with all those eighteen and nineteen year olds."

"You make it sound like you're a middle aged divorcee with grandchildren."

"Well it isn't far from the truth," she answered. "I'm a mother of three."

"An extremely hot mother of three," I chipped in. "You're a MILF."

She laughed out loud and gave me a big smile. "You're only saying that because we had sex."

I perched my hip against the desk. "Amazing, mind-blowing, life changing sex. Sex that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

"Natalie-"

I held my hands up in mock surrender, "I'm sorry, that was out of line. It won't happen again."

"I know it won't because I meant what I said," she insisted. "After tonight, I can't see you again. I am extremely attracted to you but I have my family to think about. I just got carried away."

"I think we both got carried away," I acknowledged. "By the way, the file you're looking for is under Westbrook Photo Shoot."

She found the folder and clicked through the pictures of her family. "Wow, these look amazing," she murmured. "You did an outstanding job."

"It wasn't all my doing," I argued. "Your family is beautiful."

"But you really have a knack for this," she stressed. "The pictures are stunning, and the kids look so happy."

I pointed to a solo picture of her and Jay. "So do you and your husband."

"We are happy," she clicked out of the folder and her eyes momentarily squinted at the screen. "Why do you also have a folder with C.C.'s name on it?"

Shit! I'd completely forgotten that Rico had put her photos on the flash drive also. "Those are just the pictures from her photo shoot. She's trying to find some modeling gigs."

"Mind if I take a look?" she didn't wait for my response and proceeded to double click on the folder. She specifically clicked through the last ones that consisted of C.C. stripping off her lingerie and masturbating for me. I watched her smile slowly disappear as she deliberately and angrily tapped the mouse pad to click through each one, "Is that something you do with all your single female clients?" she asked with her back to me. "Never mind, don't answer that. I don't even wanna know."

I reached over her shoulder and clicked out of the folder for her, "Those weren't my idea, it just happened that way."

Her eyes narrowed, "Do I really look that stupid to you?"

"Nothing else happened between us, I took those pictures for her and then I left. I have no reason to lie to you."

"Just don't say anything else," she stood up to leave but I grabbed her arm before she could jerk it away. She held up her hand, "Look, you don't owe me any explanation. I don't even know why I asked."

"Jealous, perhaps?"

She looked at me sharply, "Not at all. You're free to do what you want."

"Is that really how you feel?" I questioned searching for the truth in her eyes. "You told me last night that you hated the idea of me being with any other woman except you."

"Do what you want to. It doesn't matter to me."

"But that's not what you said last night," I quipped. "And it matters to me because the only woman I want is you. Why can't you understand that?"

Her eyes refused to meet mine, "Because we can't allow what happened to happen again. I don't know what possessed me to come to your apartment last night but it was a mistake."

"What happened to no regrets?" 

"I don't regret it because last night you made me feel something that I don't think I've ever felt before, but that doesn't change anything."

"I know."

She took a few steps back to distance herself from me. "My family is still the most important thing to me. I don't want to hurt them."

I advanced towards her, "I know."

"We can't be together again," she reiterated. "Last night was a one-time only thing."

"I totally agree."

She continued walking backwards until her body was trapped between my own body and the wooden desk. She swallowed and looked away from me, "Despite what happened between us last night, I still love him."

I gently caressed her face, "You mentioned that already."

She reacted by gently pushing against my chest and attempting to step around me but I stayed in my spot. "C-can you back up a little b-bit?"

"Why?" I asked in a quiet voice. "You don't want me near you?"

"You're just too close," she admitted.

I rested my hands on either side of the desk and leaned my forehead against hers. I had the strongest urge to rip her clothes off right then and there, and make sweet love to her on his desk, but I did not want to disrespect their house any more than I had already. I repeatedly told myself that I'd respect her wishes and stay away from her for the time being. But like a moth to a flame, I was so drawn to her. In less than 24 hours, she'd explicitly told me to stay away from her, but yet here I was. I framed her face with my hands, "Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" I asked in a soft voice. "And I don't just mean physically."

She licked her lips nervously. "Natalie-"

Big mistake. That burning sensation between my legs was getting more and more intense and I felt my body slowly begin to succumb to my desire. I brushed my lips gently over hers, "Bésame porfavor."(Kiss me please)

She shook her head slowly and I could tell from the desperate look in her eyes that she wanted it but she was holding back. She was willingly herself to hold back from me. "I can't," she whispered.

"Then just forgive me."




Blurred Lines Ch. 02



"Forgive you for what?"

"For what I'm about to do," I grabbed her head before she could even realize what was about to happen and I pressed my lips against hers. I didn't even wait for her response, I just took what I could and selfishly claimed her warm mouth. It was everything and so much more than anything that I could have ever asked for. 

Her hands pushed against me and we struggled against one another but I soon got her to respond once I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. She finally stopped resisting and began to return my kisses with as much fevered urgency as I had. Her hands tangled in my hair and I let out a low groan as her crotch brushed up against mine. 

My hands slid down her back to grip her ass and at last, I lifted her up onto the sturdy desk. I was so desperate to get inside her that nothing else at that moment mattered. It was only me and her. 

Her moan sent tiny goose bumps down my arms, "Make love to me," she purred trying to unbutton my shirt.

I fisted her soft hair in my hand and gently but firmly yanked her head back exposing her long, slender neck. She moaned in appreciation and I slipped my hand underneath her blouse and bra and palmed her breast, her nipple instantly hardened beneath my touch as I manipulated it to both our satisfaction. The soft noises that I elicited from her made my panties moist and the rest of my body hum with anticipation. 

There was a small knock at the door and a child's voice called out, "Mom, are you in there? Daddy's on the telephone."

Like two horny teenagers whose parents had come home early, we both instantly stopped what we were doing and broke away from one another to readjust our clothing in record time. Vanessa's shaky voice called out, "Umm, I'll be right out sweetheart. Just give me a minute," she turned to me and hissed, "I told you this was a bad idea."

She quickly composed herself, and made sure that I was decent before opening the door to her young, precocious daughter who handed her the phone with a shrug, "He said he'll call back later." The little girl's eyes lit up once she saw me and she ran over to greet me with a hug. 

I laughed and tickled her, "Well hello there, Mi Pequeña Princesa(my little Princess). What are you still doing up?"

"Mommy and me are baking cupcakes for my class tomorrow."

"Ohhh I love cupcakes," I told her enthusiastically. "What flavor?"

She smiled and told me in a proud voice, "Chocolate with sprinkles, do you wanna help us make them?"

"I would love to," I looked over at Vanessa hesitantly, "But only if it's okay with your mom."

The little girl turned to her mom who cut her off by holding up one finger. "On one condition. You go straight to bed as soon as we're done."

"Deal," she grabbed my hand and happily pulled me towards the kitchen. "Me and you can take turns stirring the bowl."

**

After baking two dozen chocolate cupcakes, and decorating them with rainbow sprinkles, we'd finally called it quits. The only remaining task was to clean the kitchen and Vanessa had gladly volunteered to handle that responsibility. I offered to pitch in but Sophie insisted that I read her a bed time story before she went to bed. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but one story somehow turned into three. And before I knew it, her brother had also joined us for story time until one by one, they each fell asleep.

After carrying Cameron to his room, and tucking each one of them in their beds, I stuck my head inside the nursery to make sure that the baby was still asleep before heading downstairs. 

Their mother was still in the kitchen tidying up when I found her. "They're out like a light," I announced. "It took three stories but they're all in their beds asleep. I think I even put the dogs to sleep."

"Thank you but you didn't have to do all that," she replied wiping the counter off with a dishcloth.

I walked over and stood beside the sink, "I wanted to. Besides I owe you an apology for my behavior. I should never have kissed you."

"My daughter almost caught us," she pointed out. "What if my husband or someone else had walked in?"

"There's something that you need to know about me. I've never been involved with a married woman until I met you. This is all brand new to me and it's not something I normally do."

"I believe you," she confessed. "I'm just really confused and really scared. I love my life with my husband but I can't stop thinking about you. And that really really scares me." 

"I'm scared too," I admitted. "I'm scared to death of losing you. I'm scared to fall in love with you because there's a very big chance that my heart will get broken in the end. I'm scared that if that happens, it'll completely destroy me." 

She ignored my declaration and turned her body away from me to wipe nonexistent crumbs off the counter.

"Will you say something?" I demanded after the silence continued.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Just say something, say anything," I implored growing frustrated. She still had yet to speak and I took it as a sign to cut my losses and go home. "Fine, don't say anything. Your silence tells me everything I need to know." 

Her voice stopped me cold, "You don't understand what I'm going through. I never thought I'd be someone that cheats on their spouse."

"I don't want you to be that person either. But I don't know how to just walk away from you."

Vanessa finally lifted her head up to face me and I noticed that her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears, "I don't want you to walk away from me. You're scared that you'll fall for me, but I'm pretty sure I'm already in the process of falling for you."

My heart jumped, and for the first time since I'd had my first kiss with a girl, during a game of spin the bottle, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I took a deep breath, "This is beyond crazy," I whispered mostly to myself. "We're not supposed to fall for one another."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled running her fingers through her long hair. "You're turning my life upside down."

I closed the space between us and embraced her, needing desperately to touch her. "I'm sorry, I swear I never meant for any of this to happen."

"But it did," she acknowledged holding on to me and resting her head against my chest, "Natalie Martin; what have you done to me?"

I lifted her chin up so that I could look into her eyes, "That I can't answer. But if you give me another shot, I'll prove to you just how much you mean to me. What time does Jay usually come home from work?"

"He called back while you were upstairs to let me know that he wouldn't be home for a while. He has some paperwork to finish up."

The tone in my voice left no doubt as to what my intentions were towards her. "Show me your bedroom," I suggested quietly. 

She led me up the staircase to their master bedroom and as soon as we stepped inside the room, I closed and locked the door ensuring us privacy. I pulled her in for a slow, passionate kiss and without breaking eye contact, I pulled her blouse up and over her head before unfastening her bra. The first time we made love, I'd been in such a rush but this time I made it my personal mission to take my time with her. And cherish every moment. She unbuttoned her pants and slid them down her legs along with her lacy black panties. 

As simple and basic as it was, there was just something about black lingerie that I found extremely sexy and it really turned me on. I massaged her sides and traced a few of her feint stretchmark's along her tummy. "I've tried everything to get rid of them but nothing works," she informed me self-consciously.

"Why?" I asked. "They're beautiful, y tu eres muy bonita"(and you're beautiful), I told her honestly before reacquainting my tongue with her mouth. "Perfecta."(Perfect)

She pulled away from me with a smile, "I love it when you speak to me in Spanish. It's such a turn on."

"If that's true, then you're going to love this," I murmured gently kissing her again."Te voy a comer asta que te vengas en mi boca miles de veses."

Vanessa cocked her head to the side, "And what does that mean exactly?"

I looked her over with a smirk, "It means I'm going to lick you until you come in my mouth a thousand times."

She blushed a deep crimson color and started to unbuttoned my shirt, "Not if I get to you first." Her eyes narrowed as she touched the wide scar below my navel. "I didn't even notice this last time we were together, what happened?"

"I was learning to ride my bike and I had a very ugly crash with my neighbors white picket fence. I ended up with that scar and a busted lip."

"You poor baby," she whisper and bent down to kiss my battle wound. Silently, she unbuttoned my belt and helped me take my jeans off, leaving me standing there in my bra and tight, pink, Calvin Klein, boxer briefs. Her hot gaze told me that she enjoyed seeing me in my lingerie just as much as I had enjoyed seeing her in hers. At last, she pulled down my tight boxer briefs and undid the front clasp to my bra so that my heavy breasts were finally freed. 

We both stood there silently looking at each other for a moment. I think we were both comparing and contrasting our naked bodies. My body was more tanned because of my Puerto Rican heritage and somewhat more athletic than hers because of my background. But her body was curvier in all the right places. Her breasts were slightly larger than mine, her hips a tad bit wider, and her tummy slightly rounded all as a result of her past pregnancies. 

Other than Mason's wife, I hadn't been around very many pregnant women. But something in my gut told me that Vanessa had been one of those truly radiant pregnant women that you always heard about. I timidly touched her stomach and my mind briefly envisioned her pregnant and glowing with our child. 

Wait, what? Where in the devil had that thought come from?

I shook those thoughts out of my head as I led her towards the bed. After gently pushing her down on the mattress so that I could straddle her, I placed a soft kiss against the side of her neck and lightly nibbled on her tender flesh. She cooed softly and I leaned back to gaze into her eyes which were full of unbridled desire and yearning. 

"Is this really what you want?" I asked brushing a stray strand of her hair away from her face. I was pretty certain that this was what she wanted, but I absolutely needed her to be sure.

"Yes," she responded quietly. "I want this. I want you."

My hands ran up and down her naked back before gripping the back of her neck so that I could bring her mouth to me for another kiss. Her hands instantly encircled me as I curled my tongue against her lips and traced the outline of her sweet mouth with it. She repeatedly tried to capture it in her mouth each time I'd slip it inside, but I was too quick and would pull it out teasing her. My guess is that she soon tired of my antics because she initiated our next kiss with such ferociousness that my entire body was left tingling. Her mouth was urgent and impatient as she attacked my lips with her own. 

I felt her hands slide down my back as she grabbed ahold of my ass and squeezed it. I moaned into her mouth and broke the kiss purely out of surprise once I felt her finger lightly graze my asshole. 

While I was still on top of her, she reached in between us to grasp my full breasts. Her hands held one in each hand, gently kneading them before rubbing my nipples. She sucked one into her mouth and I reacted by grinding my pussy against her, desperately seeking the contact. 

I licked two of my fingers before reaching in between her legs to cup her womanhood. My index finger casually lingered against her pussy lips and she tried to push herself against it but I wouldn't take her bait. 

She moaned my name and an intense jolt of pleasure hit me straight in my groin. "Stop teasing me," she warned tightening her grip around me.

I firmly pushed two fingers inside her and bit into her shoulder causing her to gasp out loud. "You know you like it," I declared. "This belongs to me, remember that."

"Yes," she whimpered pushing her hips against my piercing fingers.

"Get comfortable," I instructed as I climbed off of her so that she could lie down on the bed. She grabbed a pillow to rest her head on and watched me with vested interest as I kneeled between her legs. I lifted her left leg up to massage her feet and then her ankle before kissing my way up the rest of her leg stopping just at her inner thigh. Once I finished with her left leg, I raised her right leg up and gave it the same exact treatment. "If I had my strap-on with me, you would be in so much trouble," I cautioned placing a kiss against her right inner thigh.

She blushed, "I don't have one of those but I do have something else," she admitted. "But I haven't used it yet."

My head quickly shot up, "You have a sex toy? Where is it?"

"It's under the bed in a large, black shopping bag."

I leaned over the side of the bed and peered underneath it for a large, black shopping bag. Once I finally saw what she was referring to. I pulled the discreet shopping bag out and looked inside it before taking the object out. It was a curved, 8 inch, pink, glass dildo that was unopened. I quickly opened the packaging and examined it, imagining all the things I would do to Vanessa using it. 

I repositioned myself back between her legs and watched her face very closely, "Do you trust me?" I asked and she briefly hesitated before nodding her head.

I pressed her knees back towards her chest and rubbed the dildo against her, so that she could feel the coldness and smoothness of it. "How does it feel?" 

"Cold but good," she admitted taking a deep breath with her eyes closed. 

I laid the toy down on the bed beside her and kissed her pussy, "I bet you want it inside of you, don't you?"

She nodded again and I spread her lips open with my forefingers, so that I could slide my tongue against her. Her insides were already slick with moisture so I used my tongue to spread it around, making sure that she was nice and ready for what I had in store for her. I watched her hands play with her breasts as I moved my head from side to side, lubing her up. She squirmed on the bed and pushed her pussy further into my mouth. 

I removed my mouth from her and reached for the glass toy. "I know what you want," I whispered pushing it inside her. 

"Ohhh," she grunted, seemingly surprised at the girth of it. 

My free hand stroked her thigh encouraging her to continue, "Relax baby, there's still a little bit more."

"More?" she choked out breathing heavily. 

"Just trust me," I insisted and pressed it further in, until it was about two-thirds inside of her. 

She growled deeply as I slowly withdrew the object before pushing it right back in causing her body to jolt forward. "Ahh. . . .mhmm," she groaned and flexed her toes. I withdrew once more, almost pulling it out completely, before sliding it back inside her. She reacted by pressing her fist against her mouth to conceal what would've been her scream. We fell into a nice rhythm as I watched it slide in and out of her sex. 

She was holding it together until I massaged her clitoris with one hand while still pumping in and out of her with the toy. Her beautiful face contorted and her mouth rounded open, signaling that she was about to come. I quickly removed the dildo and replaced it with my mouth. I gave her one long lick and her juices once again exploded into my awaiting mouth. Just as she had the previous night before, she tasted sweet but slightly bitter and I tried to gulp down as much as I could. 

After tossing the toy to the floor, I scooted up to her on the bed and pulled her to me so that I could hold her. Her breathing was still irregular and her body glistened with perspiration. "You shouldn't touch me, I'm all sweaty," she warned. 

I kissed her sweaty forehead, "I'm not sure if you know this or not, but they have this new invention called the shower. I was thinking that we could test it out when we get finished."

Vanessa gave me a sleepy smile, "You're such a smartass. And what do you mean after we get finished? I'm exhausted."

"That's why I'm giving you time to recover. Because that ass is mine tonight, pun intended."

She snuggled against me closer and gave me a quick kiss, "Whatever you say."

Deep down, I knew it was morally wrong and extremely fucked up of me to lie in someone else's bed with their wife. But being in bed with Vanessa for the second night in a row, left me with a deep sense of peace and belonging that I couldn't remember having ever felt previously with anyone. 

In all of my past relationships, I'd always been so guarded and afraid to really put myself out there. But with Vanessa, I never felt that way. She seemed to accept and embrace who I was and I prayed it wouldn't change once I told her the truth "I thought you didn't like sex toys," I stated after a moment. "You said that you and Jay never used them."

She yawned, "I actually didn't even own one until a week ago. I wasn't going to buy anything but the nice lady at the sex store convinced me to take it home and try it out. It came highly recommended."

"I have to be honest with you, as much as I love being with you, we're being very unfair to your husband," I admitted. "You and those kids are his world, he loves you all unconditionally."

"And I meant what I said, I love him too."

"So what do you want from me?" I questioned. "Because as much as I love being with you, we can't keep doing this."

She idly stroked my hand, "I've been monogamous my entire life, I've never cheated on anyone until now. I don't like infidelity because I'm a one person kind of woman," She paused. "My parents have been together for over thirty years and I just always assumed that Jay and I would end up just like them. But then you came along and everything changed."

"It's funny because about a month before I moved here, I'd sworn off love after my last relationship."

She rested her head on her elbows looking all sexy, "What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

"We'd been together for about a year and a half, off and on. More off than on," I elaborated. "She was a great person but she didn't know how to stop cheating on me. Every time it happened, she'd cry and act all remorseful and I'd forgive her. But then a couple months later, it would happen all over again."

She twirled a strand of my hair around her finger, "When did you finally break up with her?" 

"I got off work early one day and stopped by her house to surprise her. Long story short, the surprise ended up being on me because I caught her banging her next door neighbor's fiancé in the neighbor's pool. She tearfully confessed to me that they'd been sleeping together for a couple of weeks."

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed angrily. "Please tell me you jumped in and tried to drown them both?"

I chuckled. "No but the thought did cross my mind. However, I was so over it by then that I didn't even really care. I was emotionally drained at that point."

"Good," Vanessa remarked. "Because she didn't deserve you." 

"One might say that I don't deserve you."

"How can you say that?" she disputed. "You're the nicest, most honest, funniest person that I've ever known. I'm the one that doesn't deserve you."

I brushed her hair back, "I'm flattered that you have so much faith in me but I really need to tell you something. Something that I've been keeping from you to protect you."

She sat up, "Are you sick? Are you in trouble?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"What is it then?"

I took a deep breath and prepared to confess the truth to her, "The night that you had people over for dinner, I overheard a conversation that your husband was having."




Blurred Lines Ch. 02



"Okay, what was the conversation about?"

"He was talking to C.C. and-"

Her phone started ringing, effectively cutting me off and she reached over me to grab it from the nightstand. She looked at me apologetically and I already knew who it was without even having to ask. "I have to take this," she informed me before answering it. "Hey honey, is everything okay?" she frowned, "Are you sure? What did the doctors say?" A brief pause, "No, I'll be there as soon as I can. Natalie stopped by so I'll see if she can keep an eye on them if they wake up." She turned to me while still talking to him on the phone, "I love you too and I'll be there soon, bye." She hung up, and got out of the bed searching for her discarded clothing, "I have to get to the hospital. Jay had a car accident on the way home from work."

I stood up from the bed also, with a bed sheet covering my naked torso. "What happened? Is he okay?"

She grabbed her blouse from the floor and slipped it back on before tying up her hair in a messy bun. "He said he's fine just a few scrapes and bruises. More shaken up than anything."

"What do you need me to do?"

She sat on the bed to pull her jeans on. "I didn't mean to just volunteer you but could you keep an eye on the kids until I get back?"

"No problem. I'll check on them as soon as I clean up and get my clothes on."

She grabbed her keys from the nightstand and hurried to the front door but hesitated, "I don't mean to just leave you like this again. We obviously have a lot to talk about but I really do need to g-"

I interrupted her, "Vanessa, I understand. Go be with your husband. He needs you more than I do right now."

She walked over and fully kissed me on the lips before leaving. "Thank you for being so understanding. I'll get back home to you as soon as I can," she promised before rushing out.

From the upstairs bedroom window, I watched as she quickly got into her car and sped off into the night. I was still standing there, gazing out the window when I heard what sounded like the front door open and close. 

I frowned and walked towards the hallway. "Hello?" I called out. I peered out the bedroom and noticed that the doors to the kids' rooms were still shut, and that the lights were still off in their rooms, meaning that it couldn't have been any of them. My eyes widened as a shadow appeared at the bottom of the stairs. I silently retreated back to the bedroom, and reached for the Louisville Slugger in the corner of the room. I quickly hid behind the opened door to the bedroom as the footsteps made their way up the stairs. 

The unwanted visitor took two steps into the room before I swung sharply and connected with their body. I pulled the bat back and prepared to swing again until I noticed who I'd struck. "Rico?" I asked dumbfounded, lowering the bat. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I came to see you," he gasped, clutching his abdomen from his kneeled position. "I called you but you didn't answer and I got worried."

I clenched the bed sheet around me, suddenly aware and conscious of my nakedness, "I'm fine, I put my phone on vibrate. But what are you doing here? And why didn't you knock on the door instead of just walking in?"

"Where was Vanessa going?" he asked catching his breath.

"Jason had a minor car accident and she went to be with him at the hospital. Now will you answer my question?"

"Does the name Jarred Ashland ring a bell to you?" He handed me several recent photographs of the deceased. "They found his body a few hours ago." 

I paused and thought back to the night of Vanessa and Jay's dinner party. "I think I might've had a brief conversation with his wife. She mentioned that he had just gotten a promotion at work."

"He worked with Jay at Vienna Software."

"What was the cause of death?" I asked.

"Medical examiner suspects carbon monoxide poisoning," he explained rising to his feet. "His wife came home and found him in his car. He left it running with the garage door closed."

"Have you told Mason or anyone else about this?"

Rico shook his head, "Not yet. I didn't find out until about an hour ago."

I nervously chewed on my bottom lip, "Can this stay between us for the time being?"

"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "Mason sent me down here to look after you and you want me to lie to him?"

"I'm not asking you to lie. Just asking for a favor."

He shook his head, "Natalia-"

"Por favor(Please), I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," I pleaded desperately. "Just give me a day or two to see what I can find out."

"Are you forgetting that Victor Campos' business partner's death also looked like a suicide?"

"Just give me two days to see if I can find out anything. That's all I'm asking. If you tell Mason about this, he'll jump on the first flight to come here."

He sighed, "Fine, okay? You have thirty six hours before I tell him. He's going to find out regardless and when he finds out that we purposely kept this from him, he's going to be pissed."

I rushed into his arms and kissed him on the cheek, "I owe you big time."

He looked me up and down before glancing over to the unmade bed, "I would ask what made you put your phone on vibrate, but I can already tell from the look of things."

I rolled my eyes and handed him back his pictures, "You should get going before the kids wake up and see you."

"Trying to get rid of me already?" he asked with a broad grin. "Just be sure to keep your phone close by in case I hear anything else."

**

I felt a finger poke me in the jaw then in the shoulder. With a tired groan, I stuck my head out from underneath my blanket and saw Sophie standing over me. Geez, I was supposed to have been watching the kids not napping on the job. 

She sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch, "Mommy told me to let you sleep but I wanted to wake you up."

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, "It's okay, I need to get up anyways."

Vanessa walked over and shooed her baby away, "Go eat your oatmeal before it gets cold. You can talk to Natalie after you finish eating."

"What time is it?" I asked sitting up and stretching. 

She handed me a cup of coffee that I greedily accepted, "Six-thirty. Why did you sleep out here instead of in the guestroom?"

"That's because I only meant to close my eyes for like ten minutes, where's Jay?"

"He's upstairs still sleeping, we got home really late last night," she explained.

"Why didn't you wake me so I could go home?" I asked.

She smiled, "Because you looked so peaceful sleeping. I wanted to join you, but I couldn't so I covered you up with a blanket and went upstairs."

"I've come to the conclusion that I really do not like sleeping without you."

She looked over to make sure that the kids were still busy eating breakfast at the kitchen table, "We didn't get to finish talking last night. When I got the call about Jason-"

"Your whole world dropped," I interrupted. "I get it."

"It did," she admitted. "But more so for my children. They love their dad and he loves them. Myself on the other hand, I love him and I'll always be eternally grateful to him for being my children's father. But last night while I was sitting in the ER waiting for them to release him, I couldn't stop thinking about how I couldn't wait to come back here to see you. Leaving you was so hard."

"I really didn't want to let you go but I knew that he needed you more than I did." 

"Last night made me realize that I want to see where this thing between us could possibly go. But only if you feel the same way."

I took a moment to absorb what she was telling me, "I don't know what to say. I was pretty sure that this scare with Jay would make you change your mind about what we were doing."

"Nothing could ever make me change my mind about you."

"You say that now, but after I tell you what I was going to tell you last night, you might change your mind."

There was a knock at the door, and Sophie raced past us to answer it. "It's C.C," the little girl announced before racing back to the kitchen.

"C.C.?" Vanessa looked at me and we both frowned. "What is she doing here this early?" 

I shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

We both stood up as she walked in. "I know it's early, hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all," Vanessa lied. "Natalie spent the night last night with the kids while we were in the emergency room."

"How's he doing?" she asked. "Dad texted me this morning and told me about the accident."

"He's sore more than anything," Vanessa explained. "They gave him some pain killers so he's just upstairs resting."

"That's good to hear. I came by to talk to both of you but since he's asleep, maybe you can tell him for me when he wakes up. It'll probably be a lot easier coming from you."

"What's wrong?" Vanessa asked in a concerned voice.

C.C. took a deep breath before continuing, "Jarred committed suicide last night. Monica came home from work and found him in the garage. He apparently left his car running."

Vanessa covered her mouth with her hand and quickly sat down on the couch. "Oh my God. She must be beside herself. Was Jackson in the car with him?"

She shook her head, "No, he was asleep in his crib."

"Who's Jackson?" I asked.

"Their adopted 6 month old son," Vanessa responded quietly. "I have to call her, I can't imagine what she's going through."

"Mom and Dad went by late last night and they both said that she wasn't doing too well. I would stay but Dad's holding a meeting this morning to tell all the other employees."

"Thanks for stopping by and letting us know."

C.C. nodded, "I know how close you all are so I figured you'd like to know. Tell Jason I'll call him later today."

Once we were alone, I sat down on the coffee table across from Vanessa who sat on the couch with her head in her hands. "You wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head and looked up at me, "I just can't believe it. They seemed so happy and in love, how could he do that to his family?" she asked as tears pooled in her eyes, "I just can't understand how or why he could just abandon his wife and child like that? I just don't understand how anyone could be that selfish."

I sat beside her on the couch and pulled her to me. She came willingly and rested her head on my shoulder and cried softly. And in that moment, it didn't matter how attractive I found her or how much I wanted her. She needed comfort and I wanted to be the one to comfort her. After a while, I spoke softly, "This may not be my place to say, but the majority of people who commit suicide, don't do it to be selfish. They do it because they're in so much pain and agony and they see no other way out. And I'm not saying what he did was right or wrong because I only met him once, but he probably felt like he had no other choice."

"We didn't even get to tell him goodbye," she murmured quietly.

"I know babe, it really hurts when you never have the chance to say goodbye," I told her, speaking from my own personal experience. I held her for a little while longer until her cries eventually stopped. "Feel better?" I asked

She nodded and sat up wiping her eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just break down and cry on you like that."

"You don't have to apologize, you can cry on me anytime."

"Can you make me a promise?" she asked.

"Anything."

"I need you to promise me that you'll never hurt me like that. Promise me that you'll always share your thoughts and feelings with me no matter what. No matter how painful or hurtful they might be. I need you to promise me that you won't ever keep something life changing like this from me."

I knew it was a bold faced lie, but Vanessa needed assurance right now rather than the truth. She needed to be reassured so I lied to her once more, "I promise."

"Thank you," she replied squeezing my hand. "I almost forgot, before she got here you mentioned that you needed to tell me something. What was it?"

My mouth opened to tell her exactly what it was that I had tried to tell her the night before, but I couldn't make my lips form the words. "I completely forgot," I lied already breaking my promise to her. "I guess it wasn't important after all."

"Well if you end up remembering it, you can still tell me." She informed me standing up, "Are you staying for breakfast or have I officially weirded you out by getting all emotional?" 

"I can't stay, not because I'm weirded out, but I have a meeting with a new client in about an hour so I have to go home, and get ready."

"I'm sure the job is yours. If they're smart, they'll hire you."

"You are so good for my ego," I sealed my statement with a quick kiss. I knew it was a risk that anyone could walk in but I had to kiss her. It'd been hours since I'd last kissed her lips and I was hungry. "Call me later and let me know how you're doing so I won't worry."

"Good luck, I'll call you later when I have some free time."

**

I banged on the bedroom door and waited for Rico to open up. He yanked the door open, and stood in the doorway wearing a pair of extremely tight boxer briefs. "Do you know what time it is?" he asked in an annoyed voice. 

"Wake your ass on up, we have work to do," I declared.

He cursed and followed me into my living room and flopped down on the couch, "Oh, now that you got you some last night you're ready to work?"

I shot him a dirty look, "C.C. came over this morning to break the news about Jarred."

He quickly sat up, "What did she say? And how did they take it?"

"She pretty much confirmed everything that you said. And Vanessa was pretty upset, Jay was upstairs asleep so he doesn't know what happened yet."

"Or does he?" he questioned. "You said that he had an accident last night."

"Yeah a minor car accident. I don't see how his car accident has anything to do with Jarred's alleged suicide."

"Maybe he's involved with Jarred Ashland's death and he caused the accident to throw suspicion off himself? They could all be involved for all we know."

I shook my head in disagreement, "Rico c'mon man. You should've saw how upset she was when she found out about him. No way is she involved with that."

"You said he called her and she left? Where did the accident happen at? Were there any other cars involved? Did they file a police report?"

My answer sounded incredibly lame to my own ears, "She didn't elaborate."

"And you don't find it suspicious that her husband has a car accident on the same night, around the same time that one of his coworkers is also found dead?"

I pulled out the flash drive, "Let's just see if there's anything useful on here."

He opened up his laptop and inserted the flash drive into his USB port. He started clicking until he found what he was looking for, "According to this email that was sent yesterday morning, Westbrook and C.C. have a lunch meeting today with D.B at J.R's Bar & Grille. Do you know if any of their friends or associates have those initials?"

I shook my head, "None that I know of. What time is the meeting?"

"Eleven. Why?"

I stood up and headed for the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower and get ready. Looks like I have a meeting at eleven." 

**

"Welcome to J.R's, do you have a reservation?" the hostess greeted as I walked in. I took a quick survey around and saw that C.C. had already arrived and was seated at a table alone. 

"No, I'm sorry I don't have one," I answered. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, will you be dining alone or is someone else joining you?"

"Alone," I pointed to the far side of the restaurant. "And may I have a booth in the corner on this side?"

The hostess nodded, "Of course. Please follow me this way." She seated me about thirty feet away from C.C who had her back turned away from me. I pretended to browse the lunch menu that the hostess handed me but I was actually waiting to see who would walk in to join her table. Coincidentally, a familiar looking man walked inside the busy restaurant just as my waiter came to take my drink order. I instantly recognized the familiar face as the guy who'd stopped by C.C's house when I was there. 

He quickly spotted her and made his way over to her table and sat down. I casually pretended to play a game on my phone but instead I snapped a couple of pictures of the pair and sent them to Rico who could hopefully put a last name to the unknown guy.

My waiter soon returned with my drink and attempted to take my lunch order but I lied to him that I needed more time to look over the menu. I couldn't hear what was being said at C.C.'s table, but in a short span of time, I watched two suspicious exchanges happen: C.C. casually slipped a small baggie into the palm of the guy's hand. And he in return, handed her a small vanilla envelope that she stuffed down into her large purse. 

It completely caught me off guard that they'd be so brazen to do a drug deal in public. A few more words were exchanged and then the guy in the suit got up and walked out of the restaurant. I watched her throw several bills on the table and knew that she would soon be leaving. 

Hoping that she'd notice me, I also tossed a few bills on the table and casually walked towards the front of the restaurant. As expected she saw me and called out, "Natalie?"

I turned around and pretended to act surprised to see her, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I had a meeting with one of our developers. What about you?"

"Working," I answered as she held the door open for me to walk outside. "I had a lunch date with my new client. He hired me to take his son's senior pictures."

"Congratulations. I was just on my way back to the office. We're all kind of shocked about what happened to Jarred."

I nodded, "He seemed like a really nice guy. Vanessa was really torn up about it."

"Speaking of Vanessa, do you mind if I ask you a question?" she asked studying me closely. "How long have you been sleeping with Jason's wife? And how long did you think you could keep it a secret?"

"What are you talking about? I only spent the night at their house because she needed someone to watch the kids while she went to the hospital."

She impatiently tapped her foot against the sidewalk pavement, "That's not how it looked to me."

"I think you're confused. Vanessa and I are just friends."

C.C. pulled out her cell phone, "Maybe I should call to ask her myself?"

I quickly snatched the phone out of her hands, "What do you want? Just spit it out already."

She smiled a slow predatory smile, "What makes you think I want anything?"

"If you didn't want anything, you would've told him by now. So I'll ask you one more time, what do you want?" I repeated.

She reached for her phone and put it back in her purse, "It's simple: break things off with her and I'll keep my mouth shut."

I eyed her suspiciously, "Just like that? How do I even know I can trust you?"

"You don't have any other choice," she stated. "Either you break things off with her or I'll personally make sure that Jay and everyone around him knows that you've been having an affair with his pretty little wife." 

"What makes you think I care about him or what his colleagues might think?" I argued. "You could very well be playing right into my hands if you told him."

"Maybe," she agreed. "But can you imagine how awful it would be for their children to grow up knowing that their mom is just a big ol,' carpet munching, dyke? Kids can be pretty mean and bullying is a serious problem in this country."

"What do you get out of this? Do you get off on blackmailing people?" 

She shrugged, "I'm only doing what's fair. If I can't have you, then she can't either. And don't try and play me because I have proof and I'd hate for it to fall into the wrong hands."

"Let's just say I do what you want, she'll know something's wrong if I just break it off."





Blurred Lines Ch. 02



"I don't really care what you tell her or how you tell her," she replied. "Just call me when it's done."

**

"The guy C.C. met up with was Diego Mantano, he's one of Gio's brothers," Rico confirmed. "What did you say he gave her?"

"She gave him the drugs and he handed her an envelope. I couldn't hear the conversation."

"At least we know who D.B is, that solves a small piece of the puzzle," Rico said. "The only conclusion that makes sense is that they're working for The Ferelli Family. I say we confront C.C. with what we have and see if she'll crack," he suggested. "Tell her that we know what she's doing and get her to snitch. We both know that I can be very persuasive."

I shook my head, "I don't think it'll work."

He frowned, "Why the hell not? You witnessed the conversation that she and Jason Westbrook had. You saw her make a drug deal with your own eyes. Am I missing something here?"

"It just won't work," I reiterated. "We have to find another way."

"Why do we have to find another way?" he questioned. "What are you not telling me?"

"She has something on me," I reluctantly admitted.

Rico's eyes got big, "She knows? And you're just now telling me?"

I clarified, "She knows about me and Vanessa and she threatened to tell Jason."

"How the fuck did she find out?"

"I have no idea." 

He sat down at the kitchen table beside me, "Do you think she's bluffing?"

"I don't want to take the chance either way. It would completely devastate Vanessa and her family if Jay found out like that."

"Fuck. This is getting out of hand."

"I know," I admitted.

He looked at me sharply, "Do you?"

"What the hell does that mean?" I asked defensively. 

"It means that you're losing sight of what's important," he disputed. "The Natalia that I know doesn't carry on a love affair with a married woman."

"I'm doing everything I can to protect them."

He shook his head, "No, you're getting so caught up in whatever it is between you and her and people are still dying. I'd bet my last dollar that either C.C. or Jay or someone they know murdered Jarred Ashland."

"You are not going to blame me for his death. I had nothing to do with it," I stated angrily. 

"How long before everything is exposed? Your life isn't the only one on the line."

"I'm trying, Rico."

"Try harder," he suggested sternly. "Because you need to start digging your way out of this mess that you created before it all blows up in everyone's face."

Maybe it was a sign from above or just random timing but my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and my heart plummeted when I saw who was calling me. I hoped I didn't sound anywhere close to how I felt at the moment, "Hello?"

"God, I really miss you. You have no idea how good it feels to hear your voice. How was your meeting?"

I smiled sadly and closed my eyes. "It was fine, he hired me right on the spot."

"That's great," she responded enthusiastically. "You're in high demand nowadays." 

"What about you?" I asked. "Has your day gotten any better?"

Her voice changed, "Not at all. I went by Monica and Jarred's house to pay my condolences and she's a mess."

"Did she say what happened?" 

"Just that she came home on her lunch break and found it odd when the garage door wouldn't open. She had to go in through the front door just to get to the garage and once she did, there he was just dead in his car."

"That is so sad."

"Her mom and older sisters are staying with her to help with Jackson and everything. I told her I'd come by again tomorrow after the kids go to school."

"How are you holding up?" I asked.

She sighed, "I'm still somewhat in shock. Jarred seemed fine the last time I saw him, he was so excited about his promotion."

"What about Jay? How's he feeling?"

"He's alright," she answered. "He's planning on going back to work tomorrow."

"Good for him."

She paused, "I know you asked about me but are you okay? Your voice sounds different."

"I've just been doing a lot of thinking," I admitted. "I have a lot on my mind."

"I know exactly how you feel. We still have a lot to talk about." 

I took a deep breath, "You may not like what I have to say."

"Try me," she challenged 

"I want you to tell Jay about us today."

"Today?" she asked flabbergasted. "Where is this coming from?"

I tried to justify my argument, "I want you and you want me so why shouldn't we just go ahead and be together?" 

"Because it's not that easy for one," Vanessa contended. "I can't just come out and tell my husband that I'm leaving him for you. There's a little bit more to it than that. Especially after a day like today. That would be cruel of me."

I tried my damn to make my voice sound angry. "I can't keep torturing myself like this. It's either me or him."

"What? Are you home right now? I really feel like this is a conversation that we need to have face to face."

"I'm out with a friend," I fibbed.

Her response was quick, "I'll wait for you then."

"No, don't," I replied quickly. "I don't want to see you. Because if I see you, I might change my mind."

"Okay, what the fuck is wrong with you?" she demanded angrily. "You and I were perfectly fine this morning, so what happened between now and then?" she questioned. 

"There's something that I haven't told you, my ex is in town and she really wants to see me."

She paused, "I thought things were over between you and her. You told me you didn't have any feelings left for her."

"That's what I thought too but she wants to talk it out and I'm considering giving her another chance if this thing with you and I doesn't work out."

"So basically if I don't leave Jay right away, you're going to for sure get back with your ex?" she questioned in disbelief. "You're ready to throw all this away to be with some woman who has hurt you time and time again?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "You make it sound like I want to get back with her. I wanted you to pick me, I wanted you to pick us."

"I do choose us, I just need more time to figure out how to break the new news to him," she implored. "I can't just spring this on him, I have the kids to think about."

My answer was automatic, "Fine, you do what's best for them and I'll do what's best for me." 

Her voice sounded cold and distant when she finally replied. "If that's how you feel, I guess there's nothing else to say."

**

I learned many years ago that alcohol was never the answer to any problem. And while it didn't ease my pain, it sure in the hell did numb some of what I was currently feeling. It cut me like a knife when I thought about the fact that I'd come so close to having everything that I'd ever wanted with someone. And just like that, it had been abruptly ripped away from me. After C.C.'s ultimatum, I really hadn't had any choice but to do what she wanted. Because as much as I loved Vanessa, I wouldn't let anyone hurt her family. 

So several hours later, frustrated and angry, I sat alone at the bar absentmindedly watching SportsCenter on ESPN. I ordered another double shot of whiskey hoping to drown my sorrows. I was bitter as hell and I wanted to be left alone to feel sorry for myself.

The cute, red-headed bartender set my drink down on my napkin and leaned over the bar top, "Rough day?" she asked. 

I nodded and tossed the fiery liquid down my throat, ignoring the instant burning sensation. "Very rough, indeed," I admitted. 

"My shift ends in about another hour," she replied. "Want some company tonight?"

"Not tonight sweetheart," I answered. "You don't want me, trust me."

The stool next to me was pulled out and C.C. joined me at the bar. She ordered a dirty martini before turning to me, "How did she take it?"

"She fucking hates me, are you satisfied?" I asked flatly nursing my now lukewarm beer. "That's exactly what you wanted, right?"

"I wanted you, but then I found out that you already had a thing going on with Jason's wife so that idea was pretty much shot to hell don't you think?"

I laughed sarcastically, "You're doing all this because I chose Vanessa over you? I had no idea that your self-esteem not to mention ego, was this low."

"You should be thanking me," she informed me as the bartender returned with her drink.

"Thanking you? Have you lost your mind?" I asked in outrage. "You're blackmailing me into hurting someone that I deeply care about and you think that I should actually be grateful?"

"You would've gotten hurt in the end, Natalie. They always choose to stay with their husbands or wives, she was never going to leave him for you."

I shook my head, "Maybe in your past experience, that's true. But you don't know jack shit about what we had."

Her eyes narrowed as she sipped from her martini glass, "Don't tell me you have feelings for her. You lesbians really do work fast."

"Are we finished here?" I tersely asked standing up from my stool. "Because I'm leaving." 

"Actually no you're not. We still have unfinished business."

I pulled out my wallet to leave the bartender a tip and started to put on my jacket, "I'm not listening to anymore of your garbage. I did what you asked."

"But you didn't let me finish. Even though you've rejected me on numerous occasions, I still find myself wanting you," she confessed.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." 

C.C. continued and ran her hands down the front of my jacket, "And even though Vanessa got to you first, I still want you."

I'd grabbed her hands roughly and spoke in a low voice, "Allow me to get one thing straight with you. I'd have to be out of my fucking mind to willingly share my body with someone as hateful as you."

"I could honestly care less about the willingly part. Consider it the other half of our little agreement. Spend the night with me and we're done. You never have to see or speak to me again for all I care."

"You want me to sleep with you?" I dropped her hands and reeled back in shock and disgust, "How do I even know I can trust you to keep your word?"

"You don't," she said. "No one ever has to know, especially Vanessa. It'll be our little secret."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Are you that fucked up that you'd force someone who absolutely hates you to sleep with you?"

"Yes," she answered standing up. "Meet me at my house in twenty minutes. And don't make me wait too long."

**

Seeing C.C. casually lounge in her bed, drinking a glass of champagne enraged me more than it should. By the time I made it to her house, she had already changed into a sheer nightgown, and was relaxing in bed waiting on me. I wanted to kill her. 

No seriously, I wanted to strangle her and then dispose of her body. It sickened me to know that in a matter of minutes, I would soon be sharing my body with someone as calculated and callous as her. 

She stood up and walked over to me, "Relax, you're making the right decision."

What other decision was there? "You left me no choice. Either I do this with you or you blow up Jay and Vanessa's family."

"You did that all on your own when you started eating his wife's pussy," she retorted.

I shook my head still in disbelief that I'd somehow found myself in this situation. I exhaled, "If we do this, we do it my way."

"Yes ma'am. Anything else?" she asked.

"If you ever tell anyone about thi-"

"She'll never know," C.C. interrupted. "Now fuck me just like you fucked her."

To her surprise, I took the glass out of her hand and tossed the remaining contents down my throat. I placed the glass down on the dresser and jerked her against me forcefully. I could tell from her tiny whimper that my sudden aggressiveness had caught her off guard. I tugged on the nightgown that she wore with both hands until the thin material ripped. 

I jerked her naked body against me again and pulled her hair back swiftly so that she could see into my eyes, "Are you sure you want this?"

She nodded and I shoved her down roughly to the bed. "Spread your legs," I told her as I kneeled between them. 

Without any warning, I used my tongue to part her slick folds and dived right in. There was something about a woman's pussy that drove me insane. It was the feel of it, the unique taste of each one, the sounds that came from a woman if you licked and touched it the right way. 

Her head dropped back as I swirled my tongue inside her, she ran her fingers through my hair encouraging me to continue, "Don't stop."

My instant reaction was to push her hands away. "Don't fucking touch me," I snapped before going back to what I was doing and devouring her pussy. With one hand, I held her down on the bed while my other hand hooked her leg over my shoulder. I could feel her orgasm building and as much as I wanted to push her over that threshold and end this already, I had other ideas. 

She glared at me angrily as I stopped suddenly and stood up away from her. "Why did you stop? I was almost there."

"Kneel on the bed."

She frowned, "Wha-"

I grabbed her by her hair and jerked her up so that her face was only inches from mine, "I said kneel on the bed."

I released her and she obeyed me and positioned herself on the edge of the bed like I asked while I stripped off my shoes, pants and underwear. I opened the bottom drawer in her dresser to the left side of the bed and pulled out her strap-on that I had discovered when I had searched her house.

"How did you kn-"

I slapped her ass hard and she yelped, "Do not speak unless I tell you to, got it?"

She nodded and I slid the harness over my hips and adjusted the straps to fit me. I grabbed the bottle of lube from the drawer and coated the latex, flesh colored, dildo with a substantial amount. I stood behind her and rubbed the fake phallus against her pussy lips so that she could feel me. Without a forewarning, I spread her lips apart and surged forward, shoving the fake cock deep into her pussy. Her body initially resisted me but I made her take all of it.

"Oh fuck," she grunted and her head dropped forward as she cried out. 

With one hand on her hip, I used my other to press her head down into the pillow as I withdrew and thrust my hips forward again and again. Beads of sweat rolled down her back as I fucked her like a woman possessed. I tried unsuccessfully to push her out of my thoughts but Vanessa's image kept creeping into my mind. Because of C.C., I'd had to break her heart. 

I'd lost the one woman that I had finally given my heart to all because of Cecilia Campos.

In a rage, I grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back swiftly that she cried out again. I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to punish her. I wanted her to be in as much pain as I was at the moment. Pulling her hair wasn't enough for me though, so I let go of her hair, and squeezed her neck while I continued to pound away. 

She gasped and gripped the bed sheets as my fake cock mercilessly assaulted her pussy. I wanted her. . .no I needed her to feel every single, angry inch. My hands roughly dug into her hips as I plunged into her from behind over and over. 

"Arch your back," I instructed. 

She obeyed and I buried my cock deep inside her. It took all of two half thrusts for her body to seize before convulsing. She screamed several unintelligible curse words as she finally orgasmed, coming all over the fake cock. 

Satisfied that the job was now done and that I'd done enough to earn my freedom, I shoved her away from me roughly and undid the straps to the harness and tossed it to the floor.

C.C. who was still recovering, crawled up the bed and rested her back against the headboard. She struggled to catch her breath and her hands were trembling as she attempted to light her cigarette. "Damn that was good. I've never had a man, not to mention another woman fuck me like that. No wonder Vanessa was so quick to cheat on Jay." She finally lit her cigarette and tossed her lighter on the dresser, "Loosen up, that was meant to be a joke."

I looked at her sharply as I started to put my clothes back on, "You forced me into having sex with you, I don't find that very funny."

"Technically I blackmailed you, so there's a difference. Are you always that rough with other women?"

"Nope," I answered buttoning up my pants.

"Are you sure you don't want me to return the favor?" 

I was about to tell her that if she ever touched me again, I'd kill her, when I noticed a laser like red dot coming in through her bedroom window. What the hell? I looked around suspiciously, "Get down now," I ordered quietly.

"You want me again already?" she asked, oblivious to the situation.

"Callatè!(Shut up) Just get down!" I shouted as gunshots violently erupted all around us.

C.C. screamed and scrambled to the floor, "Who's shooting at us?" 

"Do I look like I fucking know?" I hissed as bullets ricocheted around the room. I quickly hit the light switch, putting us in the dark and she crawled over to where I was and we both hid by the side of her bed, "Where's your cell phone?"

She looked around nervously, "I-I don't know, downstairs in my p-purse I think. Where's yours?"

"I left it in my car. We need to call 911. Do you have a gun?"

"What?"

"A gun," I repeated. "Is there a gun anywhere in the house?"

She reached into her mattress and handed me a handgun. "I-I don't even know if it's loaded. My dad g-gave it to me for p-protection y-years ago."

I noticed the loaded chamber indicator on the slide and switched off the safety. "It's loaded. Thank God."

"How do you k-know how to shoot a gun?"

"My dad taught me. I'm gonna go downstairs to get your phone to call 911."

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Get in your closet and hide, do not make a single sound," I warned her and turned to leave.

She grabbed my arm, "No, I'm not staying here by myself."

I crouched as a vase shattered on the dresser beside us, "This isn't the time to argue with me! People are shooting at us, damnit!"

"I'm going with you," she insisted.

I cursed, "Fine, but stay low and keep your eyes alert. We'll go when they reload."

"How will we know when they're reloading?" she whispered anxiously. 

"They'll stop shooting," I told her and we waited until it got silent. Once it did, I pointed to the door and we slowly crept out of her bedroom and into the darkened hall. I peeked around the corner and aimed the gun but saw that no one was there. 

Perhaps there was a light at the end of this tunnel of hell?

We'd made our way to the bottom of the stairs and into the kitchen and it was still silent. I played lookout as C.C. grabbed her phone from the counter and dialed 911. She only had enough time to give them her address because shots were once again fired our way. 

I pushed her to the ground and returned fire in the direction that they were coming from before ducking behind the kitchen island. Tears had formed in her eyes and her entire body shook with fear. "I don't wanna die."

"No one's dying tonight," I promised. "But I do need your help. We need to scoot your bookcase or something heavy in front of the door."

"But the police will be here any second."

I shook my head, "Look, I don't have very many bullets left. So if they come in here, it's over for us. We need to make sure they can't get in.

She grabbed a chef's knife from the kitchen drawer, "Okay, I'll d-do whatever you say."

We scrambled over to the front door as bullets flew around us. I took a peek outside through the curtain and saw a black vehicle parked in front. I couldn't see who was shooting at us because their faces were covered in ski masks and they wore all black clothing from head to toe.

But I counted a total of four of them. "How many is it?" C.C. asked from beside me.

"That's not important," I answered and tried unsuccessfully to push the heavy bookcase towards the door. "Just help me scoot this in front of the door. We're going to barricade ourselves in here until the police arrive."




Blurred Lines Ch. 02



"Where the hell are they? What's taking them so long?" she demanded.

The shooting ceased suddenly and at that precise moment, one of the shooters burst in through the living window and tackled me to the ground. He knocked the gun out of my hand and we both scrambled on the ground for it. The asshole had to have a good 60+ pounds on me but I refused to let him hurt either of us. I yelled at C.C. who'd stood there completely paralyzed in fear and probably shock while the shooter and I grappled for my gun. "C.C! The knife! The knife!" I yelled, as he and I both ended up with a hand on the gun. I can't say for sure which one of us squeezed the trigger, but somehow the gun fired twice during our struggle. 

Cecilia quickly sprang into action and stabbed him in his back with the sharp blade of the knife. The blade instantly cut his flesh and I could smell the pungent, metallic aroma of his blood.

He cried out in pain and slowly turned towards her, "You little bitch! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" 

Frightened, she dropped the bloody knife and started to walk backwards. 

With his attention now entirely focused on her, I kneed him hard in the groin and pushed him off of me. He groaned in pain and curled up in the fetal position all while clutching his manhood. I quickly scooted away from him and pointed the gun at him. "Get the fuck out of here right now, before I blow your fucking worthless brains out!" I warned.

Wounded and bloody, he shakily rose to his feet and staggered out the front door. In the distance, I finally heard sirens and the sound of car doors opening and shutting followed by tires screeching. C.C. ran over and fell to her knees examining me, "Oh my God, you're bleeding!"

So it wasn't only his blood I smelled, but my own. In the heat of everything, I failed to realize that I'd gotten shot in my upper left arm. I touched the bullet hole and hissed in pain, "I think it's just a flesh wound."

She went to look out the window as the sirens neared. "The police are here, what should I do?"

"Just let them do their job," I advised. The house was soon lit up in red and blue lights, and the EMS and police swarmed upon her house.

To her credit, she never once left my side, and her hand squeezed mine firmly as the EMT's tended to me and loaded me onto the stretcher and into the ambulance, "You saved my life. Thank you," she told me on the way to the hospital. 

"You did the same for me when you stabbed him, so I'd say we're even."

**

After getting a half dozen stitches, talking with police, and swallowing a few pain killers, I was as good as new. The police hadn't stayed very long after taking our statements but C.C. was told she wouldn't be able to go back to her house immediately. While she stepped outside for another smoke break, I sat up in bed channel surfing, waiting for the nurse to bring me my discharge papers. I'd already called Rico from her phone to let him know what happened and asked him to pick me up once I was released.

The curtain to my room was pulled back, and I expected it to be C.C. or one of the other nurses on rotation checking in on me, but it was neither. "What are you doing here?" I asked not quite believing my eyes.

"I had to see you," Vanessa told me sitting down on the edge of my hospital bed. Her eyes were red and swollen like she'd been crying. "Victor called Jay and said that you'd been shot. He said that you were okay but I had to see you for myself."

I took in her appearance and a lump formed in my throat that I swallowed. Fuck, it felt so good to have her there. After our brutal phone call, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again. "I'm okay," I assured her, "They gave me a few stitches and a prescription for some pain medication but I probably won't even get it filled."

Her hand touched my wound which was now covered in gauze, "Who would do this to you?"

"It doesn't matter."

She frowned, "Of course it matters, you could've been killed!"

I moved my arm away from her soft touch, "Vanessa, it doesn't matter. You shouldn't be here anyways."

She rolled her eyes, "I can't stop caring about what happens to you just because you ended things between us."

"I don't want you to care about me, I don't need you to care about me," I spat. "We're over. You picked him over me, so deal with it."

"Why are you being so cold?" she asked.

"Why are you being so desperate?" I shot back. "Just go home."

C.C. walked in holding a cup of coffee, she looked at me then back at Vanessa. "I can come back," she offered.

I shook my head, "You don't have to go anywhere. Vanessa was just leaving."

She stared at me, eyes blazing. "Why won't you just talk to me?"

"You chose your husband so go be with him. Go live happily ever after for the next thirty years."

"Why are you trying so hard to push me away? It's like you're trying on purpose to hurt me."

"I wasn't alone tonight," I admitted as a last ditch effort. 

"What do you mean?"

"I lied to you about my ex being in town. I didn't want you to know who I was really with," I nodded towards C.C.'s direction.

If looks could kill, C.C. and I both would've already been dead with the undertaker preparing our deceased bodies for our burials. "You slept with her?" she asked evenly.

C.C. tried to speak, "I-"

"I wasn't talking to you," Vanessa snapped angrily and looked back at me. "Answer me, did you end things between us so you could sleep with her?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, "Yes, and it was worth it."

C.C. tried to speak again, "It wasn't-"

But Vanessa cut her off again, "You know what? I don't need to hear anymore. You two deserve each other," she abruptly stood up and slammed the door on her way out.

Cecilia rushed over to my side, "Why didn't you let me tell her the truth?"

"We slept together, that is the truth."

"I blackmailed you, there's a difference," she clarified.

"Just let it go," I warned resting my head against the pillows.

She shook her head adamantly, "She's right, isn't she? You are pushing her away."

"You saw what almost happened to us tonight, the only way I know to protect her is to keep her away from me."

"I blackmailed you and you still risked your life to save mine. Why would you do that?"

"Because I have a very good feeling that you're caught up in something that's bigger and more dangerous than you ever imagined."

She looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I grabbed her arm with my uninjured arm, "I took a bullet protecting you. You should at least tell me why someone's out to hurt you."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I can help you. Just tell me the truth."

She stood up and walked towards the door, "I have to leave, my dad's on his way to pick me up."

I called out her name once more but she was gone. Soon after the pain meds began to finally kick in, Rico stuck his head inside my room. I smiled sleepily, "Finally, someone that I'm actually happy to see. You bustin' me out of here?"

He gave me that look and stepped inside the room, but he wasn't alone. . . .Mason was right behind him. And he looked irate. No irate was putting it mildly, he looked completely pissed. 

If this gunshot wound didn't kill me. 

I knew he would.

**

"I can explain."

"Don't bother," Mason replied pulling up a seat beside my hospital bed. "What the hell were ya thinkin'?

"We weren't thinking," Rico admitted. 

"I only asked him not to tell you because I knew that if you found out about Jarred Ashland, you'd worry about me and drop everything and come here."

He pointed to my injury, "You do realize that the bullet in ya shoulder could have went in the opposite direction and pierced ya heart, right?"

I did but I didn't want to think about that. "But it didn't."

"But it could have," he insisted angrily and stood up. "What the fuck has gotten into you Nat? Are you forgettin' why ya came here in the first place? You know firsthand what people like this are capable of or do we need to take a drive over to the cemetery in order for ya to remember?"

"I know why I came here," I snapped right back at him, as my blood began to boil. "And I don't need you to fucking remind me of anything. I still have nightmares about him so screw you."

Rico stepped in between us and tried to make peace. "I think we all need to take a deep breath and calm down. Mason, we should've told you. That was my mistake, because I had the information but withheld it."

He sighed, "I'm sorry Natalia, that wasn't fair and I'm not tryin' to bring up the past to hurt you. I know ya still not over what happened but it isn't ya fault. It was never ya fault."

I turned away from him, not wanting to talk about Oliver. Ten years had passed but I could still remember it like it was yesterday. He and I had been walking back from The Annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, when an unmarked van had pulled up beside us. At his urging we took off running down an alleyway, but they chased us down, and held both of us at gun point until they forced him into the van and drove off. That was the last time I would see him alive and I could still remember him promising me that he would be okay. 

"Ya fell in love with her, didn't you?" Mason asked point blank with a brief hint of sympathy in his voice. "Don't try to deny it, ya never could lie to me."

"It's pretty obvious," Rico added.

"I didn't want to. I had zero intention of falling for anyone after what Taya did to me but it happened. I don't know how, but she got to me in a way that no other woman has ever gotten to me before."

My best friend sighed audibly. "She's married, Nat. And they have three kids together. Not to mention the fact that ya keeping a very big secret from her. These things never end well."

"I know. And despite my gut telling me that it's all just a disaster waiting to happen, I still love her."

"And just what do you think is gonna happen between you and her when ya have to haul her husband off to prison?" Mason drawled. "Drug charges are just the tip of the iceberg, he could also be looking at a murder charge."

"He didn't kill Jarred Ashland," I declared. "He doesn't have it in him."

"And ya know this how? You've been too busy bangin' his wife to even do your job."

I smirked, "You act like I'm the first one of us to ever sleep with a suspect on a case. You married your suspect."

"Fair enough," he admitted. "But Tori was innocent. And she even testified against her dealer, she handed over evidence that put him away for the rest of his miserable life."

"I still can't believe you married her," I mumbled.

He grinned. "Neither can I. But in all seriousness, I called Barnett on the way here to tell him about Ashland's death and he's giving us 48 hours to crack this thing open or else he's pullin' you."

"But he can't pull me. What about the case? We still don't know who they're working for, and everything that we have is circumstantial. He has to know that none of it will stand up in court."

"He said if he has to, he'll just bring in Cecilia Campos and Jason Westbrook on what we have so far. At this point, he's really concerned about ya safety."

"It's because I'm a woman, right? Bullshit. Both of you are acting like this is my first undercover assignment." I shot Rico an angry look, "I can't believe you called him after I told you not to. I told you I had things under control."

"He didn't have to call me," Mason explained. "After I got off the phone with ya, I still had a bad feeling, so I decided to come here and check things out for myself."

"He's telling you the truth," Rico insisted. "He called me right before he boarded his flight to ask if I could pick him up from the airport."

Mason checked his phone, "I already contacted the ME and asked if she could rush the results. The sooner we find out what really happened to Ashland, the better."

"I agree. If someone is going around murdering people and making it look like suicide, they need to be stopped. I just can't see Jason and C.C. committing murder. Cecilia is a lot of things, but I don't see her killing someone."

"Maybe Jarred was trafficking the drugs with them and wanted out?" Rico suggested also taking a seat. "Maybe Victor killed him to shut him up?"

"It's very possible," Mason acknowledged. "All of the evidence is pointing to Victor Campos. He's C.C.'s father and he's their boss, he has control and authority over all of them. My guess is that the three of them were all workin' for him, and maybe Jarred wanted out. So Victor either killed him, or had him rubbed out. If he could kill his own business partner, he's capable of anything."

I replied, "Between the shooting, and Jason's car accident the other night, I think he's trying to send a message to them. A message to keep quiet or else the same thing that happened to Jarred, will also happen to them."

"I think he's gettin' desperate. His company is in debt. And the lifestyle they live, doesn't come cheap. He's liable to do anything to keep his drug operation runnin'." 

"We need to find a way to get into her parent's house to look around. I bet there's plenty of evidence there," Rico noted.

"He's too smart to leave any evidence there," I replied. "But there's always his office." 

"But how would we get in?" Mason questioned. "We can't just break in undetected."

I reached into my back pocket, and pulled out the keycard that I'd swiped from C.C's dresser while she wasn't paying attention. It was the same exact kind that Jay had used to unlock the door to his office, so I assumed it would also unlock hers as well. "We can get in with this," I stated.



Blurred Lines Ch. 03



I deeply apologize for the wait. I started a new job and I honestly really suck at meeting deadlines... but this is the third part to my series, "Blurred Lines". I tried something a little different with this chapter and decided to tell the story from both of their perspectives so I hope you guys enjoy it. Major thanks to Dru_Druthers for editing this story. Also, thanks to everyone who contributed in any way and helped me out with this chapter. And as always, feel free to drop me a line. 

-VW 

**

Vanessa's perspective:

Getting the kids up and ready for school was always so much easier said than done. Cameron; who normally ate everything that was put in front of him, rejected the waffles that I made for breakfast and instead insisted on chocolate chip pancakes. And Sophie flat out refused to leave the house without her lucky hair ribbon. 

On any other morning, I would've pulled rank and overruled their requests but after the previous night, I had very little desire left in me to fight with anyone especially two toddlers. Finding out the truth about Natalie and C.C. had really done a number on me and all I'd done last night was toss and turn. It wasn't until early this morning when I finally did drift off to sleep, and once I did, it was Natalie's face that was in my head. 

Because as angry as I was with her, I was much angrier at myself. Angry that I allowed myself and my heart to fall under her spell. But beneath all that anger and frustration, I was extremely hurt and humiliated. 

"Can we go to the lake this weekend?" Cam asked snapping me out of my thoughts. 

"I'll have to talk to daddy and see if he's free but if not we can camp out in the tent in the backyard," I explained as I turned towards the road that led to their school. "You guys love sleeping in the tent."

"Can we still roast marshmallows and make s'mores?" he asked. 

"Of course. It wouldn't be camping without s'mores."

Sophie quickly chimed in, "Can Natalie come too?"

I willed my heart not to jump at the sound of her name. "Natalie's probably working this weekend, sweetheart."

"Maybe if you ask her really nicely, she'll say yes."

Cam added, "And make sure you tell her about the s'mores."

"I'll ask her but she probably already has plans," I cautioned as I pulled up in front of their school and parked behind the other parents who were also dropping their kids off. "It'll be okay if it's just us and the dogs." 

"No it won't," he argued stubbornly. "Natalie's fun."

My daughter nodded eagerly. "And she's nice."

I sighed and unbuckled my seatbelt, knowing that they were both telling the truth. "You're right. She is fun and she's very nice, but she also has a very important job so she might be busy this weekend. But I'll still ask her anyways if that's what you all want."

"You can do it, Mom. Don't take no for an answer," Cam advised as they both climbed out of the SUV so that I could walk them up the steps. 

"You guys have a good day at school and I'll see you when you get home. Daddy's picking you up today."

Sophie looked back towards the SUV, "Can I stay with you?"

"What's wrong, sweetie? Don't you want to see your friends and your teacher?"

She shook her head quickly, "No, I just wanna stay with you. Please don't leave."

I bent down and gave her a tight hug, "Tell you what. How about I pick you all up instead? We can go to the ice cream place and I'll let you and Cam get the biggest ice cream cone that they have."

Her little eyes brightened, "Really? Can I get sprinkles and chocolate syrup on it?"

"Oh yeah, you can get whatever you want. But you both have to be really good today."

"Okay," she agreed and finally let go of my hand. "Love you, Momma."

"I love you both and I'll see you in a couple of hours," I promised and gave them each an additional hug and a kiss before releasing them so that they could join the rest of their classmates. 

On the drive back home, I seriously thought about calling Natalie and cursing her out. Without even really thinking about it, I pulled out my phone from my back pocket and dialed her number but just as quickly as I hit the call button, I hung up. I also considered showing up at her apartment unannounced to demand an apology. But I knew that I needed to preserve what little dignity I had left. 

She'd made it abundantly clear last night that she wanted C.C. and I had to accept it whether I wanted to or not. Our affair, fling, or whatever you wanted to call it was now over and I needed to focus on what was important and that meant concentrating solely on my family. Hopefully this weekend away would be exactly what Jay and I needed to get our marriage back on track. It would also give me plenty of time to try to get use to the idea of Natalie and C.C. being together. I tried not to think about it but I couldn't help but wonder if she kissed her the same way she kissed me. If she told her all the same intimate details of her life like she had shared with me. That very thought made my stomach churn and burned like acid. 

Thankfully, by the time I returned home, Jay had already woken up and was sitting at the kitchen table feeding JoJo breakfast. "Hey babe. I heard you come in from the hospital last night, was Natalie okay?" he asked as he looked up from the table. 

"She was fine," I admitted and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I would've been home sooner but I stayed to talk to her for a while before I came home." That wasn't even anywhere close to what had happened but I couldn't tell him the truth. 

"That's good to hear," he remarked. "It's a miracle that neither of them were seriously hurt."

"The two of them are kind of a thing now," I admitted as I turned away to pour myself a cup of fresh, hot coffee. "They were on a date last night when the shooting happened."

"That really doesn't surprise me," my husband replied as he carried our daughter into the living room so that she could watch tv. "They couldn't keep their hands off each other when we were out on Vic's boat. It was only a matter of time before they made it official."

I shrugged. "I know, I just don't want to see either one of them get hurt."

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my midsection, "I know you're concerned because Natalie's your friend, but they're both grownups and they both know what they're getting themselves into. Would it ease you mind if the four of us went out on a double date this weekend? We could go see a movie or go to the theatre. That way you could keep a close eye on them."

"That's sweet of you to offer," I replied. "But your son actually had a better idea. Why don't we go camping this weekend?"

"Camping, huh?" he responded before kissing me on my cheek. "We haven't done that in years, but I'm up to it if you are."

"Only if you promise to stay off your phone and actually participate."

My husband cringed. "I was really hoping that you forgot all about that. How about this? If we go camping this weekend, I'll turn my phone off and leave my laptop and tablet at home in the drawer. You and the kids will have my full, undivided attention."

"That could very well be the hottest thing you've ever said to me," I joked as he released me. "Don't you need to go get ready for work or are you playing hooky today?"

He playfully smacked my ass, "I took a personal day. I feel fine but I just don't feel like being at the office right now."

"You haven't said a lot since Jarred died. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. It's still too fresh."

"Well whenever you're ready to talk, I'm ready to listen."

He reached out and pulled me to him, "I know things have been pretty crazy around here lately with work and Jarred's death, but I want you to know that I love you. And I appreciate you. I really don't know how I would've gotten through any of this without you and the kids."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and stroked his close cut hair, "You would do the same for me if our roles were reversed. Besides, I owe you an apology for my behavior. I know that I might've seemed a little distant and preoccupied lately but just know that I love you and that I'm completely committed to our family."

"Babe, you don't need to apologize for anything. We've both been under a lot of stress lately, that's all. Maybe this weekend, we'll find some grown up alone time to relieve some of that stress."

"Oh really?" I questioned with a slight grin. "What exactly did you have in mind Mr. Westbrook?"

"Something like this," he stated as he gently pressed a soft kiss to the side of my neck. "And this," he continued as he brushed his lips over mine before pressing his lips against mine for a kiss. I knew it was wrong of me but I still couldn't help but to compare his kisses to Natalie's. It's amazing the things that you notice after having never noticed them previously before. Whereas my husband's lips were a bit rougher, hers were softer and fuller. His also weren't as urging and demanding as hers had been. Whenever she and I had kissed, she'd almost always been the one to be in charge and in control of the tempo at which we went at it. 

I desperately tried to concentrate on the man in front of me but all I could think about was how those lips now belonged to someone else. And even though, I felt my husband's growing erection timidly press against my tummy, it wasn't his hardening cock that had me swept up in my own erotic thoughts. 

Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered how it'd felt the first night that we'd been together. My body reacted on its own accord and I squeezed my thighs together as I recalled how she'd spanked and fingered me before eating me out against the wall. Her only focus had been on making me orgasm. And even though my husband continued to kiss and suck on my neck which was normally an erogenous zone for me, it was the thought of the tall, darker skinned, Puerto Rican woman that had blood rushing to my pussy. 

They were probably having sex right now. She was probably doing all the things to C.C. that she'd done to me. .

In an almost trancelike state, I reached into my husband's boxers and fondled his hardening, medium length cock. He briefly broke our kiss and exhaled my name before eagerly thrusting it into my right hand. I really didn't want to do it but I knew what he wanted and needed and I felt like it was the least I could give him after betraying him with Natalie. So I kneeled down on the floor and massaged the smooth, head of his now fully erect cock. He groaned and leaned back against the counter and propped himself on his elbows to watch me play with his dick. "Baby," he pleaded in a soft, but desperate voice. 

I wrapped my hands around his member and tugged on it back and forth in a firm grip. The pre-cum oozed out from the mushroom shaped head and I couldn't resist licking it. His taste was the same as usual but for some unbeknownst reason this time, he tasted foreign and different to me. I felt his hands on the back of my neck urging me to take him inside and I obliged and at last, finally took him into my mouth. 

The moment I felt his dick in my mouth, I instantly regretted it. This wasn't what I wanted. He wasn't what I wanted, but I couldn't go back now so I bobbed my head back and forth on it, sucking as hard as I could. 

He quietly moaned my name in encouragement as I completely removed his cock from my mouth before taking it back inside once again. His large hands fisted in my hair as he urged me to take his cock deeper. And while he wasn't huge by any means, he was thick and I couldn't take the whole thing in my mouth at one time without gagging. So I pulled him back out again with a soft 'plop' and swirled my tongue around his shaft and licked the entire length of it before sucking it in my mouth again. 

He warned me, "I'm almost there, babe." 

I tried to prevent it from happening but it happened before I knew it, I saw her. In my mind I saw Natalie kneeling in front of C.C and eating her pussy in the exact same manner that she ate mine. I knew it was awful and made me sound like a horrible spouse but that was all the motivation I needed to give my husband the best blowjob of his entire life. While his engorged cock continued to slide in and out of my mouth, I used my hand to fondle and lightly caress his balls until it jerked once, then twice in my grip. 

My husband sputtered off a few unintelligible words and his seed instantly spilled over into my hands and mouth before going limp. "That was amazing," he remarked as he pulled his shorts back up and recovered. 

I stood up and went to the sink to wash all traces of his semen off my hands, "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"It was much needed," he whispered as he came up behind me and pressed himself against me. "How about we get in a quickie before you leave? Or if you want, I could return the favor and do to you what you just did to me."

I nervously giggled to conceal my apprehension. I couldn't have sex with Jay so soon after I'd been with Natalie. Oral sex was one thing but penetrative sex was another. What if I ended up calling out her name during our love making? There would be no legit way to explain that and it would open a full can of worms that I just wasn't prepared to open up. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked desperately grasping at straws. "Aren't you still a little sore from your accident?"

"My wrist hurts a little but everything else is in working condition if you couldn't tell already," he replied and suggestively rubbed his crotch against me. 

"But JoJo-,"

"She's busy watching tv," he answered and gently tugged on my hands. "She'll be preoccupied for at least another half hour so that gives us plenty of time."

The house phone started ringing and I quickly reached over the counter to grab it, welcoming the interruption. I recognized the number on the caller ID and handed it to my husband, "It's your boss."

"I'll call him later on," he replied. "He's probably just calling to make sure that I'm okay since I called in this morning."

"Or you could just answer it right now, it could be about work," I suggested. "Besides, I need to go run a few errands before the kids get out of school."

He scowled. "You just love teasing me, don't you?"

"Watch it, buddy," I jokingly cautioned as I gave him a quick kiss and grabbed my keys from the counter. "Quit being a puss and answer the damn phone. I'll see you when I get back."

**

"Make sure you let it completely scan her hard drive," Rico instructed as he handed me the earpiece and flash drive. "I've tweaked my program so as soon as you finish the scan on her hard drive, I'll be able to completely access her desktop from my laptop."

"We've been through this twice already," I replied as I slipped the earpiece inconspicuously behind my left ear, "In case you boys forgot, this was my idea. I'm the one who stole the key to her office, remember?"

"I'm just making sure you know what the plan is," Rico insisted. "Are you sure she won't be in her office?"

I nodded and rearranged my hair so that my earpiece would be covered. "Mason called her office while you were in the shower and her assistant said that she would be in non-stop meetings until noon."

"What about Vanessa's husband? What if he sees you?"

"I'll just let him think that I stopped by for another friendly visit. Don't worry, I got this."

Mason also slipped in his earpiece. "As soon as you give me the signal, I'll run interference if need be. But how are we going to get through security?"

"I still have my visitors pass from the other day so I should be fine. But you'll have to come up with an excuse to get in. Just tell the guard that you're new and you forgot your keycard at home."

He frowned. "And if that don't work? What if he tells me to go fuck off?"

"Then you go fuck off. And let me handle this."

My best friend smirked and stroked his goatee. "You know, I liked you a lot better before you started bangin' desperate housewives."

"Keep talking and I'll be banging yours next," I shot back before opening the door to his rental car. "You boys sit back and watch me handle this."

As expected, the older security guard didn't blink an eye once I flashed him my visitors badge to gain entrance to the building. He simply patted me down for weapons and held the door open for me to walk inside. And as soon as I made it inside, I quickly found the nearest map and searched for the location of C.C's office. 

Once I found it, I hit the 'talk' button on my earpiece and relayed the information to Mason. "Hey Maze, it turns out that C.C's office is right down the hall from Jason's. So I will have to go by his office, can you keep the secretary busy for me?"

"Third floor, right?" 

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I'm getting on the elevator now so wait a few minutes before you come inside."

"You know that's the first time I've ever had a woman tell me that. And ironically, it's comin' from a lesbian."

"God, I feel so sorry for you wife. She deserves Sainthood for putting up with you."

I heard his deep chuckle over the radio. "C'mon Torres, you know you love me."

"Unfortunately I do," I admitted as my elevator stopped at the third floor. I got off and quickly approached Jay's secretary, "Hello, I'm not sure if you remember me but I was just here the other day and I left my phone in Jason's office. I was wondering if it was okay if I could run in real quick and grab it?"

His receptionist smiled, "Of course I remember you. Unfortunately, Mr. Westbrook isn't in at the moment."

"Is he alright? I heard about his car accident."

"He's fine," she replied. "According to Mr. Campos, Jason took the day off to spend it with his family."

"By any chance, do you know what happened or what caused his car accident?"

"I think I overheard one of the employees say that his brakes went out. It's such a shame because they just got that car several months ago. Mr. Campos bought it for them."

I frowned. "Victor gave them a Mercedes?"

The secretary nodded. "Victor Campos is a very generous man and a fantastic boss." 

"He definitely sounds like he's quite the character. Do you mind if I borrow your notepad and pen? I'd like to leave my contact information so that Jason can get ahold of me when he returns."

She handed them both over to me and proceeded to answer her telephone that was ringing.

"Mason, you're up. The secretary's name is Janet," I mumbled into my hidden earpiece, as I pretended to scribble something on the notepad while she wrote down a message for her boss. I waited until she ended her call to ask my next question, "Before I leave, do you know if Cecilia Campos is in her office? We're old friends and I was hoping to stop in and say hi to her."

Jay's secretary looked down at her notes, "I haven't seen her this morning. But if you give me a second, I can call her assistant to see if she's in?"

"I would really appreciate it. I'm going out of town pretty soon and I was hoping to see her before I left."

She picked up the phone and called the woman in question. It rang for a while before she eventually hung up the receiver. "She's not answering either. They're both probably in a meeting."

"That's okay, thanks for trying," I replied and caught Mason's eye as he stepped off the elevator. 

He quickly made his way over and leaned across the desk, "Mornin' ladies."

The secretary smiled broadly, "Good morning. How may I help you?"

"Janet, right? Jason's secretary?"

The woman blushed, "Yes, but how do you know my name?"

He gave her one of his trademark smiles, "I'm Adam, first floor, tech support. Ya prob'ly never noticed me before."

"No I haven't. Are you new here?" she asked.

"I was picked up last week and I'm still learnin' the ropes," he replied. "I saw ya in the breakroom the other day and I been meanin' to say hello to ya ever since."




Blurred Lines Ch. 03



The younger woman blushed again and let out a nervous laugh, "Really?

My best friend leaned across the desk further and licked his lips slowly and with a purpose, "Tell me somethin' Janet. You single? Because I'm new around here and I could really use a pretty woman like yaself to show me around."

With all of her attention focused on Mason, I slowly backed away from her desk and headed towards the other end of the office building in search of C.C's office. Her office was located at the very end of the hall and was easily identifiable thanks to the plaque on the outside door that read Cecilia E. Campos. 

I slid her keycard and pushed the door opened before quietly shutting it behind me. "Alright, I'm in," I announced and sat at her desk. While I waited for her laptop to start up, I walked over to her file cabinet and tugged on the drawers but they were locked and wouldn't open without a key. Her laptop screen finally came up but it required a password. "I need her password to log onto her computer."

"Try the word "password" or "123456". Most people use passwords that are easy and simple to remember."

"That's the best you've got?" I asked and keyed in both passcodes but the screen stayed unchanged. "Nope it's not either one of those."

"Try her name," he suggested. "Or her parents' names."

I tried both of their names, as well as a combination of their names but they were both incorrect. "If I keep getting it wrong, it'll eventually lock me out completely," I warned. "And I don't have any other guesses."

"Has she ever mentioned anything meaningful to you? Such as her favorite food, song, or vacation spot?"

The lightbulb instantly came on for me and I keyed in the name of her favorite movie in and hit the 'enter' button. "We're in," I announced as I gained access to her desktop. I quickly inserted the flash drive into her computer and it did a complete scan of her entire hard drive before transferring all the data onto the flash drive. 

"Nat, you might wanna wrap things up," Mason advised in a low voice. "I think C.C. just got outta her meetin'."

"It's not finished yet. It's still transferring everything to the thumb drive."

"Make it quick, I'll try and stall her but ya need to get the hell outta there."

I waited until all the files had been transferred before ejecting the thumb drive from her laptop and shutting it back down. After pushing her chair back under her desk, I opened her door and quietly slipped out like a thief in the night. I barely had enough time to turn around when she caught me. "Why are you outside my office?" she asked suspiciously.

"I tried calling you this morning but your secretary said that you were in a meeting. How are you?"

"Not that it's any business of yours but I've had a very bad morning," she replied and stepped around me so that she could unlock her door. 

"What happened?" I asked as I followed her inside. 

She casually threw several stacks of folders on her desk. "Well let's see, for starters, I was extremely late for my conference call this morning because I apparently misplaced the key to my office, so I had to wait for security to find the master key. Jay took a personal day today so I'm taking on his load until he gets back. We have no one to replace Jarred. And to top it all off, I have to stay at my parent's house until my house is repaired. This has literally been the morning from hell."

"I'm really sorry, I wish there was something I could do to help."

She laughed sarcastically and shook her head at me. "You don't have to keep lying to me. It's not like you ever cared about me anyways. We both know that I was just a pawn in you and Vanessa's twisted little game."

"I know it seems shitty but she and I have shared this connection since I first moved here. That doesn't mean that I don't care about what happens to you. That's why I'm trying so hard to help you if you'll let me."

She shook her head again, "Do I look like I need your help? Like I told you, I'm very grateful l that you saved my life last night but I don't need your help."

"Who were those people?" I questioned. "And why were they trying to kill you? Did your father send them after you?"

"You think my father sent those people after me? Why would he do that?"

"Because you're working for him. You, Jason and Jarred were all working for him."

She scowled, "Of course we work for him. This is his company."

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," I retorted as I advanced towards her. "The three of you were selling coke for him. I overheard you and Jay talking about it."

"So you were spying on us?" 

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that the three of you are working for him and Jarred wanted out, so your father killed him and caused Jason's car accident. Then he sent those guys to kill you last night."

C.C. reached for her telephone, "You're crazy. And you need to leave before I call security."

I quickly snatched the phone away from her, "You're not calling anyone until we're finished. You're working for your father aren't you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," she replied adamantly. 

"Stop lying to me!" I yelled and jerked her against me. "Whoever came after you, will come after you again to finish the job."

"Let go of me. You're hurting my arm," she admitted shakily.

I gripped her arm even more tightly, "Do you want to die? Because that's exactly what's going to happen if you don't let me help you.

"Why do you care?" she shouted angrily. "Whatever happens to me shouldn't matter to you."

"How many times do I have to tell you until you get it through your thick head? I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you."

She swallowed and I saw tears glimmer in her eyes, "But you care about Vanessa more." 

"I'm head over heels in love with her. But I still care about you and your well-being."

"Maybe if we sleep together again, you'll change your mind?"

It was my turn to shake my head. "Sleeping with you isn't going to make me fall out of love with her and in love with you. It doesn't work like that."

"But I know you feel something for me. You have to," she whispered and traced the outline of my lips with her finger. 

She turned my face towards her and I tried to resist but she forcefully kissed me and slipped her tongue into my open mouth. It felt really good so I allowed the kiss to happen for a brief moment but then I broke it and gently but firmly pushed her away, "Just stop and help me out here because it's not only you and Jason's lives that are on the line. His family is innocent and what if the same people that came after you, come after them?" 

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I thought you were different."

"I am different."

"No," she argued in an emotional voice. "I really liked you and all you did was use me. What kind of person are you?"

"I'm sorry for leading you on but if you just let me h-,"

"You should leave," she suggested cutting me off. "I have a lot of work to do and it can't wait."

I walked towards the door to her office but instead of opening it, I turned back around to face her. "What happened to the woman that rode with me in the ambulance? For the first time since we met, I saw the real you last night."

"Oh please, you do not know me."

"Oh sweetie, I know you a lot better than you think. See, I think that you just want everyone to believe that you're this cold, vindictive bitch. But we both know that that's not the real you."

She smirked, "And how do you know that?"

"Because you offered to tell Vanessa the truth so that she wouldn't be mad at me. I saw it in your eyes last night, you felt guilty."

"That still doesn't mean that you know me," she argued.

"Maybe I don't know you, maybe I'm completely off base. But what I do know is that you've obviously bitten off more than you can chew. So I'm begging you, please do the right thing. And let me help you before someone else gets hurt." 

"You're right," she admitted. "You don't know me at all. Goodbye Natalie."

Rico and Mason were already in the car, out front waiting on me when I opened the door and silently hopped in the back seat. "What took you so long? Did she catch you?" Rico asked from the passenger seat. 

"No, I stopped to use the restroom," I lied as Mason put the car in drive. I remained completely silent as Mason drove us to the nearest Starbucks so that we could borrow their Wi-Fi. 

"Ya okay?" he asked as he sat down in a chair next to me. "Ya ain't said a peep since we left."

I nodded, "Just thinking about everything. I'm really not proud of what I've done, this isn't who I am."

"It'll all be over soon, bank on it," he assured me as he sipped from his steaming coffee cup.

"I think I might've found something," Rico announced as he furiously typed away at his laptop. 

"Is it good?" I asked as he turned it around so that we could see it. He pressed the play button and a video came alive. It was a black and white recording that had to have come from a security camera outside someone's home. The video showed Vanessa's husband arguing with an older man. The conversation was clearly heated and at one point, Jason struck the man once in his face and stood over him shouting. "I don't know who that other man is. Maybe it's his father? He told me that he abandoned him years ago."

"I know who it is," Mason confirmed. "It's Jeffrey Stark. I remember his picture from his obituary."

My eyes widened, "Jeffrey Stark as in Victor's business partner? What could they be arguing about? According to Jason, he'd only been at the company for a couple of weeks when Stark supposedly committed suicide."

Mason pointed to the screen, "See the date and time stamp. This was taken on the same night he died. His body was found less than two hours later."

"He never mentioned anything about seeing him on the night he died. Why would C.C. have this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine but that wasn't the only video that I found on her hard drive," Rico announced as he closed that video and clicked on another icon and a different recording started playing. This recording had clearly been taken by a phone or camera because the video was amateurly recorded and shaky as all hell, but you could clearly tell what was happening in it. 

"Ay dios mio," I mumbled as my heart dropped to the ground. Aghast, I could only cover my mouth and watch in horror as I watched myself push Vanessa against the wall in my apartment so that I could shove my tongue down her throat. And even though I already knew how it went down, I continued to watch our passion unfold on the computer screen. Rico finally hit the pause button once I pulled her into my apartment, "There was also one of you and at her house and another of you two inside a dance club. She's been watching you this entire time."

I sighed and dropped my head, "How could I be so careless? How could I be so fucking careless?"

"She also has one of you and her," he confessed. "And that one is much more graphic obviously."

"It actually shows us having sex?" I demanded. "She actually recorded us having sex?"

"She must have hidden cameras installed in her bedroom."

I put my head down in my hands and tried to prevent myself from having an anxiety attack. "If any of these videos get out, my career is over. I'll lose my badge and my self-respect."

"That ain't gonna happen," Mason vowed. "No friggin' way."

"How can you be so sure? How do we know that she hasn't already uploaded that video to one of those 'submit yourself' porn sites? My fat ass could already be all over the net for all we know."

"Relax," Rico coaxed gently. "Your ass is nowhere near fat and she's not bold enough to do that."

I shot him a look, "She was bold enough to blackmail me into sleeping with her. She was also bold enough to turn it into a homemade sex tape."

"She ain't gonna release it," Mason argued. "She's too sharp for that. The most that she'll do is use em' to cut a deal."

"She knew about me and Vanessa all along," I murmured. "The entire time that I was playing her, she was playing me."

Mason's phone chimed and he pushed the button to read his messages, "The ME just finished the Ashland autopsy, and she ruled it suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. None of the detectives or responding officers on scene found any signs of anyone else being in the home at the time of his death. All signs point to him taking his own life."

"But he wouldn't do that. Vanessa said that he'd just received a promotion at work, and he loved his family. Someone made him do it and I'm really thinking that it was either C.C. or whoever she's working for. "

"I completely agree and that's why I think we should call her bluff. I think it's time ya come clean to Vanessa and Jason about everything."

Rico also agreed, "If you come clean to her, I really think there's a chance that she'll be able to convince her husband to do the right thing and work with us to catch these assholes."

I sighed deeply and sat back against my chair, "When I tell her the truth, she's going to hate me. She is going to literally fucking hate me but what other choice is there?"

**

Jay opened the door and stood in the doorway with the baby on his hip. He looked at me and then glanced at the two, tall, broad shouldered men behind me, "Natalie, is everything okay? Vanessa left to run some errands a while ago, but she should be back soon."

"I'm actually here to see you. May we come in?"

"Yeah of course," he answered and stood back so that we could walk inside. He set the baby down in her playpen and took a seat on the couch, "Is everything alright?"

"We're hoping so," I replied sitting across from him. "There really isn't an easy way for me to say this so I'm just going to come right out with it and I'll answer any questions that you might have."

"Okay. Are you sick?"

"No, aside from the fresh bullet wound in my shoulder, I'm perfectly healthy," I explained. "But I'm not who you think I am, I'm actually a cop. And these are my two friends, Detective Adam Mason and Officer Rico Pierce."

His mouth dropped open and he closed it again. "I'm not sure if I heard that correctly. You're a cop?"

"I've been working on an undercover assignment this entire time. Our unit received an anonymous tip a few months ago from someone who claimed to be a former Vienna employee. This person claimed that there was some illegal, fraudulent activity going on within the company and I was sent here to investigate it."

He took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch cushions. "I had a feeling this would catch up to me sooner or later. Am I under arrest?"

"Why don't ya start from the beginnin' and we'll decide from there?" Mason suggested.

The front door opened and Vanessa's voice called out, "Baby I'm home, do we have guests? Whose rental car is out front?" 

My heart sank and I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat as she walked inside the room. Her eyes widened as we all stood up at once, "What did I just walk in on? Did something happen?"

Mason stepped forward and showed her his badge before extending his hand to her, "Mrs. Westbrook, my name is Detective Mason. This is Officer Pierce, we're with the NYPD."

She shook his hand cautiously, "Nice to meet you but what are you all doing in our home? Did something happen?"

"Ya wanna grab a seat first and then we can talk?" 

She walked over to stand beside her husband and we all sat back down. "Jay, what's going on? And what is Natalie doing here?"

"Before I tell you what I need to tell you, I need you to promise me that you'll listen to everything I say before you make any decisions about us."

"Fine, I promise."

He still looked unconvinced as he reached for her hand. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes now quit stalling and just tell me what's going on," she responded with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"For the past year, I've been working for a, um. . . .a drug organization."

Vanessa opened her mouth and closed it again before laughing out loud. "What are you talking about? No you haven't."

He looked down at their joined hands before continuing. "Vanessa, I've been laundering money for them through the company. I've just been keeping it from you because I wanted to protect you and the kids. But I can't hide it from you any longer."

She released his hand and stood up angrily. "I don't believe you," she denied firmly. "Why are you saying this? Are they making you say this?"

"I know you don't want to believe it but it's the truth," he admitted in a quiet voice. "C.C. and I have both been reluctantly working for someone."

"Is it Victor Campos?" Rico asked.

Jay adamantly shook his head. "Of course not, he has a zero tolerance policy about drugs. If he had any idea about any of this, he'd kick my ass. We've actually never met The Boss. He always sends some middleman to meet us. And we never meet at the same place. He's very careful."

Vanessa held up her hands. "Wait, wait, wait. Is this all some late April Fool's Day joke that everyone is in on except me?"

"I know you're upset but I've wanted to tell you the truth for so long. Believe me, it's been eating me up inside to keep this from you."

She drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the cheek. "Do you not realize how much danger you've put this family in?"

"I didn't want to do it. But they were blackmailing me so I didn't have any other choice."

Mason asked, "What do they have on you?"

"I've never told anyone this but about a month before I met Vanessa, I went on a trip to Vegas with some friends. One night, I got completely hammered and met a woman while I was at the blackjack table. We hit it off and went back to her hotel room to smoke weed and have sex," he explained. "I didn't find out until later on, but she was an underage prostitute. And she claimed that she was pregnant with my child."

Vanessa looked shell-shocked, "You have another child out there?"

"No," he answered quickly. "When she found me several months later, I paid for her to have an abortion. I even drove her to the clinic to make sure she went through with it. But about a year ago, I started getting these anonymous phone calls and emails and they were threatening to expose me if I didn't do what they asked."

"But you said that you never told anyone so how did they find out about it?"

"I have no idea. I paid her off and I haven't seen or spoken to her since. I knew that my reputation and that of my families could potentially be ruined by it so I was willing to do anything to keep it from coming out."

Mason scribbled a few notes down on his notepad, "Was Jarred Ashland parta the drug ring?"

"Jarred found out about what we were doing and he threatened to go to the police to make them stop. We tried to talk him out of it but he was adamant. I think they killed him to shut him up."

"Wait, someone killed Jarred?" Vanessa asked in a shocked voice and quickly sat down. "Oh my God. Do you realize what you've done? Our grieving friend is under the impression that her husband killed himself!"

Mason cleared his voice before speaking, "We know that you were with Jeffrey Stark on the night he died. Did you have anything to do with his death?"

"I went to his house that night to tell him that I knew about the affair. He was sleeping with Marcie and I told him to end it before Victor found out. Victor and Jeff grew up together and he would've been crushed to find out that Marcie was having an affair."

Rico asked, "So you never laid a hand on him?" 

"I ended up punching him once but that was it. When I left him that night, he was still very much alive and kicking. I never mentioned any of it to the police or to Victor because I didn't want to hurt him."

"Are you sure about that?" Mason asked. "Did you ever think that he already knew about the affair? Did you ever once consider the possibility that he murdered Stark himself?"




Blurred Lines Ch. 03



Jason shook his head firmly. "The thought never crossed my mind. I know Victor and he would never do that to anyone. Jeff betrayed him in more ways than one but he didn't kill him."

"But he had plenty of motive."

"This is fucking unbelievable," Vanessa hissed angrily. "I don't even want to look at you right now."

"Vanessa-," 

She held up her hand and stepped away from him. "Every time I asked you what was going on, you told me not to worry, said that it was work related. We are supposed to be in this together, we're supposed to be a team."

A phone started ringing and Jason reached for it on the table. He looked at the screen before turning to us, "It's him. What do you want me to do?"

"Your boss?" Mason asked walking over to stand beside him. "Answer it. Make it like we ain't even here." 

He touched the screen and put the phone to his ear, "I wasn't expecting to hear from you today." He frowned and hit a button. "You're on speaker phone."

"Hello detectives. I hear that you've been looking for me," announced the distorted voice at the other end of the phone. 

"Yes we have," Mason confirmed taking the phone from Jay. "And since you know who we are, why don't you do us a favor and tell us who the hell you are?"

The voice at the other end laughed sarcastically, "We'll get to that eventually. But now that I have your attention, we need to discuss my demands. I want six million in unmarked, small bills by tomorrow night."

"And what makes you think I have the kind of means or authority to get that to you?"

"Because I have something that you all want. Something that Jason and his lovely wife hold very close to their hearts. Two of them in fact," he revealed. "One is 4 feet tall, has dark brown hair and is missing a front tooth. The other is 3 feet tall, and has very pretty green eyes and dimples. Sound familiar?"

Vanessa's eyes widened, "He just described my two oldest. I dropped them off at school before I went to the grocery store."

"I want you to call the school right now and see if they're there," Mason instructed as he held the phone away from his body. He turned to Rico, "Call Barnett and let him know that we might have a kidnapping situation on our hands."

"You can call the school," the kidnapped insisted. "But trust me, they're not there." 

"Don't take it personal. We're just double checkin' that you ain't blowin' smoke up our asses."

Jay took the phone from Mason, "If you really did kidnap my kids, you just made the biggest mistake of your life." 

The voice laughed again, "I didn't kidnap anyone. They wanted to come with me."

"He's telling the truth, they're not at school," Vanessa tearfully confirmed as she hung up the phone. "I just spoke to the school's secretary and neither one of them made it to class. I dropped them off and I watched them go inside but they were both marked absent by their teachers."

"If you hurt them, I won't rest until I find you and make you pay," warned their father.

"Don't worry. They're relaxing at the moment," he replied. "Eating ice cream and watching SpongeBob. And as long as you all don't fuck with me, they'll remain in perfect condition."

"You'd better hope so. Because if you hurt either of them, the police will be the least of your worries. I can promise you that."

"Now now, there's never a need for such threats. If you respect me, I will respect you and see to it that your children are not harmed. But while I have you on the phone, why don't you go ahead and ask your wife to tell you about the secret that she's been keeping from you."

Vanessa warily glanced over at me and for the third time in the span of an hour, my heart plummeted and I felt momentarily dizzy. "I don't know what he's talking about," she denied.

Rico walked back inside with his laptop, "Keep him on the phone for as long as you can. I'm gonna see if I can trace the call," he warned in a quiet voice so that only we could hear. 

Jay set the phone down on the table, "My wife isn't keeping any secrets from me. I know everything about her and she now knows everything about me so stop jerking us around."

"Are you sure?" he asked condescendingly. "Ask her for yourself."

"Listen up, you sadistic sonofabitch. You're going to quit stalling and you're going to tell me where my children are!"

"I'll tell you on one condition: ask your wife if she's keeping anything from you."

Jay cursed and looked at Vanessa who stood there in silent agony. "Babe, I know that you're not keeping anything from me. But for the sake of this asshole, I'll ask you one more time. Are you keeping anything from me that I don't know about?"

She didn't answer immediately but I could easily see the indecision in her eyes. I spoke her name softly, "You don't have to do this," I advised. "This person is just fucking with you."

She finally looked at me and I saw tears sparkle in her eyes, "He's going to find out anyways so I might as well tell him."

"Find out what?" her husband asked. "Am I wrong? Are you actually keeping something from me that I don't know about?"

The voice on the other end of the phone cackled, "This is getting really good."

"Shut the fuck up. My wife just admitted that she's keeping something from me. Are you happy now?"

"No, but I will be once she tells you what it is."

"Jason, we-," I tried to move closer to her but Mason touched my arm. He shook his head no and I reluctantly stayed frozen in my spot. 

"I didn't want you to find out this way," Vanessa tearfully admitted. "I was going to tell you, I just didn't know when or how to."

Her husband walked over and took her hands in his, "Babe, whatever it is, we'll get through it. So just tell me what it is so that we can get this over with. I won't get mad, I promise."

It felt like I was watching a car crash. A car crash that I was powerless to stop. I also felt guilty as shit because I was responsible for the car crash. And while I hadn't been the one driving, I'd been the one to set it in motion. His wife sucked in a deep breath, and tried to find the accurate words to tell her devoted husband that she'd been having an affair with another woman. "I've been unfaithful," she finally admitted. 

"Unfaithful?" he repeated as his eyes widened. "I gotta be honest, I wasn't really expecting you to say that but, um, it's okay. These things happen and we can get past it."

"That's not all," Vanessa confessed softly. "It happened very recently and it was with someone you know."

"Someone I know?" he asked with a deep scowl. "Someone that's been in this house? Is it one of the guys from my job?"

She shook her head. "No, but you do know this person very well. You trusted us and we both betrayed that trust."

He bent over to rest his hands on his knees before raising back up, "So you've been sleeping with someone else? But you didn't fall in love with him or anything, right? It was just sex?"

"It was more than just sex. But it's over now."

"More than sex?" he asked. "Who the hell was it?" 

"It doesn't matter now, I ended it," Vanessa insisted. "It's over."

"Of course it matters," he argued. "You made me feel so guilty about keeping secrets from you when you've been keeping them too. Who was it? I'd like to punch this coward right in the face."

The voice chuckled mockingly, "That might be a little hard considering the fact that it wasn't a man at all."

I saw the realization dawn on his face almost immediately and I felt ice run straight through my veins. Vanessa's husband slowly turned to look at me but I just didn't have it in me to look him in the eye. "You?" he rasped quietly. "I should've known."

"Please let me explain," Vanessa pleaded.

"Explain what?" the voice asked condescendingly. "How you instantly fell into bed with a woman you just met? Trust me on this Jay, they didn't waste any time. I have the video to prove it. But Natalie isn't without secrets of her own. Isn't that right, Detective Torres?"

Vanessa slowly turned to look at myself and Mason and I knew that my moment of reckoning had finally arrived. "What's he talking about? Who's Detective Torres?" she asked with a confused look. 

I nervously chewed on my bottom lip, "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

She walked over to stand in front of me, "Tell me what?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice. "I've had more than enough secrets for one day."

I swallowed uneasily and tried to muster enough courage to somehow lessen the proverbial blow, "I've been undercover this entire time."

"What do you mean 'undercover'? I Googled you before we hired you and nothing came up about you being a cop. The only thing that came up was your website and several reviews from former clients."

"That's because my photography is under my pseudonym Natalie Martin. But my birth name is Natalia Santiago-Torres. And I'm a second grade police detective with the NYPD. Our unit was investigating your husband and the company that he works for."

"If you're really a cop, then where's your gun and your badge? Show them to me."

"I don't carry them on me when I'm undercover just in case I get patted down. But my badge number is 940 and I'm with the 23rd Precinct."

She backed away from me as reality began to finally sink in. "You lied to me?" she asked as tears filled her eyes. "This was all a lie?"

"No. . .yes. . . . yes, some it was a lie but my feelings for you are genuine."

The kidnapper snickered, "You lovebirds obviously have a lot to talk about. I'll call back later on with the time and address for the drop-off," he promised before disconnecting the call.

"I couldn't get a lock," Rico announced as he closed his laptop. "But I was able to at least record the call. So maybe if I clean it up and play it back, I'll be able to hear something in the background that'll give away the kidnappers location."

I turned to Mason, "Did you hear what he said on the phone? He said he had the video to prove that Vanessa and I had slept together. C.C had those videos on her laptop."

He pulled out his phone, "I caught that too. I'll call Barnett and have him send some black and whites to her office and to her parents' house. If she ain't there, we'll know for sure if she had anything to do with the kidnapping."

"So you really are a cop?" Vanessa asked still flabbergasted. "You've been lying to me since we first met."

"I planned on telling you but I didn't know that it would go this far."

"So our accidental meeting in the park wasn't accidental, was it?"

I shook my head. "We had intel from a reliable source that you visited that park quite often so we used it to our advantage so that I could make contact with you."

"I'm so confused right now. So are you not a photographer?"

"It's a side job that I fell into when I was in college. I use it as my cover whenever I go on undercover assignments. Working in freelance allows me to move around without people asking a lot of questions."

"Wow, I feel so stupid right now. Stupid and humiliated."

Mason stepped forward and stood beside me. "Mrs. Westbrook, please believe me when I say that it was never about humiliating you or your family."

Vanessa ignored him and wiped away several stray tears that had fallen, "You lied your way into our lives and into my bed and it was all just a con to catch my husband."

"I'll admit that it started off that way but I fell in love with you from the moment I first saw you."

Her right hand swiftly connected with the left side of my face. "Don't you dare," she hissed angrily. "How can you stand there and say that after everything you've done and put me through?"

"I know it sounds like a cliché but everything I did, I did with the best of intentions."

"You disgust me," she spat out.

I felt my own tears spill over. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to do the right thing."

"The right thing would've been to tell me the truth from the very beginning. If you had, my kids would be safely at school and not with some sadistic, kidnapper." She grasped her stomach all at once and doubled over, "I think I'm going to be sick."

I reached out to help her, but she quickly slapped my hands away and made a beeline for the guest bathroom. I called her name but she ignored me and I heard the door slam behind her. It wasn't my place to do so but I went after her, needing to know that she was alright. I tapped lightly on the door and listened for any movement inside, "Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone," she yelled through the door. And despite her reluctance to see me, I twisted the knob and walked inside the bathroom to join her. She was on her knees hunched over the toilet, puking her guts up with her back turned away from me. She finally looked up and saw me standing beside the sink. "Don't you come near me," she warned and obviously wanted to say more but another bout of nausea hit her and she leaned back over the toilet bowl and purged her stomach once more. 

Hoping to help, I kneeled down on the floor beside her, and held her hair away from her face, and rubbed her back in a circular motion until she finally stopped vomiting. "Is it over?" I asked.

She weakly nodded and I flushed the toilet for her before helping her rise to her feet. While she put the lid down and sat atop it, I grabbed a plastic cup from the counter and filled it with mouthwash so that she could rinse her mouth out. She eyed me with obvious mistrust as I offered it to her, "We slept together and I didn't even know your real name."

I braced my back against the wall. "My name and my job might be different. But you do know me, I'm still the same person," I vowed. "The only difference is that I have a police badge."

"Since when does the NYPD have jurisdiction in Hoboken anyways?"

"Since some of the crimes occurred in New York and Jersey, our department is working jointly with the New Jersey State Police to bring these people to justice."

"So that's why you asked those questions about Jay going to New York for business," she asked in between a sip of tap water. "You thought I was involved, didn't you?"

"I considered the possibility, but then once I got to know you, I quickly realized that you would never involve yourself in something like this."

She raised an eyebrow, "Was that before or after you had my pussy in your mouth? It's not like I put up much of a fight anyways."

"Please don't do that," I implored. 

"Do what?" she asked irritably. "Point out the obvious to you?"

"Cheapen what we shared. Like you said back there, it was more than just sex."

She stood up and walked towards the sink to splash water on her face. "I said that but I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot of things apparently," she admitted. "Did you ever feel guilty about what you were doing? Did your conscience never bother you?" she asked as she reached for a hand towel to dry her face off with.

"In the back of my mind, it did. But at the end of the day, like Mason said, we still had a job to do."

"Even if it came at my family's expense?" she questioned in an emotional voice. "You made me risk everything to be with you. And because of you, I was this close to ripping my family apart. I might not ever see my kids again thanks to you." I actually felt my heart splinter as I watched Vanessa cry. It truly felt like someone was cutting my heart out. And although I knew my touch was the last thing she probably wanted or needed to feel at that moment, I still felt compelled to comfort her. I tried to embrace her but she abruptly jerked her arm away from me and pushed me away. "How could you be okay with lying to me?"

"You're right. I lied to you but what we have is real, it's as real as it gets. The passion, the chemistry, the love; I couldn't fake how I feel about you even if I wanted to."

She turned away from me to face the mirror and reiterated how she really felt about me. "I really regret the day that I met you. Meeting you was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

"You're just angry right now," I contended walking over to her. "And I get it but what we have is real, you have to know that."

"Are you really that delusional?" she asked turning around to face me. "You lied and manipulated me for nearly two months."

"I'm not asking you to decide anything right now, because I know you're still reeling from everything. But once the dust settles, I just want you to remember how things are between us."

She blinked back tears. "This morning when I was dropping my son and my daughter off at school, Sophie didn't want to let me go for some reason. Normally they both jump right out of the car as soon as I'm parked but this morning she held onto my hand and begged me to stay with her. If anything happens to either one of them, I want you to know that I will never ever forgive you," she vowed choking up. "And once the dust settles, I want you out of my life for good. As of this moment, you are dead to me."

I tried not to take it too personal but it still hurt. Even though I knew it was her anger talking, it still hurt me deeply to hear her say those words. Without even realizing it, I walked up behind her and trapped her body between my body and the bathroom sink. "Are you sure you don't feel anything for me anymore?"

"I hate you. Get it through your head."

"Take it back," I warned in a low voice. "Or I'll make you take it back."

"Fuck you," she responded indignantly. 

Something deep down inside my brain snapped right then and there and before I even knew what was happening, I wordlessly reached around the front to unbutton the snap on her jeans. She writhed in my embrace and her hands attempted to push away my wandering fingers but I wouldn't allow her. "Natalie, no. People are in the other room," she argued looking towards the closed door. 

"So?" I replied turning the lock. 

"Don't. I don't want you to touch me," she protested, still trying to prevent me from unbuttoning her pants but I was so beyond reason that nothing she said was even registering with me. She tried to fight me but I was stronger and easily out powered her. "What are you going to do? Rape me?" she questioned as I made her face the sink.

I ran my hands up along the front of her chest and gave her breast a nice, firm squeeze before tweaking her nipple through her shirt. "We both know that I don't have to rape you. You want me to fuck you, I can tell by the way your breathing changed when I touched you. Your mouth says no but your body still wants me. You still want me." 

She swallowed. "Even if that's true. It doesn't change anything."

I reached back around and placed both of her hands firmly on the bathroom sink so that I could unbutton her pants and push them down her legs. I growled low in my throat once I noticed that she wore a different pair of black lace panties, "God, you really don't know what you do to me, do you?" 

Through her reflection in the mirror, I keenly observed every single emotion play out on her face as I swiftly pushed her panties to one side. Her eyes stared at me intently as I sucked both of my forefingers into my mouth before reaching in between her long legs to penetrate her. The moment I made contact with her soft slippery folds, I felt my own juices began to flow and my nipples instantly puckered at the sensations. I gently but firmly pushed further inside and her head fell back to rest on my shoulder. Just like I had before, I started off slow and gentle before gradually increasing my pace, making sure that the palm of my hand rubbed up against her each time to create just enough friction. I pushed her hair to one side and kissed the back of her neck, "I don't want you to hate me, please don't hate me."

Her eyes blazed with anger, "It's too late for that."

"I know," I responded as I removed my fingers from my mouth and licked them and then lightly rubbed them against her own lips and slipped my index finger inside her open mouth, "But you taste so fucking good."




Blurred Lines Ch. 03



While she sucked on my fingers, I used my free hand to lightly tap her pussy and her low moan echoed in the room. Although we'd only had a few encounters together, I knew just how she liked to be fucked. I knew exactly where to touch her and which areas drove her the craziest. I knew that if I bit down on a certain part of her neck the right way, her legs would go a little weak and her body would tremble with desire. Her eyes fluttered closed and she bit down on her lip to try to stifle her moan once I found that highly sensitive area with my mouth, "Tell me again that you don't want this."

Without saying a word, she quickly twisted around in my arms and passionately enveloped me in a fierce kiss. It wasn't romantic by any means. It was hard and fast. And one that was full of anger, and frustration, but most certainly full of desire. It also left my lips feeling bruised and battered, like she was trying to punish me. It wasn't until I briefly tasted my own blood that I realized that she'd bitten my lip during it but I didn't care. I knew that this could very well be our last time together so I wanted to make it count. I pressed my face against the curve of her neck and inhaled her scent. 

"Make sure you hold on to the sink," I told her as I got down on my knees in front of her. She sharply inhaled as I raised up her shirt a few inches so that I could place soft, open mouthed kisses right about her pelvic area. 

She parted her thighs open and I quickly attached my mouth to her. I licked her clitoris through her clitoral hood and she quietly panted my name in broken syllables and grinded her pussy firmly against my face. "Na-tal-ie, don't stop," she begged in a breathless voice.

Using both hands, I spread her open and buried my face, nose first into her slick pussy. She responded by pressing herself further into my mouth and cooed softly when I gave her one long, lingering, upward lick with the flat part of my tongue. Her body briefly tensed up when I curled the tip of it against her clitoris and ran it from side to side so that I could trace her vulva.

I wasn't planning on it but it just looked so appetizing that I couldn't resist doing it so I quickly swiped my tongue over her anus with a wide, deliberate stroke. She didn't immediately push me away or slap me again so I became bolder and repeated the motion before sticking my tongue inside her tight hole. 

"Aghhh," she groaned and clutched the sink as I swirled it around before turning my attention back towards her labia. I lightly nibbled on it before pushing my index finger inside her and her body shuddered. With my mouth still firmly attached to her clitoris, I continued thrusting my fingers in and out of her in a rapid pace. I applied as much pressure as I could with my tongue until I felt the muscles in her body tense up and her thighs tighten around my neck. 

She tried to hold her orgasm off but the more she did, the stronger and more intense it became until she finally erupted. And with her legs still shaking, she silently cried through her release until my mouth was filled with her sweet, tangy nectar. I wasn't sure about how to proceed with her so I stepped away from her and allowed her to gather herself once her orgasm ended. "Was this supposed to mean something to me?" she questioned as she pulled her jeans back up.

"I just wanted to show you that what we have isn't over. I know the timing isn't right but what we have is still there. I know you felt it just now."

She scoffed, "My children are missing and you think sex is supposed to make me feel better?" 

"I wasn't saying that. You were upset and I was just trying to help you calm down."

"Help me calm down? I don't need you to help me calm down," she replied. "Just stay the fuck away from me."

"Vanessa-,"

"Just stay away!" she yelled. "You've done enough."

**

I started to feel dizzy and this intense surge of panic hit me all at once. I knew what would happen next and I quickly unlocked the door and dashed out of the bathroom and headed for the outdoors. The moment I stepped outside, I bent over at the waist and tried to gulp in as much oxygen as I could in hopes that I wouldn't pass out.

The front door opened behind me and Mason's voice sounded like it was close but I couldn't tell. "Is it happenin' again?"

I could only nod and clutch my chest. "Can't. Breathe."

"Sit down," he instructed and directed me towards the front steps. "Take deep breaths and focus on breathing."

I sat down and tucked my head in between my knees and tried to take in as many steady, deep breaths as I could. The attack probably lasted no longer than five minutes but it felt like a lifetime until my breathing finally returned to regular and my chest finally stopped hurting. "I haven't had one since before I got here. But I started having some symptoms this morning."

"With everything goin' on right now, it hadda happen sooner or later. While you two were in the bathroom hashing things out, Barnett called to say that he contacted the State boys to send some uniforms over to the school. He's on his way there."

"We have to get those kids back no matter what, you know that right?"

He nodded. "I know, and we will. I know this ain't easy on ya. It's prob'ly bringing up a lotta bad memories."

"Hopefully this one will have a better ending than my brother's did," I remarked. "If I would've been doing my job, this never would've happened. Their kids would be coming home from school in a few hours."

"Relax," Mason assured me. "No one's blamin' ya for this. You ain't responsible for them getting kidnapped. Whoever kidnapped 'em is."

"But if I would've been doing my job and actually paying attention, this never would've happened." 

He shrugged. "Ya don't know that for sure."

"Yes I do" I argued. "I fell in love with someone else's wife. And it's not like he abuses her or mistreats their kids. He absolutely adores them." 

"That might be true but she's just as much to blame as you are. You both made the decision together, ya didn't force her to cheat on him. Yeah, what you did was slightly unethical but that don't change ya or make ya a bad person for it.""

I rested my head on my knees like I used to do as a child. "He loves her, Maze. He's so in love with her."

"And so are you. It's twisted and it's unfair to him but you both decided to do this. Don't beat yaself up, he ain't Mr. Innocent in all this either."

"You think I should just walk away when it's all over?" I asked. 

He took a moment before answering. "I know you don't wanna because ya have feelings for her. But maybe it's for the best."

"What if my heart tells me otherwise?"

He squeezed my shoulder gently, "I know it's easier said than done but sometimes we gotta do stuff that we don't wanna do in order to protect the ones we love. Sometimes ya just have to walk away."

I sighed, "I hate it when you're right."

He chuckled and leaned back against the steps, "I'm only tellin' ya the same shit that ya once told me. I'm just throwin' it back atcha."

"But you didn't listen to me when I told you to walk away. You went and married her."

A slow smile crept across his handsome face, "Not listenin' to you was the best decision that I ever made."

"If you could go back, would you do it all over again? Go through it all again just to be with her?"

He cocked his head to one side and thought about it. "I went to hell and back to be with her but it was worth it. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat."

"Do you think Vanessa and I could have that same happy ending as you and Tori?"

He shrugged and pulled me into his arms, "Beats the hell outta me. But as someone who loves and cares about ya, I only want the best for you. I don't wanna see you get hurt any more than ya have already."

"The sooner we get those kids back with their parents, the better. I'll figure out everything else afterwards."

"I respect that. For better or for worse, this all ends tomorrow night."

**

From Vanessa's perspective:

It seemed like everything happened all at once. In rapid secession, my life had completely taken a toll for the worse and I was still trying to wrap my mind around everything that had happened. The kids were missing. Jay was working for a drug dealer. And Natalie, whose real name was Natalia, was a cop. My brain felt like it was in overload because of everything that had happened. 

And all I could do was stand back and watch as various law enforcement officers overtook the house and set up shop. I'd called my mom and dad to let them know what was going on and they both wanted to come over but I told them to stay home and promised to call with an update as soon as I heard anything. I'd tried to sound brave and reassuring to them but as soon as I heard my mom answer the phone, I'd ended up completely breaking down. As much as I wanted them here with me, I knew that there would be nothing that they could do.

I also didn't want to be around Natalie and I couldn't look at Jay so I hid upstairs in the nursery with my daughter. In the darkened bedroom, I picked her up and cuddled her against my chest and inhaled her sweet, baby scent. She was fast asleep but I just needed to hold her in my arms. 

A sound in the hallway made me look up and I saw her father standing in the doorway. "I thought I might find you in here," he admitted.

I looked back down at the precious, bundle of joy in my arms. "She's growing up so fast, she'll be walking and talking before we know it."

He walked inside the room and stood beside me, "I can't imagine how I'll feel once they all start going out on dates and bringing home boyfriends and girlfriends. I'm so not ready for any of that."

"Me either," I agreed as I laid her back down inside the crib and pulled the sheet over her. "I wish they could stay this little forever."

My husband reached over the crib to rub her tiny little back. "When this is all over, I'm going to take them all camping like we talked about this morning. Cam has been begging me for weeks to take him fishing but I've been so busy with work that I kept putting it off."

"Did you call your mom to tell her what happened?"

"She wanted to come here but I told her that she'd probably end up being in the way. I-, uh, know you probably aren't up for it right now, but we need to talk." 

"You're right. I'm not up for it," I replied and walked out of the room and into the hallway. 

He followed me into our bedroom and shut the door, "Maybe you aren't but I am. Did you really fall in love with Natalie?"

I sat down on the bed and rubbed my temples, "I am so emotionally drained from everything today. I just don't have it in me to talk about it right now."

"I understand but as your husband, I deserve to know the truth."

"I hate to break it to you but you forfeited that right when you decided that it was okay to commit a felony. How am I going to explain that to our kids?"

I watched as a muscle ticked in his jaw, "Don't turn this around on me. Yes, I committed a crime and I'm going to jail for it. But you were unfaithful so remember that."

"But you brought her into our lives," I argued. "If you weren't so stupid and so weak, I never would have met her. And our kids' lives wouldn't be in danger."

"So you're blaming me for this?" he asked. "You think this is all my fault?"

"I don't see anyone else standing here, Jason. Do you?"

He lowered his head before raising it back up, "Vanessa, they were blackmailing me and threatening my family. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Would both of you just stop with the excuses! You didn't have a choice, she didn't intend to keep lying to me. It's all bullshit and it means nothing to me."

"You say that now but I saw how you two were looking at each other back there," he stated point blank period. "Whatever you two have isn't over. I just can't believe I didn't see it any sooner."

"Maybe you're right. But the only thing I feel right now is anger; anger towards the both of you for lying to me. And fear; fear that I might not ever get to see or hold our babies again. I'm really scared, Jay."

His strong arms enveloped me and I rested my head on his shoulder and wept. "We're gonna get them back," he vowed resolutely. "We'll pay the ransom and get our kids home."

"But how?" I asked. "We don't have six million dollars stashed away."

"I'll cash in my life insurance policy as well as the bonds that my grandfather left me when he passed away. I'll fix this, I promise."

"If we don't get them back, I-I don't know what I'll do. I won't be able to live."

"I promise you on my life that we're gonna get them back. I let them down once but it won't ever happen again."

**

I sat out back near the pool and puffed on a black n' mild. The back sliding door slid open and Vanessa stepped out to join me. I couldn't bear to look at her so I turned away and went back to admiring their view of the Jersey skyline. "I didn't know you smoked," she remarked. "Did you also hide that from me?"

I removed the cigar from my mouth and put it out against the pavement, "I bummed it off Rico. Thought it might calm my nerves but I was wrong."

"Yeah I came out here to get some air. I've never seen so many cops in my life, it's a little overwhelming," she admitted as she folded her arms over chest. "By the way, I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"You don't need to apologize. If that's really how you feel, don't apologize."

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings but try to put yourself in my position. How would you have reacted?"

I shrugged. "I'd probably hate me too."

"I don't hate you. I'm just so angry at you. You hurt me more than anyone has ever hurt me before."

"That's too bad," I replied coolly and stood up.

Her eyes narrowed, "Too bad? You lied to me and all you have to say is that it's too bad? Are you a sociopath?"

"What else do you want me to say? I've already apologized and you rejected my apology. I'm dead to you, so why don't you start acting like it?" 

"What I want is for you to tell me the truth, did you really sleep with C.C. or did you only say what you said to push me away?"

I considered lying to her, knowing that the truth would only add fuel to the flames but l knew that Vanessa deserved the truth. "We did sleep together, "I admitted. "But not for the reason you think. She was threatening to tell Jay about us if I didn't sleep with her and she had proof."

"So rather than be honest with me and let me in on the truth, you decided to sleep with her?" 

"I was only trying to protect you."

"I don't fucking need your protection," she hissed. "What I needed was your honesty. I'm not some fucking defenseless invalid, so why does everyone insist on protecting me? Answer me!" she demanded angrily and pushed me back and then angrily pummeled my chest with her hands and fists. I very easily could've restrained her but I knew that she needed to get her feelings out so I allowed her to hit me until she eventually tired herself out. "How could you do this to me?" she asked brokenly. "I trusted you. I loved you."

"And I love you too," I vowed as I held onto her. "I'm not proud of what I did because I hurt you and I lied to you but I only withheld the truth from you in order to find out what was going on." 

She finally released me and stepped away, "I want to believe you but I just cant. You're not the person that I thought you were."

"Believe this then, I'll do whatever I have to in order to bring your children home to you. After that, I'll be out of your life for good."

"You had multiple chances to tell me the truth. So why didn't you?"

"Because I got so caught up in being with you, and being around you that I didn't want to risk losing you," I confessed. "In my heart, I knew that everything would change once I told you the truth. So I kept it from you so that I could hold on to this fantasy of us for as long as I could."

The backdoor once again slid open and my longtime police captain stepped out, "Sorry to interrupt but I needed a smoke break."

"Don't worry, you're not interrupting anything. We're done here," Vanessa replied as she went back inside. 

"Tough crowd, eh?" he remarked. 

I shook my head and sighed. "I keep thinking about it and this has to be an inside job. Why don't I go down to the school and help question some of the staff? Maybe I can help speed up the interview process."

Captain Barnett placed his hand on my shoulder, "That's a negative. Your talents would be completely wasted there when you're needed here."

"But sir, there's nothing for me to do here."

"There's also nothing for to do there. We've already released recent pictures of the kids to the media as well as descriptions of what they were wearing. And the investigators at the school are taking fingerprints and combing through videos to see if they can find out anything about the kidnappers or the getaway vehicle." 

"I could canvas the nearby neighborhood and see if anyone saw anything?"

He shook his head. "The uniforms are already on it."

"I just feel so useless," I admitted. 

The backdoor slid open once more and one of the officers from the state police stepped outside, "The kidnappers called back. Detective Mason is on the phone with them negotiating the drop off."

We followed him back inside and joined everyone in the living room. "We're workin' on getting the money," Mason replied. "Just tell us when and where to meet ya."

"That wasn't so hard was it?" the voice asked. "The drop off is tonight at 9 p.m. And Jay knows where to meet me at, it's at the same spot where he originally lost my money. And come alone, if I see anyone else other than the four of you within a two mile radius, your kids will be in body bags the next time you see them," he promised before hanging up.

Captain Barnett walked over to Rico, "Were you able to triangulate or ping the callers location?"

He shook his head. "No sir, the signal was way too scrambled."

"You know where he was hintin' at?" Mason asked looking at Jason.

"The only thing place that comes to mind is the warehouse but its burnt out. Someone broke into it and stole everything before setting in on a fire. I wanted to tell him but C.C. wanted to keep it quiet."

Captain Barnett explained, "My officers went by her office but her father told them that she went home sick. She claimed she had a stomach bug so she went home for the day."

"Did he say what time?" I asked. "We went by there this morning and I talked to her. I asked her to tell me who she was working for but she was refused."

"Her father told them that she left shortly after a meeting. They also went by her house and her parents' house but her mother claims to have not seen her since she left for work."

"That's plenty of time to grab em'," Mason observed. "Do we have enough to have a judge issue a warrant out for her arrest?"

"I'm already one step ahead of you," Barnett replied. "The judge signed off on it an hour ago."

Jay shook his head in denial, "But what reason would C.C. have to kidnap the kids? We were working together, she didn't want to do this anymore than I did."

"She's doing it to get back at me. She had video proof of the affair."

"And she had the video of you and Stark arguing," Rico informed him. "We found it on her laptop. Do we have the video from the school yet?"

Captain Barnett shook his head, "They're still working on it. And none of the students or teachers that have been interviewed so far remember seeing the kids walk into the school. It's almost like they never made it inside the school."

"But I watched them go inside," Vanessa argued. "So someone had to have seen them."

I turned to Captain Barnett, "How are we going to play this, Captain? It's your call."

My police captain who also happened to be my longtime mentor scratched his salt and pepper beard, "I can't let you all go into this alone, that's just asking for something bad to happen. But if we all go, I have a feeling they'll make good on their threat to harm those kids. And I can't have that."




Blurred Lines Ch. 03



"So what are you thinking?"

"It's risky but I think it might work."

**

Mason loaded the shotgun and handed it to me so that I could add it into our bag of weapons, "You remember how to use this baby right?" 

I took it from him and stuffed it down into the bag, "You're damn right I do but hopefully we won't have to find out."

He looked around the room that had thinned out since earlier, "Where's Jay and Vanessa? I haven't seen them in a while."

"He rode with Barnett to the bank to pick up the money and she left to drop off their daughter at her parent's house. She's barely hanging on."

"Have the two of you talked since earlier?" he asked as he put on his bullet proof vest.

"We have and I think it's over. She can't get past her anger."

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked. 

"No, but I will be as soon as get those kids back. Aren't you going to call Tori before we head out?"

He shook his head. "No because if I tell her what's going on, she'll worry. You know how she is."

"I do, but I also know that she'll be pissed if you go into this without telling her. So go do us both a favor and call her before we head out." 

The door opened and Rico walked inside. "They're on their way back from the bank, so as soon as they get back, we'll be ready to head out." 

Vanessa appeared in the doorway and her eyes landed squarely on me, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Rico picked up the bag from the ground and tossed it over his shoulder, "I'll go put this in the car."

"And I need to go call my wife," Mason replied as he also departed the room. 

Jason's wife stepped into room and I rose to my feet, "What's on your mind?"

"I don't know what's going to happen tonight but I do know that I owe you an apology for lashing out at you. I also want you to know that I didn't mean any of what I said. I don't regret meeting you at all, you mean a lot to me."

My heart soared and I found myself smiling for the first time that day. "You mean a lot to me too. And again, I'm sorry for lying to you."

"It's okay. I just want you to know that I still want you in my life, I need you in my life."

"Really?"

She nodded. "I know that we can't go back in time but hopefully we can move forward and move past this. As friends."

I frowned and gulped down a big helping of disappointment. "Uh, you want to be friends?"

"If it's not too awkward. The kids love you and I don't wanna punish them by taking you away from them just as you're getting to know them. Do you understand?"

"Vanessa, I don't look at you as just a friend. And more importantly, I don't want to look at you as just a friend. We were in love and I can't just forget that."

"I know," she admitted. "But I've hurt my family enough. However, I also know that I don't want to lose you. So I'm offering you a friendship because it's the best that I can do right now."

"What if I don't want to be your friend? What if I need more?"

Her face fell and she looked away. "Natalie, don't do this. This is already hard enough."

"You're right. You're in an impossible situation that you didn't ask for. If you choose him, you'll hurt me. And if you choose me, you'll hurt him. But put all of that on the backburner for a just second and really ask yourself who makes you happy. Who can you see yourself with for the rest of your life?"

She placed her hand against the side of my face and cupped it in her hands, "Being with you made me feel something that I've never felt before and I will never forget how it felt when you kissed me for the first time. But I have to choose what's best for my family and that means choosing my husband. I hope you can understand that."

"I don't understand," I declared as I backed up away from her. "And I never will."

**

The car ride from their house to the drop off sight was completely silent and the nervous energy in the car was clearly palpable. The only other sounds in the car aside from the engine, was the sounds of Mason's fingers as he tapped them against the dashboard. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that Vanessa was staring out the window. She finally looked my way and our eyes momentarily locked before she turned back to gaze out the window. 

Mason hit the button on his radio to relay our progress to Captain Barnett, "GPS says that we're about five minutes out."

"Keep us updated. We're locked and ready to roll."

I drove a bit further until Jay warned that we were getting closer, "Make a left turn up here by the gate. It's way in the back."

Mason pointed to a heavily shaded area, "Park here and we're walk the rest of the way."

"Are you all sure this is gonna work?" Jay asked I cut the engine.

"It'll work. Nat and I are gonna go in with the ransom and make the exchange while Rico watches from his sniper," Mason explained as he got out of the car. "Once we retrieve the kids and reunite them with you and Vanessa, our backup is gonna arrive and help make the arrests. They're on standby just waitin' to move on our signal."

"So what do you need us to do?" 

"Sit tight and keep ya head down."

Vanessa looked flabbergasted. "Wait, you can't just expect us to sit here and not do anything."

I answered for Mason, "That's exactly what we expect."

"But our children are in there."

"And these people are armed and extremely dangerous," I countered back. "We have to take every precaution possible, trust me on this."

"I tried to trust you and look where it got me."

Mason rolled his eyes dramatically. "Ladies please, this ain't the time nor the place. Natalia's right, neither one of ya are to leave this truck. Got it?"

Jay shook his head, "I'm going in with you."

"Did ya not just hear what I said? There's no friggin' way ya goin in there."

The father of three was adamant, "My children are in there because of me. I set this in motion therefore I'm responsible. You'll have to either handcuff me to the steering wheel or shoot me to stop me."

Mason sighed and shook his head, "Please don't tempt me." He glanced at Jay who had this determined, worried father expression on his face. "Fine, go ahead. But you stay behind us at all times, got it?"

"Yes sir, whatever you say."

He tossed Jay a bullet- proof vest, "Put this on." 

Rico put his earpiece in and grabbed his sniper rifle, "I'll radio when I find a good spot."

Mason hugged him tight, "I'm counting on ya to watch our asses, man."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down," the other man vowed before jogging off into the night.

Vanessa turned to Mason, "Can you depend on him? I mean, is he any good at shooting people?" 

"He's top shelf," Mason told her tucking his firearm inside the waistband of his pants. "I trust him with my life."

"We're in good hands," I assured her. "We won't let anything happen to Jay or your children."

"She's right. This all ends tonight," Mason guaranteed and grabbed the duffel bags containing the ransom money and tossed them to the ground. He also handed me a firearm and I tucked it into my pant leg.

Rico's voice came over the radio, "Torres? Mason, can you hear me?" 

"Loud and clear," I responded into my radio.

Mason hit the button on his, "10-4 Pierce, what do ya see?"

"From my vantage point, I counted about twelve guys inside, all armed. There's also five armed guards out front waiting on ya and two more out back guarding this unmarked black van. I'm assuming that's where the kids are being kept."

"Alright, stay sharp, we're about to walk towards the building."

"Everything okay?" Vanessa asked concerned.

"Yeah, Rico said that we're good to make the exchange. Let's head out." Mason handed Vanessa his cell phone. "If ya hear gunshots, I want you to dial Barnett and tell him that we're inside. If you see anything suspicious out here, send Natalia a warning text."

She nodded nervously, "Please be careful in there. And keep my husband safe, our family needs him."

"You have my word."

She then turned to her husband, "The kids and I need to you to come back in once piece." 

"I'm sorry for all of this," he apologized and pulled his wife into a deep embrace and I had to physically turn and walk a few feet away because it was too private of a moment for me to observe. His voice was full of emotion as he pledged to bring their kids home even if it meant sacrificing himself. He pulled her in for a quick kiss. "I love you. Remember that."

"I love you too," she promised. 

My heart plummeted to the ground at the sound of her words and if my heart wasn't broken already, it had now officially shattered into a gazillion itty bitty pieces. I resisted the urge to jerk him away from her as he kissed her briefly and rested his forehead against hers, "If I make it out, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Just bring them home. We'll talk about everything else later, just bring our babies home."

I tried to not be so obvious, but hearing Vanessa openly declare her love for Jay felt like I'd just been sucker punched by Floyd Mayweather Jr. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the task that lay in front of me.

"You okay?" Mason asked in a quiet voice as he walked over to stand beside me. He quickly glanced over at the husband and wife duo, "I know that's gotta be tough to stomach."

"I'm fine. It is what it is."

He squeezed my shoulder, "It's just me, ya know? You ain't gotta pretend to be okay if ya not."

"I'm good, Maze. You don't need to worry about me."

"Ya kiddin' me? I'll always worry about ya, that'll never change," he admitted with a goofy smile.

Vanessa's husband walked over, interrupting us. "I'm ready to go when you guys are."

Mason picked up two of the duffel bags, "Let's get this over with."

Jay and I picked up the remaining two bags and followed Mason as we walked towards the dark path that led to the warehouse. For whatever reason, as much as I wanted to, I dared to not turn around and look at Vanessa. I knew deep down that this could very well be the very last time that I ever saw her but I couldn't look at her. 

It was too hard.

I would never forget how much it physically hurt me to watch her kiss and declare her love for someone who wasn't me. This was the one thing that I'd been terrified of. And just as I had feared, my worst nightmare had come true. And I'd unfortunately witnessed it firsthand with my very own eyes.

"The warehouse is in sight, we're about thirty feet away," Mason informed Rico as we neared the building.

"I got a clear view of you three," Rico confirmed.

"We have two objections: the first one is to make sure we get these kids out alive. The other is to identify and capture the mastermind behind this, we need him alive. He's no good to us dead."

"10-4. Let's do this."

The armed guards instantly drew their weapons once they saw us and the almost half dozen of them surrounded us. The biggest one walked over and patted us down, taking both mine and Mason's firearms, "We've been expecting you, what took you so long?"

"We had to recount the money twice," Mason lied as they led us inside the darkened area.

The creep had the nerve to chuckle, "Luckily for you, she doesn't mind waiting."

A side door slid open and the mastermind behind the kidnapping walked over and greeted us, basking in all her glory. A Campos was indeed the culprit behind it, but not the Campos that any of us had ever suspected. 

Jay dropped the bag that he'd been holding as he saw the woman that was responsible for his nightmare, "You did this? Of all people, you kidnapped my children?" he asked in a controlled voice.

The woman in question casually shrugged, "You sound so surprised. Who exactly were you expecting? Let me guess, my daughter?" 

"Why, Marcie? Why on earth would you do something like this?"

She smiled slightly, "Because I wanted to send a message. And from those bags and the stupid looks upon your faces, my message was well received."

"Where's C.C.?"

"If I remember correctly, she and Victor are both tied up in our basement. Be a dear and apologize to them for me, will you?"

I shook my head still slightly dumbfounded, "You're the mastermind behind all of this?"

"And none of you idiots even suspected it. It's quite brilliant, you see."

"But you're a millionaire already. What do you even need with drug money?" Jay questioned.

"I'm sure your police friends know by now but Victor is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. He's almost broke and that broke lifestyle is not for a woman of my stature."

Mason looked at her pointedly. "It all makes sense now. You killed Jeffrey Stark didn't you?"

"Jeff made the mistake of thinking that he could double cross me. We were lovers for well over fifteen years, and then one day he suddenly decides that he wants to tell Victor that he's been having an affair with his wife," she explained. "I couldn't allow him to ruin my marriage just because he suddenly developed a conscience, could I? How would I look?"

"And it had nothing to do with him wanting to sell his share of the company?"

"Not at all," she admitted. "But it worked out perfectly because you idiots quickly assumed that my husband murdered him in retaliation. No one guessed or even suspected that it was me. I'm a woman, why would they?"

Jay shook his head, "You hateful, manipulative, gold-digging whore. I should've told Victor the truth back then."

"But you didn't. You always were a pussy."

"Alright, you made your point. Where are the kids?" Mason asked.

"They're safe. What kind of monster do you take me for?" she asked with a sly smile. "Now about my money, I trust it's all in there."

Jay picked his bag back up and tossed it at her feet, "I hope it was all worth it."

She snapped her fingers and motioned to the armed men standing beside her to retrieve the remaining bags from us. "Put them in my car," she ordered and like obedient schoolchildren they abruptly did as they were told.

"You have what you want, now give me my kids."

"We'll get to that, but first we have some things to discuss." 

"Give me my kids!" he shouted angrily and advanced towards her. "You got your money, now give me my goddamn kids!" 

One of the armed guards instantly drew his gun on Jay but Marcie stopped him by holding up her hand. "It's alright," she assured him. "He knows better, he won't do anything crazy."

"What do you want now?" I asked. 

"Detective, I'm very happy that you asked that question. I will release the children unharmed as promised, but only if I have your word that I'm a free woman."

I scoffed, "A free woman? You just admitted to committing premeditated murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. We can't just let you walk away."

"You can and you will. See I know for a fact that as soon as you get the kids, I'm going to be taken into police custody. I'm not stupid."

"Well you must be if you think for a second that we're not gonna arrest you or not pursue you if you try to get away. This is only gonna end one way, either with you in handcuffs looking at a life sentence or with you six feet under. There's no other way out."

Mason chimed in, "And if you kill us, I can tell you with all certainty that they won't rest until you are six feet under or looking at the death penalty."

"Not sure if you know this or not, but the criminal justice system doesn't respond too kindly to cop killers."

Marcie seemed unfazed and sighed, "I disagree." She snapped her fingers again and the bigger guy who'd searched us earlier went back out through the side door that she'd come in from. "So you might want to rethink letting me go."

Mason looked her dead in the eye, "No chance in hell."

The bigger guy returned but he wasn't alone this time, a tied up and gagged Vanessa was with him. He dragged her in by her shirt and pushed her to the ground beside him. Her eyes were red and there was a feint welt on her face. 

"You psycho bitch!" I screamed and lounged at her as Jay and Mason attempted to restrain me. "I'll fucking slit your throat if you hurt her." 

"Is that so?" Marcie asked and viciously backhanded Vanessa across her face.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Jay snapped. "Leave her alone. My wife and kids have nothing to do with this," he argued. "This is between me and you."

"I just want you all to know that I'm not fucking around. I won't hesitate to kill her nor will I hesitate to kill those adorable, little children. Now if you agree to let me go, I'll let them go."

Mason shook his head. "No can do."

"And you're sure that I can't change your mind?" she asked and picked up a tablet that lay on the table. "Your wife is pregnant, isn't she? She looks like she's about to pop." She unlocked the screen and then handed it to Mason.

The screen was a live recording taken through a window outside his brownstone. And on the screen, his nearly nine month old pregnant wife was seen sitting in a rocking chair in the nursery, knitting a baby blanket.

"Where'd ya get this?" he asked with unbridled anger in his voice. "How do you know where I live?"

"From a friend of a friend who just happens to be sitting outside your house."

He threw the tablet to the ground, shattering it. "You tell him to stay the fuck away from my house and my family!"

"Easy, cowboy. No one wants to hurt your wife or unborn child. But if you don't do exactly as I say, I won't be responsible for what happens. Isn't your mother also staying at your home as well?"

In the blink of an eye, Mason closed the short distance between him and Marcie and jerked her off her feet. He slammed her down hard on the table and his thick hands menacingly wrapped around her neck as he spoke, "I could rip ya' fuckin' head off."

My screams to not shoot him fell on deaf ears as her flunkies quickly drew their weapons and prepared to do just that. I rushed over and tried to pry him off of her, "Mason, let her go. You don't want to do this. Killing her solves nothing."

Marcie coughed, "You should listen to her. You don't want to kill me, killing me pretty much signs your unborn son's death certificate."

His grip tightened and I mercifully pleaded with him to let her go, "We'll figure it out. But this isn't the way."

He looked at me like a wounded puppy, "I can't let anything happen to 'em. They're the only family I got."

"I know and I promise that nothing will happen to her or the baby. Just trust me, we'll find a way." My words finally seemed to sink in and he abruptly released her. She let out a loud audible gasp as she struggled to catch her breath.

He stepped away from her with his hands raised and one of the flunkies seized the moment and pistol whipped him on the back of his neck. Marcie straightened up her clothing and stood up. "You should really get some help for that temper, Detective. It'll get you in trouble one day."

"What do you want from us?" I asked, having had enough of her cat and mouse game. 

"I told you. I want your word that I'm a free woman, that no one will pursue me. I want you to let me walk right out that door with my money. Allow me to leave and you'll never see or hear from me ever again."

"We can't just let you walk away."

"Say that there was a shootout, and I miraculously escaped. But you all saved the kids just in time, you'll all look like heroes."

I shook my head, "Not happening."

"Have it your way then," she said and picked up the gun from the table and pointed it directly at Vanessa's head. "Is she worth so little to you that you'd risk her life just to bring me in?"

"We'll take your offer," Mason blurted as he struggled to stand up. "We'll let ya leave."

I quickly turned to look at him, "What?" I asked exasperated. "We can't just let her leave! She knows where we all live and work. She'll come after all of us."

Mason stared intently at Marcie, "Gimme ya word that you won't. Assure me that you'll go somewhere far, far away and never show your face here again."