Cassandra smiled, shaking her head. “Not at all,” she said sincerely.
Dakota blinked a couple of times and looked over at Jazmine who was looking between them trying to figure out what was happening.
“This,” Dakota said, holding up the paperwork, “is the deed to this house. See what it says there under owners?” Dakota said, pointing the line of the document she was referring to.
Jazmine read it and her mouth dropped open. She looked at Dakota then at Cassandra who smiled benevolently.
“You’re giving us this house?” Jazmine asked Cassandra shocked.
“Yes,” Cassandra said. “Dakota worked so hard on it, and I know that you two will love it and appreciate it in a way I never could.”
“But why…” Jazmine asked.
“For the same reason I bought the house and wanted Dakota to restore it,” Cassandra said. “To make amends.”
“Cass…” Dakota said, shaking her head. “This is so much though…”
“You deserve more,” Cassandra said, “but I know I’ll be lucky if your pride will allow you to take this, so…” She shrugged.
Dakota looked at Jazmine wanting to know what Jazmine thought. Jazmine looked back at Dakota and then at Cassandra. She stepped forward and hugged Cassandra.
“I’m accepting it for both of us,” she said.
Cassandra surprised them both by crying softly and whispering, “Thank you,” to Jazmine.
“Now, I need to get going,” Cassandra said, dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief. “Salina and I are headed to New York…”
“Salina?” Dakota asked with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t that the artist you were working with on the mural for the Art Center?”
Cassandra bit her lip, smiling and nodding.
“Well, alright,” Dakota said, smiling widely and nodding. “Run along then.”
Cassandra reached over and hugged Dakota. “Thank you for everything.”
“No, thank you,” Dakota replied.
A few minutes later Cassandra left in her car and Dakota and Jazmine stood staring at each other.
“Holy hell… Now we have two houses…” Dakota said, grinning.
“Well, I hear you can never have too many,” Jazmine said, grinning.
“I guess not,” Dakota replied.
“Come on, let’s go look at it again, now that we know it’s ours,” Jazmine said, smiling mysteriously.
Dakota found out why a little while later when Jazmine seduced her in the master bedroom on the newly refinished wood flooring.
“I love you,” Dakota said, lying on the bare floor, trying to catch her breath.
“Just remember that,” Jazmine replied grinning.
Epilogue
“So she just gave you two the house?” Quinn asked, not for the first time.
“Yeah,” Dakota said, nodding. “Damndest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Not complaining though,” Jazmine said, grinning. “Dakota did an amazing job so you’re all going to have to come check it out.”
For the first time in a long time, the entire group had made it out to the bar, including a rare appearance by Sebastian and Ashley, as well as Lyric and Savanna. They were there to celebrate Dakota’s triumph with finishing the Craftsman. Everyone had heard all of the drama the project had caused between Jazmine and Dakota and they were relieved that the couple had made it through all of it.
There was a sudden flurry of excitement at the entrance to the bar, causing the group to look in that direction. As they did, Kashena and Sierra walked in and over to the grouping of tables, both grinning widely.
“Did you see what was going on there?” Jericho asked, always on guard.
“Oh yeah,” Kashena said, grinning. “It’s a friend of ours that we brought with us.”
“Causing that kind of stir?” Jet queried, raising a black eyebrow.
“She causes a stir wherever she goes,” Sierra said, smiling.
“So who is it?” Quinn asked, always one to get straight to the point.
“Remi LaRoché,” Kashena said offhandedly.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Quinn asked her tone shocked.
“Who is Remi LaRoché?” Xandy asked Quinn.
“Only one of the best MMA fighters on the planet!” Quinn said. She looked at Kashena. “How the hell do you know her?”
“Marines,” Kashena said. “I was in basic with her at Pendleton.”
“Holy shyte!” Quinn said looking like a kid at Christmas.
“She is pretty awesome,” Tyler said. “I saw her fight in D.C., never seen such speed and agility before.”
“I caught a fight in New York,” Dakota said. “And yeah, she just beat the crap out of the girl before the chick could even think about fighting back. She’s damned fast.”
“Yeah there was a fight on Pay-Per-View a few months back, and I couldn’t believe her jabs, just rabbit fast…” Jericho said, nodding.
“Didn’t she retire recently?” Quinn asked.
“Yeah,” Kashena said, nodding. “She’s thinking about bodyguard work, so I’m hooking her up with Joe and Mackie.”
“Good call,” Quinn said, nodding.
Remington LaRoché walked up to the group then, having finally gotten through the crowd of women asking for her autograph. She stood at five foot nine, and weighed in at 135 pounds of solid muscle. It was evident in her arms, bare due to the red tank top she wore. She wore her brunette hair in cornrows that fell to her mid back, tipped with red on the top. Remington was of Creole descent and it showed in her milk chocolate colored skin and lighter colored hazel-gold eyes. There was no arguing that Remington was a beautiful woman, but also very intimidating with her size and obvious strength.
“Remi,” Kashena said, “this is the group. You all can introduce yourselves to her. Guys this is Remi.”
Remington surprised everyone putting her hands together prayer form, and bowed her head respectfully to the group.
“Onre,” she said, her light eyes shining. “That’s means ‘honored’ in Creole.”
Quinn was the first to stand up and extend her hand to Remington. “It’s an honor to meet you,” she said. “You are the best damned MMA fighter I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.”
“Mesi, thank you,” Remington said, smiling.
“This is Xandy,” Quinn said, touching Xandy’s shoulder.
“I like your music,” Remington told Xandy. “Your recent work more so.”
Xandy smiled, nodding. “Yeah, BJ Sparks has a way of getting better work out of everyone. I’m no exception.”
“Remington,” Jericho said, extending her hand to the other woman. “A pleasure, I’ve seen you fight as well, you’re credit to the sport.”
“Please call me Remi,” Remington said. “And thank you, I appreciate your praise.”
One by one, the group introduced themselves to Remington. Before long they were all drinking and enjoying themselves.
It was nearing midnight when there was a sudden jolt. The ground began swaying as a sound like a boulder rolling down the street began.
“Earthquake!” someone screamed, followed by many screams of other patrons.
“Take cover! Cover your heads!” Jericho yelled, pushing Grayson down under the table.
Others did the same. Various members of the group helped others to take cover as the shaking continued for what seemed like forever. There was crashing sounds as glasses and bottles fell from shelves. There was a louder crash and feedback as some of the larger speakers fell over. Screams and crying ensued as the shaking continued. Car horns and alarms went off, the screech of tires and yelling could be heard outside.
“Everybody just stay calm!” Sebastian yelled over the din, as he kept his body covering Ashley’s.
Tables fell over, causing people to scramble for other cover. When the shaking finally ended it had only been a total of fifteen seconds, but it had seemed like forever. As soon as the shaking stopped, the group wen
t into action. Quinn, Jericho, Rayden, Sebastian, and Remington started pulling debris off of people, while Lyric, Savanna, Cody, and McKenna started evacuating people from the bar, getting them to move toward the exit doors. Jet, Grayson, Jazmine, and Dakota moved to get people out of the back door through the patio. Raine, Natalia, and Fadiyah began checking on people who weren’t moving, doing their best to help them.
“Ray, Quinn!” Raine yelled, kneeling by a woman who was trapped under a piece of roof.
Rayden and Quinn immediately moved to where Raine knelt.
“Okay, we’re going to move this,” Rayden said, nodding to Quinn. “Raine, just be ready to cover her if anything slips. Okay? Ready?”
“Yeah, go!” Raine said her hands at the ready.
The piece was moved, and Raine sheltered the woman’s body with her own as smaller pieces of the ceiling broke away and dropped from the piece being moved.
“Raine, you okay?” Quinn asked, seeing the debris falling.
“Yeah, got it,” Raine said, nodding. “Thanks guys!”
Rayden and Quinn moved off then, seeing that Sebastian and Jericho were struggling with one of the large speakers.
“Remi!” Quinn yelled, getting the other woman’s attention and motioning to her.
The five of them were able to move the speaker. The woman who lay under it wasn’t breathing. Quinn performed CPR and Xandy who stood near her, called out for someone with a cell phone to see if they could get through to 911. Sierra was already on her phone calling and nodded to Xandy, holding up her hand. After a few very tense moments, the woman started coughing. Xandy hugged Quinn for her quick action.
Within twenty minutes of the quake, the bar was cleared, and everyone was out on the street. The group got together and started talking about what they could do.
“We can work out of my house,” Harley offered. “I’m like a mile away.”
“Good, yeah, that’ll work,” Jericho said. Being the highest-ranking one out of the group, she naturally took charge. “Gray, you and Skyler should try to get to the locals and offer your assistance with rescue. Shenin, can you get ahold of the Air Force for aircraft and assistance?”
Shenin nodded. “Yeah, come on you two, let’s go,” she said, looking around to see what they could use for a vehicle.
“We’ve got the Jag, let’s use that,” Grayson said. Rayden tossed her the keys and the three moved off.
“Harley and I can work with the locals to make sure emergency systems up are up and running,” Devin offered.
“Perfect,” Jericho said, nodding. “Take Shiloh. Sierra you might be helpful to smooth things over with the locals on that.”
Sierra nodded. “I think you’re right, I’ll get ahold of Midnight.”
“We can take my Hummer,” Devin said, seeing that the large white SUV was mostly unharmed by the quake.
“I think we should start with this area to help pull people out and whatever else heavy lifting there is,” Jericho said, her eyes touching on Quinn, Jet, Rayden, Kashena, Jet, Sebastian, and Remington. They all nodded. “Cat, maybe take some of the girls to see what we can do to help out setting up shelters and stuff?”
“I think McKenna and I will go check in with the animal shelter to see what’s happening there…” Cody said, thinking of all the animals that were likely to be affected.
“I like it,” Jericho said, nodding and grinning. “Dakota and Ty, maybe you can help with some of the assessments for the buildings and security?”
Within three hours, the group doing dig outs were pulling people out of collapsed homes and wrecked cars in the West Hollywood area. A shelter had been set up in a few high school gyms, and at the Hollywood Bowl which had been undamaged by the quake. Cat, Jovina, and Fadiyah helped at the Bowl, whilst Ashley, Zoey, Savanna, and Raine ended up at a high school. Xandy had been pulled in by BJ Sparks to work on fundraising efforts to help the victims.
BJ Sparks used the talent he had in town to put on an impromptu concert, using Xandy, Jordan Tate, and his own band, Sparks. He also pulled in a singer he’d just signed to his label, who was already a star in her own right, named Wynter Kincade. John Machiavelli and Joe Sinclair pulled in some of their bodyguards to act as security for the quickly planned concert, including Remington, if nothing else for her notoriety.
The concert was held at the Santa Monica Pier a few days later, and was quickly advertised to gain support. The stage was set up on the beach, and they’d set up tents for the stars of the show. Remington and Quinn were put by the tents to ensure no unauthorized people got through. Quinn was dealing with a couple of teenagers who thought they’d sneak a peek at the stars. Meanwhile, a woman wearing a white baseball cap with the words “Be Yourself” in rainbow colored letters jeans and a white T-shirt with the words ‘lipstick lesbian’ on it, stooped under the yellow tape.
She started walking toward one of the tents while texting on her phone. Remington stepped into her path. The woman continued to stride forward, and would have collided with Remington if she hadn’t put her hands out to stop her. As it was, the woman walked right into Remington’s hands, which touched her shoulders before she looked up stumbling backwards in the sand. Remington had to grab her shoulders to keep her from falling.
“Jesus!” the woman exclaimed, glancing up as she did.
“Ma’am, you can’t be back here without a pass,” Remington said, as she set the woman back on her feet and let go of her shoulders.
“I’m one of the stars,” the woman replied.
Remington looked back at the woman, her look indicating disbelief.
“Jesus! I am!” she said, reaching up to pull off her baseball cap, releasing a fall of long dark hair and exposing ice blue eyes.
She looked vaguely familiar to Remington, but that didn’t mean she was telling the truth.
“If that’s the case, you should have a pass,” Remington said evenly.
“Oh for God’s fucking sake, are you kidding me right now?” the woman snapped.
Remington didn’t answer. She merely looked back at the woman calmly. Neither of them was budging.
“And what if I just push past you?” the woman with the blue eyes asked.
“You’re welcome to try.”
“And you’re going to what? Accost me again?” the woman snapped.
“I believe it’s called saving you from falling, ma’am,” Remington said her look completely serene.
“If you hadn’t been standing in my way, I wouldn’t have been in danger of falling!”
“If you’d had a pass I wouldn’t have stood in your way.”
“That again!” the woman snapped. “God damn it I’m Wynter Kincade. Do you live under a rock or something?”
“No, ma’am,” Remington replied.
“Then you should recognize me and let me by!” Wynter yelled.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Remington said, shrugging.
Wynter looked back at the dark-haired woman with the braids. Part of her was insanely attracted to the very butch, but extremely attractive woman. The other part was fit to be tied at that point. The star took over then.
“What’s your name?” Wynter asked.
Remington looked back at her for a long moment. It was clear she wanted to ask why that mattered.
“Just tell me your name,” Wynter said her tone even.
“Remington LaRoché, ma’am,” Remington pronounced, her tone officious.
“LaRoché…” Wynter said, rolling the name around on her tongue. “That’s very sexy,” she said with a wink.
Remington simply looked back at her with no emotion on her face.
“Do people call you Remi?”
“Some do, yes,” Remington replied, not giving an inch.
Wynter narrowed her eyes. It was rare that her charm didn’t work for her, especially on the gays.
“Well, Remi,” Wynter said, her tone at its most reasonable. “I didn’t get a pass, but I assure you that if you Google my name, you’ll see my
picture and you’ll know that I’m me, okay?”
Remington looked back at Wynter, and to Wynter’s shock, she folded her arms in front of her, her stance wide.
“No pass, no pass,” Remington said simply.
“Argh!” Wynter screamed in frustration. “You have got to be fucking kidding me! Get out of my way, I mean it!” she yelled, moving to shove at Remington.
She was actually surprised when Remington didn’t budge, completely unaffected by all the strength that Wynter had. Part of her was impressed, but the impatient part wasn’t having it. She went to kick Remington in the shins, but suddenly she wasn’t where she had been a second before. Remi had taken one wide step back, leaning back as Wynter’s foot kicked thin air. Giving a banshee yell of sheer frustration, Wynter attempted to dart past Remington. She was stopped by one extremely well muscled arm in front of her. Wynter pulled up short, just in time to keep from colliding with Remington’s arm.
“Fuck!” she screamed. “Go fucking get BJ he’ll tell you who I am!”
Remington pursed her lips, her eyes sparkling now with amusement as she shook her head slowly.
Wynter blew her breath out in an exasperated sigh, and then suddenly ducked under Remington’s arm and started to run toward the tents. She was caught by a surprisingly gentle arm to the mid-section, lifted off her feet, and held aloft with Remington’s hip at her backside.
“Put me down, Goddamnit!” she screamed, struggling against Remington’s hold.
Remington made no reply, simply carrying her over to the barriers and setting her down her feet.
“Go get a pass, and you can come through here,” Remington said simply, then turned and walked away without a backward glance.
Wynter stared at the woman’s retreating back and could not believe what had just happened. She also couldn’t help but respect the strength it had taken for Remington to not only lift her off the ground, but to carry her struggling a good thousand feet back to the barriers.
Ten minutes later with her pass in hand, she strolled up to Remington, her look rebellious. Remington simply waved her on as if she were just anyone else. Wynter was stunned and literally stood open-mouthed staring up at the other woman.
Everything to Everyone Page 23