Chapter Two: Love is Blind

"Justin has managed to do what we thought was impossible and infiltrate the Black Mafia," Director Sanchez began, "He was able to use his connections from his hometown."

Millington, Tennessee.  Wisteria knew this from the many stories he told her about his childhood.

"Millington, Tennessee; it’s a small town right on the outside of Memphis.  We were able to gather some intel and apparently he went to high school with his mafia connect and the two of them hooked up again at their 10 year class reunion.  Justin's still moving up in the ranks, but he's definitely pushing enough cocaine to make a blip on our radar."

Wisteria watched as images of Justin flashed across the screen.  In a few he was making what she assumed was a drug deal, but in most of them he was talking to an attractive black guy around his age.  She saw a few images of him watching the young black guy rough up a woman who appeared to be a hooker.

Well people don't see
What I see
Even when they're right there
Standing next to me

Wait, he's into prostitution?  Of course he was.  Wisteria had studied the Black Mafia for a brief point in her graduate career.  They were known for many illegal things, but cocaine and prostitution were at the top of the list.  And a lot of times it was underage prostitution.  She shivered and it wasn't because of the temperature in the room.

It’s too bad ‘cause love is blind
It’s too bad ‘cause love is blind
It’s too bad it don't matter baby
It’s too bad, so sad

"We subpoenaed his bank accounts, but we're still working on his phone records," the director began and Wisteria felt her heart drop.  She couldn't let them do that; their relationship would be made known to the agency and to then the courts and she would lose her job and possibly her freedom if they brought accessory charges against her.  Wisteria was frozen in place, breathing through her nose so that her nervous habit of word vomit wouldn't get her arrested right then and there.

"So here's the plan, we're gonna need someone to go undercover.  Timberlake might be new in this organization, but he's no amateur in the dope game.  He's good and we need some concrete shit on him before we can bring him in.  Keep in mind, he's a pawn, not the king, but we need him so that we can get to the king.  Timberlake runs a tight crew so sending in a guy is out of the picture.  I need one of you ladies to pursue him.  I don't care if you want to be a prostitute or bump into him at a bar, I'll leave the specifics up to you and the FBI's fake identity crew.  We're doing surveillance on him now, tracking his movements and his online activity to see if we can get a hint of the type of woman he finds attractive and we'll go from there.  But by the end of this week one of you lovely ladies will be going undercover."

Wisteria was really nervous now.  If by a slim chance a picture of her didn't show up on his computer, or they didn't get his phone records, she'd have to go up against the 5 other women in her department.  Justin had always joked that she wasn't the type that he usually fell for, but her personality and doe eyes drew him in.  Wisteria considered herself somewhat exotic, she was mixed with Black and Dominican, but her hair and green-ish hazel eyes was where the exotic features ended.  She had a cute shape, her mother's hips and behind and the ample breasts that ran on her father's side of the family, but she didn't compare to some of her other co-workers...in her mind at least.

Just then something that the director said registered with her.

"Sir," she said, raising her hand, "did you just say that we'd be working with the Bureau on this case?"

"Yes, drugs and prostitution aren't the only things the Black Mafia is known for.  We need each other's help on this."

"Oh okay," Wisteria smiled weakly.  Great.  This meant that Morgan would probably be in on this since she's in the Bureau's fake identity department.   Wisteria smiled softly, happy that her friend was putting her counterfeiting skills to good use, legally.  That girl was personally responsible for hundreds of fake IDs between high school and undergrad, and it was a good thing that she was doing it for the right side of the law now.

Wait, if the FBI’s identity department was working with them, then that meant that Morgan was working with them.

“Duh Wisteria,” she scolded herself mentally, “we’ve already established that.”

It meant that she would be seeing this case and would instantly recognize Justin.  Morgan wasn’t dating him and would have no hesitation bringing him in…if she remembered who he was.  It had been three months since she’d seen Justin and maybe she’d forgotten about him in the midst of all that Quantico training.  Shit Wisteria barely got to see him herself between their crazy work schedules.  They never had revealed their occupations to each other; Wisteria because of the confidentiality agreement the agency made her sign and Justin because…well because he was a “dope boy” as her director put it affectionately. 

It’s too bad ‘cause love is blind.

It’s too bad ‘cause love is blind.

Wisteria needed a plan of action and she needed one quickly.  She knew that the agency was conducting a surveillance watch on Justin and she had to make sure that she didn’t show up in any of the data.  The two of them had a date scheduled for that night.  Nothing too serious, probably just meeting up for drinks at ‘Delia’s’ and then back to one of their places for dinner and dessert.  They weren’t your typical couple, in fact Wisteria wasn’t even sure if they were officially a couple.  They hadn’t given each other a title, feeling that they were too old to be referring to themselves as “boyfriend/girlfriend”.  So far it’d worked out perfectly; they hadn’t been to any functions together, nor had they had to introduce the other to another person.  Come to think of it, Wisteria hadn’t referred to him as anything other than the few petnames she used and ‘Justin’.  Vice versa worked in his case.  They usually kept to themselves when they were together.  They didn’t get to see each other as often as they wanted to because of their jobs.  Wow, Wisteria just realized that she’d referred to what Justin did as a ‘job’.  Yeah, she was in deep, really deep.  Too deep.  She was so lost in her own world that she didn’t catch the end of the briefing.  It wasn’t until she saw people packing up their belongings that she snapped out of the trance-like state she was in and followed suit.  Wisteria shuffled back to her desk and pulled out her personal Blackberry and BBM’d Justin.

| I don’t think I’m gonna make it tonight.  We’re starting a new project at work and they need all hands on deck L |

She watched as the message went from ‘delivered’ to ‘received’, and it wasn’t long before he responded.

| You can’t even get together for dessert?  I had a special treat for you.  ;) |

Wisteria felt her panties get damp at the mere mention of a surprise from him.  She typed a quick response.

| L damn.  No, I can’t tonight, but maybe tomorrow? |

| let me check my schedule, but I think we could make something work. |

Wisteria couldn’t fight the grin that was growing on her face.  This man was a dangerous criminal; a dangerous criminal who was in cohorts with an even more dangerous criminal.  The thought of what he could do to her body wasn’t supposed to intrigue her. 

***

Justin was sitting by himself at the bar twirling the red cocktail straw in his Jack & Coke when he heard someone walk through the door of Delia’s.  He looked up for what felt like the hundredth time that night and for once again a look of sadness crossed his face when he realized that it wasn’t Wisteria walking through it.  The two of them had made plans to meet up at the bar for 8pm and then head back to his place for dinner and dessert…but that was a half hour ago.  He checked his phone for the thousandth time and he didn’t see anything from her.  No missed calls, no text messages, no BBMs, no emails, no nothing.  He sighed and flagged down the bartender, getting ready to close his tab for the evening and go home. 

“Hey, don’t I know you?”

Justin looked up and saw a petite caramel-toned woman with bright eyes staring at him.

“You do?”

“Yeah, your name is Justin, right?”

Justin’s body tensed.  It usually wasn’t a good sign when a complete stranger knew his name.

“Who wants to know?” he asked in a cocky tone and watched Morgan chuckle.

“You’re dating my best friend, Wisteria.  I recognize you from the wallpaper of the two of you on her phone,” Morgan smiled.  Justin exhaled the breath he didn’t realizing he was holding. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled softly, “and I think I’m being stood up by her now,” he said, lowering his head.

“What?  Why would she stand you up?”

“She said that they’re starting a new project at her job and they needed all hands on deck.”  Justin watched Morgan cock an eyebrow and raised his hands defensively.

“Hey, that’s her words not mine,” he said, showing Morgan the message Wisteria sent him the previous day.  Morgan understood immediately; she’d been assigned a new case by the agency. 

“Well look, how about I have a drink with you instead?  I know I’m not Wisteria, but I think I’m pretty damn good company,” Morgan said, smiling brightly at him.  She watched as Justin pondered over the thought before agreeing.

“Well I guess it couldn’t hurt.  Hell, I might get some dirt on her,” he laughed and Morgan joined in. 

“Naw uh, I’m not getting my tongue cut off for revealing that girl’s secrets.”  Justin signaled the bartender and told her not to close his tab and to get Morgan a glass of whatever she wanted to drink. 

“So you’re not going to tell me anything about your girl?” Justin questioned, flashing one of his infamous lady-killer grins.

“Nope, and don’t try that move on me mister, Wisty told me about you and that coy grin you use to try and get your way.  It’s not going to work on me,” she said with a laugh. 

“Damn, the Timberlake grin usually never fails me.”

“Wait,” Morgan said, laughing harder, “You have a name for that?  I’m too through!”

“You mean to tell me that that’s not normal?” Justin asked.

“No, it’s not,” Morgan replied, still laughing. 

“Well damn,” he said, lowering his head with his grin still on his face, “I guess I’m not normal.”

“Nope, you’re not,” she replied, smiling, “You can’t be if you’re dating Wisty.”

“Hey, don’t talk about my girl now,” Justin chided.

“Whoa!  Your girl?”

Her question made Justin pause.  He hadn’t realized that he’d said that, that it’d flowed so easily from his mouth. 

“Yeah, my girl.  I said it,” Justin responded boldly and smiled.

“Well let’s propose a toast to ‘Your Girl’.  Hopefully they’re not working her to hard at the office,” Morgan said, raising her glass to meet his.

***

Wisteria sat at her desk, twirling a pen with her fingers and finishing up her third Dr. Pepper that evening.  She couldn’t believe that she was still at the agency and that she was going over her boyfriend’s  case file.  She sighed.  Her brain was going haywire as she tried to make up her mind if she wanted to be the one going undercover to get him or if she wanted to let someone else take that role.  On one hand if took the assignment she’d had an excuse to hang out with him and not have to hide it, any pictures that surfaced could just be pinned on her “doing her job”; but she couldn’t let herself fall any further with him than she already was.  After all the man was looking at a few decades behind bars with the charges they had on him.  But on the other hand she could make a clean break now, quit him cold turkey.  But was that what she really wanted?  Wisteria’s personal Blackberry buzzing with a BBM from Justin.

| Guess who I’m having drinks with?|

She stared at the device with a raised eyebrow for a moment, trying to figure out who he could be with at the bar.

| Well I know it’s not me, and I’m sorry.  The office needed me.|

She knew that she didn’t answer his question, but sent the message anyway. 

| It’s okay, I understand that work gets like that sometimes.  But I want you to guess who I’m with.|

| I don’t know, Barack Obama? Lol.|

Wisteria couldn’t help but laugh herself when she sent the message.  She waited to see the ‘is writing a message’ under Justin’s BBM name, but didn’t see anything…until her phone started ringing.

Morgan

She watched as a picture of her and best friend flashed on the screen and answered her phone.

“What’s up girl?”

“Close, but no cigar baby,” Justin replied.

“Why are you calling me on Morgan’s phone?” she asked a bit too loudly.  Wisteria lowered her tone before asking her next question, “Is that who you’re with at the bar?”

“Yep, she came to keep me company when you stood me up,” Justin laughed.

“Hey, that’s not what happened and you know it, mister!”  Wisteria laughed when she heard her best friend in the background.

“You cheating on me already?” Wisteria asked jokingly.

“Me?  Never!” Justin began, “In fact, I’m going to show how faithful I am to you tonight.  Meet me at your place in an hour.”

“Jus—” Wisteria had to stop herself before she finished his name, “Babe, I’m not sure if I can do that.  I’m not finished up here.”

“Well hurry up and finish and meet me at your place in an hour.  I’ll see you then.”  Justin didn’t give her a chance to respond before he hung up the phone.  She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at a screen for a few seconds before tossing it into her tote.  She shut down her netbook, closed his case file and grabbed her work Blackberry, tossing all three of those into her tote as well.  It made no sense for her to stay there all night doing something that she could do at home, after Justin left of course.  It’d been a long day and needed to relax, and Justin was good at. 

That night the normal 20 minute drive home seemed like it went faster than usual, and in no time she was charging both phones, choosing a smooth playlist to listen to while she took a soothing bath.  She’d already told Justin to let himself in with the spare key and was expecting him to be there in any minute. 

I'm on my way home 
About to hit the exit
Do you need some
‘Cause I know you had a long day, whoa
Do you miss me?
‘Cause I miss you
And that sexy little thing
You make your lips do
Way your hips move
Keep me thinking about the
Love I wanna give you

Wisteria was adjusting the bun in her head when she heard the front door open and Justin say “Honey I’m home!”  She giggled and called for him.

“I’m in the tub!”  She heard him drop his keys on her kitchen table, his normal routine, before hearing his footsteps approaching her bedroom.

“Long day?” he asked, peeking his head in the restroom where he saw her up to her neck in bubbles. 

“Understatement of the year,” Wisteria replied with a small smile. 

“What, no candles?”

“Didn’t feel like lighting ‘em.  I’m lazy,” she giggled lightly.

“That’s not laziness, you’re just tired.  Where’s your lighter, I’ll do it.”

“First dresser on the right.  Look at you trying to set the mood.  Just how much did you have to drink, mister?”

“Just enough beer so that the goggles are now working.”  Wisteria scoffed and threw a handful of bubbles at him.

“I resent that!” she exclaimed.

“I’m kidding!” he laughed, “I don’t need alcohol to find you attractive, even Stevie Wonder can see how fine you are.”

“Wow Timberlake, where did you hear that line?  1994?”

“Hardy har har,” Justin mocked, “And to think I was going to come over there and give you a massage.”

“Ooh!  I’m sorry.  I take back everything bad I said.”

“Naw uh, too late.”

“Please.  I love you, please!” the words were out of her mouth before she had the chance to think about it.  It was as if time stood still, neither she nor Justin moved as her words hung thick in the air.

“You love me?” Justin asked, a cocky grin growing on his face.

“Maybe,” she replied, smiling, “it depends on how you feel about me.”

“No it doesn’t; you love me,” he responded.

“Don’t be a smug asshole about it.  I might as well take it back since you obviously don’t feel the same way about me,” Wisteria said, her smile faltering.  Justin walked over and squatted next to the stand-alone bath tub.

“Now who said that?” he asked, stroking her cheek sweetly.

“You did…well you didn’t say that you loved me,” she said, leaning into his touch but still a little hurt that she’d put her feelings out on the table and he hadn’t said it back.

“Well I do love you; I thought you knew that, silly girl.”

“How the hell am I supposed to know that if you don’t say it, goober!” Wisteria laughed.

“Actions speak louder than words, sweetheart.”

“Well aren’t you full of Chinese proverbs today,” she joked. 

“Says the woman who keeps spewing one-liners,” he retorted.

“Touché.  So, you mentioned something about a massage earlier…”

“Ah yeah, I vaguely remember saying something about that,” he said, moving behind her and getting to work on her neck and shoulders. 

And tonight I got your
Neck, shoulders, back 
Baby I'ma touch on all that
Once I pull in the garage
Once I hop up out the car
 

You gon leave your
Dress yes 
Baby fall back
Tonight I'm gon be working all that
Lose the panties and the bra
I'ma start with a massage

“You’re really tense; I guess you weren’t kidding when you said that you had a rough day.”

“I told you,” Wisteria half moaned. 

“Well I think I have a way to get rid of this tension, because I have a feeling that your neck and shoulders aren’t the only places on your body where it is.”

“Oh no, I’m aching all over,” she said with a smirk.

“Really now?”

“Yes, I’m so sore.”

“Not yet you aren’t,” he said, lifting her out of the tub and removing the hair tie that was holding her bun up.  Justin wrapped her towel around her before he carried her to the bedroom and placed her in the center of her king-sized bed.  He patted her hip lightly and told her that he would be right back before disappearing back into the restroom.

“What are you doing, Timberlake?”  Wisteria waited for him to voice his response, but that didn’t happen.  Instead he strolled back into the bedroom with a bottle of vanilla scented massage oil.

“Have you been snooping through my cabinets?  I could’ve sworn I had that hidden away somewhere.”  Justin chuckled softly as he towel dried her. 

“You don’t have to do this, you know that right?”

“I know,” he began, smiling at her, “I want to.  Now lay back.”  He started at her feet and worked his way up her right leg, paying special attention to her calf before repeating his actions on her left leg. 

“Flip over,” he said softly once he’d reached her hip.  He made sure to avoid the area where she needed him the most.  She was already writhing and wet and he was trying his hardest to not give into temptation and take her then.  Wisteria turned over so that she was lying on her stomach and moved her hair over beneath one of her shoulders.

“Let me know if I’m too heavy,” Justin said as he straddled the back of her legs and eased his body weight onto her.

“You’re fine,” Wisteria replied before she felt him place a feather-light kiss on each of her shoulder blades.

“Mmmm,” she moaned.

“Have I ever told you that your skin reminds me of café au lait?”

“No, you haven’t.”

“Well it does, and I love café au lait.”

“And you love me too,” she said, beaming into her pillow.

“That I do,” he confirmed as he poured more oil into the palm of his hand and warmed it up a bit before rubbing it into her tense shoulders.  Wisteria was slowly becoming putty in his hands, relaxed but felt every nerve ending standing on edge out of want for him.  She felt him work his way down her back and when she felt his palms kneading her lower back she lost all reserve and moaned…loud.

“Justin.”  He moved off of her and turned her over, noting the lust burning in her eyes.  Wisteria threw an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss.  She needed him in the worst way, and was sure that he could feel that from the dampness that was pooling between her legs. 

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she said between pecks.  She helped him take off his navy blue button down and black slacks and smiled when she saw him straining against the confines of his boxer briefs.

“Come here, you,” she said, pulling him by the waistband of his underwear.