Passion Punch

by Tricia Leedom

  “Hey, Juan, it’s April. I’m here.”

  He cracked his eyelids and smiled. “Mama Kitty, you came.”

  Her heart squeezed, and she fought the urge to hug him. His torso was bandaged and scabby scrapes marred the underside of his forearms as if he’d been dragged across gravel.

  “What did they do to you?”

  “Mistook me for brisket.” He attempted a smile but winced instead. “They hauled me behind a dumpster and used brass knuckles to tenderize my torso.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

  Juan’s gaze slipped past her to Jonas, who stood just inside the doorway leaning against the wall. “Aw, sweetie, you brought me a present. I’ve always wanted a ninja.”

  Jonas had insisted on escorting her to the hospital instead of taking a taxi back to Casa Linus. Standing against his arms crossed, he seemed less than amused.

  “He’s not for you,” April said. “He’s my bodyguard.”

  “Oh, really?” Juan reevaluated him with an expert eye. “He can guard my body any day of the week.” He wiggled his shoulders and winced with pain.

  April wished Jonas had been guarding Juan earlier in the day when he was jumped. She couldn’t tell what Jonas thought of her friend but hoped he wasn’t one of those homophobic guys who were uncomfortable around gay men.

  She reached for Juan’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like an ant that’s been squashed by one of Carly’s size sixteen stilettos. Mierda.”

  April smiled with affection.

  “Guuuurl, the nurses in here are stingy with the dope.”

  “How did this happen? Who did this to you?”

  “I was out running errands, and I stopped by Bianca’s to get a pedi.” Juan glanced at Jonas. “Don’t look at me like that, Ninja. You ain’t lived until you’ve had an inch of dead skin scraped off your piggies. I might look like hell right now, but the heels of my feet are as smooth as Baby’s bare ass.”

  “Baby is Juan’s dog.” April explained to Jonas though he didn’t ask. “He’s a Mexican Hairless.”

  “And I’m a Puerto Rician Hairless, Papi. You can pet my bottom too, por favor y muchas gracias.”

  Jonas remained stoic.

  “Are you sure he’s breathing? I have a male sex doll that’s more animated that this guy.”

  “Juan,” April said sharply, trying to refocus him. He was obviously high on some sort of pain medication, because he usually wasn’t this gregarious unless he was drunk or performing in drag. “You were telling me what happened.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

  “Parking was insane as it always is in season, so I parked down one of the back alleys, and that’s when they jumped me. Sergey and Pascale. That bitch Terrance was there too, standing by the sidelines, egging them on.”

  “Who’s Terrance?” The question came from Jonas.

  Surprised by his interest, April turned and sat on the edge of the hospital bed to face him. “He’s—”

  “The Gay frickin’ Mafia.” Juan tried to sit up and groaned in pain.

  April eased him back down and caressed his should to keep him calm. “Carly borrowed money from Terrance to get his club up and running and she missed a few payments. Terrance wanted to be paid back in full by yesterday, but Carly doesn’t have the money yet. My father—” April stopped when she realized she was saying too much. He didn’t need to know why she moved back to her father’s house or what they’d agree to. The less Jonas knew the better.

  “What about your father?” Jonas stepped away from the wall. “What does he have to do with this?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head.

  “She worked a deal out with Big Papa,” Juan blurted.

  April stroked his hair back from his face. “Juan, why don’t we let you sleep?”

  “What kind of deal?” Jonas persisted.

  “Her father said he would loan us the money if she moved home with Archie. She kept her end of the bargain, but he hasn’t kept his. Carly called Terrance and begged him to give us a few days and he agreed, but this—” he gestured to himself. “He said it was a warning to Carly, so she wouldn’t underestimate his generosity.”

  Jonas’ forehead crinkled. “That stuff true about your father?”

  April tried not to meet his intense gaze, but it was difficult to look away. She nodded. “My father says he’ll have the money by Monday, but what if he doesn’t? What do I do then?”

  “Leave.” Juan and Jonas said at the exact same time.

  The two men eyed each other.

  A smile tugged at the corner of Juan’s mouth. “I knew I liked you, Ninja.”

  Jonas snorted softly. “Don’t go back to the house. Tell him you’re done.”

  If only she could, but there was too much at stake.

  “My father can be really stubborn. If I leave, he’ll withdraw his offer and then where will we be? I’ll talk to him. Make him understand the direness of the situation.”

  “You said the name Sergey.” Addressing Juan, Jonas stepped closer to the bed. “He’s Terrance’s muscle?”

  “No, he calls that Phil. Sergey is one of the thugs he hired to beat me up.”

  The corner of Jonas’ mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. “I see.”

  The pensive look that followed brought April to her feet. “What is it? Do you know something?”

  “No.” He shrugged. “It’s an uncommon name in the States.” His cell phone buzzed from a pocket in his cargo pants and he reached for it. He glanced at the screen. “I have to take this. Meet me outside when you’re done.” He didn’t wait for her response but exited the room as he put the phone to his ear.

  Juan reached out for April’s hand. “He reminds me of someone.”

  Her heart stopped. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s the shape of his eyes and that stern, humorless, I-can-kick-your-ass-in-my-sleep vibe.”

  “Oh?” April mentally sagged with relief. He couldn’t be talking about Archie then.

  “Anders Ostergaard.”

  “What? No. Anders isn’t a fighter. He’s too nice. I doubt he’s ever punched anyone let alone kicked someone’s ass.”

  “Okay, maybe not that part, but can’t you see the resemblance?” Juan’s chocolate brown eyes gleamed with excitement and the shimmer of good pain killers. “They’ve got the same slanted blue eyes. Though Ander’s is the color of the sky while the Ninja’s is slip-into-my-bed-at-midnight blue. They have the same jawline. Same slope to their shoulders. It would be more obvious if Anders had dark hair, was forty pounds lighter, and ripped. Even their butts are similar and I—”

  “No, I’ve never noticed before.” April squinted at the empty doorway, considering it now. Did they look alike?

  Juan clucked his tongue. “Trust me, Mommy Kitty, when it comes to boys, Junita Bonita knows what she’s talking about.”

  Maybe they did resemble each other. Did that mean Anders and Jonas were somehow related? If so, why had Molly never mentioned it before? Probably because she didn’t know April knew him or that Archie was actually her nephew. Oh my god. April paced to the door and back again. Jonas did help Anders save Molly in the Bahamas, but April thought he was doing Jimmy Panama a favor. “You can’t mention this to anyone.”

  “Why not?”

  “There has to be a reason why Jonas doesn’t want anyone to know his connection to Anders Ostergaard…” And Jimmy Panama. Anders and Jimmy were brothers. That meant Jonas was related to him too. That would explain how they knew each other and why Jimmy kept in touch with him. He was family. “If my father doesn’t come through for us, we may need Jonas’ help. Better not to get on his bad side.”

  “That man has a bad side?” Juan’s exaggerated skeptical expression would have made her laugh under different circumstances.

  “Please. You can’t tell anyone what we know about him. Not even Carly.”

  “Okay. Okay. My lips are sealed.” Juan lifted an
imaginary key to his mouth and winced. “Mother F’er, I hurt all over!”

  “Oh, honey, be careful!”

  “You be careful, Mama. That ninja is the definition of man candy, sweet to look at and downright lickable, but my gut tells me you ain’t gonna like what you find in the center of that Tootsie Pop.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jonas cursed under his breath as he hit end on the call. A passing nurse gave him a disapproving glare. He ignored her and headed for the glass doors that parted for him as he exited the hospital. The first glow of sunrise in the starless horizon paralleled the dark clouds brewing a storm in the western sky. The old gunshot wound in his left shoulder that acted up whenever the barometric pressure dropped, throbbed like a bitch dampening his already sour mood.

  According to Vera, who called to give him more shit, his plans were going straight to hell. Donovan Mika had disappeared off The Agency’s radar and there was no turning when or where he’d show up again. If he was seeking vengeance against Linus, or after the PRIM itself, the scientist could throw a major wrench into Jonas’ plans and blow his mission.

  Vera insisted April Linus was their best hope of bringing down Philip Linus and the entire Albatross Organization. Jonas disagreed, but he couldn’t stop Vera from dogging April any more than he could stop April from going back into the lion’s den to finish what she started. He didn’t want to believe she knew more than she said in the interrogation, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d snuck off to meet with Mika at the engagement party. Did she know about Albatross? Could she actually be protecting her father? Jonas didn’t want to contemplate the possibility. His jaw tightened. Was he a fool for still wanting to believe she was innocent?

  The limo that had picked them up at the airport rolled to a stop in front of Jonas.

  He reached for the door handle, but it was locked. A flash of lightning drew his gaze toward the sky, and the gunmetal gray clouds sailing toward the island at a fast clip. Getting doused in a downpour was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now. He was exhausted. He’d dozed on the plane for maybe a minute and then they’d come straight to the hospital from the airport. He needed a few hours of sleep and some distance from April Linus to help him see the situation clearer.

  Fat raindrops began to pelt the earth as April came through the sliding glass doors. She let out a squeal and covered her head with her purse as she darted to the car.

  The lock disengaged with a click. Jonas opened the door for her and followed her inside. When he slid into the plush leather seat beside hers, she smiled at him.

  “Thank you for being kind to my friend.”

  Jonas grunted. “I didn’t do anything.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of April’s mouth before she turned her head away to stare out at the rain-soaked morning. When the “Welcome to Key West” sign drifted past her window, Jonas

  frowned. They weren’t heading back to the Linus estate, which was five minutes from the hospital, they were heading south on the A1A toward Old Town.

  “Where we going?”

  “To pick up Archie.”

  Jonas’ blood pressure spiked. “The kid?”

  “Yes. I promised I would pick him up the moment I got back into town.”

  “But it’s six o’clock in the flippin’ morning.”

  She stared at him nonplussed.

  Jonas rubbed the top of his head in frustration. “You’re exhausted. I’m exhausted. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait until you’ve had some rest?”

  “Probably, but I promised.”

  She promised. That stabbed him in the gut. What a novel idea? A mother putting her child’s needs in front of her own? If his mother would’ve put him first, maybe she’d still be alive and— No, he wouldn’t go there.

  Anders and Jimmy thought their mother hung the moon. Jonas never knew her, because she’d died hours after he was born and left him to be reared by a nasty drunk and two pre-teen boys who knew nothing about babies. Jonas blamed his shitty childhood on the woman who gave birth to him. She’d stayed with Kyle Ostergaard despite the fact he’d punched her in the stomach trying to make her have a miscarriage— He said he wouldn’t go there. Damn it.

  April gazed out the window again.

  “Make it quick. I’ll wait in the car”

  “It would be faster if you came in with me. Archie isn’t as little as he used to be and it’s raining. If he’s sleeping, I’ll have to ask Anders to carry him to the car while I hold the umbrella.”

  Anders. The name made him feel like he swallowed a ball of ice. “No need to wake up the whole damn household. I’ll go in.”

  April flashed him a sweet smile and the ball melted a fraction. He muttered a curse then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, hoping to catch a couple of Zs before they reached their pitstop.

  “Jonas, wake up. We’re here.” April touched his shoulder.

  He was awake in an instant and holding her wrist in a tight grasp. She yelped in surprise and he immediately loosened his grip, but he didn’t let go.

  Heart pounding, April flattened the palm of her free hand against her chest. “You startled the bejesus out of me. Do you always come awake so violently?”

  “Sorry.” He squeezed her wrist a fraction too hard before he let it go.

  “You were muttering in your sleep. It sounded as if you were begging to be let out of something.”

  “Forget about it. It was just a dream.”

  Was it? She wondered.

  An endearing indent on his cheek from the way he’d slept pressed against the seat creased his handsome face. He reached for the door handle and slipped into the pouring rain without a backward glance. He was such an enigma. Strong yet vulnerable. Angry yet kind. What she wouldn’t give to have his trust and an invitation to peek inside his box of secrets.

  April took an umbrella out of its compartment and opened her door. A cold spray of rain blew into the car soaking her legs before she could get the umbrella up. Sliding out of the car, she hopped over a puddle and dashed up the driveway to the sanctuary of the front porch where Jonas waited by the front door.

  “Did you ring the bell?” She shook water off the umbrella before resting it against the house.

  “Not yet.”

  “Good. I have a key.”

  April let them in and then immediately went to the keypad on the wall to deactivate the alarm before it woke everyone up.

  Jonas closed the door casting them into almost total darkness and loomed over her like a very large shadow.

  “Everyone appears to be asleep,” she whispered. “I’ll go get Archie. You can wait in the family room. It’s straight ahead toward the back of the house. There a light switch on the left at the end of the hall.”

  “You seem like you’ve done this before.” His hushed voice sent goose bumps racing down her spine.

  “Done what?”

  “Broken into your friend’s house.”

  “It’s not breaking and entering if you have a key. When I work at Carly’s club, I often get home late. Sometimes I pick up Archie in the middle of the night or sleep in the guest room. Molly’s totally cool with it.”

  “Be quick.”

  “Stop talking to me then.”

  Jonas stifled a yawn as he made his way down the hall and inhaled the scent of pumpkin spice candles and the faded aroma of pot roast. It smelled like he’d stepped into a friggin’ Cracker Barrel. The single wide he grew up in never smelled this pleasant. That hellhole stunk like stale beer, rotting takeout, and BO. This wasn’t real. This Betty Crocker bullshit life Anders was playing at with the wife and kids. He might have fame and a boat load of money, but he was still trailer park trash. Same as Jonas. Same as Jimmy. Same as the bastard who raised them who was rotting in hell. Anders and Jimmy might be able to pretend they were something that they weren’t, but Jonas couldn’t let it go so easily. Even if he tried to forget, he had the physical scars to remind him exactly who he was and where he
came from.

  When Jonas reached the end of the hall, he skimmed the wall where he expected the light switch to be and found it. Flicking it on as he turned the corner, he stopped when the business end of a .38 special nudged his forehead. His hands went up and he took a half step back. Anders moved with him, keeping the barrel butted up against his skull.

  “You want to explain to me what the hell you’re doing in my house, brother?”

  “Your house?” Jonas snorted. “What are the odds I pick a place to rob and it happens to be yours.”

  “Quit the crap. What do you want?”

  Jonas didn’t reply because Anders would believe anything he had to say anyway.

  “You disappear for five years and you just show up in my living room one morning like you have the right to be here? What do you want? Money? How much? If I pay you, will you leave me and my family alone and never come back.

  “Anders!” Molly hissed from the hallway. She was five foot nothing in her bare feet and swollen with pregnancy. Her long red curly hair was piled on top of her head in a haphazard ponytail and an open cotton robe hung off her shoulders. Her green tank top rode up her protruding belly revealing several inches of skin above the band of her matching satin boxers.

  “Looks like you’ve been busy, unless it isn’t yours.” Jonas smirked, goading him because he could.

  Anders lowered the gun and came back with a solid right hook. The left side of Jonas’ face exploded with pain as he pitched sideways catching himself on the back of the leather sofa.

  “Anders, stop it!” Molly shouted, grabbing his arm when he would have thrown another punch.

  “Stay back.” Anders circled Jonas with his hands raised like an amateur boxer who didn’t know how to protect his head.

  Jonas rubbed his sore jaw and leaned against the sofa. His big brother was fit. He had three inches and at least twenty pounds on Jonas, but he wasn’t a fighter despite the mean right hook. Jonas could knock him on his ass with a few well-placed moves, but he wasn’t here for that. Not today.