These Reckless Hearts

by E. M. Moore

  I’m teeming with pride as I stare at the lantern. He sprays it with a chemical that will help keep it preserved, then, gives us plastic to wrap it in before placing it back in the box.

  My knees weaken as he and Stone move to the corner to conduct business. I don’t trust myself to hold onto the box, so when Lucas tries to hand it to me, I take a step back and shake my head. I’m too jittery, and my legs feel like butter. I’ll hate myself if I drop it. Wyatt grabs it instead, hooking it under his arm like a football, which gives me greater anxiety. But I trust him to hold on to it. I mean, I think I do.

  Stone throws his arm around me when he’s finished, and we walk out of the college lab, a breath held in my chest. I expel it as soon as we’re in the hallway, but almost immediately suck another one in when Stone lifts me in the air and spins me around. He holds me to him, grasping me so tightly I can’t breathe. His sunshine and paper scent that’s so uniquely him fills my nostrils.

  “You were right,” I tell him, almost not believing it myself. All those years my father and I had the map, and we believed something completely different. If I hadn’t teamed up with them, I don’t know where I would be right now.

  “I’m just glad I could prove to you that it was worth taking us on.”

  I chuckle, then pull away and stare him down. “I knew that before we saw the inscription.”

  “Well?” Ninja queries as Stone and I enjoy our little celebration.

  “Dude, we got it,” Lucas informs him. The pure joy in his voice pulls at my heartstrings.

  The unmistakable sound of a high five echoes through the corridor, and I turn in time to see Ninja’s cheeks flaming as he returns to the stoic guard he’s supposed to be.

  Lucas lifts his eyebrows as he turns to me, then holds his arms out. I run into them, and he bear hugs me, his chest rumbling. “I think we make a great team.”

  “The best.”

  “I’d hug you,” Wyatt interrupts, “but I’m holding something pretty damn important. By the way, does anyone have to pee as badly as I do?”

  Lucas squeezes me one last time before letting me go. “Thanks for ruining the moment, Longhorn.”

  Ninja and the newcomer wait for us outside the bathrooms at the end of the hall. I hurry because I can’t wait to get back home. I can’t wait to get back in the mountains. We have to put together a new plan, decide where we’re going next, what we’re searching for. All of the treasure information in my head is a tangle of knots that I need to weed through and make sense of.

  I wash my hands and am about to exit when Wyatt and Stone’s raised voices filter through the huge wooden door. “You should’ve fucking told us.”

  “I was handling it,” Stone growls.

  “You don’t need to do everything your-fucking-self. Jesus, dude. How long have we been friends?”

  “I didn’t want her to know,” Stone seethes.

  Oh, well, I can’t let that go, can I? What other ‘her’ could he be talking about?

  I push the door open and place my hands on my hips. “You didn’t want me to know what?”

  Several female students walk past the guys, and I can’t help but notice their lingering gazes. Lucas is leaning against the wall with his head propped up by the cream-painted cement blocks, glaring skyward. Tension slithers around us, and Ninja and his new partner are definitely avoiding the situation.

  “Thanks,” Stone deadpans, glaring at Wyatt. “She already has enough to worry about.”

  I dart my gaze around them. “If it’s about you, then I need to be involved.”

  “I was waiting to say something until I figured out a solution. That’s all.” He moves forward, concern filling his tight expression. He and I have been through this before. When will he learn that he doesn’t have to be my knight in shining armor?

  Ninja clears his throat, nodding toward the hallway that’s now filling with students. “I don’t want to break this up, but it would be better if we left.”

  As much as I want to have this conversation with Stone right now, Ninja’s right. My chest tightens as we head down to the parking lot. Ninja upgraded to a huge SUV, making me think the Dragons must have unlimited dollars to spend. I wait until we’re all in the vehicle to eye each of them. “Okay. Now.”

  Stone turns in his seat, grabbing my hand. “One of the accounts my father took me off of was tied to the house. He legally owns it.” He swallows, pain washing over his features.

  “He’s evicting us, Dakota.”

  18

  Ninja pulls around the circular driveway, kicking up tiny pebbles as he locks the brakes. I haven’t said a word to Stone since he told me the news and informed me that the Chief of Clary Police was currently at the house, trying to get Cole to leave. Cole must have been the one to tell Ninja to get us here as quickly as possible, and I’m thankful for it.

  I love this house. It’s not just walls and windows with a spectacular view, at least not to me. This is the first place that ever really felt like home. I have my own room. I have my own thoughts and decisions. Within these four walls, there is so much love, and the idea of Lance taking that—of him stealing another thing away from me and making his son homeless—makes me want to shank his ass. Stone, Wyatt, and Lucas even lived here as a family before they brought me into it, and look what Lance is trying to do to them. It’s fucked up.

  I get out of the car and march right up to Lionel. When he sees me coming, he glances away, and I hope by the grace of sanity that he feels remotely bad about the last altercation we had when my house blew up. He called the destruction a gas leak for fuck’s sake. Just because it worked out for the better doesn’t make it right. Now, he’s trying to take another house from me.

  His jaw feathers. “Hello, Dakota.”

  “Lionel.” When he was telling me they had to call off the search for my father, I didn’t push. I didn’t argue. Because to me, it was just another example of this town letting me down. Now, though, I’m not keeping quiet. I don’t know if it’ll make any difference, but I’m sure as hell not going to sit back and take it. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s a private matter.”

  “Oh, as private as a gangster blowing up my house and you calling it a gas leak?”

  He swallows hard but has the decency to look properly scolded. I’m sure he doesn’t get paid very much to be the Chief. Money is most likely an enticement for him, but he’s on the police force to protect the people he serves, not watch out for himself.

  “Yeah, that was wrong.” Cole tsks from the front walk. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  I turn my glare on him. I kind of want to hit my new friend upside the head at this moment.

  Lionel nearly splutters, eyes bulging out as he gazes in surprise at the leader of the Dragons. “I—”

  Stone pulls me aside and drops his voice. “Legally, the house is my father’s. He can do whatever he wants with it.”

  “It’s not right,” I fume. I’m sick of everyone taking everything from me; of making decisions for me while I have to ride the wave of consequences. I don’t care if it is Lance’s house on a technicality, it’s ours.

  “It isn’t,” Stone growls. “I’m as pissed off as you, but this is what my father does. I defied him, so he’s going to hit me where it hurts. I’ve offered to buy it from him, but he won’t sell it to me. We’ve been communicating through lawyers for a few days.”

  Cole, who’s been standing close enough to listen in on our conversation, barks out, “You should’ve fucking told me, rich boy.”

  “Why? So you can save everything again? I want to provide for Dakota.”

  “Then fucking do it,” Cole snaps at him. “Man up and handle this shit.”

  Stone marches toward Cole, back ramrod straight, but Ninja steps in front of him before he even gets close. “Not today, kid.” He crosses his arms and stares down at Stone with thin lips.

  Stone changes direction now that the hunk of muscle is in his way. He strides toward Lionel,
and with each step, his shoulders bunch. By the time he gets to him, an icy shiver runs down my spine. They stand toe-to-toe, noses almost touching. “I’ll have your job if you don’t leave right now,” he threatens. “I have proof that you took money from this miscreant—”

  “Hey,” Cole protests lamely, crossing his arms. But underneath it all, his lips are slightly turned up as he watches the scene in front of him

  “—and falsified police records. I’ll make sure you never get a position in the police force again, here or anywhere. I’ll ruin your name. You’ll be blacklisted all over the country. You’ll be followed from this point forward. I’ll know everything you do or are thinking of doing, and I’ll make you pay. Don’t think I will? Test me.”

  Lionel’s face turns a smarmy red. His eyes narrow to beady, black pupils, but an undercurrent of fear leaks from him as potent as preteen cologne. I can smell the horror on him, and so must Stone. He knows he has him. Lionel clears his throat. “I guess you have residency rights. You deserve some time to prepare for eviction.”

  What a slimy bastard. As my father used to say: He doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.

  He’s pathetic.

  Cole starts forward, but Stone holds out his hand, stopping him. Instead, he takes a step closer to Lionel. “How much did he pay you to come here, huh? How much did he give you to threaten us? You should know that my father isn’t the only Jacobs who can fight dirty. You hurt my family again and you’ll find out he’s the least of your worries, Chief.”

  Lionel’s lips thin. He’s buzzing with his own anger now. I watch the exchange, a pinch in my chest. I don’t want Stone to have to do that, but on the other hand...I might also be super turned on at seeing him stick up for us—for me.

  Lionel spins on his heel and walks toward his cruiser. He thought he could intimidate us into leaving. He believed the power of the guy behind him would scare us, but I think we—well, Stone—have shown him we won’t just roll over and let him do what he wants.

  Chief Lionel leaves without looking back, turning at the end of the driveway toward Clary. In a way, I feel sorry for him. None of us want outsiders to get pulled into this mess, but we’re certainly not going to let people bully us either.

  Stone turns, hands clenched to fists at his sides. Nostrils flaring, he focuses on all of us, and some of the unease lifts from him when his gray-blue eyes settle on me.

  “I’m impressed,” Cole states.

  Stone growls. “Fuck you.”

  Undeterred, Cole keeps speaking. “I wasn’t sure you had it in you, but that’s exactly the type of person Dakota needs in her corner for life.” His discerning stare passes over all of us, lingering on Wyatt, Lucas, and Stone. He nods as if he’s just accepted something. “The hunk of junk?”

  Stone’s still too busy trying to wrangle his emotions in, so I inform him, “We found the inscription.”

  The gangster smiles—a true, genuine one that lifts the darkness from his face. “That’s great, Dakota. I’m happy for you.”

  He pulls Ninja and the new guard to the side, leaving us alone. We walk into our house, and Wyatt sets the box on the coffee table. I wrap my arms around Stone’s stiff form from behind. “Thank you,” I tell him. His corded muscles pull tight until he realizes it’s me.

  Turning, he grips my hips. “I told you I’m making a life with you, and I won’t let him take our home away from us.”

  I peer into his eyes, and it’s as if he knows how important this house is to me without me ever having said a word. I don’t think it’s only me either. Wyatt and Lucas are looking around as if they could’ve lost something extraordinary. Our relationship began here. They wormed themselves into my heart surrounded by these walls. We worked toward a common goal, and somewhere along the way, I found where I was supposed to be.

  “Lucas,” Stone whispers as he cups my chin. “Lock the door. I’m going to sit Dakota on the bar, in our house, and we can take turns eating her perfect pussy. I don’t think Cole wants to walk in on that.”

  Wyatt smirks like the devil himself. He and Stone undress me while Lucas locks the door, effectively making Cole wait this out as their tongues tease me into submission more than once. More than a few times, actually.

  Then, when I can’t even stand on my own two legs, Lucas lifts me from the island, wrapping me up like I’m the historical relic, and we hide the evening away in Stone’s room, sharing our love with each other in our house, under our roof. Together.

  It turns out, we do our best treasure planning naked. At some point, Stone leaves to get the maps from his hiking pack. He brings them to his room and spreads them out on the floor while we gather around.

  It’s obvious we have to go up the valley next and follow the trail that slithers between upside-down V’s that most definitely symbolize mountains. The squares and X’s are the only characters we have yet to figure out. Maybe they’re entrances to mines? Maybe they’re other landmarks but we won’t know that until we look for ourselves?

  Knowing we’re on the right track makes me itch to leave and figure it all out.

  “We still don’t know the scale.” With those few words, Stone brings me back to reality. Kneeling in his boxer-briefs, he’s damn near delectable. Part of me wants to crawl over him again, forget about the treasure, and focus on something I can find right now: Another orgasm at his hands. That journey is quicker and much more enjoyable.

  Lucas elbows me. “Down, Wild Girl. We need to recover from earlier.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Wyatt gibes.

  The look he gives me has me squeezing my legs together, but… “Lucas is right. This is important.” I stare back at the map because that’s the only safe focus right now. “One thing we haven’t talked about is how Lance is going to retaliate since we didn’t leave the house.”

  Stone finally glances up. “With an ex-military team at his disposal, it won’t be pretty.”

  “You should make sure your mom is safe.” I still don’t particularly care for the woman, but she is the mother of one of the men I love.

  “I have her in a safe house being watched 24/7.”

  “And you have the money for that?” I bite my lip, not positive he’ll be honest with me. We got investors for the treasure, but that doesn’t mean we have money for his mom’s surveillance. That isn’t treasure related at all.

  Often, I’ve lamented growing up with no money. I was always constantly reminded that I was the poor girl, and that feeling is coming back to me with a vengeance now—like a noose around my throat, tightening and tightening.

  I used to think Stone was invincible because he had money at his disposal, but I don’t know if that’s the case anymore.

  “I’m taking care of it,” Stone promises, meeting my eyes briefly. “Trust me.”

  I squeeze his bicep. “I do, but you also wouldn’t want me to worry if you didn’t.”

  “I’ve got money, too,” Wyatt offers, switching his gaze between all of us.

  Stone grits his teeth. “That’s your inheritance, and it’s supposed to go toward your ranch. I’m fine,” he seethes.

  “It’s there, anyway.” Wyatt refuses to growl back at his friend, even though I can see the muscles poke out of his arms. “You are my family. What better way to spend it?”

  Lucas leans over and kisses my temple. He brushes his lips against my skin until he reaches my ear. “Rich people,” he grouses, sighing.

  I hold back a smile. I don’t know what it feels like to have a lot of money, but I’ve been dreaming about it my whole life. Finding the treasure was always the reward after a long journey. To think we’re one step closer than my father got makes me believe I can actually attain it.

  “Since your father has the ring, he can also research Maria Luisa. He’ll know what we’ve been able to figure out, too.” Uncovering her story has been interesting. It turns out, the Spanish monarchy was trying to move gold and jewels to Mexico when this area flooded. Not a lot is said in the history
books about where they left the horde, only that it was in a huge mountain range high enough to avoid the increasing waters.

  “If you ask me,” Lucas starts, “placing the cache inside one of those cliff faces in the valley seems likely. Since they were dealing with rain and flood waters, they would’ve wanted to place it somewhere with elevation. We already know that Dakota’s family discovered it in their mining cave. Maybe no one else stumbled upon it because it was a tricky spot to get to.”

  Stone turns toward his friend. “You want to scale the cliff face?”

  “Well, first I want to scour the area to see if there are openings in the rock. I say if we find any caves along these walls”—he points to the valley in the map—“we check all of them.”

  “It’s a sheer face,” I remind him. “How in the hell are we going to do that?”

  Wyatt shrugs. “We’re rock climbers. We took lessons for this very reason.”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  Stone grins. I should’ve known this is something they would do. Rock climbers go up the mountains all the time, but I’ve always watched them like they were crazy. I’m perfectly fine with my feet firmly planted on the ground.

  “It’s safe,” Lucas tells me, letting his fingers whisper down my spine.

  Yeah, sure, and so is treasure hunting. We all know that’s a freaking lie.

  But what they’re saying makes sense. If the cave was easy to find, someone would’ve already stumbled upon it by now.

  “Rock climbing it is,” I mumble, even though my stomach twists at the idea. I’m going to have to suck it up, though. No way am I going to be the only one on the ground while they head up the rock face searching for my treasure.

  19

  Somehow, Lucas and I are able to escape Ninja the next day to go to a rock climbing facility in Leedsville. I figured I should probably get some instruction before throwing myself into it, even though every hour we’re not on the treasure’s trail makes me antsy as fuck.