"Nope. You sure you didn't just misplace it in a drunken cleaning spree?" I sat down on the couch and took another drink of my beer.
"It's not funny. Darek kept everything on his computer. I mean - everything. I need it back. It has the codes to our bank accounts and the insurance documents."
That caught my attention.
"Don't you guys have cameras around that place? Seems like something you would-"
"Yes. That's the problem. The guy that took the computer isn't someone I would ever in a million years mess with."
Confusion rolled over me. "Who are we talking about here, Ash?"
"Erik Bertinelli. Why was he in my house last night? What the fuck are you up to, Nate?"
"Nothing. I didn't send that asshole over there." I sat upright as my pulse sped up. Why the fuck would Erik be in our shit. "I'm scoring a huge sum of money from you over this, Ash. Why would I mess it up? You're not making any damn sense."
"Only two people would have sent that cold bastard to my house while I was sleeping."
"Well, I ain't one of them." I stood up as my thoughts scattered in a million directions. Who the hell had sent Erik to Ashley's place, and what did he want with Darek's computer? Shit. Jenna? No way.
"He's your best friend from grade school, Nate. Maybe you wanted to get the numbers yourself and close me out of the deal."
"I haven't spoken to him in years, and you know that. Besides, if I wanted the goddamn computer, I'd have come over, fucked you, drugged you and taken the damn thing. I don't need a hitman to steal for me, Ash. Use your pretty blond head and think."
"Then it was Jenna, which is still your fucking problem. Get the laptop back. Now. And put a bullet in her fucking head before I do it."
Every muscle in my body locked. "Don't touch her, Ash. She's a goldmine, and I'll not have you fucking that up. You'll implicate us both. Just chill out and I'll go pay our old friend a visit and see what's up."
"You do that. I'm on guard against all you bitches right now. Especially you. Asshole."
"Sorry you feel that way, baby doll. I'll be in touch." I dropped the call and glanced down at Mikey. "Erik Bertinelli took Darek's laptop out of Ashley's place while she was sleeping last night."
"And he let you guys see him on the camera?"
"Oh yeah. I'm more than sure he meant for that to happen."
"What?" Mikey snorted. "Why the fuck would he want that?"
"To send a message. When the Bertinellis get involved, death is soon to follow."
"Right, or that he wants you to come see him. Maybe he understands what you're up against."
"I don't need Erik's help, Mikey. He's a back-stabbing bastard. My days of covering his ass are over."
"He probably feels the same." Mikey shrugged as I growled at him.
"Stay out of it."
He lifted his hands. "No problem, but you need to go see him. You can't protect the woman you love when you're the one being sent to kill her. The math doesn't work out, man. I promise."
He was right. Fuck me. He was right.
I decided to forgo the visit to see Erik just yet. Finding him on the streets or getting him alone was a bad idea. Our last face to face had our guns drawn and some nasty words between us. He wanted me inducted into the Bertinelli family and I couldn't live that life.
You might get welcomed through the front door, but there was no exit once you were in. Fuck that. I needed to know my life was my own. Erik had put his ass on the line with his Papa to get me a spot. Me refusing was a big damn deal.
"Too bad, bitch." I walked into Kadia and pulled out my phone, checking to see if my woman was done being pissy with me. She had another night alone before I showed up at her door and forced myself on her.
She belonged to me. Somehow she kept forgetting that shit.
"Damn," one of the guys beside me muttered as some of his friends started making catcalls.
I turned to watch a pretty woman walk across the dance floor, around the edges, and my blood ran cold. That wasn't just any woman. It was my woman.
"Hey. Watch your fucking mouth." I backhanded the guy nearest me and walked toward the dance floor as Jenna was jerked into some big guy’s arms. She pulled away, but he wasn't having any of it. "Wrong girl, asshole."
I grabbed him by the front of the shirt and popped him three times in the face before turning to her and growling, "What the hell do you think you're doing, dressed like that?"
Her tight black dress left little to the imagination, and all I could see was red. She'd come there to teach me a lesson, or so she thought. The joke was soon to be on her.
"You don't own me, Nate. You made your choice." She moved back as I reached for her.
"Jenna. I'm not playing right now. There's a lot of shit going on. I didn't make a choice other than to be your man. Get the fuck over here." I reached for her again, and the dude stepped back in my way, his face already busted up from our first encounter.
"Hey. The woman said no, asshole." He reached for me and I slapped his hand away.
"I'm gonna break this poor guy's neck because you wanted to reject me for not supporting your brother's situation. Is this really how we're going to do this?" I glanced around the guy and caught my girl's eye. "I didn't say that your brother didn't kill himself. I just didn't want you running into danger. Fucking sue me for caring."
The guy swung at me, and I spun him around and locked his own arms around him, starting to slowly choke him out.
"Nate. Stop it. Shit. Stop." She reached out and touched my arm, pleading with me with her big brown eyes. "Please."
"Come upstairs with me and stop this shit. I'm not the man to play tricks with, girl."
She nodded. "Okay. Yeah. Just let him go."
I released him and kicked his big ass out of the way before grabbing her and tossing her over my shoulder. I gripped her tightly and made my way to the stairs.
"I'm going to lay waste to your ass when we get somewhere private. How dare you come in here looking like that? Letting other men touch you. You have no fucking clue who you're dealing with, woman." I pushed some guy out of my way and stormed to my office before setting her down. "And don't try to get out of this shit. I've missed you so goddamn much. Sorry-"
"Shut the fuck up already." She came at me faster than I expected her to be able and pressed herself against my chest, half-crawling up my body. "I hate you so much."
I grabbed her and turned, slamming her against the wall as I consumed her mouth in a fiery hot kiss. Bitch needed to know who was in charge. It was me. It would always be me.
Gripping her hair tightly, I pulled her head to the side and licked at the long column of her neck. "You love me, Jenna. You don't hate me. I didn't reject you, baby. Stop being a bitch."
"You did reject me." Her voice broke, the sound of her pain shot a knife through the center of my chest. "You left me standing there alone when I needed you most. I had no choice but to get someone else to help me."
Erik. Fuck. My girl was wrapped up with Erik. Not good.
"Hush. That's enough out of you." I gripped her skirt and pulled it up before toting her toward the couch and laying her down. I pressed myself on top of her and kissed her a few times slowly. "I don't have a condom with me."
"Then you're not-"
"Yeah. I am." I ran my nose down the side of her neck and reached in between us, pulling her panties to the side and dipping my fingers into the sloppy wet mess between her thighs. "You came in here wanting to be fucked. It better have been by me, Jenna. I'll kill every mother fucker in this place."
"Of course it was you." She gripped my face with both hands and pulled me up to look into her eyes. "I need your help. My brother's wife killed him. Please, Nate. I don't want anyone but you helping me."
I kissed her palm and reached between us, freeing my cock from my slacks. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
She groaned loudly and arched her back as I sunk deep inside of her. "Make love to me," she whisper
ed in my ear.
"Yeah," I responded and slid my hands to cup her ass softly as I worked myself in and out of her liquid hot body. The sound of her moans in my ear worked me up and over the edge fast. "I wanna see your tits, Jenna."
She worked to get her dress up, dragging her bra with it, as her large breasts bounced out, her nipples budded and dusty pink.
"Beautiful," I whispered and leaned down to suck one of them deep into my mouth. She came hard, wetting my fingers as I spread her ass a little wider and drove a finger into her as my cock stretched her open for the next hour.
I collapsed after I came, and she cradled me against her soft body. "Please help me. All I have is you and Grace. She's not capable of-"
"You love me?" I had to hear it straight out.
"You know that I do."
I ran my hand up her chest and squeezed her throat softly. "Say it then. If you've felt it for the last year, why the fuck didn't you say it?"
Her eyes filled with unshed tears and her lip quivered. "I didn't know if you could say it back. I was scared. I still am scared."
"Don't be, Jenna. Just say it for me." I leaned down and brushed her hair back before kissing the side of her mouth. I was beyond lost to her. So far in love that it hurt to think about moving off the top of her. I needed her in my life. Wanted her right beside me.
She wouldn't love me if she knew...
"I love you," she whispered against my neck and held me tightly to her. "I want to spend my life beside you. Beneath you. I need you so bad right now. I'm not a killer, Nate, but justice has to be served."
"And you know this chick did it?" I turned to face her.
"Yes." She spoke with clarity. With conviction.
"I love you too, baby." I licked her lips. "Then the girl has to die. Get me the information and I'll take care of it."
22
Jenna
"Hey. You okay?" My father glanced over at me the next day in church. I rarely went, but my sister had texted the night before and let me know my dad wasn't doing well.
"Oh yeah. Just lost in thought." I slid my arm into his and leaned over, pressing my cheek to his strong shoulder like I used to when I was a little girl. "I love you."
"Me too, baby girl." He cupped my face and kissed the top of my head. "You're not doing anything dangerous, right?"
I turned my face up toward him and smirked. "Define dangerous."
"I lost Darek because he was looking into some stuff for me, Jenna. I can't lose you too. Come back to the house where I can protect you. Please." His eyes begged the request, but there was no way I could give up my freedom.
"What was he looking into?" I glanced toward the front as the pastor made his way back up to the front of the church.
"We'll talk in a minute." My father turned his attention back up front as my mind went wild.
I held my tongue and waited until the service was over to pull my father aside. "Let's talk now."
"All right. We'll ride to the restaurant together." He offered me his arm. "Your mother can ride with Kayla and her boyfriend."
"You like him?" I glanced back to see my sister and her boyfriend laughing. My mother looked like an unyielding statue, but that was customary. Wealthy people didn't smile. Not all the time like commoners.
"I do. He's a techie guy. Helped me fix up my computer in my office with a new firewall last week. You'd be surprised how often someone tries to hack into my system."
Guilt ran over me. "Did they get in?"
"No, but that doesn't mean much. I just need to keep a closer eye on things. Losing Darek put a bit of a damper on everything. For all of us." He opened the door on my side of the car and I got in and buckled up.
I waited for him to start the car and pull away from the church to pepper him with questions. "Dad, what was Darek working on for you?"
"There’s an old murder case from four years ago that always haunted me." He shrugged. "It's an old friend of mine that I grew estranged with after college. One of my early clients back when I was a lawyer."
"Was he murdered?"
"Yes. In cold blood." My father's hands tightened around the wheel, as was evident by the loud cry from the leather. "They never caught the guy, but I know there was more to it. Jack was his name."
"What more was there to it, and was this what Darek was looking into?"
"Yes, your brother was doing me a favor by digging it back up." My dad reached up and turned the air conditioner on even though it was starting to get chilly outside. "His entire inheritance, some forty billion dollars went to his wife. His new wife. It was wrong. Just disgusting honestly. They'd been married two years, but the sorry bastard moved everything over to the girl."
"The girl?" My stomach soured. "A gold-digger?"
"More like a grave digger, but yes. Right after they got married, all the money moved from his former wife and his three kids to this woman. Two years later... he's dead. Strangled to death and then shot in the head."
"Why would someone do both? What about fingerprints?"
"Gloves. These guys knew what they were doing in some respects and not in others." He sighed and turned onto the freeway. "They got sloppy. Shooting Jack was the best bet, but strangling him first? Only someone in a fit of rage would do that, and people that angry aren't capable of reasoning. They're lost to their own adrenaline."
"What causes that? Why would someone kill him?"
"Love-crime? Hate-crime?" He glanced over at me. "I would assume it was for the money, but whoever killed him, it was violent."
"So you think the connection between Darek dying and him working on the case is something we should look into?"
"No, not at all. His wife was a lovely Hispanic girl. Disappeared off the face of the earth.” My father shrugged. "And your brother’s case is being ruled as a suicide. The case is closed."
"What? No. Darek wouldn't do that." I stiffened in my seat. Where the fuck was Erik with his proof? As soon as I had it in my hand, I could take it to Nate and get his help taking care of Denise. Would I really want Nate killing someone? What if he got caught? Maybe letting Erik do it was a better answer.
No. He would want something else from me. I'd do it myself. No. I wasn't that kind of woman. I'd chicken out. Without a doubt.
I got out of the car and followed my father toward the restaurant, walking just enough behind him that I could see the rolling in of his shoulders. He was at a loss as to what to do next, which wasn't him at all.
"Why did you bring up Jack today, Daddy?" I paused by the door to the restaurant as he held it open for me.
"Because baby. Much like me failing my old friend in finding his killer and bringing that bastard to justice, it looks like your brother is going to be the same. Maybe I should hang up my hat. Darek was one of the most important people in the world to me, and I've failed him." My father's voice broke.
I reached out and pulled him into a hug, tucking myself under his chin. "It will work out, Dad. The light will find its way into the darkness. I promise."
"I sure hope so. I'm losing faith in all of it, especially in myself." He kissed my head and patted my back. "Come on. Denise is waiting inside already. Be nice to her. I know you don't particularly like her, but-"
"What? No. I can't, Dad. She's got something to do with-"
"Hi, Paul. Jenna." Denise stepped out of the open hallway beside us and brushed her blond hair back.
"Denise. Good to see you, dear." My father offered her a hug as I turned and walked back toward the center of the restaurant.
I was almost lightheaded as anger pumped through me.
"It's right over here." She smiled as she sat down across from me at the table. "Sit, Jenna. It's good to see you. Been busy much?"
"Always. I've got a lot on my to-do list." I sat down and locked eyes with her. "We're still in the throes of looking for my brother's killer. Got any ideas?"
"Jenna. Come on, now." My father sat down beside me and touched the top of my back. "Denise, how is your
friend you brought with you the other day? What's his name again?"
She briefly looked away from me. "It's Nate."
Chills ran down my back, but I played them off. "Gotta picture of this friend? I'm actually on the market."
"Jenna? Jeez." My father pulled his phone from his pocket and he stood. "Denise, I'm sorry. She's just hurting from losing Darek. We all are. I'm sure you understand."
"Absolutely. I haven't slept in weeks." She gave my father a sweet smile and turned her attention back to me as he walked off. "You're playing a dangerous game, little girl."
"Am I? What game would that be?" Nate. Did she know about me and Nate? Surely not. Things couldn't end up that twisted, right? No way. Not in a million years.
"I'm not doing this with you, Jenna. I didn't kill your brother. I loved him."
"Lying bitch." I took the basket of chips in between us and tossed them at her. "I'm going to find out every detail of what you've been up to and when I do, I swear to God it's the cops you'll be calling to help protect you from me."
"Such a strong promise for such a weak girl." She pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons, ignoring the chips all in her lap. She turned the phone to face me. "Here’s Nate. Look familiar?"
I grabbed her phone as bile rose up my throat. Nathaniel. My Nate. No fucking way. Was he involved too? Had she sent him after me? To seduce me? To snuff me out too?
"Never seen him in my life." I shrugged and handed her the phone back. "He's pretty to look at, but probably has a small cock. Most bad boy types do." I stood up. "I'm not sharing a meal with the whore that killed my brother."
"You have no proof, little girl."
"Not yet, but the weekend’s not over." I grabbed my purse and walked toward the door. When I was out of her line of sight, I turned and ran to the bathroom, barely making it into a stall before I hit my knees and lost my lunch.
The picture of Nate didn't have her in it too. Maybe he was innocent. Maybe she found out about the two of us and was trying to implicate him so I would have no one to turn to.
Captain Hotness: A Single Father Bad Boy Novel Page 72
