Jack of Hearts (Aces & Eights Book 1)

by Sandra Owens

  “Why don’t you come in with us, have some drinks, play a little pool,” Ramon said when they arrived back at his house.

  Trina trailed her fingers down his arm. “Who knows, I might even get you to break your no-fraternization policy.”

  “If anyone could, it would be you, beautiful.” He squeezed her hand. “Gotta take a rain check, though. It’s almost closing time, and I need to get back to the bar, help my brothers kick out the drunks.” He picked up the duffel bag. “Besides, I want to get this money somewhere safe.”

  “When are we going to meet these brothers of yours?” Trina asked. “I don’t trust anyone I don’t know.” Her gaze roamed over him. “Are they as hot as you?”

  Alex laughed. “No, I’m the hottest of the bunch. Of course, if you asked them, they’d each claim the same. Sure, let’s set up a meeting.”

  Ramon turned, facing the backseat. “Trina and I will come by your bar tomorrow night. Check the place out.”

  “Cool,” Alex said. He winked at Trina. “You’re in for a treat.”

  The woman actually licked her lips, and Alex had never in his life been so happy to get away from anyone.

  “Trina’s going to be trouble,” Alex said. The bar was closed and he and his brothers were sitting in the office while he brought them up to speed. “One of you is going to have to step up and take her off my hands.”

  Court gave an adamant shake of his head. “She-wolves scare the hell out of me.”

  “I can handle her.” Nate grinned.

  Cocky bastard. Alex eyed his older brother. If anyone could tame a she-wolf, it was Nate. “She’s all yours, bro. Be careful what you ask for, though.”

  “Hello?” Madison held her phone to her ear, her heart fluttering like hummingbird wings at seeing Alex’s name on the screen.

  “Hello, Madison.”

  The way he said her name in that sexy way of his sent a thrill through her. “Be right back,” she said to her mother before walking to the stockroom.

  “You there?”

  She closed the door behind her. “I’m here.” Refusing to make it easy on him, she waited. It still grated that he’d taken off with Ramon and Trina to God knew where. Probably clubbing, and why hadn’t she been asked to come along? Not that Alex owed her any explanation, and she wasn’t about to ask him for one.

  “How’s the store doing? Did you have a good opening?”

  “Very.” She didn’t want to talk about the store.

  “That’s good. I’ll have to drop by, see the place. You must be proud.”

  “I am.” There was a long silence, and she pressed her lips together to keep from talking.

  “Are you mad at me, Madison?”

  Yes. “Why would I be?”

  “I don’t know. Have lunch with me.”

  “Where did you take off to with Trina and Ramon?” She was going to chop off her tongue. “Never mind. Not my business.”

  “Ah, I understand now. Have lunch with me and I’ll tell you.”

  “Honestly, Alex, I don’t really care.” And she would keep telling herself that until she believed it.

  “I don’t think you mean that. At least, I hope you don’t.”

  She opened the door and peeked out. “Listen, it’s busy here and my mom stopped by. I gotta go.”

  “So lunch is out. What time do you close?”

  “Six. Why?”

  “I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon, see if I can talk you into drinks and dinner. Later, Madison.”

  “No—” She was talking to dead air. Damn him. How was she supposed to get him out of her mind if he kept coming around? All she had to do was be near him and she wanted him all over again. And why did he want to risk being seen together in public? Hadn’t they agreed that wasn’t a good idea?

  She stuck the phone into the back pocket of her jeans and went to find her mother. Before she could locate Angelina, Madison spied Lauren sitting next to Nelson Lopez on one of the love seats. She had her hand on Nelson’s knee and was laughing at something he’d said.

  Madison detoured their way. She was feeling just grouchy enough to nose in where she probably wasn’t wanted. It wasn’t fair that Lauren had that kind of eye candy hanging on her every word while the man Madison had the hots for had her head spinning, and not in a good way. One minute he was saying they couldn’t be together and the next he was calling to ask her to dinner. Someday, maybe she’d figure him out.

  “Hi. Have you seen my mom around?” She sat on the arm of the love seat, nearest Lauren.

  “She’s having a ball playing barista,” Lauren said, grinning. “Hope everyone loves whipped cream on their lattes because she piles it on. Said she needs to learn how to make those cute kitty designs in the foam in honor of Hemingway.”

  Madison glanced toward the coffee bar to see her mother laughing as she handed a woman a cup, and good God, Lauren wasn’t kidding about the whipped cream. But Angelina seemed happy and that was a beautiful thing to see. It had been far too long in coming.

  “I’m trying to convince her to work for us a few days a week.” She shrugged. “Sorry. I should have asked you first. Would you have a problem with that?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Lauren said. “She seems to enjoy it here, and the customers love her.”

  “It’s not a done deal. I still have to convince her.” She stood. “There’s a customer at the counter with a load of books in her arms. We’ll talk later.”

  After ringing up and bagging the customer’s books, she headed for her mother. “You appear to be enjoying yourself.”

  Angelina paused in wiping down the counter. “It’s been nice to get out of the house.” She picked up a cup and held it out. “I’ve been experimenting with making those little designs with the cream.”

  Madison peered into the cup. “That’s a cat face, right?” Actually, it was kind of cute.

  “It’s not quite right. I’m going to see if I can find an instructional video when I get home.”

  “Does that mean you’d like to work for us?”

  Her mother shrugged. “Maybe. I had fun today, which I’ll admit surprised me.”

  Madison impulsively hugged her. She missed the closeness they used to have before her father died. After his death, Angelina had been withdrawn, and the only person who seemed able to console her was Uncle Jose. Madison had tried not to resent that, even though it hurt not to be the one her mother had turned to in her grief. Her mother didn’t seem to understand that she was grieving, too. She wanted her mother back, the one who used to laugh and shower her face with kisses if a full day passed without seeing each other.

  Hope blossomed that working together might be the catalyst to finding that closeness again. Blinking against the tears for what she and her mother had lost—the love of the best father and husband ever—for the first time since his death, she thought they might find their way to acceptance and peace. That although they both would forever miss Michael Parker, the day would come when they could remember him with smiles and laughter instead of tears.

  Hemingway sauntered over, sat, and looked up expectantly at Angelina. She dipped her finger in the whipped cream topping in the cup and let him lick it off.

  “You’re going to spoil him,” Madison said.

  “Cats expect to be spoiled. I’m just obeying his demands.”

  “Can’t argue with that.”

  Madison spent the last hour before closing ringing up customers and straightening the shelves. Angelina tagged along, and Madison showed her how to use the register and credit card machine. Nelson had left after he and Lauren had gone to lunch together, but he’d returned, waiting to take her to dinner. The man really was drool worthy, but he didn’t make her stomach twitchy the way Alex did.

  Angelina left when it was time to lock up, promising to come back tomorrow. If her mother agreed to come work for them, Madison would put her on the payroll as of today.

  “We’re taking off,” Lauren said, walking up hand in hand with
Nelson.

  “Have fun.”

  “Why don’t you come to dinner with us? We can drop you back here before we hit the club.” Lauren peered up at Nelson. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

  “Not at all.”

  The man’s smile was lethal, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Did he not like Lauren inviting her along with them? “Thanks, but I’m going to finish up here, then crash in front of the TV and watch The Voice.”

  “She has a crush on Adam Levine,” Lauren told Nelson.

  “Truth. As soon as he divorces his wife, we’re getting married.” She waved them away. “Go on. I have nothing better planned for tonight, so I’ll wrap things up here.”

  “Thanks! I’ll make it up to you.” Lauren reached for Madison’s hand and squeezed it. “In fact, you take off early tomorrow night and I’ll stay.”

  Madison started to protest, but then remembered Alex said he would stop by. Why not take a night off? Not that she’d decided she would go to dinner with him. Even if she didn’t, both she and Lauren had worked their butts off getting the shop ready to open, and she couldn’t begrudge either one of them an early night off.

  “It’s a deal.” She smiled at her friend. “I’ll see you when you get in if I’m still awake.”

  “You’re a sweetheart, Madison. I’ll take good care of her,” Nelson said.

  “I’m counting on it.” She locked up behind them and watched out the window as he escorted Lauren to a fancy black sports car. Nice wheels, Lauren’s boyfriend. Considering the expensive clothes he wore and that car, he had to be doing well as a model. Funny that she’d never heard of him.

  Did Alex own a car or just his Harley? It bothered her that she didn’t know. In fact, there was a lot she didn’t know where Alex was concerned, including why she couldn’t get him out of her mind. Maybe he was a warlock and had bewitched her. He was certainly dangerously dark and mysterious enough to be one.

  She laughed, amused at her vision of him in a black cape, fog swirling around him as he cast his spells. “Come on, Hemingway. I need to get a shower and dinner over with before it’s time to watch my future husband on TV.” She flipped off the light switch, picked up Hemingway, and headed for the stairs.

  As she did each night before leaving, she looked back to make sure everything was as it should be. Glancing out the display window, she frowned at seeing a black Hummer parked across the street, one exactly like Ramon’s. Goose bumps rose on her arms and neck. Was he watching her?

  Creeped out, she hurried upstairs. Without turning on any lights, she went to the front living room window to peek out the blinds. The Hummer was still there, parked under the streetlight, and she could see that there was a man in the driver’s seat, but she couldn’t see his face. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t see him, though, because there was no doubt in her mind that it was her cousin. Considering he was parked in plain view, it was obvious that he didn’t care if she spotted him.

  A shiver ripped through her body. She dropped the blind back into place. Her intention had been to take a shower, put on some comfy clothes, then watch her show while plowing her way through a pint of ice cream. The thought of getting in the shower while Ramon was out there watching the building . . . nope, not happening.

  Bypassing the shower, she changed into a T-shirt and a pair of harem pants, fed Hemingway, and a few minutes later peeked back out the window. The Hummer was still there. Enough was enough. She was calling the police. As if he sensed her intention, he slowly drove away.

  “What kind of game are you playing, cousin?” she murmured.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “There they are,” Alex said at seeing Ramon and Trina walk into Aces & Eights at the stroke of midnight. He’d begun to think they weren’t coming. The bar was open until two, but the last few hours were always the rowdiest. Tonight they were packed, Tuesday being the Demon Riders Club’s regular day to invade Aces & Eights. It was also a big money night, which wasn’t a bad thing for the two to see.

  Court eyed the monitor. “This should be interesting.”

  They watched as the couple stopped a few feet inside the door, eyeing the goings-on with alarm on their faces. At the moment, Black Jack, one of the biggest black men Alex had ever seen in his life, and Four Leaf, an Irish man almost as big, were arm wrestling at a table in the middle of the room. The two were best friends until it came to competition—any competition—and then they were as likely to kill each other as not.

  The members of the biker gang surrounded them, money passing hands as bets were made. In the middle of it all was Nate, the referee for the match. One of the bikers, Big Dick, noticed Ramon and Trina, and a shit-eating grin crossed his face. The two idiots had apparently thought it a good idea to costume themselves out in shiny—obviously brand new—black leathers, and Ramon even wore a skullcap.

  “Dumbasses,” Alex said. If there was anyone these guys loved to mess with, it was pretend bikers. “I better go rescue them.”

  “You gonna bring them back here?”

  “No, I don’t want them to know about our office. Don’t want to encourage them to come here and hang out.” Another reason tonight’s crowd might prove useful. Hopefully they’d get a look at the operation, realize everything Alex had told them was true, and then never want to come back again. He headed for the two, Court following close behind.

  Big Dick had gotten there first, and he’d put himself behind Trina and was whispering in her ear. There was a certain rumor pertaining to his name, and Alex had no doubt the man was bragging about that to Trina. If he wasn’t mistaken, the woman wasn’t all that upset about what was pressed against her ass.

  “Back off,” Alex said, pointing his thumb toward the arm-wrestling table. “Go play with your friends.”

  “I’d rather play with her.” Big Dick blew in Trina’s ear. “Whatcha say, baby? Wanna know what it’s like to ride a real man?”

  Trina visibly shivered, but Ramon looked like he was about ready to take on Big Dick. Alex pulled Trina to his side before Ramon could get stupid. “You’re encroaching on my property. Get lost.” If there was one thing that might worry Big Dick, it was getting banned from a bar his gang liked to hang out in.

  “Dude, shoulda said she was yours right up front.” He backed away, his hands held up with the palms out. “You get tired of her, I got dibs.”

  “Back corner table,” Court said quietly. “I’ll go clear it out.”

  Alex nodded. “Sorry about that.” He didn’t think Trina was at all sorry, and he pegged her as an excitement junkie, especially where men were concerned. “We’ve got a table in the back, out of the way of these dudes.”

  “They all have the same insignia on the back of their vests,” Ramon said.

  “It’s called a patch. Each club has their own. The ones here tonight are the Demon Riders. You don’t want to mess with them.” Spider stumbled into him. “Dammit, Spider, I thought you were going to see your old lady tonight.”

  “She won’t open the door. I banged on it and banged on it.” He grabbed Alex’s hand. “Would you talk to her? Last time you did, she let me in.”

  Alex glanced at Ramon and rolled his eyes. “Someday the man’s gonna learn how to treat a woman.” He pried Spider’s hand away. “Come back when you’re not drunk and we’ll talk.”

  “Thansh, Heart Man. Love ya, dude.” Spider stumbled off.

  Alex grinned at Spider’s retreating back. “Dude’s crazy but harmless.” There wasn’t a member of any club that frequented Aces & Eights that hadn’t adopted Spider as a sort of mascot. Alex had his doubts that the man was as clueless as he let on.

  “Maybe we should come back some other time,” Ramon said.

  “Nah. You’re good. My brother cleared out a back table for us.” There was a roar from the crowd surrounding the arm wrestlers, and Alex glanced over to see Four Leaf raise a victory fist. Black Jack wasn’t going to like that, but Nate seemed to still have control of the gang. Nate gave him a nod, lett
ing Alex know he’d get with them when he could.

  Sometimes he wondered what they were thinking when they decided to open a biker bar as a cover for their operations. It was the perfect front, but there were days when he got damn tired of dealing with the gangs. They weren’t the doctors and lawyers weekend riders, but the real thing, and there was always trouble of one kind or another. Frankly, it was getting old.

  He got Ramon and Trina settled, taking a seat across from Trina, and Court pulled out a chair, turned it around, and straddled it. “This is Court, my middle brother. Big brother’s busy keeping the peace right now, but he’ll join us later. Court, Ramon and the lovely Trina.”

  Court eyed Trina. “You weren’t lying, bro, when you said she was hot. Nice to meet you, Trina.” The woman actually simpered, and Court winked at her. He held out his hand to Ramon. “Good to finally meet you, too.” After they shook, Court said, “What’s your flavor? Beer, wine, something harder?”

  “I think you should guess, see how well you know me,” Trina said.

  Court chuckled. “I don’t know you at all, but we could work on that.”

  Nate had walked up behind Trina, and Alex sat back to enjoy the show. Up until now, she had totally forgotten him in favor of Court, but that was about to change. All he cared about was that her attention was off him.

  “I know you, beautiful,” Nate said, reaching over her shoulder and setting a lemon drop martini down in front of her. “Tart and sweet, the way I like my women.”

  Alex swallowed a laugh as Trina lifted her face, her eyes widening at his oldest brother. Alex had overheard her ask for the drink at Jose’s birthday party and had mentioned it to Nate in passing, along with Ramon’s beer preference. And it was only because he knew his brothers so well that he caught the relief in Court’s eyes at Nate’s appearance. Court didn’t want to be any closer to the woman than Alex did.

  Following behind Nate, John Boy—their cook-dishwasher-waiter—placed a mug on the table in front of Ramon. “A Cubanero Fuerte for you, sir,” he said in his best waiter voice.

  When had they started carrying Fuerte beer? Alex raised a brow at Nate, getting a one-shoulder shrug. Sometimes Nate was full of surprises.