Jack of Hearts (Aces & Eights Book 1)

by Sandra Owens

  Her eyes narrowed, her lips thinned, and she charged him, head down like a pissed-off little bull. He swallowed a laugh as he spun out of the way to keep her from ramming his stomach and getting whiplash. As she passed, he grabbed her from behind and pulled her against him, her back to his chest.

  “Now what are you going to do?” When she tried to squirm out of his arms, he tightened his hold. “The first lesson is to stay as far away from your attacker as possible. If there’s any possibility of getting away, you run. You don’t look back, you just go.”

  She wiggled against him, still trying to get away, totally clueless what she was doing to him. He decided he was an idiot for agreeing to do this. “Be still.” He was supposed to be teaching her to defend herself, not getting turned on.

  “So how do I get away?” She looked up at him with those sexy green eyes.

  Damn, he was in trouble. “The lesson I’m going to teach you today is how to go for the eyes, the nose, the throat, and the shin. Those are all points on a man’s body where you can cause pain.”

  “I thought you were supposed to go for his junk first.”

  “If you can get a good, hard knee there, but most men are prepared for that, and they’ll grab your leg, then you’re in trouble. If a man is holding on to you like I am, your best weapon is the back of your head. Throw your head back as far as you can, aiming for the bridge of his nose.”

  “Can I try it?”

  “Yes, but don’t give me a bloody nose. Slow and easy, just to get the feel of it.”

  They spent the next hour letting her practice how to do damage when being held against her will. She was a quick study, and as the time he’d reserved the room for neared the end, her confidence grew.

  “Very good,” he said when she got in a good kick to his shinbone. “If you’d had shoes on, I’d be on my knees right now, and you’d be running away like your cute ass was on fire.” As it was, his leg was throbbing, but he didn’t want her to feel bad that she’d hurt him, so he kept that to himself.

  She grinned, clearly pleased with herself. “What’s next?”

  Christ, he’d created a monster. “Lunch is next.”

  “Are you sure I can’t go for his junk?”

  Alex laughed. “You’re a vicious little thing. Go ahead. Give it a try.”

  She eyed the zipper on his jeans, reminding him of a marksman sighting his target, then swung her leg up. He caught it, scissored her other leg with his, and brought them both down onto the mat, with her on top. “Gotcha.”

  “Wow, that was cool.”

  “You’re something else, Grasshopper.” And he was damn proud of her.

  “Grasshopper?”

  “You never watched Kung Fu reruns? No? How sad.”

  “Sad Grasshopper needs a kiss.” She formed her lips into a pout, drawing his attention to them.

  “Yeah?” As he stared up at her, it almost felt as if there were a bump in time, as if something momentous had just happened that should be marked on the calendar. His heart gave a little stutter that he wasn’t sure he liked or welcomed. He blinked, cutting the connection. Crazy imagination had gone haywire there for a moment.

  “Put your mouth on mine, Grasshopper.” He slipped his hand behind her neck, tugging her down. One of the things he loved about her was her responsiveness, and as their tongues tangled, she framed his face with her hands while grinding her pelvis over his erection. When they did finally make love, it was going to be like having a tiger by the tail, and speaking of tails, he wrapped her braid around his fist.

  He flipped them, and with mouths still fused, he settled his groin between her thighs and rocked his hips. Her low moan set his blood on fire, and he kissed a path down to her neck, nibbling and licking the soft skin under her ear.

  Someone knocked on the door, and he froze. What was wrong with him? He’d been minutes from taking her on a gym mat that smelled like sweat. “Almost done here, dude,” he called, knowing it was Rock telling him someone else was waiting for the room.

  He rested his forehead on Madison’s. “Guess we better go before we get company.”

  “Guess so.” She smiled. “Thank you for today.”

  “It’s not over yet.” He took her hands, pulling her up with him. Unable to resist claiming one last kiss, he cupped her chin and brushed his lips over hers, while willing his heart to beat normally again.

  He took her to lunch at his favorite food truck, parked near the beach and famous for their fish tacos. Another thing he was learning about her, which he really liked, was that she delighted in the simplest things. She thought getting their meal from a food truck was fun and loved the fish taco so much that she made him go get her another one.

  His next stop was Vizcaya, a rambling Italian mansion on Biscayne Bay that was open to the public. As long as he’d lived in Miami, he’d never been there but had always wanted to see it. Turned out Madison had never been there either.

  They strolled hand in hand through the thirty-four public rooms of the mansion, admiring the antiques, but they both agreed their favorite part was the 158-foot Venetian barge carved out of stone, sitting in the bay, serving as a breakwater piece between the mansion and the ocean.

  “I wonder how many pictures have been taken of it?” Madison said, as she captured numerous photos on her phone. “It even has a teahouse, and all those statues . . . how long do you think it took to create it? Do you think they ever let anyone go on it? Wouldn’t it be a cool place for a wedding?”

  Alex laughed as he tried to remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much. “Thousands and thousands, I’d guess, and I don’t know, and don’t know again, and yes.” She lowered her phone, looked at him, and crossed her eyes, making him laugh again. “So many questions, Grasshopper.” Her enthusiasm was contagious, and he hugged her, liking the feel of her wrapped in his arms.

  “I need to watch some of those Kung Fu episodes, see if Grasshopper is a good thing or not.”

  “How about we stream a few of them tonight after dinner?” When he’d picked her up, he hadn’t decided how long their date would last, but as he stood in front of a mansion full of history, the ocean breeze cooling their skin, and held her against him, he didn’t want the day to end.

  He took his phone from his pocket, turning them so that the barge was to their back. “Smile, Grasshopper.” It occurred to him that it was the first time he’d ever recorded a woman’s picture to keep on his phone. What did that mean, if anything?

  She handed him her phone. “I want one of us, too.”

  There went that funny twitch in his heart again.

  Alex frowned as he watched the black Escalade in his rearview mirror. He’d first noticed it when he and Madison were on the way to Vizcaya, but then it had disappeared. Now it was back. Someone was tailing them. The traffic light turned to yellow, and he downshifted, coming to a stop.

  “Madison,” he said, squeezing the hands she had on his stomach. “Listen up.”

  She leaned her helmeted head around his shoulder. “What?”

  “When the light turns green, you hold on to me real tight, okay?”

  “Okay, but what’s happening?”

  “Not sure. Just don’t let go of me.” The light turned green, and he twisted the throttle to full open. The horsepower of his enhanced high-performance engine sent them off as if catapulted from a slingshot.

  “Oh shit,” Madison yelled, curling her fingers into a death grip around his belt.

  He darted another glance in his rearview mirror. The Escalade used the middle turn lane to swerve around a pickup truck. It enraged him that anyone would chase him while he had Madison on his bike. He tried to think of who it might be but came up blank. The first order of business was to put her in a safe place.

  An entrance to I-95 was just ahead, and he swerved across two lanes to make the turn, his anger growing when her helmet bumped against his and her hands pulled his belt a good two inches up his waist. He was going to kill the bastard who wa
s scaring her.

  The Escalade ran a car off the road, following them onto the interstate. Sonofabitch. By the time he came to the next exit, he’d managed to put five cars between him and the black SUV. He leaned hard right at the last minute, shooting down the exit far too fast. Luck was on his side, and the light at the bottom of the ramp was green.

  Seeing a Starbucks two blocks ahead, he raced to it, scraping his foot peg on the asphalt as he turned into the parking lot, burning rubber as he braked to a stop at the entrance. “Go inside and don’t come out. I’ll come back to get you.” When she didn’t move or respond, he said, “Go, Madison.”

  Bless the baby Jesus, she pushed off his bike and ran inside without questioning him or looking back. As soon as the door shut behind her, he reached into his boot and grabbed his gun, sticking it into his waistband. He circled around the building, turning right onto a back street that paralleled the road he’d just come down. A few blocks later, he turned onto the street that would bring him up behind whoever was driving the Escalade that had put Madison’s life in danger. He was fire-breathing furious and someone was going to pay.

  He saw the moment the driver looked into his rearview mirror, seeing Alex riding his bumper. Alex didn’t recognize him from what little he could see of the man’s face, but he did anticipate that the bastard was going to slam on his brakes, intending to send Alex flying head over heels across the SUV’s roof. He leaned hard left, missing the bumper by an inch. When he reached the driver’s side window, he snatched his gun, pointing it at the face staring back at him, one he’d seen at Jose and Angelina’s birthday party, one of Ramon’s minions.

  “Pull. Fucking. Over.” Instead of being smart, the dude floored the gas pedal. Alex let him go, now that he knew who to rain down his rage on. What mattered was getting to Madison, making sure she was safe.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Madison carried the iced coffee to an empty table in the corner, set her helmet on the floor, and slouched down in a chair. What had just happened? Now that her heart wasn’t still trying to beat out of her chest, she scanned the room, her gaze raking over each person. No one seemed suspicious, most intent on their laptop screens, a few others sitting with friends, enjoying a late-afternoon coffee.

  When Alex had ordered her off the bike, she’d heard the urgency in his voice and knew he hadn’t been kidding around, so she’d jumped to obey. Where was he and how long was she supposed to sit here and wait for him? What if something had happened and he was hurt?

  Another ten minutes passed, and she fished her phone out of her little biker purse. The only person she could think to call was Lauren, but she’d give Alex a few more minutes before involving her friend. If nothing else, she’d experienced a crazy wild ride on a motorcycle, and now that her feet were safely on terra firma, she could appreciate Alex’s skill in handling such a powerful machine.

  The low rumble of a Harley sounded, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she glanced out the window and saw him turning into a parking space. He put down the kickstand as he quickly scanned the lot. Who was he looking for? The reservations she’d had on meeting him resurfaced. How much did she really know about him? Her heart wanted to trust him, but her mind was flashing caution signs.

  Within seconds of walking in the door, he spotted her and headed her way. Almost every woman he passed noticed him, and she saw one look at her friend, mouthing, “Wow.” Yeah, he was wow all right, but was he too much of a bad boy for her?

  “Hey,” he said, sliding into the chair across from her. “You ready to go?”

  That was it? Take her on a high-speed ride through the streets of Miami, practically throw her off his bike, then take off to do God knew what, and now ask if she’s ready to go as if none of it happened?

  “What was that all about?”

  He flicked a glance at her empty cup. “Want another coffee?”

  Under his deceptively calm demeanor, she sensed he barely controlled his anger. It was there in his eyes and the firm line of his lips. “No, I don’t want another coffee. I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Just a little road rage. Dude thought I’d cut him off back on the interstate and was chasing us. I didn’t want to risk you getting hurt, so I thought this would be a safe place for you to wait for me.”

  She didn’t believe a word he said. They hadn’t cut anyone off. “So you what? Chased him down and set him straight?”

  “Something like that.” He stood. “Let’s go.”

  “Yeah, it’s been a long day, and I’m tired.” She grabbed her helmet and followed him out.

  At the bike, he brushed a finger down her arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. We’ll go to my place, have some dinner . . . just chill a little.”

  Goose bumps rose under his touch, but she refused to let him see the effect he had on her. “Thanks. I had a great time today, but I really am tired, so I’m going to pass.” If only he had told her the truth, but she couldn’t deal with lies. If he’d tell one, he’d tell a dozen.

  “Madison—”

  “Ready to go?” She moved to the back of the bike as she put on her helmet. When he tried to help her buckle the strap, she brushed his hands away. “I can do it.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, then lifted his face, meeting her eyes. “We were being followed.”

  “How do you know? I didn’t see anyone following us.” If someone had been—and she still wasn’t sure she believed him—she sure hadn’t noticed, so why would he have? Because he was already suspicious? Was that his life, always watching his back? She’d thought she liked the air of danger surrounding him, but maybe not so much.

  “I just knew.” He swung a leg over his bike. “Get on.”

  “Okay, say there was. Who and why?”

  “Don’t know and don’t know. Couldn’t catch up with him. You gonna get on?”

  Testy are we? He was definitely on edge, and he was making her nervous. She slid onto the back, but instead of wrapping her arms around his waist, locking her hands at the front of his stomach, and leaning against his back, she grasped his hips. Obviously, that didn’t work for him because he took her hands and pulled them around his waist.

  The ride home was uneventful, and when he pulled up next to her door, she jumped off. “I had a nice day . . . well, until the last part.” She kicked at the sidewalk with her new motorcycle boots. Turned out she’d wasted her money since she’d never be on the back of his bike again. “The thing is, Alex, I don’t think we should see each other anymore. There’s just too much excitement in your life for me. I’m sorry.”

  His only response was a nod as he stared straight ahead. The lump in her throat hurt, and she willed herself not to cry as she turned away. She went into the bookstore, to the front display window, and watched him ride away, feeling like she had just let go of something special.

  On the ride home, she’d almost leaned against him and told him to take her to his place, but the smart part of her mind had kept her mouth shut. She had no problem with him owning a biker bar, but what she couldn’t get past was his involvement with Ramon.

  What if it had been a cop, a vice detective following them? Alex had sworn that he didn’t use or deal drugs, and she’d believed him until today. Now she didn’t know what to think. Better to end it now than to get caught up in her cousin’s world.

  “I wish I could trust you,” she whispered as the taillights of Alex’s bike disappeared when he turned the corner.

  After dropping off Madison, Alex headed straight for Ramon’s. Temper still boiling, he followed the housekeeper to the back deck. The target of his rage floated in the pool, a beer bottle in one hand and a cigar in the other. Two well-endowed blondes wearing bikinis no bigger than postage stamps sat on the edge of the pool, kicking their feet in the water.

  “What have we here?” one said at seeing him. Her cherry-red lips lifted in a sultry smile.

  The second woman pulled her sunglasses down her nose, checking him out o
ver the rim. “Nice. Veeery nice. I’m Misty.” She arched her back, lifting her breasts.

  “I’m Carlotta,” the other one said. “Why don’t you come sit with us?” She patted the space between them.

  Not in the mood for their shenanigans, he ignored them. “Ramon, a private word.”

  “Dude, I’m not moving. What’s up?”

  “I need to talk to you.” When he didn’t respond, Alex considered shooting the bastard. Since that would be messy, he managed to refrain. “Now, Ramon!”

  “This better be good.” He paddled over to the shallow end.

  Oh, it was going to be good all right. Alex walked around the corner of the house, stopping when he was out of sight of the Barbie twins. When Ramon finally appeared, he rammed his forearm under Ramon’s neck, pushing him back against the wall.

  “The hell’s wrong with you?” Ramon gasped.

  “Why are you having someone follow me?” He pushed his arm harder.

  “Ca-can’t talk.”

  Alex eased the pressure on Ramon’s neck. “Start talking.”

  “I don’t know nothing about someone following you.”

  “No? So one of your men took it on himself to tail me?” When Ramon’s eyes flickered away, Alex pushed against him again. “You put Madison’s life in danger. I could easily kill you for that.”

  Ramon put his hands on Alex’s arm and pushed. “All right! You weren’t supposed to see him.”

  “You sonofabitch.” He let go, stepping back. “You obviously still don’t trust me, so let’s just call our business relationship quits right now.”

  “It has nothing to do with that, you dumb shit. I’m just keeping an eye on my cousin.”

  Bingo. Alex had suspected that was the reason for the tail. The man was obsessed with her, and even though he’d backed off when Alex had threatened him with the loss of Aces & Eights for laundering money, he clearly wasn’t happy. Ramon put his hands on his hips, and it was nearly impossible to take seriously a glaring man wearing nothing but a Speedo and a thick gold chain with a large cross on the end. Alex rolled his eyes.