Kingpin's Promise

by A G Henderson

  “I have a condition,” she told me.

  “Of course you do,” I grumbled. At her impatient look, I relented. “Hit me with it.”

  That...was a mistake.

  ***

  “I’m not putting that in my mouth,” I said to the woman across from me, much to her further amusement.

  Her condition had included three things. The first was that she was driving, so I’d spent the last twenty minutes crammed into a tiny ass smart car that groaned beneath my weight when I got in. The second was that she got to pick the place we’d be eating. I wasn’t surprised that we found ourselves in the parking lot of a long-abandoned bookstore—the gray paint fading and chipped—while we sat beneath the parasols of a taco truck that looked to be in about the same shape as the building.

  The third condition was the real bitch of them all.

  Either I ate a bite of the sloppy, dripping mess of a taco she was pushing across the table toward me, or the truce was over.

  Jasmine had taken her hoodie off at some point and tied the fabric around her waist, leaving her in a thin camisole that I found increasingly distracting as time wore on.

  Her nipples were right there, taunting me, begging for my hands to reach across this flimsy table, haul her into my lap, raise her shirt, and take them into my mouth and lavish them with the attention they needed. It had been too long since I was able to. And as that thought crossed my mind, I had to wonder how long it had been for her.

  Her sexual appetite was nothing to sneeze at, and even though we’d only spent that month together I felt like an expert on the subject. Just because she hadn’t mentioned a boyfriend in our brief encounters didn’t mean there wasn’t another man currently in the picture, or that there hadn’t been other men sniffing around her while I was gone

  And fuck, why did it matter?

  I kept trying to remind myself that I was only here so I could conquer her again and get it out of my system. My dick needed to remember that we’d had her already—dozens of times at that—so it would stop torturing me with the thoughts of how perfect she’d felt. There were thousands of other women in this city who would feel just as good beneath me.

  Wouldn’t they?

  But the reminders and the attempts to convince myself weren’t fucking working. Now that the idea of another man touching her was on my brain, I couldn’t shake it. I needed to know.

  I needed to know who was going to lose their hands and spend the rest of their lives eating through a goddamn straw.

  My fists clenched, knee bouncing beneath the table. I eyeballed the platter of greasy tacos that had been put together in the back of a dilapidated truck by a group of guys with no running water to wash their grungy hands. Who knew how long it had been since a health official checked the temperatures on their appliances or their general sanitation?

  “Oh, come on,” Jasmine taunted. “It can't be worse than whatever you've been eating for the last three years.”

  She winced at the mention of it, likely expecting me to shove her fault in that matter down her throat.

  Again, wasn't that something I was supposed to be doing?

  Instead, I pulled the plate marginally closer and tried to keep my nose from curling.

  “If you want me to eat this,” I said, dangling the bait, “then it's my turn to put a condition out there.”

  Her head tilted, then she sighed. “Is that what we are now? A set of rules and conditions that have to be put in place before we can interact?”

  “I don’t care what we are,” I lied, forcing myself to ignore how her shoulders tightened. “What I care about is that you’re a tangled knot I can’t stop trying to unravel. If I’m going to do that, I need some answers from you. Honest answers for every bite I take of this...tragedy you put in front of me.”

  “Why should I agree to that?”

  “We can skip straight to the part where I dismantle your life piece by piece if you like.”

  Jasmine leaned back in her seat, eyes flashing, and I thought for sure she was about to walk away from me. Again. To my surprise, she crossed her arms and kicked her feet up.

  “Fine,” she said. “Ask away.”

  “Honest answers, Jazzy. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  Her only response was to raise her middle finger.

  Off to a great start. This should be fun.

  Chapter Six

  Jasmine

  Whatever question he could possibly ask would be worth seeing another disgusted scowl on that handsome face of his.

  I didn’t understand him. I should probably wish I never would, but I didn’t. Why was he here with me? Why had he followed me to the grocery store? Those weren’t the efforts of a criminal mastermind out to implode my life until there was nothing left except for an irradiated, uninhabitable mess. His actions were what I might've expected from a possessive male, but that had never been Hawk.

  Behind closed doors, we’d been two people lost in each other’s bodies, but that had been it.

  Had I made a habit of sneaking out of his bed?

  Yes, I had.

  Had he ever bothered asking me to stay?

  No, he hadn’t.

  Because that would’ve implied he wanted to keep me. And even if we’d had an unspoken agreement in place not to see others, that didn’t translate into our not-relationship going beyond the bounds we’d set.

  Now, here he was, back in my life again when his had been on hold for three years already due to my mistake. Why he wanted to spend any time in my presence at all was a mystery. Especially since I’d made it clear that I wasn’t going to be a willing hole for him to fall into at the crook of a finger.

  Despite the jeans and tattooed hands, the man beside me was used to rubbing elbows with the elite of the city. It was no great secret that he’d bribed, blackmailed, and terrorized his way into the untouchable legend that followed him. That power—that control—had languished in his absence.

  Yet...here he was.

  Hawk focused on the greasy taco, turning the plate this way and that. He reached out for it and paused before attacking from a different angle. When he pinched two edges together and grimaced before letting go, I couldn’t help the laugh that sprang from me, soothing my deeper troubles.

  “It’s not going to assault you,” I told him. “Just pick it up and bite the damn thing already.”

  “Hush, woman,” he growled before focusing on the task at hand once more.

  I pretended to zip my lips and sat back in my chair, waiting to see if he wanted his answers badly enough to do something he clearly had no taste for. As far as ways to spend my day went, this was on the stranger end of the spectrum but no less welcome for it. If I wasn’t here with him, I’d just be back in my apartment binging a tv show on Netflix and playing with Lucille while I waited for my shift to come around.

  Since that’s how exciting my life was these days.

  Wake up. Hit the gym. Eat. Work. Then I’d sleep and repeat the same thing with a sparse set of interruptions provided by Gina and Rachel dragging me out to do something with them.

  So yeah, watching a gorgeous, intimidating man, poke and prod at his food like he would fall over and die if he ate it wasn’t a bad way to pass the time.

  Hawk sighed. “Fuck it.”

  Finally, he grabbed the taco all at once and lifted it to his mouth. He pinched his nose closed and it took everything in me not to giggle at the shudder that went through him as he took a small bite and tilted his head up to swallow.

  “You okay over there?” I couldn’t help myself. The giggles were slipping through the hand I tried to cup over my mouth. “You’re lookin’ a little green around the gills.”

  He grimaced and put the offending taco back down. His gaze roamed around the table as he swallowed again and again. Seeing the distress he was doing his best to hide, I decided to push my water across the table towards him.

  Hawk raised it to his mouth and drank greedily, polishing the whole thing off in seconds
. “Christ,” he said once he could speak again. “If we’re doing this, I’m going to need something stronger than water.”

  I watched him stand and amble back to the food truck. There was a couple in line in front of him, nudging each other, trading loaded looks and wide smiles. While his back was turned, I let my heavy heart pretend for just a moment that I was looking at us. Or at least what we could’ve been had things turned out differently.

  Had I not fallen for a man so captivating when we never would’ve worked.

  Had I not been the reason he’d spent more than a thousand days inside a cell.

  Then he returned with two beers clutched in his fists and I made sure to wipe those sentimental feelings from my face.

  Hawk popped the tops on both and handed one to me.

  I took it after a moment’s pause, but he didn’t make any smart remarks. He just sat down and took a sip, swishing it around his mouth. He watched me while I drank mine like a normal person who ate greasy food on the regular, but he didn’t say anything for several heartbeats.

  Here it comes, I thought, bracing myself.

  “How long have you played?” he asked.

  My brain stalled. He had free rein to ask me anything he wanted, and he wanted to know about... “Basketball?”

  Hawk nodded.

  Okaaaaay. His questions, I guess. He wants to waste them, that's not my problem.

  I idly picked at the label around the beer while I cast my mind back. “Since I was a girl, I guess. My dad grew up in New York before moving down South to avoid the harsh winters. He always said that some of his favorite memories came from the days of heading to the local court and connecting with people over the game. As far back as I can remember, I had a ball in my hand thanks to him. And I grew to enjoy it—love it—for those same reasons. Basketball brings people together.”

  “You never wanted it to be more than that?”

  “Like going pro?”

  He nodded. “You’re good, Jasmine.”

  The butterflies that fluttered in my stomach at the compliment had no business being there. That didn’t make them cease to exist, though. Unfortunately for me.

  “That back there?” I shook my head. “It was nothing. We were just playing around.”

  Drop it, my words were saying.

  I don’t think so, his gray eyes flashed back.

  Hawk grunted. “That didn’t look like nothing. Maybe you were playing, but everyone else on that court was trying their hearts out and they couldn’t even touch you.”

  I shrugged and looked at the bottle in my lap. I didn’t know what to do with his compliments. I didn’t know what to do with the idea that he’d been watching me close enough to notice those things.

  “Out with it,” he said, making me lift my eyes to his steady ones. “Why didn’t it go further?”

  An old ache settled behind my ribs, pressing against my heart. Somehow, I managed a lopsided smile as I glanced at the taco then up to him. “That sounds like another question.”

  “Goddamn it,” he muttered.

  But he took another bite, grimacing all the while and rushing to wash the taste with another swig of beer.

  Why? It was on repeat in my head.

  Why? Why? Why?

  “Tell me,” he said, nose still curled in outright revulsion.

  “Bad luck,” I told him honestly. “I’m already smaller than most girls who go into the league. I had to work like a dog just to make the team in college. Then, after busting my ass for years to prove myself, some scouts finally came to the game.”

  Stop, my brain begged as I poked at an old wound. He doesn’t need to know all of it.

  But I’d agreed to be honest, hadn’t I? I’d already betrayed the man sitting across from me once. Doing it twice would make it even less likely that I’d ever make up for that, and those odds weren’t looking too hot as it was.

  I had to look away from him though, so I watched the people passing us on the street as I continued. “My coach told me not to get my hopes up. That we had a lot of rising talent on the team, and there was no guarantee that they were there for me. But I couldn’t not hope.” My voice trembled and I cleared my throat, trying to make it stronger. “They pulled aside a Sophomore, and she deserved it. She was taller, faster, better. It was the right choice.”

  “So you quit.” His eyes narrowed. “Just like that?”

  My fists clenched, heating rising in my chest. “I didn’t do any such thing. I played my heart out for the rest of that season, but some opportunities don’t come back around. Then it was time to choose between going overseas and starting over with more hope that something might work out, or accepting the reality.”

  His lip curled like he was the one angry when it was my dreams that had wound up being utterly out of reach. It annoyed me as much as it pleased me.

  “And what reality is that?” He took another grudging bite without my prompting.

  “That I was second best,” I admitted. “Always was and always would be. I’d put my life on hold as it was to pursue the sport. I was always the first one at practice and the last one to leave. I kept my conditioning on point. I did everything I was supposed to do to be the best I could be...and it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.”

  “You’ve kept up with the girl who got your spot.”

  I found his raised brow waiting for me when I looked up.

  It wasn’t a question. I didn’t have to answer.

  My lips moved anyway.

  “In a very stalkerish manner, yes, I did. She was signed to a team, got pregnant, and then proceeded to retire before ever setting foot on the court in a pro game.”

  “You sound—”

  “Salty?” My smile was mean and I couldn’t help it. “No shit. I’m happy for her. She has a beautiful baby girl, a husband that’s in the NBA, and a second kid on the way according to the last time I checked out her social media. But that could’ve been my spot. I would’ve held onto it come hell or high water.”

  I relaxed into my seat, tipping my head back over the edge to stare at the sky. It looked like I was contemplating something because it was supposed to. Really, it gave me enough time to blink away the wetness collecting along my lashes before they fell and made me look that much more pathetic. Assuming that such a thing was possible in the first place.

  Hawk cleared his throat. “For what it’s worth, I would’ve wanted you on my team.”

  Since he couldn’t see my face anyway, I didn’t hide my smile. I did wipe it away once I sat up. He considered me carefully, like he knew exactly what I’d been doing, but he didn’t call me on it, and I was grateful for that. Which was fucked. I shouldn’t be grateful to a man who’d admitted that he might skip ahead to destroying the life I’d built at any point. Except I’d never told anyone but my dad about that before, and I’d sworn him to absolute secrecy.

  Mom would’ve been heartbroken to know my dreams didn’t come true. I hadn’t been able to stand the thought of doing that to her or having to see the pity on her face each time I came over and Dad was watching a game.

  I grabbed a chip and popped it into my mouth to keep myself busy. “Thanks, I think? Although I’m almost positive you would’ve made the worst coach ever.”

  “Why’s that?”

  I pointed to the plate. “Only one bite left. You sure you want to use it on this?”

  He devoured that bite faster than he had the others, staring me down all the while. “Answer,” came his rumbling growl. The one that made things low in my stomach tighten and flip around.

  So I shrugged and said, “Because your whole team would want to fuck you and that sounds like a gigantic conflict of interest.”

  I took a sip of my beer, keeping my grin to myself.

  At least until I nearly choked on the alcohol that went into my lungs when he spoke again.

  “I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. I’d have you.”

  He stood, gray eyes dark with want.

  I tried
to ignore what his words did to me and failed. Color rose in my cheeks. I stared at the ground, wishing my reaction away for all the good it did me. “Where are you going?”

  “To get another fucking taco,” he said in my ear as he passed me. “I’m not done with you. Not by a longshot.”

  Oh my.

  Chapter Seven

  Hawk

  She was cute as shit when she was flustered.

  I sat back down across from her with another piping-hot taco. My stomach was already complaining. I’d never done grease well my entire life. Chances were, I’d be regretting this decision something fierce in the next few days, but I couldn’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers either.

  How many times had I wondered what made this woman tick? Countless. I’d had nothing to do but think of her for years.

  Now I had a shot at satisfying some of those lingering wonders, as long as I could keep this artery-clogging food down. What were a few heart attacks in the face of finding out her inner workings?

  No risk, no reward.

  Jasmine made an obvious effort to look everywhere but at me. Those hazel eyes found strangers in the crowd, offering smiles here and nods there. They lit up at the sight of a small dog walking by, and she didn’t waste a second in leaning over to pet the small mutt and strike up a conversation with the girl holding the leash before they went on their way.

  For my part, I kept my focus on her and her alone. Nothing else seemed quite as important. Not the city. Not the time passing by. Not the grudge I was holding onto.

  She pushed all of that into the background simply by existing within my orbit. It was the same way I’d felt that first time I saw her, before I so much as tore a single piece of fabric from her tight body. For a time, Jasmine had been my sanctuary. A respite from the wicked deeds and a sheath for the hard edges I never allowed to dull in public.

  Yet here we were, sitting across from each other like there wasn’t a painful history we’d yet to acknowledge. One I found myself struggling to care about when she turned around and faced me, pulling pretty, pink lips between her teeth. She sighed at the sight of me, something I’d caught her doing more and more often.