Queen of Hearts

by Jami Denise

  I turned to face Kelsey. “Grab something to change into and come with me. We’ll get cleaned up and dressed in Flynn’s suite. I’m calling Vince.”

  She nodded and ran across the room and into the hallway that led to her room. I sat on the edge of the sofa table and dialed Vince, my knees bouncing and my hands shaking. When his phone went to voicemail as well, I slammed mine down and angrily ran my fingers through my hair.

  “Fucking idiots.”

  I was trying to be patient. I was digging deep down, hunting for that trust I promised to Flynn. I did trust him, theoretically, but I realized that was only going to work if I was in the loop. We were back to square one.

  Kelsey was back in the room, standing in front of me with a small black overnight bag and a worried expression.

  “It’s going to be fine, kid.”

  I felt like a liar, but I’d heard that enough times to believe in it.

  ~~***~~

  Instead of taking a shower, I ran a hot bath and sat in the tub making phone call after phone call. I’d put Kelsey on the job as well, not giving a shit if we were bombarding them. Neither one of the guys would answer, and the only person I did end up getting on the phone was a useless asshole.

  Collins.

  My suspicions and dislike for him increased ten-fold. Telling me he didn’t work for me and didn’t have to give me any information put him at the top of my list of people to fuck up. I was definitely going to have Flynn fire his ass.

  If he ever answered his phone.

  I finally got out of the bathtub after nearly an hour and felt twice as stressed out. Usually it calmed me right down, but there was nothing in the world that could soothe my mood.

  Hours passed, and Kelsey and I were on pins and needles. We tried to watch television, eat, talk, but we were both somewhere else mentally. Finally, Kelsey started to doze off, so I told her to go ahead and go to the back room to sleep. There was no telling how long we’d have to wait, but there was no way I was sleeping until I got the call.

  I was in the middle of some mindless bullshit on television when my phone pinged. I grabbed it, slid it open, and read the text with a shaky hand.

  Take Kelsey and go to the safe room. You will know the code. I will come get you as soon as I can. ~Flynn

  I shot off the couch like my ass was on fire. I ran to the room where Kelsey was sleeping and shook her awake.

  “Come on. Grab some things and come with me.”

  I was frantic and a little more than irritated. I had no fucking idea where the safe room was, or what the goddamn code was. You will know the code. My brain overloaded as I tried to decipher what the hell it would be. I went to our room and started shoving things in a bag, and finally it clicked.

  Scarlet.

  As soon as I had a few things packed up, I shot a quick text back to Flynn, hoping he could tell me how to get into the safe room. I’d been in and out of every nook and cranny of that place and had never seen a secret door or anything. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.

  His reply was quick and to the point.

  Door is in the back of the closet. I love you.

  I bit down on my lip, pushing back a sob. I hadn’t even had time to cry. I typed out a quick message, asking him to stay safe and telling him I loved him, and shoved the phone in my bag with the rest of the crap.

  “Kelsey!” I yelled out as I headed for the closet to investigate.

  She was at the door, pale and maybe a little green. “Don’t freak out on me, Kelsey. We’re going to be fine.”

  I ducked into the closet and pushed all the clothing aside. Sure enough, there was a door with a numerical panel next to it.

  “Son of a bitch.” I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked, but I was. All of it was so surreal.

  “What are you doing?”

  I ducked under the clothes and smiled, trying to reassure her. “Come on. We’re staying in here tonight.”

  I punched in the code, and sure enough, Scarlet was the magic word. He never ceased to amaze me with his crazy obsession.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  The safe room was basically the same size as Flynn’s bedroom, fitted with a small kitchen and bathroom, a bed in one corner, and a small sitting area. It wasn’t half bad, but not knowing how long we were going to be stuck in there gave me the creeps.

  Once we got inside, the first thing I did was grab a drink. There was a full bar, of course, but unfortunately, not a lot of food. Mostly there were cans and boxes of disgusting cheap dinners. I wasn’t excited to say the least.

  I did feel safe enough to get a little sleep, though. There was no way anyone could find us, and although I was freaking out about the prospect of someone out there trying to cause us harm, I was putting all my faith in Flynn to keep his promise and keep us all safe.

  “Jayne?”

  I turned around to face Kelsey and frowned when I saw the tears in her eyes. “What’s up?”

  “How long do we have to stay in here?”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. He didn’t say.”

  She sighed and snuggled a little closer to me. “I don’t like it in here. It’s creepy.”

  I laughed. “I think so too, but we don’t have a choice right now. Flynn thinks we’re safer in here.”

  “I want to go home.” She sounded so young, so forlorn and upset. One way or another, I would help her get back home.

  “Go to sleep. I’m not sure what’s in store, so try to rest. Okay?”

  She nodded, closed her eyes, and moments later, she was asleep.

  ~~***~~

  I woke up with a start and rolled over to find Flynn next to me. He looked like shit—disheveled and exhausted. I was overwhelmed and relieved at the same time.

  “Thank God.” I wrapped myself around him, hugging me so tight I could have strangled him. “Where the hell have you been?”

  He pressed his finger to his lips and nodded over at a sleeping Kelsey. “Let me get her to bed, and we’ll talk.”

  He kissed me softly, pulling my bottom lip between his, and squeezed my waist. “I love you.”

  I closed my eyes and nodded, overcome with the emotions of having him in front of me in one piece.

  He climbed out of bed quietly and moved over to where Kelsey was starting to wake up. When he bent down to pick her up, she jumped, surprised and scared.

  “What’s going on?”

  She was groggy and sleep-ridden, and the tender way Flynn looked down at her made my heart leap.

  “Come on, sweetheart. I’m going to put you in the other room.”

  She nodded and let him lift her out of bed, and he held her in his arms easily, as if she was weightless. I got up and followed them out but went straight to our bed and climbed inside to wait for him. I was wide awake, adrenaline pumping through every cell in my body.

  He walked in moments later and started tugging at his clothes, ripping them off as fast as he could. He looked so agitated, like he was going to spontaneously combust at any moment.

  “Come here,” I demanded. “You’re going to choke yourself.”

  His hands dropped and his knees hit the bed. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”

  He looked rueful and worried. I couldn’t lie to him. “Yes. I was losing my shit. Where have you been?”

  I slid my finger through the knot of his tie and slipped it open from bottom to top, pulling it out of his collar.

  He brushed his finger across my cheek, and I pulled in a sharp breath. I didn’t want to look up at him. He’d had a bad enough day, and I knew that seeing me cry was the last thing he needed, and I would cry if I looked at him.

  “I spoke to my father today.”

  My eyes snapped up in shock, and I crumbled when I saw the wear on his face. Dropping the tie, I sat up on my knees and hugged him around the middle.

  “Jesus Christ.”

  “He’s in Nevada. I had to work on him for a while before he believed that I was on his side, that I’m trying to get him o
ut of this.”

  I pulled back and raised my eyebrows. “What the hell? Why would you do that?”

  “You’ve seen my father’s handiwork. Do you really think he’d let me live if he thought I was trying to take him down? He would have ordered me shot right then and there. As it was, I had a gun to the back of my head until he demanded his men to stand down.”

  The lump in my throat threatened to suffocate me. Doyle would definitely have no problem killing Flynn if he felt threatened. As it was, he allowed him to get shot once before. Hearing that he had a gun pointed at his head pretty much made me want to throw up.

  “What did you tell him?”

  “You have to be quiet and listen. Can you do that?”

  I nodded and unbuttoned his sleeves so I could pull his shirt off him and get him next to me.

  Once he was stripped of his shirt and pants, he climbed into bed in his boxers and turned on his side to face me.

  “He thinks I’m with you to keep your mouth shut. Just like I thought, he’s had his guys on you since he found out you were back. I told him I was keeping you close, and you weren’t going to say shit.”

  I let out a sigh, knowing it was only a lie but unable to help the way it hurt me to hear it. “Okay, go on.”

  “He thinks Kelsey knows something. The feds already have Kristine in protection, and she’s the core of this whole investigation. He was stupid and got messy with her. She knows too much, and he’s like a caged animal. He’s fucked, and there’s not much he can do about it.”

  “So how does Kelsey play into his plan? If the feds have Kristine, there’s nothing she can do, right?”

  He pushed my hair away from my eyes and shook his head. “He wants to use Kelsey to flush Kristine out and have her recant. Without Kristine as a witness, their whole investigation sinks.”

  “No,” I whispered. “That can’t happen, Flynn. She’s innocent.”

  “He doesn’t care.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He sighed and fell back against the mattress, throwing his arm over his eyes. “I’m flying out to meet him tomorrow. I’m taking Kelsey.”

  I jumped away from him like he was a diseased animal. I was sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe he was going through with any of it.

  “You can’t do that. No way.”

  “There’s no other way to get to him, Jayne. If he thinks I’m lying, he will retaliate, and I’m no fucking warrior. I’m not my father. I don’t think like him—I never have. I’ve spent the last several years drinking and playing poker because I don’t give a shit. I don’t care about anything the way my dad cares about money. He won’t stop until he wins. I have to do this his way—beat him at his own game.”

  I chewed on the inside of my cheek and tried to settle the nerves that were bubbling up in my stomach.

  “What if this backfires? What if you can’t ensure that she’ll be safe?”

  “He said he won’t hurt her. He thinks that if Kristine knows he has her sister, she’ll come to him. He wants Kristine, not Kelsey.”

  I shook my head frantically. “Are you insane? He’ll pull the same shit as he did with my dad! He had every intention of killing me, too, and you know it! No one gets out alive, Flynn. That’s how he works. Don’t you see? He’s tricking you. He’s using you!”

  “What do you want me to do, Jayne!” he roared. He got off the bed and started pacing the room, yanking at his hair and gritting his teeth.

  “I don’t want you to take a young girl to her fucking slaughter! You can’t trick him, Flynn! He probably already knows what you have planned—whatever the fuck your plan is!”

  “Just trust me on this. I won’t let anything happen to Kelsey.”

  “And what about you?” I seethed. “When he finds out what you’re trying to do, he will kill you!”

  “He won’t kill me. I swear, Jayne, I’m trying to protect us both! I’m doing this to make you safe.”

  He was impossible. His head was in the right place, but I felt like he was counting on his father to have some humanity and loyalty, which he did not possess. That man was void of conscience. I saw it in his eyes, and I heard it in his voice. He would murder Flynn if he thought it would improve his chances of survival. He didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.

  “What does Vince say about this? Where is he?”

  I started to panic again. I hadn’t heard a word from Vince since he left the pool, and the fact that Flynn was the one to put Kelsey in her room filled me with another round of fear.

  “Don’t worry about Vince. He’s working on something, but he’ll be back in the morning.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that, either. “I can’t say anything to make you forget about this ridiculous plan?” I asked.

  “Baby, listen. This is it. The feds are aware of everything. I called my contact as soon as I got back to the room. They will have a team ready up north.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said, holding up my hand. “What do you mean up north?”

  “My mom talked him into going to the house up north. He’s already on his way up there.”

  “It’s a trap!” I snapped. “Don’t you see? He’s luring you up there, and it’s a damn trap!”

  “I have to take that chance. There’s no way around it. This has to end now, one way or another.”

  TWENTY-SIX

  I didn’t sleep a wink. I tossed and turned and stared at Flynn the entire night. It’s amazing what scenarios your mind can conjure up when your life is in limbo. There was no reason to fight the doom and gloom inside my brain.

  We were living in a nightmare. I couldn’t regret coming home, and I was home. Wherever Flynn was, that was home. Knowing there was a possibility that I could lose him was about the most terrifying thing I could imagine. The pain scorched my insides. I was breaking into pieces again, my heart and mind in a battle that both would lose. Someone I cared about would get hurt—it was inevitable. Even if they took Doyle down, we were all in for a lot of heartache.

  The sun set and lit up the room through the landscape window, and I finally pulled myself away from Flynn to start some coffee and shower before he woke.

  I still didn’t have all the details, and after talking well into the early morning, I had a feeling I wasn’t getting them. I fought fiercely to get him to take me along, but he wouldn’t budge.

  All he would tell me was that I was staying behind, and so was Vince. I couldn’t imagine Vince would take that lightly. No matter what he said or how he tried to act, he was into Kelsey. He genuinely cared about her. For him to allow Flynn to take her off into such a dangerous situation, he must have had complete faith in Flynn.

  I heard the bedroom door open and turned to face the wall. I wasn’t ready to face Flynn yet. There was a time bomb ticking, and with each second that passed, I was more and more anxious.

  “You almost done?”

  I ran my hair under the spray to wash out the shampoo and answered him over my shoulder. “Almost. I started coffee.”

  I went back to rinsing the lather from my hair, but I could feel his eyes on me through the glass. He didn’t attempt to join me, but I could tell he wanted to talk.

  As soon as I was free of soap, I turned off the water and finally turned around.

  He was leaning against the sink, legs crossed at the ankles and arms folded over his chest. I shivered. Looking at him standing there, so powerful and strong, made my heart leap. I couldn’t imagine not seeing that handsome face again. Just thinking about something happening to him—and not having his arms around me, not having him tease me, kiss me, or love me again—was unfathomable.

  “Don’t go,” I begged quietly.

  “Come on out and get dressed. I ordered breakfast to be delivered, and we’ll sit down and eat.”

  How could he be so calm? I couldn’t understand it.

  I climbed out, and he draped a towel around me and wrapped me up tight. He helped me into the bedroom and sat me on the bed
while he pulled some clothes out of the closet.

  My teeth chattered as I sat huddled on the bed in the towel. I didn’t want to move, afraid that everything I did pushed the inevitable forward.

  He laid a pair of shorts and a tank top next to me and went back to the closet, pulling out a small black suitcase and putting it in the middle of the bed. It felt like a bomb, torturing me with its presence. Quietly, he filled it with clothes, not looking at me while he worked.

  “Get dressed, Jayne. Vince and Kelsey will be here any minute. I need you to snap out of it.”

  “What happens to me if you’re gone? What will I do if something happens to you?”

  He slammed the suitcase closed and came around to stand in front of me. “Get dressed, and come into the front room when you’re done.”

  He walked out, and I let the sobs take over. Grabbing a pillow from the disheveled bed behind me, I turned and pressed my face into it and cried. I tried being strong. I tried understanding. There was just no fight left in me any longer. My entire life had been one battle after another. This was one fight that would end me. I was done.

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I heard the door open and footsteps enter the room. My heart seized in my chest, knowing I was out of time and he was leaving.

  “What are you doing?”

  I startled at the sound of Vince’s voice and turned over, wiping at my face. “Where’s Flynn?”

  “He’s in the other room. Listen, kid. You need to buck up and knock this shit off.”

  I glared at him. “Knock what off? My fucking heart is breaking. He’s going to get himself killed! You need to stop this! They’re both going to get hurt!”

  His jaw muscles ticked and his Adam’s apple jumped as he swallowed thickly. “No one will get hurt. You need to be brave, Jayne. You’re stronger than this.”

  I banged my fist against my chest and sat up on the bed. “Nothing has ever felt like this! Nothing!”

  His eyes softened. “Just be the girl I know you are, Jayne. You know what you need to do.”

  How could I, though? How could I go into that room and pretend everything was okay?

  “Throw on a dress and come out here. Eat some food, talk to Kelsey, and kiss your man before he leaves. He’s a mess, too. Think about it.”