Hart of Vengeance: The Hart Series

by Alexander, S. B.

  “I’ll take a caramel latte.” I’d never had a latte, but I loved caramel.

  The waitress collected the menus and moved on to her next table.

  Jade gathered her black hair and draped it over one shoulder. Her cheeks were rosy, but she didn’t have a scratch on her. Thank God. I would die if she had gotten hurt.

  I took a moment to scan every head in the restaurant even though the shooter had darted in the other direction. “We should be safe for the moment.” With the cops on the scene, I didn’t think the shooter would show his face, and we were far enough away that I wasn’t worried about anyone finding us.

  Jade drank more water. “We know now he wasn’t the FBI.”

  I shoved my hands through my hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown up at your work.”

  Her nose twitched as she pinned me with her sultry green eyes. “You’re not pulling that shit on me again. You’re not shutting me out.”

  I reached over and grasped her cold, soft fingers. “You’re not safe.”

  Her cheeks reddened. “You don’t know for sure if he was shooting at you.”

  I was more than certain that man had been trying to kill me. When I’d popped up to help the old lady, he’d fired again. “The dude who busted me up in prison said there’s a contract out on my head.”

  She gasped. “Who? Why?”

  “Tito Alvarez, my old boss’s brother. I suspect he doesn’t want me to see the light of day.”

  A crease formed in between her dark eyebrows, a sign I knew well. That meant she had a thousand thoughts going through her head. “Why wait six years?”

  That was the million-dollar question. “I haven’t figured that out yet.”

  “Do you know for sure it’s Tito Alvarez?” She twirled locks of her hair around her finger, and suddenly getting shot at took a back seat. I wanted to play with her hair like I’d done many times when we were lying on the grass at the local park, talking about nothing and everything.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure what I know except I didn’t kill Hector.”

  She held her head high. “I know.”

  I reared back. “Did Kelton find something to confirm I didn’t?”

  She leaned in, batting her lashes. “No, but I know you. You’ve done a ton of bad shit, but murder isn’t one of them.”

  My heart slammed into my ribs. If I wanted anyone to believe me, it was her.

  Jade’s gaze drifted from me to the window. “What if the person who killed your boss wants you dead so you don’t find out the truth?”

  “Tito wouldn’t off his own kin. The two were tight.” Although Hector had been known to take Tito down a notch in front of everyone, which hadn’t sat well with Tito. No matter how pissed off Tito had been at Hector, they were blood.

  “Costa specifically said Tito put a hit out on me.”

  She captured a nail in between her teeth. Suddenly, I wanted to be that nail. “What if the person trying to kill you wants you to believe it’s Tito?”

  Suddenly, Duke came to mind, and I ground my back teeth together.

  The waitress returned, setting the mugs down as a blender whirred behind the counter.

  Jade lifted her cup to her lips. “Your mind is going round and round.”

  The minute the strong espresso hit my tongue, a world of wow exploded in my mouth. The latte was rich, smooth, sweet, and was gold compared to the shit I’d had in prison. “I have so many things I want to do, but with the Feds wanting to shove me into a no-win situation—and now someone trying to kill me—I’m almost worse off now than before I went in.” Well, that wasn’t exactly true. I was free, and I was sitting across from a woman who held my heart in the palm of her hand. Those two things trumped the shit storm brewing around me.

  She kept her mug close to her lips. “Kelton will help you find who the real killer is.”

  Kelton, killers, and prison skipped town as my mind took a long hike back in time.

  “God, Jay,” I said through a pained breath. “You’re killing me with those lips.”

  She giggled as she continued to suck my cock in a janitor’s closet, dragging her nails over my balls.

  I groaned loudly.

  She batted her long lashes up at me. “Shh. Someone will hear us.”

  Like I gave a fuck. The students in the hall could watch for all I cared.

  Then she took me deeper, until my eyes rolled back in my head.

  I banged my fist on the wall I was leaning against and thrust my hips out. “Suck harder,” I growled.

  She waved a hand in front of me. “Denim, where did you go?”

  I sighed, relieved she couldn’t see the bulge in my jeans. Hell, if she hadn’t distracted me, I might’ve lost my load like a pubescent teenager.

  “So, are you dating?” I asked.

  Her cheeks flushed through the light amount of makeup she was wearing. “No one at the moment.”

  Maybe that guy in the lobby was someone she worked with.

  Thank you, universe.

  “What about you? Any dates in prison?” She stiffened as though she’d been thinking about those two questions but hadn’t meant to ask them out loud.

  I let out a belly laugh. “Would you be disappointed if I said yes?” I had hooked up with a nurse a time or two.

  Her face blossomed red. “Why would I care?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You followed me, got shot at, and you’re sitting here. So I would say you do.”

  She snarled, her nose twitching.

  I couldn’t help but smile. “You hate that I’m right.”

  She stuck out her tongue.

  I adjusted my dick.

  She was making it difficult for me not to leap over the table and take her in the booth. But the playfulness between us vanished when her phone rang.

  Sighing, she dove into her purse and plucked out her phone. “Hello.” The spark she’d had in her eyes a moment ago darkened. “Where? Of course. I’m on my way.” Her hand shook as she lowered the phone. “I gotta go. Savannah was medevacked to Mass General.”

  Holy shit! She didn’t have to tell me why. I knew all too well what happened in prison when men were sent to a civilian hospital.

  12

  Jade

  I paced a small area near the crowded waiting room. “Stupid me. Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I mumbled to myself as I bit my nails.

  After two hours of the whoosh of the sliding doors opening and closing, a baby wailing, a man moaning as he held his leg, and my pulse pounding in my ears, I wanted to scream.

  I had some patience, but not when Savannah’s life was hanging in the balance. My stomach was knotted, my head hurt, and I wanted to kick myself over and over again until I was black and blue.

  Savannah had been telling the truth. I didn’t know all the details, but what I’d learned so far was that she’d been severely beaten and was barely breathing. They’d rushed her into surgery, and she was still there.

  Why didn’t I believe her? Why didn’t I help her?

  I wiped a tear away, clutching my chest, willing my heart to stop hurting and racing. I felt as though I’d been crushed by a compactor that flattened cars. But nothing would take away the pain gripping me until I knew Savannah was okay. Even then I wasn’t sure I would get past the guilt, which was more maddening than the pain.

  With my attention on the shiny floor, I pivoted on my heel and resumed counting my steps, ten steps in one direction and ten in the other. Whenever I freaked out, I counted—sometimes to twenty and sometimes to fifty—but that day, ten was the magical number that kept me from screaming at the top of my lungs.

  When I reached nine, I plowed into a rock-solid body that felt like a brick wall. My nose hit Denim’s chest before he wrapped his fingers around my wrists. The clean, soapy scent of his button-up shirt invaded my nostrils, and I wanted to bury my nose deeper into him. Maybe I could snuggle into him just for a moment.

  “You need to relax,” he said in a raspy tone that I had mis
sed terribly.

  Regardless, what I needed was his muscled arms around me. I needed him to tell me everything was going to be okay. But Denim had never been one to lie or tell me what I wanted to hear. It didn’t matter what he said, though. He couldn’t break through the guilt that had me wanting to puke my guts out.

  I shrugged out of his hold and resumed my ten steps down toward the emergency exit doors and ten steps back.

  On my return, he tugged me to him and tipped up my chin with the knuckle of his forefinger. “I’m here for you.”

  My bottom lip trembled. He didn’t know how much that statement meant to me or how grateful I was that he was there with me. “Why?”

  He’d been a saint, holding my hand on the taxi ride from the coffee shop to the hospital. We hadn’t spoken in the taxi, and we hadn’t needed to. The light gentle circles he’d traced on my palm kept my madness at bay.

  He dragged his calloused fingers up my cheek and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Because you need a friend, love.”

  Love. His pet name for me was new. In high school, he’d called me baby or baby doll. I shouldn’t complain, but I wasn’t a fan of the pet name. The word “love” evoked too much heartache for me. Yet what had me looking away was the pity in his eyes.

  I didn’t know what I hated more, the word “love” or his pity.

  Nevertheless, I was ready to bawl my eyes out, and not only for Savannah, but for the memory of Denim walking away.

  My pulse beat a furious rhythm in my ears. Pound. Boom. Pound.

  He guided my face back to look at him. “Hey.”

  A tear slid down my cheek. “Don’t, Denim.”

  Cocking his head, he slid his hand around my waist until his palm was seated on my lower back. The heat of his hand penetrated through my clothes, and a string of tingles zipped down my body from my head to my toes.

  He hauled me to him until our chests mashed together. “Don’t what?”

  I shrugged. I didn’t know how to answer him or if I wanted to open a door that had been closed for years.

  His sexy looks, gentle touches, and caring personality were making it extremely difficult to keep that door shut tight. Plus, his growing erection was pressing into me and creating heat so strong that it dampened my panties.

  Damn him.

  For so long, I’d wanted him in my life. I had wanted to feel him against me, feel his breath tickle my ear, and take in his manly scent, which had been a mixture of sandalwood and cherries. I smiled at the latter. He’d always washed his hair with his sister’s fruity shampoo.

  His lips grazed my ear. “You should smile more, Jade. You’re beautiful, especially when you blush.”

  I was more than blushing. Goose bumps popped up along my arms as butterflies fluttered in my stomach. God, I hadn’t had this light-headed feeling in forever.

  Don’t get lost in his charm. You know what happens.

  My heart couldn’t afford to get drunk on his words. Besides, I was there for Savannah not to fall back in love. I took one step back.

  His hand caught mine. “Please.” That one word held an ocean of need.

  I inched back another step. “I need to sit down.” Or run as far away as I can.

  He let me go, dejection washing over him.

  I mentally shook off the urge to throw myself at him as I found an empty seat in the back of the room. Sitting, I captured a nail in my mouth.

  Denim followed, folding his hot and muscled body into the chair next to me. When his leg brushed mine, heat surged up my thigh and settled in the exact spot that was throbbing furiously.

  Clenching my legs together, I scanned the room for nothing more than to distract my brain from fantasizing about a quick tryst with him in a closet somewhere in the hospital, much like we had done a few times in high school.

  He leaned in. “Remember the janitor’s closet?”

  My jaw nearly hit my lap. “Oh my God. What made you think of that?”

  He chuckled loud and free. “I’ve been replaying that day over and over since I saw you in prison. And if I’m correct, you were thinking about it too. Weren’t you?”

  Hell yeah. I’m thinking about how I gave you the best blow jobs ever and how we couldn’t get enough of each other.

  “No.” My voice cracked.

  His grin was evil and wicked. “Right. Your cheeks are so red, Jade. You want me as bad as I want you.”

  My gaze dropped to his groin, but he had his hands in his lap. I would bet a million dollars those hands were covering the bulge in his jeans.

  He laughed again.

  The crying baby was off the charts, so the mom popped out of her chair, coddling her child.

  The crying sound was what I’d needed to switch gears. “Do inmates pay for protection?” I whispered.

  Denim lost his smirk. “Can’t we talk about the janitor’s closet?”

  I understood that he was as horny as a dog in heat. Heck, it was his first day out. Then I sucked in a sharp breath. “That advice you said you wanted—does it have anything to do with getting laid?”

  He arched a brow while one corner of his lips turned upward. “Are you hoping that’s why I showed up to see you?”

  A delicious shiver racked my body. Yes. “No.”

  “Liar.”

  I sighed and looked away. Otherwise, I would jump on his lap or find a closet. “Tell me about prison life.” Sex with Denim was a great distraction, but talking about it wasn’t for prying ears.

  He gently pulled my hand from my mouth. “You still bite your nails.”

  I pushed out a shoulder. “Don’t change the subject.” Now I sounded like Mallory.

  Draping an arm around the back of my chair, he leaned in. “I’d rather talk about sex.”

  I crossed one leg over the other and squirmed in my seat.

  “I’m getting to you,” he whispered, sniffing my hair. “You still smell like the beach. Mmm. I could—”

  I pushed him away or tried to.

  He didn’t move, licking his lips as he studied me. No doubt he was thinking of me and him having sex. Oh my.

  Stop torturing yourself, Jade.

  I cleared my throat, trying to remember what I’d asked him and came up empty. “It’s my fault Savannah is fighting for her life.”

  He stiffened. “Why do you always blame yourself when it comes to her? You did that in high school. It drove me insane then, and it still does.” His husky tone turned flat. “Your sister is her own person. You can’t change her.”

  I stuck out my chin. “She wanted money for protection. I didn’t know whether to believe her. She begged me to ask Duke.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a Duke fan.”

  He dragged a hand along his stubbled jaw. “Anyone inside has to watch their back. It’s not that much different in prison than on the streets. Gangs, power plays, and enemies exist inside. It’s worse, though. Out here”—he waved a hand at the window behind us—"you can run and hide. Inside, you have nowhere to run except behind a person you trust to have your back.”

  Well, crap. “Did you need protection?”

  “I wouldn’t say protection, but in the event I did, I bartered with a gang leader.”

  Savannah hadn’t been lying to me.

  You can’t beat yourself up. You don’t know anything about prison. And let’s not forget that it’s hard to trust someone who has repeatedly lied to you.

  The one time I chose not to believe her, and now she was fighting to breathe.

  Denim twirled my hair around his finger. “Are you in there?”

  I inhaled a quiet breath. “So if it’s not sex you want, then how can I help you?”

  He nipped at my ear. “Sex is always on the table.”

  I huffed. “Let’s be serious.”

  He moved back until two inches were between us. “I am serious.” His playful tone vanished as he pouted. “But I get it.” He sighed.

  The double doors into t
he hub of the emergency room opened, and a petite nurse came out. “Jade Kelly?” She scanned the room.

  I vaulted off the chair, over Denim, and ran up to the nurse. “I’m Jade.”

  “Your sister made it through surgery but isn’t out of the woods yet,” the cute brunette nurse said. “The doctor will fill you in. Follow me.”

  I rushed up to Denim, threw my arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

  He stiffened as though he hadn’t been expecting my affection, or maybe he didn’t want me to feel his semi-erection. “No problem.”

  I broke away to find an unsettled look in his blue depths. It was the same expression he’d had the day he broke up with me. As soon as I walked away, I had the feeling that I would never see him again, and my stomach hurt at the notion. But I couldn’t let my heart feel for him. I couldn’t let him destroy me like he had in high school.

  I would like to believe I was stronger now. Yet no matter how strong I was when it came to Denim Hart, he knew how to spin his seductive and charming web around me.

  13

  Denim

  I watched her walk away with the nurse, and as soon as the double doors closed, I felt as though she’d just ripped out my heart. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why. Maybe because she was over me as evidenced by the peck on the cheek.

  The day was ending on a fucked-up note. I’d lost the high I’d been on when I left prison. I’d lost that euphoric sensation of feeling as free as a bird.

  Now I felt trapped, lost, and confused. Plus, I was about to blow a gasket if I didn’t get answers or get laid. I knew the latter wasn’t happening anytime soon because the only woman I wanted was Jade.

  Threading my fingers through my hair, I turned, absently scanning the room as I considered my next move. I could head to Dillon’s or finally try to get answers from Duke. Maybe I could at least find out why he hadn’t paid me a visit while I’d been inside.

  My brain hadn’t processed either option when I spied a man sitting in the far corner of the waiting room, sporting a red ball cap that looked similar to the one the shooter had been wearing.