Hart of Vengeance: The Hart Series

by Alexander, S. B.

  Dillon choked out a laugh. “He will.”

  The elevator dinged just before the door slid open.

  Perfect timing.

  Duke strutted in. His light-brown hair was slicked back, his jaw was clean-shaven, and he was wearing his normal scowl. He headed for the kitchen, loosening his tie.

  I balled my hands into fists as I stalked toward him. “Did you want me to die? Tito was about to put a bullet in my head, man.” Steam filtered out of my nose.

  Dillon rushed up and blocked me. “Fighting will get us nowhere.”

  Duke opened the fridge door. “Tito wasn’t going to kill you. He’s bragging that you’re going to get him a spot in my organization, though.” He punctuated the word “my.”

  Fucking Tito.

  Growling, I went over to the island.

  Dillon trailed, staying close, making sure I didn’t lash out at our brother. I wanted to, but Dillon was right as always. Fighting only led to bloodshed and two pissed off brothers, and we needed to figure out how to deal with Tito. Then Duke and I could work out our differences.

  Duke carried three bottles of beer over and set them on the marble counter. “Denim, how are you going to do that?” He sounded genuinely curious, not condescending or patronizing.

  Dillon slid onto a stool, taking a beer.

  “If we don’t give the fucker what he wants, he will kill me.”

  Duke twisted the cap off his bottle. “None of my associates want to deal with Tito Alvarez.”

  I sat next to Dillon. “They don’t have to.” I held up my hand before he cut me off. “Hear me out. The FBI has a hard-on for you. They think that because I’m your brother, you’ll divulge your business dealings about gun trafficking or whatever it is you’re doing.”

  Duke sipped on his beer. His face was expressionless. He just sat attentive and quiet as a mouse, which was kind of unnerving. He reminded me of our old man, who would always listen to our excuses when we did something wrong. Then after we’d finished talking, our old man would strike with a belt, his hand, or a beer bottle. Whatever he had close by was what he’d used to beat us.

  “I informed Agent Travers earlier that I would get him someone other than you. What if we gave them Tito? Tito mentioned he can throw you a big bone to gain your trust. Let’s meet with him and hear what he has to say. Then we can formulate a plan from there.”

  I gave myself a mental high five. For one, Duke wasn’t kicking us out or yelling. He wasn’t being an ass, and he seemed like the Duke I knew before I’d gone to prison.

  Duke pulled off his tie, nodding. “I would like nothing more than to get that bastard out of my way and my life.”

  I would second that. Jade and I didn’t need to be running forever and always looking over our shoulders.

  Duke set his beer down. “I need to get out of this suit. Then we can talk through some scenarios and set up a meeting.”

  That had seemed too easy.

  “Cool,” I said. “Agent Travers gave me a week. We need to act fast. Otherwise, the offer to clear my record vanishes.” I sighed. “Oh, and he mentioned he might arrest you. I suspect he was just trying to get a rise out of me, though.”

  Duke didn’t flinch. “He can’t. He doesn’t have shit on me.”

  “Are you sure?” Dillon asked. “I would hate to see my other brother go to prison. That shit is getting old.”

  Amen to that.

  “The Feds could raid me now, and they won’t find a fucking thing. If they think they have something, then the most damage they could do is hold me for questioning.” Duke spoke every word with confidence.

  The Feds wouldn’t arrest Duke unless they had something concrete. If he wasn’t worried, I wasn’t either. Besides, I had my own shit to deal with, and knowing Travers, he was probably pissed he had no control over me. So he’d thrown out an idle threat to see if I would bite.

  Duke unbuttoned his shirt. “Denim, it’s best if you stay out of this. I can handle Tito. You’ve been through enough.”

  My heart tripped at his last line. He did care. It was the perfect opportunity to ask him why he hadn’t visited me in prison, but I didn’t want to get off track, and part of me knew when I finally got him to tell me, I wasn’t going to like his answer.

  “I need to be involved. If things go south, he’s coming after me, Jade, and those I love.” It was up to me to make sure I protected Jade.

  Dillon took a swig of beer and played his ace card. “That means Grace, bro.” His tone was soft, calm, and packed a wicked punch.

  Duke went ramrod straight and paled for a mere second before he banked his emotions. It was good to see him react even if it was fleeting.

  “I’ll be right back,” Duke said as he headed down the hall.

  “I should get the ball rolling and call Tito.”

  Dillon slid his phone over to me. “Use mine. I know you don’t have one anymore.”

  I hadn’t had a chance to get a new one since Tito cut me loose.

  I wasn’t sure if Tito had the same cell number he’d had when I’d last been a free man, but I gave it a shot.

  Tito answered on the first ring. “Who’s this?”

  I put the call on speaker. “Duke is willing to listen.” I pictured the twisted look on his face as surprise barreled through him. If I knew Tito, he hadn’t had faith I would come through.

  After two beats of silence, he said, “You work fast, Hart.”

  “I want you off my ass. Do you have a problem with that?”

  Tito growled. “I liked you better before you got all reformed.”

  He liked me better when I was obeying his brother and following orders, or better yet when his brother would put him in charge.

  “Do you want in or not? Because this is your only chance.”

  “Fucker,” he mumbled. “Give me two days.”

  I was tempted to use Travers’s line and tell him he had one, but I had some things to take care of, including getting Jade from the hospital and to a safe place. “Do you have that big bone I suggested?”

  “That’s none of your concern,” he said in disgust.

  “I beg to differ. My ass is on the line here, and I need to prep Duke. If your bone doesn’t involve guns, Duke walks.” I assumed Tito knew that, but I wasn’t taking a chance. He had mentioned the Colombian cartel, drugs, and guns. But Travers wanted guns.

  “I know what Duke and his associates are looking for, asshole. I’m not a fucking idiot. We’ll be in touch.” The line went dead.

  Duke strutted in and resumed his spot across the island from Dillon and me.

  “Tito wants to meet in two days,” I said. “And it seems he’s working on a gun deal.”

  Duke’s eyebrows climbed to his hairline. “Is that so?”

  Dillon picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Why are you surprised?”

  “Tito only deals drugs,” Duke said. “Unless…”

  “Well, the suspense is killing me,” I said.

  Duke took a swig of his beer. “McCauley and I believe Tito has been trying to broker a deal with the Mexican cartel to get a foothold in the gun trade.”

  “Does your organization deal in just guns?” I asked. I’d never known Duke to dabble in drugs.

  Duke gave me a cocky grin. “Sorry, bro. The less you know, the better.”

  He was probably right. With my luck, the Feds would string me up and torture me until I talked.

  Dillon nursed his beer. “We’ll meet with Tito, find out what he has, and then what?”

  “You’re not coming,” I said.

  Dillon narrowed his brown eyes. “Fuck if I’m not.”

  Duke raised his voice. “Boys.”

  As if Dillon and I were teenagers again, we snapped our attention to Duke, ready to obey him.

  “The only thing we can do for now is listen to Tito,” Duke said.

  I bounced my knee. “The Feds were very specific on getting info on a gun shipment.”

  Duke bit his lip. “Chill.
I’m sure if Tito wants in as bad as he says, he’ll deliver that. It might not be within a week. All you need to do, Denim, is keep the Feds informed. If they know there’s a big carrot at the end of the road, they’ll wait.”

  Duke’s patience was admirable. Mine, on the other hand, sucked the big one at the moment. “Why are you so calm?”

  “I’m five steps ahead of the Feds. I know they’ve been watching me. I’m just as anxious to get Tito off my back as you are. If I don’t, there’ll be an all-out war on the streets between the Colombian and Mexican cartels. The Colombians don’t like when anyone moves in on their territory, and they’ve carved out one in this city. I, for one, don’t want to see that happen. So we need to practice patience.”

  “I don’t care about a war. I care about Jade and Grace and staying alive.” I wanted to say I was in this predicament because of Duke. The bullet Jade had taken was because of Duke. But pissing Duke off any further would only alienate him, and I needed him.

  Duke’s face darkened. “I’m well aware of the stakes. But going off half-cocked isn’t going to accomplish anything. How many times have I taught you that?”

  I didn’t have a comeback, and frankly, he was in charge and had been at the criminal game longer than I had.

  Silence bounced around the room until Dillon spoke. “Do you think Tito had Savannah killed?”

  Duke’s hardcore exterior crumbled into a look I couldn’t put my finger on.

  Tito had hired Costa to kill me. So it was possible he’d hired someone to kill Savannah.

  “You loved her,” Dillon said as a matter of fact. Of course Dillon would see what I couldn’t.

  Duke skirted the island and slowly walked in the direction of the bar as though his legs were trembling.

  Dillon and I looked at each other, and I shrugged. Dillon nodded, confirming he was right.

  A minute or two ticked by before Duke returned with a full glass of bourbon. Whatever emotions we’d seen in him a moment ago had been banked. I zeroed in on his eyes, but they were clear. I’d never seen my brother shed a tear in his life, and true to form, he wasn’t now. But he was wrestling with something heavy. Our reunion the other night was beginning to make sense.

  Duke had never been one to tell us his feelings. Even when he was dating Savannah, he’d never displayed affection toward her around me. He wasn’t one to show how jealous he was or how in love he was. He always kept women at arm’s length.

  I wasn’t a doctor, but I would guess his women issues might stem from our mother abandoning us. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if our old man was rubbing off on him too. I’d been at Duke’s twice since getting out of prison, and both times, he was sucking down the alcohol like it was water.

  Duke set his glass down on the island, drilling his gaze into me.

  “What?” I asked.

  He sighed as he shoved his hands through his hair. “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

  I wasn’t sure how the love he had for Savannah would upset me unless he was about to tell me he was in love with Jade. Come to think of it, that look he’d had a moment ago was the same look he’d had when Jade stormed in the other night to tear him a new one.

  Without breaking eye contact with me, he said, “I think I know who killed Hector.”

  Well, fuck me. I had things all wrong.

  My jaw practically slammed onto the counter. My brain suddenly froze into one solid piece of ice with one thought—I had spent six fucking years in the joint, and my brother knew who’d killed Hector. A sharp pain ricocheted through my chest.

  Dillon swung his gaze like lightning from me to Duke. “Talk, man. Or Denim is going to use your head as a punching bag. I might too.”

  I hopped off the stool, ready to send my eldest brother through the fucking window. Instead, I took a breath and blinked several times to get rid of that vision as I clenched my hands into fists. I was seething, breathing hard, and began pacing.

  “Savannah was at Hector’s the night he was killed,” Duke said evenly.

  My pulse pounded in my ears. Savannah? I knew she’d done drugs, but I didn’t know she’d bought from Hector. I sure as hell hadn’t sold to her. When I’d dated Jade, I had promised her I wouldn’t sell to Savannah, and I never had.

  Duke sighed. “I didn’t know she’d been there until two months ago. She called from prison, begging me for money. I knew if I didn’t at least talk to her, she would continue to call me. So I went to see her. I told her you might be getting out, and she cried. She said you should’ve never been sent to prison.” He swallowed. “Then she told me what she saw that night.”

  Madness enveloped me. My head was spinning. My blood was boiling. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands just to be sure I was still alive.

  “She’d just entered Hector’s building when she heard a gunshot,” Duke said. “Scared, she bolted and hid in the shadows across the street. She didn’t want anyone to see her. A few minutes later, she saw Tito leave the building.”

  I stopped pacing, and every limb in my body locked up tightly.

  What the fuck? What the actual fuck?

  My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and something large and sandy was lodged in my throat. Savannah could’ve saved me from going to prison, or at the very least, my case wouldn’t have been so open and shut.

  I swished saliva from side to side to get my tongue working.

  “Who else knows this?” Dillon asked.

  There was no way Jade knew. She would’ve forced Savannah to go to the cops with that information. Or maybe she wouldn’t have. She hated me for leaving her.

  Duke shrugged. “As far as I know, no one but her and now me.”

  I was breathing fire. My mind tried to form a coherent thought other than a jumbled mess of speculation and revenge. In that moment, my veins burned like an inferno because I wanted so badly to put a bullet into Tito’s head.

  Hold up. You don’t know if he actually did it.

  Something careened through me, thawing my brain. “Why do the Feds think you were at Hector’s that night? Is that fact or fiction?”

  Duke didn’t flinch. “I have no idea. Savannah did have my car that night. Maybe the Feds reopened your case, knowing you were up for parole, and wanted to get you to help them. They discovered that tidbit and used it to get you all fired up.” He took a breath. “Besides, if I was there and someone saw me and told the cops or Feds, they would’ve questioned me around the time of the murder. No one did.”

  I set my jaw, trying to figure out if he was telling me the truth. “You told me you believed I killed Hector.” The heated words we’d exchanged during our reunion were flashing like a neon sign before me.

  “You pissed me off,” Duke said as a matter of fact. “I swear on Grace’s life I didn’t kill Hector.”

  Dillon regarded me. “He’s telling the truth.”

  I studied Duke. He didn’t have that cold scowl, but rather he had a pleading look. Given the way he’d paled when Dillon had thrown out Grace’s name earlier, I knew he wouldn’t use Grace as a crutch to lie.

  I grabbed the back of my neck as I returned to my seat. “Tito set me up. Motherfucker. And I bet he paid the neighbor to take a hike or worse, killed her, so she wouldn’t tag him for the murder. Yet I’m curious why Savannah didn’t come clean when it happened. Her testimony could’ve saved my ass.”

  “She was afraid for her life,” Duke said.

  “So it makes sense, then, that Tito had Savannah killed in prison,” Dillon added.

  Duke dragged a hand along his jaw. “Maybe, but not because she saw him. Otherwise, he would’ve killed her six years ago.”

  “Not unless he found out recently,” I said. “Prisons are notorious for eavesdroppers. Anyone could’ve overheard your conversation.”

  Regardless of our speculation, one thing was certain—Tito was going down. And I knew exactly what I had to do.

  26

  Jade

  I set my bag on a
queen bed in Duke’s guest room.

  Denim had convinced me I would have full reign of the penthouse without Duke, and honestly, I hadn’t protested much. Coupled with Savannah’s death and getting shot, I felt like a rag doll. I was surprised I’d made it from the cab into the elevator and then into the penthouse. If it weren’t for Denim holding me, I might’ve collapsed.

  Clutching my chest, I sat down on the plush mattress. The doctor had cleared me to go home with the caveat that I take it slow. I’d learned the bullet had hit a muscle above my right breast. He’d said muscles take longer to heal. His parting words were, “Only do what you can.”

  I didn’t need to do much in the way of physical activity, except I needed a shower desperately. I’d been a bit embarrassed to be so close to Denim. My body needed a good scrubbing, and my hair needed to be washed a hundred times to get all the oil out of it. But a shower might have to wait. I wanted to sleep. I’d taken a pain pill before I left the hospital. I gently eased back in bed until my head was on the pillow. Maybe I could catch a quick nap before Denim returned.

  He had a meeting with Kelton and errands he had to take care of. He’d promised I was safe in the penthouse. I wasn’t afraid. Heck, I was too tired to be frightened.

  “If you need me, I left my new cell number on the kitchen counter,” Denim had said. “Duke’s number is there too. He’s staying at The Monarch.”

  I didn’t care where Duke was as long as he wasn’t in my face. I was beyond angry with him for what had happened to Savannah. A sharp pain stabbed my heart every time I thought about her. I kicked myself in the ass for not trying harder to help her.

  I knew Savannah would have never straightened up or changed unless she admitted she had problems—drugs, lying, stealing, and of course, Duke Hart. He hadn’t killed her, but he’d had an indirect hand in her demise. I would never forgive him, which might pose a problem if I decided to take Denim back.

  I would be lying if I said I didn’t want Denim. More than anything, I wanted us to pick up where we’d left off. I wanted to kiss him again. I wanted to start a family with him.

  He was right. We didn’t need to play games. We both knew each other. We both knew what we wanted. So why shouldn’t I give us another chance?