Harden Gage was hot, though. Extremely well-built, his expensive suits emphasized instead of hid a ridiculous amount of muscles. He wore no jewelry except for a watch and a gold pinky ring on his right hand. Plus, he smelled fantastic. A mix of his cologne and his natural male scent. Whew! Every woman in the club would climb over glass shards to get in his bed.
Another time, another place, Jentry, possibly, would have counted into that cattle call. Now, her priorities lay with the bundle in her arms and a dose of common sense. Harden Gage was a minefield only the bravest tried to cross. Jentry was many things, but brave was not included in the tally.
All of that traipsed through her head at light speed while he watched her, waiting for her to finish her damn sentence. “Where are we going?”
He frowned. “Did you hear nothing I said at the club?”
She swallowed nervously. “Sorry. Calista started ordering me around and everything went red.”
She expected him to be furious, not throw back his head and laugh. “Oil and water, huh?”
“Fire and gasoline. It’s that way with most of my family.”
“Family. They are not all they’re cracked up to be.” She couldn’t believe he understood. He leaned back in the seat and relaxed, which made her relax.
He hadn’t answered her question, she noted and decided not to push her luck. Relaxing into the leather seat, she let her mind drift, which wasn’t easy when her entire life was in chaos. It was all too much.
“You’re a tad young to have family drama.” His voice filled the silence.
Expecting to find him staring, she cranked her head to the right. Gaze fixed forward, he stared at the back of Bruno’s head.
There were a ton of ways to answer that question. “Running away from home because you’re madly in love and returning six months later, five months pregnant…” Those hadn’t been good days. “Family drama is the least of it.” She ended with a murmur.
“The father. Where is he?”
Jentry shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. I haven’t seen him since I ran back home.” Lie. She knew exactly where he was, and may he rot in hell even though it wasn’t long enough.
“Good.” His tone was sharp. “The apartment I’m graciously letting you stay at has a no visitor rule.”
No visitors. No problem. Anyway, it wasn’t as if she had any real visitors to invite over. Jane had visited once. One glance at the disgust on her face and Jentry never invited her bougie sister back. Josette stopped by at the beginning of the school year and hadn’t been back since. And Jesenia, she did whatever Mom and Jane said. And as for male visitors, she’d already been fucked, abused, and dumped. It was a hard lesson to learn but learn it she had. “Yes, Mr. Gage.” He’d have no problems from her.
It didn’t take long for them to drive into a garage beneath a glass and steel skyscraper on the waterfront in Battery Park. They took a secure elevator to the penthouse level. A man dressed in livery met them when the doors opened.
“Good morning, sir. Everything Mr. Nerriti requested has been prepared.”
The English accent sealed the deal. Harden Gage had a butler.
“Thanks. Gerard, meet Jentry Playne.”
“Evening, madame.” Gerard gave her a crisp bow. “If you would please follow me, I’ll take you to the apartment I’ve prepared for you.”
They passed a set of double doors labeled penthouse one. Harden’s apartment, she guessed since a bodyguard was stationed there. Gerard stopped in front of a door three doors down on the other side of the hallway and punched a code into the electronic lock.
To say an apartment in Battery Park—on the same floor as Harden’s penthouse suite—was a step up didn’t do it justice. Everything was clean and modern. The furniture was wheat colored with mahogany trim. The tables, glass with sharp edges. The knickknacks, expensive and breakable.
Thank God Allie wasn’t walking yet. There wasn’t anything in the entire building Jentry could afford.
Gerard led her on a quick walkthrough of the luxury apartment, showing off the many amenities. The bedrooms were large enough to hold a rave inside with room to spare. Her entire apartment could’ve fit into the walk-in closet.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to procure a crib on short notice. I will endeavor to do so later today.” He gave both Jentry and Harden a short bow and headed for the door.
“Thanks,” she called after him and received a smile. Then he was gone, leaving her alone with Harden.
“No one gets on this floor without my permission. You and the kid’ll be safe here. Anything you need, ask Gerard. Penthouse One.” He paused, seemed to want to say more, then thought better of it. “You good?” The concern in his voice was apparent.
Strange surroundings. Stranger circumstances. I guess so. “Yes, sir.”
Brow furrowed, eyes narrowing to slits, he frowned at her again. Her insides churned, not quite in fear. Some other emotion she was afraid to name tweaked her senses.
His phone rang. He didn’t break his hold on her until the cell was in his palm. Then, his frown deepened, and fury flashed over his face, turning him into something frightening. He glanced away but she was stuck, glued to the spot by sudden fear, yet grateful whatever shredded his mood was not her doing.
He looked up, locked on her once more, then turned slowly, his gaze remaining on her until the last second. Then…Harden Gage was gone, storming from her temporary home, slamming the door after his exit, and leaving her alone.
Chapter Three
“Where?” Harden demanded, his steps eating the distance between Jentry’s new apartment and the elevator back to the garage. The text from Nick said C-RED. Code for fire. Meaning something valuable had burned or was burning. Something of his had went up in flames.
“Yonkers warehouse.”
The guns. Damn. The elevator opened. He stepped inside and waited until it closed to punch the nearest wall. The ache in his knuckles grounded him and helped relieve the ache in his cock. He’d had a semi from the moment she walked into the room with Julius and Calista in attendance demanding she leave with them. Her refusal, oh that was a thing of beauty. She was fearless, adamant, aggressive… and stunning. Her anger fed his lust which he barely managed to hide.
Not from Julius, though. That bastard knew. If Harden had a decent bone in his body he would’ve acquiesced and let her leave with her cousin, his former employee. But he didn’t have a decent bone in his body, not when it came to what he wanted.
And he wanted… Fuck. Now wasn’t the time to think of a woman. A mother. He didn’t screw women with kids. They tended to want a daddy for their brats, and he wasn’t daddy material.
“Who’s there?” Harden asked on the way to the car.
“The usual.”
Nick, Pavel, and Leonid. They talked in code. Elevators and cars could be bugged. Any place you didn’t have twenty-four-hour control over was suspect. In his business, one couldn’t be too careful, proven by his brother’s imprisonment on a weapons charge. Colin wouldn’t be locked up forever. His parole was up for review in two months.
Harden gritted his teeth. The ever-present concern about his brother slithered to the forefront of his mind. Just like him, Colin was hard to kill, unfortunately. But not impossible. Whether by his hand or a long-range bullet, Colin was a dead man as soon as he cleared the last set of prison bars and breathed free air.
He twisted the ring on the fourth finger of his right hand. Old and chunky, the gold and emerald ring wasn’t his style. That wasn’t the reason he faithfully wore it.
“When was the last time the cars were swept?” Harden asked as they reached the garage.
“Yesterday,” Bruno answered.
Harden grunted his approval. The varied routine kept everyone on their toes. With the warehouse burning, the feds might come sniffing, if they weren’t already.
Four more of his men were waiting next to an older model Lexus SUV and Land Cruiser. Harden and Bruno took the Lexus. He
didn’t need anyone else with him.
They headed out into the predawn streets and got to Yonkers in record time. He smelled the smoke before he saw the flashing lights. Two fire trucks and six police cars.
They parked four blocks away. A duffle bag in the trunk provided a change of clothing. Five-thousand-dollar suits and cashmere coats were replaced with hoodies, bomber jackets, track pants, and sneakers. The groups scattered, and from different directions, they closed in on the scene, blending in with the onlookers. It didn’t take long for Harden to bump into Nick.
Dressed similarly with a ball cap pulled low over his dark hair and brow, Nick tipped his head in acknowledgement. To anyone watching, they were rubbernecking strangers.
Same height and build, yet night and day in appearance. Same temperament, but where Harden had friends outside their intimate circle, Nicolas Wright had none. His choice. He claimed he didn’t need anyone, and in the ten years they’d partnered as boss and underboss, Nick hadn’t lied. He made Emmet look like a socialite.
“What do you know?”
Nick took his time answering. “I know our men are dead. Four.”
“You sure?” If they weren’t dead, they were gonna wish they were when he caught up with them.
“We’ll know when the firemen clear the building.” He paused for a swig of water. “The building had cameras. The feed’s offsite. Not safe here to view it. Tomorrow.”
Bruno came up on Harden’s left. “Someone talked. We need to find out who.” Together, all three watched the firemen scurry to and fro.
“And how much they spilled. This building or others?” Nick said.
Fuck. “We have a lot of hardware to move.” Harden pulled out one of his burner phones. Time to round up the troops, something he should’ve done the second he got the text.
“Already taken care of.” Nick took another swig of water. “It’s gonna be a busy night. I’ll meet you at the harbor.” He walked away without further comment.
“Retaliation?” Bruno murmured.
Harden’s heart beat in anticipation. His hands clenched in preparation. “Was there any doubt?”
A smile ghosted across Bruno’s lips. His eagerness mimicking Harden’s. “None at all.
Chapter Four
Jentry had to go. She started work in one hour and she had no babysitter. Harden had fired Mrs. Francis as if he hired her. So, what do I do now? She couldn’t go against him, but even if she could, it was too late to haul Allie to Queens and return in time to start her shift. What choice did she have when the bottom line was she had to work? She didn’t presume to think he would just hand her a paycheck. Not that she would mind being handed money. But not from Harden Gage.
Hell. Not from any man.
No one did anything for free. She was in enough debt to the man, and it wasn’t even her fault. Allie babbled, drawing her mother’s attention. Dressed in a onesie with unicorns and butterflies, she watched her mother from the center of the king-size bed. Pillows surrounded her, but last week she’d learned how to crawl. Any second, Allie would figure out the fort Jentry had built to protect her from falling off the bed wasn’t an impenetrable barrier.
To hell with this. Jentry picked Allie up and propped her on her hip. Together, they headed to the front door. She paused in the doorway at the sight of a man guarding the penthouse. Without a choice, and fighting her nerves, she stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. The guard had eyes on her the entire time she approached.
“Who are you?” He demanded when she halted in front of the double doors. His eyes scanned her, invasive enough for her to feel his touch on her breasts and digging between her thighs. Ugh! She needed another shower.
“I’m Jentry. I need to speak to Mr. Gerard.”
The guard grunted, and his gaze settled on Allie. “Didn’t know the boss screwed black chicks. That his kid?”
“No.” She gritted the word out between clenched teeth.
“Didn’t think so. That kid don’t look white enough.”
Jentry let that idiotic statement slide because she had to address his other comment. “I’m not screwing Mr. Gage.”
His brow shot up. “I was told he had a guest. Thought it was someone important.” His lips curled with scorn. “If you ain’t screwing him, why are you here?”
Fuck you. I’m worth more than what’s between my legs. It was a hard lesson to learn, one her mother had struggled to teach her, but learn it she did.
“If Mr. Gage didn’t tell you why I am here, neither should I.”
By the flare of his nostrils and his brow dropping low over his widely spaced eyes, he didn’t like her answer. “Mr. Gage is busy.”
“I didn’t ask to speak to Mr. Gage. I asked to speak to Mr. Gerard.”
“He’s busy too. Go back to your temporary hotel room. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
The elevator opened, and two men exited. She knew them by sight. Pavel Kureyev and Leonid Markovich. Two lieutenants of Harden Gage. They came into Catalyst, sat in the reserved booth in the back, ate quietly, and tipped well. From what she’d heard, they eschewed the lower levels. They came, ate, spent time with Harden and Bruno, then left. Low-key. Didn’t mean they weren’t deadly. There were whispers. Women gossiped. So did men. Pavel and Leonid had just as much blood on their hands as their boss.
Both studied her and Allie. Bug, meet magnifying glass. How was it possible to work at a job for four months, fly completely under the radar, and end up here? Fucking Calista and her bullshit had dragged Jentry and Allie into this mess.
Pavel leaned toward Allie, making a silly face, earning a grin from her daughter. It was the strangest thing, a most unexpected thing she’d done in a day of unexpected things.
Then Allie topped it. Usually shy and standoffish, she actually stretched out her arms for Pavel to take her. Seemed like her daughter had inherited her mother’s questionable taste in men, regardless of how fine they were. Make no mistake, the two men in front of her were fine. Leonid was lean, like a middleweight boxer, with jet black hair and deep blue eyes. Pavel was taller, broader, built similar to Bruno with lighter brown hair on his head and a dusting on his cheeks and jaw. His gray eyes drew the women in like bees to honey.
Allie, the hussy, lunged for Pavel. He caught her easily and lifted her in his arms. She was tiny in his hands as he held her aloft, making funny faces. Then even smaller when he settled her in the crux of his arm and against his chest. Her daughter seemed quite content while her mother waited for the questions she knew were coming.
“Who are you?” Leonid asked, more politely than the asshole guarding Harden’s front door.
“What a pretty girl.” Pavel oohed and aahed, and Allie loved it.
Attention divided between her daughter and Leonid, she started to answer, “I’m—”
“Nobody.” The guard beat her to the punch.
“A nobody is on this floor where Harden lives?” Leonid’s voice took on a not-so-subtle edge.
“Where he owns all the apartments on both levels?” Pavel added while entertaining Allie.
“Oh…well…sh-she said she was a guest of Mr. Gage,” the guard answered.
“Then why is she still standing in the hallway?” Leonid turned to Pavel. “Is this asshole one of yours?”
With Allie’s fingers in his mouth, Pavel shook his head.
“Sir, I told her Mr. Gage was busy,” the guard said.
“Did he tell you to say that?” Leonid asked.
Face beet red, mouth opening and closing like a landed fish, it was too late for the guard to pull himself out of the quicksand he found himself in. “No, sir, but he is busy.”
Leonid asked, “Too busy for a woman and her child, who happen to be his guests? Move. You’ll be dealt with later.”
The guard got to moving. Leonid rapped on the door. A moment later it opened, allowing both men and Allie entry. Jentry followed closely behind Pavel. No one commented on the child in his arms, or the woman tr
ailing him, as they threaded their way between a group of men milling around the foyer and the expansive living room. The men were drinking from tumblers filled with amber liquid. A few puffed on cigars.
Conversation stopped when she entered. She had their attention and did not want it. She counted seven men she’d never seen, and voices filtered from somewhere in the penthouse.
This was a bad idea.
She needed Allie, and she needed to go. Right now. She reached for her daughter, but Pavel was showing her off like a trophy to the men filling their plates at the buffet laid out on the dining table. Allie ate up the attention. She loved it, giggling with every tickle, drool leaking out the side of her mouth.
“What the hell?”
Harden’s voice snapped everyone’s attention from her to him. Standing in the hallway, hands on his hips, his gaze was hard on her, then swung to Pavel.
The men got out of his way as he closed the distance. He stopped in front of both. “You two know each other?”
Why was his voice lower? Gruffer? And why did it travel down her spine in an abrasive caress?
“Not at all. We met her in the hallway,” Pavel supplied, bouncing Allie on his hip.
Harden’s nostrils flared. He studied Allie’s happy face until her giggles turned to whimpers. Babies were perceptive. Only eight months old and the sudden tension in the room affected her. She reached for her mother.
Jentry cradled Allie to her bosom. She rocked her, soothing her concerns while both kept their eyes on Pavel and Harden with Leonid on the sidelines. Were bullets going to fly? Either way, she should not be here. Anywhere but here. So why didn’t her feet move? Why was she rooted to the spot? Run, fool! Run! Not a single muscle obeyed.
Plain Jane and Mr. Wrong (Plain Jane Series Book 4) Page 3
