Like a guppy, her mouth opened and closed a few times, producing no words. Then, her hands dropped from his chest and she put some daylight between them. Daylight he didn’t want. “Yeah. Um. Thanks again for calling them. I better get back.”
He grabbed her arm, keeping her to his side for a few seconds more. “I’m not leaving you.” He would protect her with his life. Even if it meant protecting her from himself. “I promise.”
Relief crossed her face, followed by wariness. He respected that. She’d been hurt before, and he suspected by more than one man. He wouldn’t hurt her. Not like that. Never like that.
Yet as wariness filled her hopeful gaze, he knew she needed him for more than protection. She needed him as he needed her. Maybe it was wishful thinking. He hadn’t forgotten she hadn’t rejected Carl’s proposal to fleece him for money. Now wasn’t the time to address it.
He stroked his thumb across her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. A chaste one since they were in the middle of the hospital on the children’s floor. Too soon for the kids to learn about the birds and the bees as she went to her tiptoes and helped close the distance. He watched her return to the room with two guards stationed outside. Only when she was safely inside did he find Bruno, Leonid, and Pavel in the commandeered guest waiting room.
“What the fuck happened? The plan was to kill them,” Pavel hissed.
“That was the backup plan, and lower your voice. We’re in a hospital,” Bruno murmured.
“No one told me that!” Pavel griped, his voice down five decibels.
“We don’t share everything with you, hot head,” Bruno said.
Pavel turned to Leonid. “Did you know?”
Leonid shrugged. “They didn’t need to tell me. I know Harden. He’s not as bloodthirsty as he used to be. Now, he’s like the villain in Batman movies. Long winded monologues before the killing.” He slouched in a chair, feet propped on the coffee table.
“I refuse to be compared to Lex Luthor.” Harden made sure to close the door behind him.
“Lex Luthor is Superman's villain. Not Batman. The Joker, Penguin, the Riddler, take your pick.” Leonid counted off.
“Bane. He was a good villain.” Bruno kept the conversation going.
“Bane was stupid. All muscle, nothing up top.” Pavel leaned against the wall next to the sofa. “How’s Allie?”
“Pneumonia. She’s stable.” His next question should’ve been about Colin. The news about his brother could wait. “What do we know about Carl D. Jones?”
The men looked at each other. Then the two differed to Bruno. “Not enough since he showed up here.”
“Not good enough,” Harden said calmly when he was anything but calm. Violence—bloody, brutal, explosive—thrummed beneath his skin. Not for his obvious losses. Not for his brother’s oh so special show-stopping appearance. No. He was livid over Carl D. Jones. So much less than about Colin. His half brother was a wily asshole; thought he could waltz back into town and reclaim his throne. Not happening. His time had come to an end long ago. The reign of the O’Rourke’s was over. Harden Gage and the syndicate ruled the Big Apple, and all those who thought differently would die.
“That motherfucker walked into this hospital and threatened my woman.” He paused, stunned by his last two words. Too late to retract them and he didn’t want to. Jentry was his and no one fucked with what belonged to him.
“I want to know where he lives. Who he talked to? Who told him where to find us because the fucker didn’t stumble upon Jentry and Allie in a bar. He was sent here, and I want to know who sent him.” If it wasn’t already the obvious choice. Alezandar Karpovilov. The cocksucker was behind Colin disappearing and Carl showing up.
Bruno whipped out his phone and started dialing. Harden ignored him and turned to Leonid and Pavel. “What have you found out about my brother?”
“Not much in the hours since he vanished.” Leonid didn’t look up from his phone. The man wasn’t playing Candy Crush. He worked the problem: Carl and Colin.
It wasn’t enough. Harden moved to stand over Leonid. The collective held their breath, waiting, watching. “I made you his pen pal. Made him snitch so we could feed him the information we wanted him to have. That was the plan. Give Colin hope he’d get out and get his title back only to snatch it away when I decided it was time to pull the rug out from under him. When I decided it was time for him to bleed out in the prison showers buck naked, dignity and life stripped.” He paused to control his anger before he did something rash. “How did you not know he was free, had time to buy a brand-new suit for a wedding and after party he was clearly invited to?”
Leonid’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I had no heads-up about this, boss.”
“He got early release due to overcrowding, but he shouldn’t’ve. He’s a dangerous felon. Suspected of murder. Known mob boss. Etcetera. Etcetera.” Bruno ticked off, his phone pressed to his ear.
“We lost two men,” Pavel said.
Harden knew that they diverted his attention and went with it. The reason: this wasn’t Leonid’s fault. The fault landed squarely with Alezandar-fucking-Karpovilov.
“Family?”
“Thomas had a kid. I’ll make sure he and the son and mother are taken care of,” Pavel announced. “What now? They’re gonna hit us. Hard.”
“The price of business,” Leonid muttered. “We’re already at fifty percent. We shut down anymore and our clients will go elsewhere. Like Cleveland,” he grumbled. “Dry streets aren’t good streets. Everyone going into withdrawal all at one time. Not good. We’ll get blamed when they get hooked. We’ll get blamed when they get clean,” Leonid snapped.
Harden walked to the window to stare down at the heavy traffic. “They got Colin. I want to know how they knew where we were going to be. That hole needs to be plugged. From now on, only the four of us know everything.”
“You’re willing to share with me now?” Pavel snorted; his gaze narrowed on Harden.
“Need to know still applies,” Harden stated.
“What about Nick? Does he need to know since this confab is taking place without his presence?” Pavel questioned.
Though it pained him to say, Harden didn’t hesitate. “No. He doesn’t. Not when he was there when they snatched Colin.” Hours ago, betrayal and Nick would’ve never been in the same sentence. Now, if Nick were a suspect, then so were the men in front of him. “How’s Nick? Anyone hear from him?”
“I checked with Dave about an hour ago. They stitched him up and are holding for the police interrogation. The lawyer’s already there. Dave’ll call as soon as he’s released,” Bruno said. “I got feelers out for info on Colin. Though, I don’t think it will be a mystery for long.” He went back to his phone.
“It should be obvious. The Russians,” Leonid said, sounding bored.
“That man has a long reach and deep pockets to get Colin out of prison,” Pavel said.
“The deepest.” Leonid rose and walked around the room. “We’re killing him, right?”
“Oh, hell yeah. He’s dead.” Pavel jumped in. “The only reason he wasn’t shanked in prison was because he had to suffer doing the time he made Harden do.”
“Maybe if he’d served his time, repaid his debt to society…” Leonid burst out laughing. “That’s all bullshit. We all know he’s dead. Time, place, and method of dismemberment, the only unknown, right, boss?”
All eyes turned to Harden. “Right.” He probably should’ve said it with more conviction and spat out a “rally the troops” speech. They knew him. Just because he wasn’t bloodthirsty at this moment, didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill every one of their enemies. Starting with Carl… I mean Colin.
They kept talking but all Harden could think about was Carl. He came to the hospital, not to see his sick kid, but to entice Jentry. Sick motherfucker.
“Pavel and Leo, work on finding Colin. Find a way to contact him. Leonid, find a way to reach out to your pen pal and reel him in. Bruno, work on finding Carl.”
Pavel and Leonid looked at each other as if Harden had been snorting the product and waited for Bruno’s approval.
What the fuck!
The two exited, leaving Bruno. In another dimension he had to be an FBI interrogator. In this dimension, he was Harden’s interrogator, and conscience.
“You’re distracted, that’s why they looked at me. And don’t deny it because you are. Proof? You putting the baby daddy before the big brother.”
Bruno wasn’t wrong.
“Distraction gets you killed.” Bruno jabbed a finger at Harden. “You’re the one who taught me that after Darcy. Remember that?”
How could he forget Darcy, the love of Bruno’s life? That treacherous bitch. Because of Bruno, she continued to breathe. No other reason. His one moment of weakness and it cost him, a lot.
“There’s no bigger distraction than a woman and a kid.”
Harden knew where this was headed, the only place it could head. This was why he never should’ve extended the room and board offer, why he should’ve stayed away, kept Jentry away from him.
“She and the kid gotta go, boss. They’re not safe with you.”
He knew that. Goddamn, he fucking knew that!
Bruno touched his shoulder. Between one blink and the next, Harden had shoved taller, heavier Bruno across the room to practically bury him into the wall. His forearm across Bruno’s throat. Neither man reached for their weapons.
Breathing heavily, Harden rasped, “You think I don’t fucking know that! Think that shit isn’t—” Eating me alive.
“You really believe Nick was a part of this?” Bruno said as if he wasn’t pinned by Harden, his back wasn’t plastered to the wall.
“No,” he said without hesitation. Harden’s aggression bled away, leaving him twitchy. He needed to hurt something, kill something. He needed—
“Contingency plan A?” Bruno interrupted Harden’s spiral. His underboss knew him well.
“…Yeah. Get everything in motion. All players on a need-to-know basis.”
“No shit,” Bruno replied, clearly annoyed Harden voiced the obvious.
Harden pushed away from his underboss to storm across the room and out the door before Bruno said another word.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Thirty-six hours in the hospital, she sat there with her heart in her throat, quietly panicking even though Allie responded well to the medical care the pediatrician prescribed. Too afraid to close her eyes and miss any moment, Jentry didn’t sleep. Appetite nonexistent, she didn’t eat unless Harden insisted, bringing her gourmet meals from Catalyst, and when that proved unappetizing, he brought her a slice of pizza and Coke—a perfect New York City meal. If it weren’t for him, she would’ve starved and not even realized. Also, she wouldn’t have had a change of clothes and a toothbrush.
She napped on a hard cot just to be near Allie and woke with Harden asleep in the chair next to her. Waking, she stretched out all the sore areas. Harden continued dozing, his upper body half inside the crib, his hand holding Allie’s foot. He stayed when he didn’t have to. Carl hadn’t reappeared, but he wasn’t gone. He was somewhere planning. Scheming.
She studied the monitors steadily recording her daughter’s vitals. Everything was normal and had been for the last eight hours. Breathing a sigh of relief, she checked the time. Allie’s appetite had returned. She’d be awake soon demanding food.
Quietly, Jentry pushed the blanket away and climbed out of the cot. Her body thanked her with a chorus of bones snapping and muscles screaming. She needed a shower and fifteen hours of uninterrupted sleep. Not going to happen anytime soon. Harden was in the same shape with his thirty-six-hour beard hiding his sharp jaw. He’d changed out of his suit in favor of jeans, Timberlands, and a sweater. In either attire, the man looked good. And he was here, in the trenches with her.
Other than her mother and father, she never had that before, support from someone who wasn’t a family member. Support from a man without him asking for anything in return. It was nice, really nice. And addictive. The old her would’ve been suspicious and very wary, especially when dealing with the head of the New York syndicate. He collected favors like shit collected flies. No one did something for nothing, except for Harden when it came to her.
Or maybe it was Allie he did it for. Most people couldn’t resist a baby in need, the one exception was Carl. The father of the year hadn’t returned to check on the kid he suddenly wanted. He hadn’t even called the hospital, and Jentry wasn’t sad, not even a little bit. Maybe he got hit by a car and his body lay unclaimed in the morgue. Jentry snorted. She couldn’t get that lucky. Maybe he got smart and decided blackmailing Harden Gage was the bad idea of all his bad ideas combined, then multiplied by one thousand.
She stared at Harden. This was the first time she’d ever seen him asleep. His face in repose was a revelation. The little boy lurking inside was revealed. Not to say he looked innocent. Those days were long gone, but the daily grind and stressors were smoothed away. He looked unencumbered and peaceful. Everyone deserved a few moments of peace.
Allie made a little snuffle, a precursor to her waking and demanding a meal. Jentry couldn’t help threading her fingers through his blond hair, sweeping the strands off his forehead. His eyes peeled opened as if he weren’t asleep at all. Those cold blue eyes heated her from the inside out. Then he smiled, a slow stretch of his firm lips that made her heart flutter and her core ripple.
He reached for her, first tugged on her shirt, pulled her toward him, until he reached up and cupped her nape. Heat seeped into her skin and spread throughout her body. Any resistance she may have had vanished and she came willingly to press her lips against his for a kiss that was tender and sweet.
It dipped into her soul and pulled on her heartstrings. He made her feel all the things she didn’t want to feel and all the things she didn’t think she’d ever feel again. He made her want things she shouldn’t, not with him. Not with anyone, but especially not with him.
Which made her want him more.
Gathering her willpower, she pulled away. She needed some space between them to think properly. He let her go reluctantly but they were still connected. The ties binding them were there and getting stronger by the day.
Allie snuffled again, this time louder, her second warning. They broke away and both turned to her. Allie was still asleep but for not much longer.
“Good morning? Evening?” he said and glanced at his watch. “Evening.” An audible snap, crackle, pop sounded as he stretched and worked out the kinks. He groaned and glared at her when she laughed. That did it. Allie’s eyes snapped open. A few blinks and she focused on the adults staring at her.
Harden reached for her first and Jentry let him because Allie rubbed her eyes and smiled, all her gums showing as he carefully brought her close, conscious of all the leads and IV attachments.
Allie loved him, and by the reverence on his face, he loved her. It made Jentry tear up. She had to turn away before she made a fool of herself. “I’ll get her bottle from the nurse.” She escaped before she started blubbering and returned five minutes later. Allie wasn’t smiling anymore. Her angry babble let them know exactly how she felt about having to wait five minutes for food.
She reached for her bottle. Harden got to it first and surprised Jentry by slipping it into her waiting mouth. He even knew how to hold her. Either he had an inherent knack, or he’d paid attention. To everything.
In a short period of time, he’d wormed his way beneath her skin, into her head, into her life. In that same short period of time, he made her trust him. Trusting the head of the syndicate, that was unexpected.
How could she not when he took her in, gave her shelter, gave her protection, tracked her down at Split-Tail, and most importantly, he rushed to her side when Allie was sick. She wanted to know why. He wasn’t a good man, a fact he admitted. A fact the world already knew. So, why was he good to her?
“I’m going for bad coffee. Want some?”
Jentry exited the room. Two guards were stationed at the door. Another at the nurses’ station. Another at the elevator. They watched her as she passed on the way to the family lounge and free coffee. It was nice having the protection. It was also creepy. It took her a long time to find comfort in being invisible. At times, she missed it, particularly now when the lounge wasn’t unoccupied. Stretched out on a fossilized sofa, Bruno seemed comfortable enough.
“Morning.” She volunteered and crossed to the coffee maker.
“More like early evening,” Bruno grumbled, dividing his attention between her and his laptop.
It was a snipe and she rolled with it. “It was a long night and day. Allie was fussy and kept waking up. Harden helped a lot.” He got up each time with her.
“Isn’t that what you have a nanny for?”
“My nanny is home, waiting for Allie to return, because I didn’t need her to take care of my daughter because I wasn’t going anywhere.” Her tone was pleasant and upbeat, unlike his snarky question.
He watched her with flat brown eyes. “Your home? The penthouse is your home? Interesting.”
Another snipe and she wasn’t going to take it. “Are you jealous? Because you sound like an ex-wife meeting the new girlfriend.”
Bruno snapped the laptop closed and swung his legs off the sofa. His booted feet landed with a solid thud as he tossed the computer next to him. “Is that what you are? A girlfriend? He hasn’t had one of those…ever. That makes you special. Is that what you want? To be special?” The snarl was implied.
What woman didn’t want to be special? “I didn’t ask for this. Ask for any of this. Calista and Julius asked for a favor and I’m practically snatched from my home—”
“You weren’t snatched, trust me.” He scoffed.
“You say that to a single mother coming home alone at night and finding two armed killers on her doorstep?” He raised an eyebrow but didn’t deny the description. “Idda been happy with staying in my tenement, working my three to eleven shift.”
Plain Jane and Mr. Wrong (Plain Jane Series Book 4) Page 26
