by Linda Kage
“Hey, Mabel,” I called to the elderly woman as I raced to catch up with her.
She paused and turned, her face lighting with pleasure when she saw me. “Gabriella! Hello, child. How are—oh! Thank you,” she gushed when I gathered the sacks from her arms. “You’re such a sweet—well now.” Peering past me, she locked her gaze onto Hayden as he stepped from his car. “Who’s this fine young figure?” Eyebrows lifting with interest, she turned to me, eager for juicy details.
I nearly laughed over her curiosity. “Miguel can help you carry these groceries up to your apartment, you know.” I shoved them all at my unsuspecting little brother. “Is it okay if he stays to visit for a few minutes too? Hayden here was just going to take me to get us some scones at the bakery down the street.”
“Were you?” Mabel turned to Hayden, smiling brightly. “Well, now. What a kind, kind handsome man you are.” She ran her gaze over him lasciviously, letting him know it was the handsome part she actually meant to repeat and emphasize.
Hayden didn’t seem to know how to answer, so he merely nodded respectfully. “Ma’am.”
“Mmm.” Mabel nodded as well. “In that case, come along, Miguel. Have I told you the story about the two trespassers who broke into this bungalow in the woods, only to realize the owner was a blind cannibal who wanted to sauté their bones over an open fire and eat them for dinner?”
“No,” he said, his eyes wide with delight as he followed her into the building. “Cool. Did she catch them or were they able to get away?”
As soon as they were gone, I whimpered miserably. Great. I should’ve known she was going to tell him another one of her terrifying Mabel fables. He was probably going to have nightmares tonight.
Hayden glanced at me, lifting an eyebrow. “Scones, huh?”
“Yep,” I answered merrily, hooking my arm through his and then clasping my hands around his bicep, the crisp material of his dress shirt crinkling under my fingers as I steered him down the street. “Scones.”
He shook his head, smiling softly. “And if I don’t want scones?”
I shrugged. “Then you can get yourself something else.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” He walked with me without resisting. “You obviously want to talk. So, what’s up? I assume I’m in trouble.”
With a shake of my head, I smiled. “Not at all. I just…” Furrowing my brow, I glanced up at him. “You were acting a little off there in the car. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
He blinked in surprise. Then his eyes searched mine for a full five seconds before he glanced ahead of us, focusing on where we were walking as he blew out a long breath. “It’s stupid,” he finally said, so quietly that I had to squint and lean closer, not sure I’d heard him right.
Then I tightened my grip on his arm and airily answered, “Then I definitely want to hear it.”
He sent me a warning glance, only to soften his expression into a smile and shake his head over my teasing. But a second later, he fell serious again.
“Realizing Lana couldn’t be completely innocent in this thing with your stepdad’s not-dead lawyer friend kind of hit you hard, didn’t it?” I guessed quietly.
Heaving out a long sigh, he bowed his head and shook it slowly from side to side. “I knew I wouldn’t like what I found. I knew it. And yet, I’m still…”
Touching his back gently, I guessed, “Surprised? Disappointed? Devastated? Pissed?”
He looked up at me and nodded. “Yeah,” he admitted. “All of that. But I don’t get why. I shouldn’t be surprised. I shouldn’t be disappointed. I shouldn’t be so damn upset. This is what I expected all along. At least…” With a pause, he wrinkled his brow and glanced around the street as if lost. “I thought it was what I expected to discover.”
“It was,” I agreed softly, drawing small, soothing circles on his back with my palm. “It’s just not the result you were hoping for.”
He glanced at me in surprise, only to wince. “You know what; you’re right. All this time, I thought I was so focused and driven to find the truth because I wanted justice. Because of Kaitlynn. Because I wanted to right a wrong. Because I wanted my freedom. But no. I mean, yes, partially all that too. But deep inside, I was kind of hoping I could really just prove that my awful suspicions weren’t true. I wanted hard evidence to point at and say, see, my mother’s not really the monster she always portrays herself as. She’s actually had a good and noble secret agenda all along. I didn’t really come from pure evil, and she’s actually loved me the entire time. Except no. That’s not the case. She’s exactly what I feared she was, isn’t she? She’s not innocent of anything.” Spiking his hands into his hair, he clutched his head and rasped, “Holy shit. I’m an idiot.”
“No, you’re not!” I cried. “Of course you hoped for the slim possibility that she might be innocent. The woman’s your mother. Who wouldn’t hope for a good parent?”
“I don’t know if I can turn her in,” he blurted, shaking his head.
When I opened my mouth to reply, he lifted a hand to stop me as if he couldn’t bear to hear me disagree. “I mean, I’m sure I will. I know she needs to pay. I want her to pay for what she’s done, but…” His eyes turned weary and sad. “I don’t know if I can be the one to turn her in. And shit, how am I supposed to tell Brick? And Kaitlynn?”
“Why do you have to be the one to turn her in?”
He looked at me as if I were insane for even asking. “Because I need to right the wrong. I need to prove I’m not like her.”
I snorted. “Of course you’re not—” Cutting myself off, I blinked at him, realizing something. He didn’t want to prove to anyone else that he wasn’t like his mother; he wanted to prove it to himself. And it wouldn’t matter what I said about the subject, this was something he had to figure out on his own.
So I looked up as we approached the bakery and said, “Hey, if you’re not into scones, maybe you’ll like their cinnamon rolls. I’m pretty partial to them.”
“Are you kidding? Behind chocolate chip cookies, strawberry cream scones are my favorite.” He reached for the door to enter, but it came open before he could catch it.
My building’s manager exited, carrying his own to-go bag full of baked goods.
The two men pulled up short to keep from colliding, instant recognition and contention brewing between them.
Hayden nodded first. “Dick,” he greeted.
Rick gnashed his teeth before correcting him with, “Rick. It’s Rick, you asshole. And…” His words faded as he focused on me. “Hey, you’re that chick from 108, aren’t you? With the sickly little brother and one-legged dad?”
I didn’t answer. I’d never had much taste for Rick. He’d already threatened to evict us twice, and we’d barely been late with our rent money a week each time.
Asshat.
Snickering, he turned back to Hayden. “Found yourself a new sister, I see. No wonder why you wouldn’t let me raise anyone’s rent in the building. Are you just hopping from floor to floor now, or what?”
Huh?
I whirled to gape up at Hayden, wondering how in the world he could control the price of my rent money.
Actually, what the heck had anything Rick just said meant?
The hard look he flashed Rick was deadly. “Don’t be a dick, Dick.” Then he glanced at me, only to settle down and turn nice when he returned his attention to Rick. “I saw you actually followed my advice to fix the lighting. I’m impressed. I assume this means you have a new invoice for me?”
My mouth fell open as I swiveled my attention between the two. What in God’s name was happening here? Because it sounded a hell of a lot like the repairs to my building had been done at Hayden’s behest, and he was paying for them.
Rick snorted. “Hell, yes, I got an invoice for you. I sent it to the same place you had me send the ones for the elevator repairs.”
Elevator repairs? Hayden had paid for that too?
But why?
He nodded to Ri
ck, his eyes narrowed with distaste, even as he tipped his head and said, “Very good.” Splaying out a hand, he offered to let Rick leave first. “Have a good day, Darmon.”
Rick sniffed bitterly, sent me a degrading once-over and stepped out of the doorway, stalking down the sidewalk with is bag.
Hayden reached for the door handle to enter the bakery but I caught his arm.
He glanced at me, arching an eyebrow as if he had no idea what I was going to ask. But there was no way I wasn’t going to find out what that had just been about.
Lifting my hands and widening my eyes, confused as to why he wasn’t already explaining himself, I cried, “What the hell? Do you own the building I live in or something?”
He tipped his head and frowned as if I were insane. “Of course not.”
Right. Except—
“How can you control the price of my rent then, and why are you paying for major repairs there?”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat and straightened his tie. “I’m blackmailing Darmon into all that.”
I blinked and shook my head. “Okay, let me get this straight. You’re blackmailing him into taking money from you for repairs to his own building?”
With a frown, he muttered, “Well, when you put it that way—”
“Oh my God,” I burst out. “Why? Why do you care what he charges me for rent or—”
He winced. “Actually, it wasn’t about you at all. I started my association with him before I even knew you existed.”
“Right.” I blew out a breath and nodded. I should’ve known that. Of course, this wasn’t about me. We’d only met—wait a second. Realizing what this was really about—or rather, who it was about, I shot my gaze to him.
“Kaitlynn,” I murmured.
He sighed regretfully and ran a hand through his hair, clearly uneasy about discussing the entire subject. “I received more inheritance from her father than she did.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, beginning to understand.
“It wasn’t right,” he growled, growing agitated. “I made off like a fucking bandit, living comfortably, driving a decent car, working in my head-of-department office in the company her father started from the ground, and living in a high-rise apartment on the cleaner side of the city. And she’s here…”
He jabbed his hand down the street in the direction of my building. “In that shithole.” Pausing, he winced at me and added, “Sorry. No offense to your home.”
“No.” I waved a hand. “It is a shithole.”
“It’s just not right,” he ranted. “And you know Kaitlynn. No way in hell would she take a fucking handout from me if I actually offered to help her, even though the money is more rightfully hers than mine. So, I don’t know—I just—” Shaking his head, he looked at me as if he felt defeated. “I’m doing what I can to make the place she chose to live in at least decent enough to suit her.”
For the longest moment, I could only gaze at him in awe. He went to extreme lengths for the people important to him. Sure, he got his hands a little dirty, resorting to things like blackmail and breaking into his own mother’s home. But his heart was in the right place. He did it all for such noble, amazing reasons that I found myself cupping his face in my hands and drawing his mouth down to mine.
He breathed me in gratefully, drinking from my lips and stepping in close to cup my hips in his hands.
Murmuring my name as I slowly broke from the kiss, he turned his face to my hair and rested his cheek against me. “What was that for?”
I smiled. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday.” Then I linked my fingers with his and said, “But for now, come on. It’s scone time.”
Chapter 22
Gabby
After dropping Miguel off at school the next morning, Hayden grew pensive and quiet in his driver’s seat. I couldn’t tell you what was going on in his mind, but my own was swirling. I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him and everything that was blooming between us.
It was totally the wrong time to start any kind of relationship with him; he was in the middle of trying to save his family’s company, play secret fairy godmother to his stepsister, prove his mother was involved in illegal activities, and set up a shoe line at a prestigious fashion company. There wasn’t time for me in his life. I was just a means to an end, there to help him seek justice.
Except he’d flat-out told me he was going to seduce me. Someday. And last night, after we’d picked up our scones and fetched Miguel from Mabel’s apartment, he’d stuck around, eating supper with us, helping my brother with his homework, and listening to Papá talk about the board operator position he’d applied for at the power plant on the edge of town when he’d returned home from his interview. That wasn’t what a man who just wanted to have sex and only sex with you usually did. It was what a guy who wanted more did.
Bringing my nails up to my mouth to chew on them, I glanced across the interior of the car toward Hayden. Did he want more from me? Because if he did, then I—I mean, I think I was okay with that.
Fine. I was definitely okay with it.
My stomach fluttered with eager anticipation. I liked Hayden. I liked him a lot. It’d been a long time since I’d liked someone enough to want to start anything with them.
I opened my mouth to tell him—hell, I’m not even sure what I would’ve said, but he cut in first, not realizing I was going to speak.
“I won’t be able to pick you up after work today.” He glanced my way. “I have that meeting about Finley with the detective at the police department, remember? So I’ll have to call you an Uber or—”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waved a hand and shook my head, a little relieved he’d taken away my opportunity to tell him what I was feeling. The chicken in me was grateful to put it off. I mean, what if he didn’t feel the same? I wasn’t ready to hear that right now, right before I needed all my faculties about me in order to face his mother again.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him with a smile. “But you’re going to meet with the police anyway? Even though we didn’t find any proof against Lana yet?”
He sighed wearily and nodded. “I have to. Time isn’t exactly on our side. If she still tries to sell those original designs to our competitors, it’ll be too late. We’ll just have to hope Finley rolls over on her and can take her down with him with his word alone.”
I winced. “And if he doesn’t?”
He looked vaguely ill as he answered, “Then we’re all screwed. You, me, Brick, Kaitlynn, your family, and everyone at JFI.”
I marched down the hall of Preston Estates, determined to find something in order to help Hayden today. There had to be a hidden place I hadn’t checked yet. A secret room behind a bookcase. A nook in the floorboards. Something.
I was so busy mentally diagramming her apartment and trying to think up new places to search that I nearly missed the bellhop who was pushing a garment caddy in front of him down the hall, straight toward me.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, jumping out of his way, only to focus on him and gasp, “Diego?” His face was full of bloodshot eyes, a huge bruise around one, and a swollen, cut lip. I jarred to a stop when I noticed his arm was wrapped in a cast too.
“Oh my God. What happened?”
He finally looked up, only to flip out and trip in reverse to escape when he realized it was me.
“You,” he choked out, lifting his hands as if to defend himself and ward me away. “Just—just stay away from me. I’ll leave you alone now. I swear.”
I stopped in my tracks, gaping at him as if he were insane, because that’s exactly how he was acting. Completely loco.
“Diego? What the hell?”
“I told him I’d leave you alone, all right. And I will. Just—Jesus, Gabby. Mad Manny? You sent Mad Manny after me? He’s a fucking hitman. He usually kills people for money, not simply roughs them up. I thought I was going to die.” When tears filled his eyes and he started sputtering and shaking his head as if he were about to have a nervous
breakdown right there in the hall, I blinked in shock.
“Diego, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I mean, Mad Manny? Really? Just to get me to leave you alone? Fucking Christ. Don’t you think you could’ve just told me no? I’d already stopped with the flowers.”
My mouth fell open. The dude had lost his mind. He’d freaking lost it. Did he really think I’d hired a hitman to beat him up?
What an idiot.
If I’d wanted him hurt, I would’ve just hurt him myself. And how in God’s name did he think I would even know where to find a hitman?
But most aggravating of all: I could’ve just told him no?
Was he fucking serious right now? I suddenly wished I had tape-recorded every single time I’d said the very word no to this creep. I’d shove it down his throat right about now and push play.
“You are so delusional,” I muttered in incredulous bafflement. “I’ve never even heard of anyone named Mad Manny.”
He lifted his eyebrows and snorted, not believing me. “Come on, you know who Mad Manny is.”
But I shook my head. “Nope. Sorry. Don’t have a clue.”
“Manuel Bruzón?” he tried again, obviously giving me the guy’s real name this time. “He’s only the most dangerous hitman in the entire fucking city. They say he’s part of MS13.”
I shook my head, even more clueless now. “And MS13 is…?”
Diego’s mouth dropped open. “It’s the most violent Hispanic gang in the United States. It’s run by the Mexican Mafia. Shit, Gabby, how can you not even know what MS13 is?”
With a shrug, I answered, “Well, clearly, I don’t run in the same circles as you.”
“Fuck me,” he murmured, glancing around the hallway in confusion. “You really didn’t sic Mad Manny on me, did you?”
