Queen of Hearts

by Jami Denise

  The same car I noticed the first night I came was parked in the driveway, with Vince’s sitting next to it. I wasn’t sure at that moment if I was more hurt, or pissed, but I was going with a mixture of both. Whatever it was he was hiding was a big deal, and the fact that after everything I’d gone through—we’d gone through—he didn’t trust me enough to let me in.

  With my steps more determined, I marched across the empty street, over the lawn, and headed up the steps. I stood quietly for a moment once I was at the door, listening to see if I could hear what was going on inside. There was nothing.

  Instead of knocking, I grabbed the pin from the zippered pocket of my purse and slid it into the lock. It snapped open easy enough, but I should have known Vince would have his home locked down tighter than a fortress.

  The door didn’t budge, and I felt stupid for trying to sneak in. He was in there, and even if he was pissed off for me showing up unannounced, at least I’d find out who else was inside.

  I knocked twice and stood back, my nerves suddenly jumping around like ticks on a fire. The more I thought about it, the surer I became that he was going to freak out when he saw me.

  I heard his footsteps coming down the stairs and started to sweat. It was a ridiculous idea, and I wanted to turn and run away so bad. Before I could make that decision, the locks unhinged and the door swung open.

  I was greeted with a very angry Vince. He looked like he’d been sleeping, his hair rumpled and his chest bare. I blinked, suddenly very uncomfortable.

  “What the fuck, Janie?”

  “Where have you been?” I asked. My nerves were replaced by rage with the tone of his voice. “I’m not allowed to visit you anymore? It’s not okay for me to show up at your house now? What the fuck is right!”

  He growled, pushed me forward, and stepped out onto the porch before slamming the door behind him. “I have company, Jayne. Would you like me to barge in on you while you’re in the middle of fucking?”

  I couldn’t help it—I started to laugh. “Seriously? You have always done whatever you wanted as far as I’m concerned. How many times have you interrupted me—fucking or not!”

  He grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard. “Why are you here?”

  I lifted my chin and scowled at him. I hated how he was acting. Fucking suspicious. “I haven’t seen you in almost a week. I want to talk to you. Is that a crime nowadays?”

  He stepped back and ran his hand over his hair. “Now is not a good time, okay? I thought you’d be with Flynn. He said he was taking you with him to the game at the Palms.”

  “I didn’t want to go. I’m not his lapdog.”

  He grinned. “Not yet.”

  I shot my hand out to smack him, but he caught my arm midair. “Go back to the hotel and wait for him. He’s going to be pissed. Where’s your car?”

  He started walking me backward, looking both ways up and down the street looking for the car. “I took a cab. Collins was sniffing around and I’m sick of that, so I ditched him.”

  He laughed, throwing his head back and wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Why do you have to be such a pain in my ass? You know, I kind of miss not having to watch you like a hawk.”

  I tried to shrug out of his hold, but he tightened his grip. “Wait here, and I’ll get my keys. You can take my car and wait for me in your room. I’ll come over later.”

  I nodded my head toward the car in the driveway. “Whose car is that?”

  He followed my gaze and shrugged. “It’s mine. Now wait here.”

  I didn’t believe him. There was something fishy going on, and whether he liked it or not, I was going to find out what it was.

  He came out moments later, flung the keys at me from the porch, and turned to go back in the house. “Next time, call. Go back to Maguire’s and wait.”

  He slammed the door without another word, and I felt like I’d been verbally slapped in the face. He was such a moody son of a bitch.

  I walked over to the car, pushed the alarm, and jumped when it chirped. I wasn’t sure what it was that had me so jittery, but the uncertainty had something to do with it. I got inside and turned on the air, the stuffy cab only adding to my discomfort. I couldn’t wait for fall and the change in weather.

  I drove back toward the strip, but I was too antsy to go back and sit around waiting for Flynn. He was already going to be ticked off because I left, but that was a conversation for another day. He was getting better, but it was hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I’d already managed to tame Flynn Maguire to a certain extent, and for the most part, I liked when he was an asshole.

  I decided to call Pamela. I had hours to kill, and I hadn’t talked to her in several days. I had a ton of nervous energy, and I really needed someone to talk to. Plus, I hadn’t told her about the developments with Flynn. I was sure she’d pat herself on the back and say I told you so.

  Thankfully, she was home and had no plans, so she told me to come on over for girl talk and cocktails. Just hearing her voice calmed my nerves. I hadn’t even realized how badly my hands were shaking until I hung up the phone.

  Her house was spectacular, and I felt myself excited to be there again. I loved being comfortable in her home. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember ever being an actual invited guest in anyone’s home. I was always there on the job. It reminded me how stilted my social life had been. At twenty-five years old, that was pretty sad.

  She was waiting for me on the porch wearing a pair of lounge shorts and a tank top. She was so remarkably beautiful that it still shocked me that she didn’t have women falling all over her constantly. She was the epitome of the whole package.

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the beautiful Miss Jayne King.” She opened her arms and hugged me tightly as I approached, grabbing my hand to drag me inside. “I’m having a ‘feel sorry for me’ night, so I ordered pizza. Have you eaten?”

  I laughed. “Actually, no. Pizza sounds so good right now. I haven’t had it in a while.”

  She took my purse and set it down on the table in the foyer after closing the door behind us. “I guess when you date men like Flynn Maguire, you have the filet mignon man on auto dial instead.”

  I spun around, mouth agape and eyes wide. “Dating—“

  She held up her hand and rolled her eyes. “Please. It was only a matter of time, and don’t even try to deny it. It’s written all over your face, and besides, he already told me.”

  I blinked rapidly and shook my head, stunned. “You’ve talked to Flynn? When?”

  Twirling her fingers in a circle, she ordered me into the living room. “Let’s go sit down before you have an aneurism.”

  Sinking into her soft cushioned sofa, I slid my shoes off and pulled my legs up underneath me. “Okay, explain.”

  She took a seat across from me on an overstuffed chair and mirrored my position. “He came to see me several days ago. He’s retained me as his representation. I’m his attorney.”

  My head spun. “Come again?”

  “With everything going on with his father, he’s in pretty deep with all this legal bullshit, which I’m sure you know all about. He said he looked into me and my career and felt that I’d be the best to take this on. I’m not sure why. I usually handle messy divorces.”

  I grimaced and gave her a baleful look. “What the fuck is he up to?”

  She sighed, standing and motioning toward the kitchen. “This calls for wine. You want some?”

  I shook my head and bit down on my lip nervously. “I’ll just have some water, with lemon if you have it.”

  She disappeared into the kitchen, and I had to fight the urge to go for my phone and call Flynn out of his stupid poker game to bitch him out. What the hell was he thinking interfering with my friendship with Pamela? There was no telling what he had up his sleeve. I wanted to give him a swift kick in the nuts and then wait until he recovered to do it again. Harder.

  She returned with my water and her wine and took a seat, her gaze unrel
enting. My knee bounced, and I tapped my fingers against the arm of her couch.

  “First of all, I thought Alonzo Davidson was his lawyer. Why would he need a new one? Alonzo told me they’ve known each other a long time.”

  Shrugging, she took a long gulp from her wine and placed the glass down on the coffee table in front of her. “How do you know Alonzo Davidson?”

  I gave her an incredulous look.

  “I see. Yeah, well, there’s your reason. Flynn’s ego.”

  Rolling my eyes, I shifted so I could sit back against the couch. “That’s ridiculous. He’s ridiculous.”

  She laughed, obviously amused by my not so funny situation. “I have to say. He’s quite a character. Charming. Funny.”

  I almost choked on my water. “You have a crush on him or something? I’m livid here. I’m ready to kill him. You have no idea.”

  “Look, Jayne. This is a heap of shit. I have no idea how he’s even holding it together and handling all of this. His dad is in a lot of trouble, and the fact that he’s disappeared is not helping things. Flynn could take the brunt of this if we don’t get this situated.”

  “I don’t know anything!” I cried. “He tells me nothing! He said it was being taken care of and that I had nothing to worry about. Pamela, if he’s in trouble, I need to know everything. Damn him!”

  I stood and began to pace the room. My night was getting worse and worse. I knew something was going down. I just knew it. I felt like the biggest idiot on the planet for falling for his shit again. So much for no more lies.

  “Jayne, calm down. Listen, he is probably only trying to protect you, and I just fucked up in a very big way by talking to you about this. I told him it was a bad idea. Fuck!”

  I turned around quickly and pointed at her. “No,” I said fiercely. “This is not your fault. You know what? He knew! He knew you’d tell me! He’s just a chicken-shit coward and couldn’t tell me himself. That’s just like him... what do I even see in that man?!”

  I continued to ramble like a crazy person. “I don’t see shit. I mean, I do. My eyes are full of him, all broody and gorgeous, and that smile. It’s that smile that breaks me, you know what I mean? Don’t get me started on his dick. I am literally addicted to it. I can’t help myself and I turn into this stupid, stupid woman that can’t control herself. My legs just fall open like I’m paralyzed. I just see that thing, and I lose all coherent thought. That’s not normal, is it? I mean, do you even understand?”

  She had a bemused smile on her face when I finally stopped to face her. “Actually, no. I’ve never been real fond of dicks, but I do get the appeal of that smile.”

  I grabbed at my hair and cursed, falling against the couch again. “What the hell? Why? Why can’t I just catch a break?”

  I was on the verge of tears. I think the only thing stopping them was the rage.

  “Jayne, he’s doing all he can. I’m sure he was planning on telling you in his own time. Or maybe you’re right—he left the dirty work up to me. Maybe that’s why he told me that the two of you were back together.”

  The doorbell rang, and we both jumped. “Pizza. Just in time. I need to eat grease and drink booze more than I did before you got here.”

  ~~***~~

  I ended up staying much longer than I expected to, and drinking a lot more, too. Pamela managed to calm me down, but I could tell she was just as sketchy about Flynn as I was. When my phone started chiming at two in the morning, we both knew who it was. I really wanted to make him sweat—I was that pissed. Even drunk, I knew that was a bad idea, so I answered.

  “What?” I snapped into the phone.

  “Where are you? I just spoke with Vince, and he said he sent you home hours ago. More than five hours ago.”

  I rolled my eyes and drunkenly rolled over onto my stomach as I held the phone to my ear. “Yeah, well I don’t take orders from big fat liars who lie. I’m with Pamela. She’s my friend, and she tells me the truth.”

  “Shit,” he spat. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Be ready.”

  The dial tone hummed in my ear, and I pulled the phone away and stared at it. “He hung up on me! He’s coming here!”

  She jumped out of her chair, startled. “How does he know?”

  “Oh, he probably had me chipped in my sleep, the bastard.”

  It wasn’t an unreasonable thought. He managed to find me in a tiny town in freaking Oklahoma. He had no boundaries.

  “You need to stay calm and talk to him. Give him a chance to explain before you go off on him. Be an adult. We talked about this.”

  We had talked about that. For hours. I’d never met a person so smart in my life. She had a way of breaking things down that just clicked. I was new to this relationship bullshit, and in the back of my mind, I was trying to come up with any excuse I could to make it fall apart and blame it on him. It was the frightened girl in me. I didn’t listen, and I had a shitty temper. Putting that all in perspective, even being drunk, was easy with her in my ear.

  Apparently, she’d also become a card-carrying member of the Flynn Maguire fan club, and she wanted me to become president. Putting my anger to the side and giving him the chance to explain was a step I’d skipped before. I’d run away, and I wanted to do the same thing when I heard her tell me he was in trouble. My gut twisted with grief just thinking about it. Trying to keep me safe from the trouble was understandable, but I’d begged him to make me his full partner, and he’d demoted me before I had the chance to prove myself.

  That was going to change. It was ultimatum time.

  TWENTY

  I didn’t remember Flynn showing up to pick me up from Pamela’s, and I didn’t wake up the next day until well after noon. Needless to say, when I did wake up, things were tense and uncomfortable. He surpassed me in the pissed-off position, but that didn’t mean I was letting him off the hook. He could be mad at me for disobeying his freaking orders, but being lied to trumped all.

  We sat across the table from each other in silence as we ate breakfast he’d had room service bring up. I could hardly stand to eat anything, but I tried to avoid the imminent conversation by focusing on tearing a croissant into fifty little pieces.

  “I hired Pamela because you trust her. If you trust her, then she has to be the most trustworthy person I could find. I need someone I can trust to handle this, Jayne.”

  I answered without looking up at him. “I’m not mad because you hired Pamela—but that’s another conversation.”

  His fork clanked as it hit the plate, and I heard him sigh. “The casino is clean. The books are legit and always have been. I told you that.”

  “Mmm hmm,” I hummed. “So you’ve told me. What I’m worried about is the stuff you’re keeping from me. For my own good, I’m sure.”

  Slamming his palm against the table, he stood and moved to the other side of the table to stand in front of me. He grabbed my chin and pulled my face upward so my eyes met his. “There’s nothing you can do to fix it, so there’s no reason for you to get involved. I don’t need my dad’s thugs sniffing around you, thinking you’re setting them up. I want you to stay out of sight so they leave you alone. It’s the only way to keep you safe. You could bring my dad down, and if he gets wind of you getting involved with this, he’ll take you out the same way he did with your dad. He makes very few mistakes, and letting you get out alive was one of them. Trust me—if he had the chance, he’d have you killed.”

  “Was that so hard,” I whispered. “Was it so hard to just tell me what I already expected? I can handle it, Flynn. I half expected him to kill me when he had my father. I’m scared, yes, but knowing that I need to be careful is going to help keep me alive. Living in this fantasy world you’ve decided to create for me is a joke. I’m not a child. I think you forget who I am and where I come from. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to worry about some asshole trying to kill me.”

  His fingers gripped my face harder, and he brought his lips closer to mine. “But this will be the last ti
me. That’s what I’m trying to do. I can’t even think about something happening to you. The thought alone kills me.”

  He pressed his lips against mine firmly, and his tongue swept across my mouth. “I will fucking kill him myself to keep you safe. If I knew where he was, I would go to him just to make sure he was gone for good.”

  My breath shuddered as he lifted me from my chair and pulled me into his arms. “I want to give you a life. You should have never had to live like this. It’s my vow that you never will again, Janie.”

  I held onto him like a beacon, desperate to believe in him and every promise that spilled from his lips. I had to believe in him, or I was lost. If Doyle wanted me dead, I’d be dead. There had to be something more significant, more threatening than me.

  “Why don’t you go get a shower and get back in bed. Rest for a while. I have some business to handle, and then we’re going to see Vince. It’s time you know what we’re up against.”

  I nodded against his shoulder and then pulled back, smiling coyly. “Can I convince you to shower with me before you go?”

  He groaned, and then laughed. “I wish I could, but I have to go. You’ll need time to scour that smell off of you before I get back.”

  I gasped, slapping him on the chest, and raced to the bathroom. “That was just mean. And to think—I was going to suck your cock in the shower. I guess I’ll just have to find something else to do to keep myself occupied in there.”

  I pulled off the T-shirt he’d put on me to sleep in and threw it on the floor before giggling at his growl and slamming the door behind me. Seconds later, the door burst open, bouncing off the wall behind it, and Flynn had me pinned to the sink and began pulling at his tie.

  He was smiling, his eyes wrinkled at the corners and his face flushed. We needed more moments like that—carefree and explorative. Everything with us was so hot and cold. Teasing him was fun—it brought out the natural, loving nature in Flynn, and sadly, I don’t think he’d had enough of that in his life. It was one of the things that made us similar.