Jade’s heart-shaped lips parted. “How can you do better?” She quickly looked at Kelton as though she’d spoken out of turn.
Kelton kept his expression neutral.
“I’ve gotten my associate’s degree, and my plan is to get my four-year business degree. Eventually, I want to start a family.” I had other words on the tip of my tongue like “with you, I could conquer the world.” Or the cheesy line—“you could make me a better man.”
Her hands shook, and she quickly looked away.
“What about your brother Duke?” Kelton asked. “His lifestyle isn’t conducive to an ex-con. He might pose a problem for you, entice you to do things for him that could put you back in prison.”
I lifted my hands. The cuffs banged against the table as I placed my forearms on top. “I’ve never worked for Duke before. I’m not about to start now.” Duke didn’t want me in his business anyway. He’d told me that a time or two.
“I would hate to see you dead before you were twenty,” Duke had said.
I hadn’t argued with him. I didn’t care about money laundering. Selling drugs was an easy business anyway.
“But he is my brother, and we do have a few family issues to work out.” Then it dawned on me. Jade’s sister and Duke were an item. Maybe that was the girl who had answered the phone. “Jade, how’s your sister?” Savannah Kelly was a wild one. She was into drugs but had never gotten them from me. I’d promised Jade in high school that I would never sell to her sister, and I hadn’t.
Jade winced. “Sir, can Duke affect Denim’s parole?”
My eyes went wide. “Are you worried about me?” Her tone led me to believe she was, and warmth blossomed in my chest.
Jade stiffened as though she hadn’t meant to ask that question in front of me.
Kelton scribbled in his binder. “Duke could be a problem for your parole.”
“What?” Horror careened through me, and my stomach knotted. “He’s got nothing to do with me. He hasn’t even visited me in prison.”
“If he comes up in your hearing, make sure you express that,” Kelton said.
I gritted my teeth. I would seriously squeeze the life out of my brother if my parole was denied because of him. “You know, the FBI seems to think I’ll get parole.”
Kelton reared back, his jaw tightening. “Come again?”
Jade’s green eyes sparked with an emotion I couldn’t figure out.
I was hesitant to say anything more. I pointed at Jade. “Is she bound by the same client-attorney law?”
“She is. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be here. She works for me and only me. So talk.”
“Two agents showed up here about two weeks ago, asking me to help them get dirt on Duke when I got parole.”
Jade licked her lips. “Would you?” Her question sounded more like a plea than anything.
If she knew me, she knew I wouldn’t. She’d known how tight Duke, Dillon, and I had been as teenagers. But I got the feeling she was dying for me to hand Duke over to the Feds. Suddenly, I was curious if Duke had done something to Jade. If he had, I would kill my brother with my bare hands.
“Who were the agents?” Kelton asked. “Jade, take notes, please.”
A hint of excitement washed over her.
“Agent Travers and Agent Brock. They’re watching my brother. They’ll expunge my record if I help them. My murder charge would disappear.”
Kelton scrubbed long fingers over his clean-shaven jaw. “What did you tell them?”
“In so many words, I told them to fuck off.”
“You don’t want your record cleared?” Shock rode Jade’s tone. “Your brother isn’t an angel.”
Neither am I.
Kelton seemed proud of his employee.
Jade had never liked the shit we’d been into as kids—gangs and drugs mainly. Eight years later, her opinion hadn’t changed. Then again, gangs and drugs were petty stuff compared to money laundering and guns.
I picked at a cut on my finger. “None of us are angels.” Except for you. She had been pure and innocent, and I’d never wanted to see the light snuff out of her eyes. Part of me was relieved she still had a spark, and I outright grinned that she seemed to have her shit together.
“What’s with the smile?” she asked.
Nothing and everything.
Kelton interrupted our little interlude. “If you get out on parole, you need to stay away from your brother. You could put your freedom in jeopardy. Unless you consider the FBI’s offer.”
“He’s my brother.” That nagging doubt of whether Duke was responsible for my incarceration was glued to the back of my mind. I wanted to believe Duke hadn’t framed me. I wanted to believe our bond was as tightly sealed as it had been when we were kids. “Would you abandon yours?”
The Maxwell brothers were tight—so tight they would die for each other. Dillon bragged constantly about them and talked about his dream that maybe one day Duke, Dillon, and I could develop a bond like them.
Hell, we had been brothers through and through while growing up. We would’ve died for each other back then. Sadly, our paths had gone in different directions. I believed the three of us wanted the same things—family, wealth, and a life without guns, drugs, and gangs. Dillon was the only one who had done something with himself. He’d opened a women’s shelter to help those in need.
Kelton cleared his throat, his nostrils flaring. “We’re not here to talk about me. I care about you—my client. As much as Duke is blood, you can’t go near him.”
“Are you afraid I’ll revert to selling drugs?” Not that Duke sold drugs. Or for all I knew, maybe he did.
Kelton smoothed a hand down his red tie. “As your attorney, I’m advising you to consider what kind of future you want. One back here?” He waved his hand around. “Or one out there?” He stabbed a finger at the small window.
“You should take them up on their offer,” Jade rushed out. Then she froze, fear resonating on her as she regarded her boss. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“It’s all right,” Kelton said. Then he fastened his blue gaze on me. “Let’s say for argument’s sake, you take their offer. You would be taking a criminal off the street. Your record would be cleared, and you would have a future without the murder charge hanging over your head.”
I belted out a laugh. “I get that you uphold the law, Kelton. If I were in your shoes, I would tell me to take the offer too. But what kind of life would I have if I put my brother behind bars?” As pissed off and confused as I was with Duke, I wasn’t sure I could send him into a hellhole. “Besides, I want my record cleared because I didn’t kill Hector Alvarez, not because I gave the Feds someone they’re itching to put away.”
But Duke might be responsible for sending you to jail. If he is, then you get what you want, and you put a criminal away.
Jade squeezed the hell out of her pen. “He’s evil. He’s responsible for Savannah going to jail.”
My jaw came unhinged. “Savannah’s in jail?” I guess she wasn’t the lady on the phone.
Kelton let out a heavy, frustrated sigh. “Let’s get through your parole hearing. Then we’ll deal with the FBI situation.”
I desperately wanted to hear more about Savannah and more of Jade’s melodic voice. I needed to take in all of her—her voice, that fruity scent wafting around the room, and her appearance. Then I could have the images of her embedded in my brain for when I jacked off later that night or maybe when Farley brought me back to my cell.
But Kelton was right. I had to get out first. Any amount of speculation and arguing over whether or not I should narc on Duke was pointless.
One thing was certain—I would do everything in my power to be the professional, stoic inmate at my parole hearing and convince them I was worthy of reentering society.
Because when I was free, Jade and I had some catching up to do.
7
Jade
Kelton and I left the prison, not saying a word to each other. I
was in my own head, coming up with an apology for speaking my mind about Duke. But Denim had my mind completely out of sorts with his damn sexy smile as he undressed me with his eyes. Professionalism had gone out the window. Well, maybe not the entire time. Or maybe I had been professional on the outside, but my stomach had been rattling, and my hands had been trembling. I’d had to squeeze the pen just so my fingers wouldn’t shake like a powerful earthquake.
My heels scuffed along the pavement. The clicking and clacking centered me as I kept up a brisk pace with Kelton. He seemed deep in thought. I had a feeling he was waiting for us to get into the car before he unleashed his wrath on me, or maybe he was searching for the right words to fire me.
I inhaled deeply, hoping the crisp fall air would soothe the burning sensation in my throat. But all it did was saturate me with the musty scent of rain that lingered in the air. I glanced up at the sky. Dark, ominous clouds greeted me. The setting was appropriate given how the morning had gone thus far.
I’d gone through every scenario the night before on how to keep my shit together when I saw Denim. Don’t look at him. Don’t stare at him. Doodle to keep my hands occupied. Don’t fidget. Be professional. I’d repeated those things before I’d fallen asleep. But saying them and prepping for the day hadn’t helped one freaking bit.
The man had commanded the room. Granted, I wasn’t digging his prison attire, but I, too, was undressing the gorgeous hunk with my eyes. When he strutted in, I noticed that his angular jaw was unshaven. Yum. His blond hair was unkempt and curled at the edges as it grazed his shoulders. Double yum. His blue eyes were clear, bright, and glued to me like I was a magnet.
My heart skipped, tripped, and jumped when he smiled at me.
Damn him.
That spark we’d had in high school when we had first met outside chemistry lab flared instantly. But what had me squeezing my thighs together was the hunger swimming in his blue depths—sheer, clear, and absolute.
He knew I knew it too. I could feel it in my bones.
He hasn’t been with a woman in six years. What you saw on him was desperation for any woman.
If we had stayed in that room any longer, Kelton would’ve fired me instantly. I had been ready to undress myself and show Denim what he’d been missing since high school.
Then again, I was also ready to yell and scream at him for leaving me. I’d gone through some of the stages of grief, but I didn’t think I’d ever landed on hope and acceptance. I still had remnants of anger.
Two beeps from Kelton’s key fob blared in the parking lot, severing my Denim rollercoaster ride. He was like a powerful drug for me. I thought I had detoxed from him and gotten him out of my system. But I felt like I’d just fallen off the wagon and into the web he’d spun around me all those years ago.
It had been a mistake for me to come with Kelton. My only takeaway was that I still had feelings for Denim, and sadly, that had nothing to do with becoming a paralegal.
Pathetic. I could’ve insisted on staying behind, but that would have only shown Kelton that I wasn’t cut out for the job. I could’ve called in sick, but leaving my boss hanging was more embarrassing and maybe grounds for him to fire me or, at the very least, give me a warning in my employee record. I wasn’t my sister. I didn’t rebel or stomp my feet when I didn’t want to do something. That wasn’t me.
Kelton and I got into his car just as the clouds opened up, unleashing a downpour. A hard shiver racked my body. Suddenly, Mom’s voice was in my head, and I couldn’t stop the memory from surfacing.
“Jade, dear, take the dog out before dinner,” she’d said.
“Savannah can do it. I’m doing my homework.” I kicked Savannah, who was lounging on the couch with her headphones on, listening to some metal band she loved.
Savannah snarled as she drilled her brown eyes at me. “What?”
I pulled her headphones off her head. “Take the dog out.”
She swatted at me. “No. It’s your turn.”
Mom rushed into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. “Girls.” Her motherly tone was hard and commanding. “Jade, I asked you.” She pointed to the kitchen. “Boomer is waiting at the door, and it’s about to storm. So get to it.”
I threw my book on the couch before stomping out. It was pointless to argue. Even if Mom ordered Savannah to take out Boomer, she wouldn’t. She always disobeyed. At thirteen, she was a force to be reckoned with.
I stepped out onto the back porch as Boomer, our two-year-old lab, took off down the steps before I could get his leash on. Normally, we could let him out in the backyard, but our fence had fallen from a summer storm that year.
“Boomer,” I shouted. “Get back here.”
I ran after him as rain began to fall—a cold, hard winter rain.
Kelton snapped his fingers. “Jade.”
I blinked the memory away and silently scolded myself. I had no business wigging out in front of my boss, and during work no less. But sometimes it was hard not to relive the past.
“Close your door,” he said.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” I quickly pulled the door shut until the sound of it closing made me jump.
He turned over the engine. “Are you okay?”
Not at all. But he didn’t need to know the war raging in my head or the fact that sometimes rain triggered too many demons and nightmares about that fateful night.
I strapped myself in. “I’m good.”
Arching a brow, he shifted his Audi into gear. “Liar.”
I shouldn’t be surprised that a lawyer would see right through me. According to Mallory, good lawyers could read people better than they could read themselves.
“The rain makes me jittery.” And Denim is having a field day in my head.
“Want to talk about it?”
I set my purse on the floorboard in between my legs. “Not right now if that’s okay?”
“Fair enough.” He took a left onto a two-lane road. “Nice work in there.”
I stifled a gasp. “Really? I spoke out of turn and let my emotions get in the way.” Maybe he hadn’t heard me say I wanted Denim to throw Duke to the FBI.
Duke belonged in prison, preferably before my sister was released. Otherwise, she would run back to him. I wasn’t sure if he would take her back. They had an on-again, off-again relationship. Regardless, I would do everything in my power to keep her away from him so she wouldn’t fall into the same deep, dark hole of drugs and stealing again. I knew that was a feat in and of itself. I’d never been able to tame Savannah, and the older she got, the harder it became. I was hoping prison would reform her and make her see that crime didn’t pay.
Kelton let out a hearty chuckle. “Maybe a little. But you contributed and asked appropriate questions. You got Denim to open up, and that was helpful. Thank you.”
I smiled for the first time in a long time as a warm feeling coursed through me. It felt good to have someone compliment me on my abilities, especially since I thought I’d screwed up.
“After seeing Denim, do you think he’s innocent?” Kelton asked.
I was beginning to believe that Kelton had brought me along not for a training exercise or because I was his assistant, but rather because of my intimate knowledge of the man. “Yes. I believe without a doubt he’s innocent.”
“Was it his speech or something else that makes you believe his innocence?”
His speech about how prison life had shaped him had been sincere. He’d put a lot of feeling behind his words. But it wasn’t his words. “When Denim lied to me when we were dating, he would roll a shoulder. He didn’t do that today.” It was possible he could’ve learned how to lie better, but I didn’t think that was something Denim would do. Or maybe he was too focused on undressing me with his eyes instead of lying.
My dad had always said, “Once a liar, always a liar.” In addition, I wasn’t blinded by Denim’s good looks or charm. Or by the fact that I wanted to tear his white T-shirt off his broad chest and run my hands ov
er every dip and valley he had.
“Hmm,” Kelton said.
Cars passed, rain fell, and silence mixed with the swish, swish, swish of the windshield wipers.
Kelton merged onto the highway five minutes later. “Tell me about Duke Hart.”
I cocked my head. “Don’t you know him?” I assumed he did given that he and Dillon were friends and Denim was his client.
“Not really. I know of him through Dillon. But even then, Dillon hardly talks about Duke.”
Sighing, I folded my hands in my lap. “Duke is the reason my sister is in jail.” Oh, and I want to kill him.
Kelton sped up but stayed in the far-right lane. “He might’ve had some influence on her, but her actions were hers alone. I mean, he didn’t tell her to rob a convenience store. Right?”
“True.” But let me believe that Duke is at fault.
“What do your parents think?” he asked.
The windshield wipers were working hard, and traffic was moving, but not very fast.
I picked at a nail.
Boomer wagged his tail, trotting up to me as the wind whipped the rain sideways.
“There you are. Come on.” My feet dug into the squishy, wet grass as I practically dragged Boomer into the house by his collar.
Once inside, he shook all the water off him, slinging mud and dirt everywhere.
Mom scolded him then turned to me. “Get cleaned up.”
“Jade.” Kelton tapped on my shoulder. “Did you hear my question?”
I shook off the memory. “I’m sorry. They died in a fire when Savannah was thirteen, and I was fourteen.” I’d been known to check out during rainstorms, especially around the time of their deaths, which was coming up next month.
If they were alive, they would be devastated. However, I often thought if they hadn’t perished in the fire, Savannah might have been a different person. She’d had a hard time coping with their deaths. So had I, but everyone handled death differently. Savannah acted out. I dove inward. But I was also the older sibling. It had been my responsibility to take care of her.
Hart of Vengeance: The Hart Series Page 5