Hart of Vengeance: The Hart Series

by Alexander, S. B.

  A muscle jumped in Dillon’s unshaven jaw. “We believe Tito Alvarez took him.”

  “I do too. But if we’re right, that means he’s dead. He can’t die, Dillon.”

  He grasped my hand. “You still love him, don’t you?”

  Tears slid down my cheeks. “I do. I want a chance to tell him. But I’m also afraid. He ripped my heart out. I’m afraid he might do that again.” I didn’t know why I was puking up my feelings to Denim’s brother.

  Dillon squeezed my hand. “Give him a chance. He’s not the same person you knew, Jade. Well, he is. He still cares. He still has a big heart. And he would die for those he loves. But he’s not getting involved in selling drugs or running with gangs.”

  “I know. He told Kelton and me how he wants to start a family. Between you and me, when I heard him say that, my stomach fluttered in the hopes that I was in his equation.” Again, I was foaming at the mouth, telling Dillon my deep, dark secrets about Denim. Maybe the medication was the cause of me spilling my guts.

  “Take things slow. When I first saw Maggie again after several years, I wanted to start up a relationship with her, but I couldn’t bring her into my mess. Us Hart brothers have a way of pushing away those we love to protect them.”

  “You did that to Maggie?”

  “Sadly, I did. But she wasn’t having any of my shit.” Dillon’s brown eyes flashed with love for his girl. “Jade, my brother doesn’t die easily.”

  I laughed, albeit weakly. “Are you in my head?”

  He smirked. “I see the fear in your eyes. It’s the same look you had as a teenager when you came to the house and Denim wasn’t home.”

  That was true. Sometimes I’d worried he was dead from a gang fight. Other times, I had worried he would die at the hand of his alcoholic father.

  “Duke has every one of his men out looking for our brother.”

  I cringed at Duke’s name. “If Tito is behind the shooting, was he at the club?”

  “We didn’t see him. We think it was one of his men. Maybe the same one who shot at you guys on the street.”

  “They’re following us,” I said almost to myself.

  Dillon checked over his shoulder before regarding me. “I don’t trust the hospital to keep you safe. We need to get you out of here.”

  My eyebrows knitted together. “What? This is probably the safest place to be.”

  “I don’t agree. Anyone can get ahold of an employee badge, and if they really want to get past security, they will. Anyway, Duke and I think you’re the target, and Tito has had a man following you since before Denim was released from prison.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Dillon scraped a hand over his chin. “We believe Tito wants Denim to suffer for killing Hector, and you’re Denim’s weakness. My brother still loves you, Jade. He might not admit that, but he would die if anything happened to you.”

  I couldn’t argue with his reasoning. “So why now, though? Why wait until he’s out?”

  “Tito actually didn’t. He had a man inside try to kill Denim.”

  I’d remembered Denim saying something along those lines when we’d been at the diner that Tito had put a hit out on him.

  Mallory glided back in and resumed her spot opposite Dillon. “What did I miss?”

  Dillon took his hand away from mine. “As soon as we can get you out of here, you’ll be staying at Duke’s. Until then, I have a man who will be watching you while you’re here. I’ll be here too.”

  “No. No. No,” I said. “I’m not staying with Duke.” The heart monitor went nuts.

  Mallory rubbed my arm. “I don’t like it either, but Tito can’t get to you in Duke’s penthouse.”

  “Traitor.” I wanted to remind her how she despised Duke. Then I turned to Dillon. “Honestly, do you want me to kill your brother?”

  Dillon chuckled. “He’s an ogre, but he has a heart.”

  I scrunched my face, and that small act hurt like hell. “A black heart. Anyway, I have to work. I can’t be hiding. And I have to bury Savannah.”

  “I’m sorry about Savannah,” Dillon said. “I can’t force you. But please consider staying with Duke. He’s got the men, and his penthouse is a fortress.”

  I appreciated Dillon’s concern. “I can’t hide away. I have a life.” Albeit a depressing one. “I have a job.” Although Kelton had told me to take time off since I’m entitled to bereavement leave, but I didn’t want to. I had to keep my mind occupied. Otherwise, I would go completely insane.

  “Kelton told me he gave you time off for Savannah,” Dillon said. “He agrees you need to be protected as well.”

  “I’m not taking time off,” I volleyed back. “Look, I want to help find Denim.”

  “You’re in no shape to do anything,” Mallory said. “And if you want to work, then I’ll bring your laptop to Duke’s.”

  I glanced at my BFF, the same woman who hated Duke probably more than me at the moment.

  She nodded. “I’ll work from Duke’s too. We can both drive him nuts.”

  Dillon was holding back a grin.

  I wasn’t. But I doubted I could do much of anything until I didn’t feel like I’d been run over by a Mack truck. Still, if Mal was at Duke’s with me, at least she would keep me from throwing him out the window.

  “I need to make a phone call,” Dillon said. “Then, Mallory, you can take a break.”

  Mallory laughed, shaking her head. “This woman isn’t leaving my sight either.”

  “You should go home and get some rest,” I said. “Dillon will protect me.” I wanted more time alone with Dillon. He was making me feel better emotionally. I was beginning to feel as though I were part of a family, which I hadn’t had since before the house fire.

  “You two work it out. Either way, I’ll be back.” Dillon left.

  I grasped Mal’s hand. “You need a shower and a good night’s sleep. Go home. I’ll be fine. Tito isn’t going to kill me.”

  “Why are you so sure?”

  “Because he’s gotten what he wanted.” I hated to say he’d killed Denim. The more I voiced that thought, the more I was afraid it would come true, and I prayed I was wrong.

  22

  Denim

  Puddles of water were scattered around the trash strewn on the floor of the barren warehouse. A hint of fish hung in the air, or maybe it was the stench floating off my sweat-soaked body.

  I groaned even though I couldn’t feel my legs. The only pain resonating in my brain was the burning in my muscles or the intense friction of the rope cutting into my wrists as I dangled from the ceiling. My mouth was parched. Every limb and muscle hurt like a bastard, and I could barely open my eyes.

  I was in hell—the kind from which a person didn’t escape.

  I licked my split lips, and the metallic taste of my blood gave me a small jolt to wake the fuck up and get out of there. I wasn’t sure how, though. My ankles were tied, and my toes barely touched the cement floor. I drew in a breath and choked from the disgusting dead fish smell lingering in the air.

  “Boss, he’s coming to,” a baritone voice said.

  I knew that voice. My gaze flitted from one side to the other, searching for Lou Romano. My vision was blurry, and I couldn’t see past my swollen nose or cheeks.

  “Hey.” I sounded rough and ragged. I cleared my throat. “Hey,” I said a little louder. “Tell my brother to be a man and confront me himself.” I hadn’t seen Duke yet. I was sure my brother was behind my kidnapping and the contract on my head. After all, Lou Romano worked for him.

  When I’d first arrived—I was guessing four or five days ago—I had been knocked out. The minute I’d gained consciousness, I had been knocked out again by three men who got their rocks off on using me for their own entertainment. I’d asked to see Duke, but the men had laughed and continued to play the torture game.

  I pulled on the rope around my wrists, but the act only served to make it cut deeper into my skin.

  “You’re not get
ting out of those,” Lou announced with excitement as his footsteps grew louder.

  I blinked several times. I was sure I had blood in one of my eyes, hence the blurriness.

  Lou Romano entered my vision. He was short in height with a short neck and pointed chin. He was known on the streets as Pliers.

  He cocked his head to one side then the other. “You’re one tough motherfucker, Hart. Then again, you always were.” True to his nickname, he plucked a pair of pliers from his back pocket. The metal glinted in the dim light spraying down from above.

  “If you’re trying to scare me, you’ll have to do better than making love to those pliers.”

  He dragged a dirty fingernail over the handles. “You were always a cocky fuck.”

  A ragged laugh escaped me. “How’s my brother, Duke?”

  He opened and closed his pliers. “Peachy.”

  Despite knowing that Duke was behind stringing me up and beating the crap out of me, I was too out of it to care. But then I gulped down a mouthful of air. If Duke was responsible for my plight, that meant he was responsible for shooting Jade.

  I thrashed around. “Get my brother,” I shouted, but my voice was only a whisper. I would gladly kill if Jade didn’t survive. The idea of Jade dead caused my gut to spasm.

  “Now I see the fear,” Lou said.

  I spat in his face. “Tell my brother to get his ass in here, or out here, or wherever the fuck we are.” Given the fishy aroma, we had to be near Boston Harbor.

  I pulled down on the ropes, but it was pointless. If I could get free, I probably couldn’t run. I couldn’t feel my damn legs, let alone my arms. The only thing I could feel was the sweat dripping down my face, back, and chest. Or maybe it was blood.

  Lou laughed again. “In due time. But first, I have my orders.”

  I growled, baring my teeth. “When I get free, I’m going to tear you apart limb by limb after I drive a knife through my brother’s heart.”

  He belted out a sinister laugh, which bounced off the cracked cement walls and echoed loudly. “I can’t wait to hear you scream.” He dragged the pliers down one side of my face. “I think I’ll start with your teeth. Then your fingernails.”

  Keys jangled behind Lou. “Hold up.” It was another voice I knew well.

  Growling, I writhed as Lou clamped my upper lip between the pliers, squeezed as though he were fighting with a nail that wouldn’t come out, and pulled hard. I grunted, fighting to hold in the pain.

  Lou knew I was in hell, and the fact that I didn’t squeal like a pig didn’t matter. Lou let out a satisfying and hearty laugh.

  Fucker.

  “Just a taste of what’s to come.”

  “Lou,” Tito Alvarez barked.

  Lou backed away with a smirk that was cold, calculating, and downright creepy as fuck.

  My mind juggled to understand what was going on. Lou worked for Duke, or I thought he did. Maybe Tito worked for Duke too. Maybe they were one big, happy family.

  Tito twirled his keys on his finger and strutted closer, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I briefly wondered if the blood on his white T-shirt was mine. I didn’t remember seeing him, but I hadn’t been coherent. For all I knew, he’d beaten me when I was down, which he had been known to do with his victims.

  He crossed his skinny arms over his chest. “It’s good to see you, bro.” He said every word like he meant it, and I would’ve believed him if it weren’t for the dark glare he was giving me.

  “Do you kill your brothers?” I fired back.

  “That’s your department,” he was quick to respond. “I hear your girl isn’t going to make it.”

  I spat in his face. “So you admit shooting her?”

  “She wasn’t the target. You were.”

  “Why? Because I killed your brother?”

  “I know you didn’t kill my brother.” He sounded like he knew who had.

  Confusion and shock melded together, making my eyes nearly pop out of my head. “How do you know I didn’t kill Hector?”

  “You’re not a killer. Never were. Hector left that part of the job to me.”

  “So what the fuck is this all about?” I gritted my teeth.

  “Lou, go shine your pliers. I need a moment with Hart.”

  Lou snarled but obeyed, taking his pliers with him.

  “So he works for you now?” I asked. “Or do you both work for Duke?”

  Tito slipped his gnarly fingers into the pockets of his ripped, soiled jeans. “Fuck. I don’t work for Duke. He’s the reason you’re here, though.”

  “So you hired Costa to kill me because of Duke? You had some guy follow me the day I got out of prison and try to off me? Then you tried again at the club? Do I have the facts right?”

  He snarled. “You just don’t die, do you?”

  “Fuck you. Why am I here, man? In one moment, you’re trying to kill me, and in the next, you’re kidnapping me. Be done with it already.”

  “I had a change in plans,” he said. “If you’re dead, I won’t get what I want.”

  Tito was a persistent motherfucker, but he never thought before he acted.

  I pushed out all the air in my lungs. “What do you want?”

  He plucked out his phone, punched in a number, and waited until the line rang. “Let’s ask Duke.”

  I used Lou’s word. “Peachy.”

  The line rang again, echoing in the empty warehouse.

  “Alvarez.” Duke’s voice came through loud and clear. “Where the fuck are you?” My brother’s tone was calm as though the two were as thick as blood.

  Tito had a satisfied grin on his ugly face. “Don’t you want to know how your baby bro is doing?”

  I stared at the phone, seething as sweat poured off my body. “How’s Jade, Duke?” I rushed out, not sure if he could hear me since my voice was low and raspy.

  Silence filled the line except for Duke’s heavy breathing. “What do you want?” he finally asked. This time, his tone was scary as fuck.

  Tito tapped his chin with his finger. “You know what I want—a seat at the table.”

  Maggie was right when she’d said that Tito Alvarez was trying to make a name for himself. “He’s high on power and money and taking over the city.”

  “Do you think the leaders will open their arms for a lowlife gang leader who puts contracts out to off people?” Duke asked. “That’s not how the organization works. We don’t call attention to ourselves. We stay legit and under the radar. Until you learn that, you have no place at the table.”

  Inwardly, I was laughing like a crazy man at how Duke was reprimanding Tito as though my brother were his old man. For the briefest of moments, I was transported back to when Duke would yell at Dillon and me for doing stupid teenage crap like smoking weed or drinking our old man’s liquor.

  “Duke,” I called. “Is Jade o—”

  Tito mashed his lips into a thin line. “I want into your organization like the other gang leaders. Bring me in, and I won’t kill your brother.”

  “I don’t care about Denim. I haven’t for years,” Duke said in a serious tone.

  He hadn’t given me the time of day in over six years. But a tiny voice in my head said to trust him. Trust him like you did when you were a boy. Trust him with your life like you did when you ran in a gang with him. Trust that he values blood over money and riches.

  Trust could wait until he answered me about Jade. “Duke?”

  He didn’t acknowledge me. I was relieved Duke wasn’t the one who had been trying to kill me. But what the fuck? He could at least say something to me.

  Tito plastered on a satisfied grin. “You won’t bat an eye if I shoot him right now, then?” Tito produced a gun from his lower back.

  “Look, Tito,” Duke said. “You’ve already got one kill under your belt. Kill Denim, and I can promise you that you’ll never have the chance to play in the big-dog arena.” Then the line went dead.

  Duke’s words stung like a swarm of angry bees. One kill
? Does that mean Jade is dead? Or is Duke baiting Tito?

  Tito kept the gun aimed at my temple. “I guess he doesn’t care about you. Let’s see how Duke reacts when I deliver your dead body to him.”

  I had to think fast. My problem was that my brain hurt as much as my entire bloody body. Still, my past relationship with Tito had to count for something. I certainly didn’t want to die, not before I had a chance to confirm whether or not Jade was dead. But I couldn’t think about Jade at the moment, or I would explode, and I had to get out of there.

  I swallowed a ball of dirt. “Why is it so important to get a seat at the table? What table?”

  Tito loved power. He loved being in charge. He hated that Hector was revered by those who’d worked for him and even by people who hadn’t.

  His arm was steady, his finger primed on the trigger. “I know you’re trying to stall me.”

  Tito was also a hothead, and the feat had always gotten him into trouble. Hector had had to clean up his messes several times.

  “You’re right. I am. Honestly, I have no fucking clue what’s going on here. In one breath, I think Duke is trying to kill me. In another, you are. The tables keep switching. Frankly, I’m fucking tired. I didn’t get out of prison only to die.” My voice was even.

  The skin around his nearly black eyes loosened, but the gun was still trained at my head.

  “Tito, you know me. We’ve been through shit. We can work this out.” Hector had talked Tito down from the ledge many times. Hopefully, I could do the same.

  “How? Are you going to get me into Duke’s organization?”

  “Tell me more, man. I can help. I’ll talk to Duke.” Duke wouldn’t listen to me, but I needed to make Tito believe he would.

  Tito lowered the gun.

  Inwardly, I thanked someone above.

  “Word on the street is Duke made a deal with the Colombian cartel about two months ago. He would be their front man to move drugs and guns through Boston. But the only way to do that was to engage some of the bigger gangs in the city. So Duke invited leaders from certain gangs to sit down and negotiate a plan where everyone at the table would benefit.”