Hart of Vengeance: The Hart Series

by Alexander, S. B.

  I slid Ellie’s letter over to her then walked over to the window and opened Savannah’s. My hands trembled as I removed the two-page letter.

  Swallowing down my nerves, I began reading.

  Dear Sis,

  If you’re reading this, that means I didn’t make it out of prison alive. You’re probably wondering why I would even write a letter like this to begin with. But I felt the need to lay out the truth. Because if I’m dead, then the truth might never come out.

  I would like to start by saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not listening to you. I’m sorry for taking advantage of you. I’m sorry for so many things. I know you’re probably wondering why I didn’t tell you that when you came to see me. It’s hard to talk when others around me are listening. I had to be careful with what I said.

  My tears were spilling over like Niagara Falls.

  As I mentioned on your last visit, I need money for protection. There’s a group of girls, or a gang, who has it out for me. At first, I didn’t think twice about it. You know me. I’m a fighter. I’ve fought my own battles and have needed no one to do that for me. But prison isn’t high school. The women inside are bigger, meaner, bitchier, and have no regard for human life. It’s been tough to stay alive every day for the last two years, and everyone inside needs protection. I know you might not comprehend that, but it’s true.

  But the main reason I’m writing this letter is because I need you to know something. For the last six years, I’ve been carrying around a secret, and I didn’t know if I could ever come clean. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to say what I’m about to say to you.

  I know you’ve never stopped loving Denim, which is why I could never bring myself to face you and why I treated you horribly.

  Denim Hart didn’t kill Hector Alvarez. I was at Hector’s the night he was murdered.

  I shrieked, holding my stomach.

  Mallory ran over to me. “What is it?”

  “I need to sit down.” I hurried over to the couch. The letter was burning a hole in my hand and my freaking heart. I set the letter on the table then blew in and out several times.

  The sound of a running faucet trickled in my ears, and a moment later, Mallory handed me a glass of water.

  I eyed the bar. “I think I need something much harder.”

  She stuck the glass in my face. “No. You’re on pain meds.”

  I took the glass of water but didn’t drink.

  She sat next to me and pointed at the letter. “May I?”

  Nodding, I decided to drink the water. Maybe it was enough to kick-start my brain or get rid of the numbness blanketing my body. Beneath my shock, so many emotions sizzled—anger, hurt, excitement, hell, and everything under the sun.

  Mallory read the first page to herself, and when she finished, she also shrieked, but not as forcefully as I had.

  “Can you read the second page to me?” I asked.

  She swallowed then began.

  “I went to Hector’s to actually find Denim. I wanted to talk to him about you. I’d overheard him talking to Duke about how he missed you. So I was going to convince him to call you to see if you two could rekindle things. He wasn’t at his apartment, and I knew if he wasn’t there, he was probably at Hector’s.

  “Yeah, Duke and Denim attracted trouble and the wrong kind of people. It’s true that the world Denim and Duke live in is no place for sweet people like you. I also know that Denim saw firsthand how Hector lost the love of his life to one of his enemies, and that scared the fuck out of Denim, which was the reason he broke up with you. I only know that because, again, I overheard him talking to Duke one day.

  “Anyway, I had just entered Hector’s building when a gun went off. Scared, I ran out and hid in the shadows across the street. Denim didn’t come out of the building that night. Tito Alvarez did. I don’t know what happened. But the next thing I knew, Denim was getting arrested. I never had a chance to talk to him.

  “You’re probably wondering why I didn’t go to the police. Oh, I thought about it and decided I should do the right thing. But after Hector’s neighbor gave her statement to the police and disappeared shortly after, I clammed up. I didn’t want to face the same fate as the neighbor, and I would’ve if Tito ever found out I saw him. He’s a monster, sis. He has no regard for human life.”

  Closing my hands into fists, I was ready for vengeance.

  “I hope you understand I had to keep my mouth shut. Well, I did tell Duke when he came to visit me two months ago. He didn’t know until then. I kept calling and calling him until he broke down and finally came to see me. When I told him the story, he was livid, but he said he could’ve protected me, which was why I couldn’t get him to take my calls after I told him. But the only person who could protect me was me.”

  I grabbed Mallory’s arm. “I need a break.” I wiped tears from my face with the sleeve of my robe.

  “Only two short paragraphs left,” she said through her own tears.

  I blinked. I might as well push through.

  She scooted closer to me and finished reading the letter.

  “Sis, I could go on for days and tell you more about me, apologize, cry, and beg for your forgiveness, but it doesn’t matter if I’m dead. However, I would like for you to do one thing for me. The two women in the gang who have been beating me were Greta Sanchez and Louise Collier. They were operating on orders from Tito Alvarez. I don’t know how he found out I knew about him being at Hector’s. I never told a soul except Duke.

  “In closing, please make sure Tito and these two women pay. I also want you to use this letter as my confession to Denim. I want him to know how very sorry I am. Duke will never forgive me, but I do hope Denim understands.

  I do love you. I’ll say hi to Mom and Dad.

  Your rebellious but loving sister,

  Savannah Kelly

  P.S. I’m going to give this letter to a friend of mine who visits me frequently. I’ll ask her to send it only if anything happens to me. Her name is Ellie Rogers, and if you ever get the chance to look her up, please thank her for me.”

  I bawled my eyes out. My heart literally hurt, and I wanted to hug my sister. I wanted to hold her and tell her I loved her. Sadly, I would never get to again.

  Mallory drew me into her embrace, smoothing a hand down my hair and back. “Let it out.” She sniffled.

  “Did you happen to overhear where Denim was meeting Tito?” I asked through a river of tears.

  “No. Sorry,” Mallory said.

  “I’m not hiding in this place. It’s time I get answers.” Or maybe revenge.

  29

  Denim

  Duke had a bottle of bourbon in his hand as he strutted over to a round table positioned in the middle of the room. A spotlight shined down as though we were about to get up on stage and act out our parts. In a way, we were.

  Duke’s part was to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn’t incriminate himself. My role was to ask the questions and get Tito talking and spilling what information he had on the Mexican cartel and the shipment of guns. I knew how to jerk Tito’s chain, although it wasn’t very hard to do with him.

  We’d agreed to meet at Duke’s club mainly because we wanted Tito to feel welcomed on Duke’s turf and at Duke’s so-called table.

  Tito hadn’t blinked an eye when I told him to meet us at The Monarch. Sure, he wasn’t totally ignorant. We knew he would bring men. But Duke had two guards posted at the back door to ensure Tito only entered with one of his men.

  Opening and closing my hands, I walked around the first floor of the club, trying to tame my nerves. I didn’t give a shit about guns or power. I wanted a confession out of Tito. But I wasn’t banking on him confessing. He’d kept the secret of Hector’s murder locked tight for six years.

  Travers wouldn’t be pleased if I tried to get Tito to talk about murdering his brother rather than the time and place of a gun shipment, but I didn’t give a rat’s ass.

  I grabbed a bottle of water from behi
nd the bar, the same bar that had taken a bullet like Jade. Most of the mess had been cleaned up except for the shattered wall-length mirror that hadn’t been replaced yet.

  “You think it’s wise to drink?” I asked.

  Duke let out an evil laugh. “You think it’s wise to wear a wire?”

  I lifted my arms up and out. Then I pointed at my neck. The Feds had inserted a small listening device into the collar of my shirt. Duke was onboard with throwing Tito to the Feds, but he did not like the wire.

  “Tito will give them too much information,” Duke had said prior to one of Travers’s men suiting me up.

  I met Duke at the table then closed my hand over the listening device. “Why are you all of a sudden worried? You said the Feds had nothing on you.”

  He pushed out his shoulders and ran his hands through his thick crop of hair. “Are they listening?” His voice was barely audible.

  I closed my hand over the device tighter. “I doubt it.” If they were, it would be muffled.

  “McCauley is having a cow.” He kept his voice so low, I could barely hear him. “Tito has something on him that I wasn’t aware of. If he starts flapping his jaws about McCauley, I could get pinched in the crossfire.”

  “As in dead or as in jail?”

  Duke stretched his neck. “Let’s just say either one. Because if things go south, I’m afraid I’ll be the one murdering the fucker before he walks out of here.”

  We were in this mess now, and if we backed out, Tito wouldn’t think twice about following through on killing me and those I loved. I couldn’t worry about Duke and his partner, McCauley. I had to think of myself.

  Regardless, I might beat Duke to the punch if my self-control broke. The vengeance was careening through my veins, hot and lightning fast. Night after night, I’d lain in my prison bunk, thinking about what I would do if I ever found the person who’d set me up—killing, strangling, and torturing came to mind. But if I wanted a future in which my living quarters didn’t include bars and cements walls, I had to temper my retribution. I had a beautiful woman on my arm, one who I hoped would be my wife one day. No way was I messing that up.

  I wished Dillon had joined us. He had a knack of being the levelheaded one, but he had no business in our fight. His job was to keep an eye on Jade. I didn’t trust Tito. If he didn’t get his way, he would definitely use Jade as his pawn in his lust for power.

  The bell to the back door rang.

  Duke knocked back the rest of his bourbon. “Here we go.”

  Letting go of my collar, I focused on the hall along the bar.

  One of Duke’s men called out, “They’re clean, boss.”

  Footsteps clobbered down the short hall until Tito and Lou came into view.

  “I meant to ask you, bro—what happened between you and Lou?” I whispered.

  “The fucker stole from me,” Duke responded.

  I shook my head. “You’re better off without him.”

  Lou scanned the club up and down, making sure he checked every nook and cranny. “No other men, Duke?”

  Duke threw him the middle finger. “Just sit your ass down, Lou.” His tone brooked no argument.

  “Fuck off,” Lou spat back. Literally, spit sprayed from his mouth. “I don’t take orders from you anymore.”

  I held back a laugh.

  “Got a problem, Denim?” Tito snarled as he pulled out a chair.

  I was tempted to follow in Duke’s footsteps and tell Tito to sit his ass down, but we were there to do business, not exchange barbs or heated words. The only thing I wanted to hear from Tito was him confessing to killing his brother.

  Keep the end game in mind.

  “Let’s get down to business,” I said evenly.

  Tito took inventory of the room. “Why do I feel like someone is lurking in the shadows? If you so much as have the cops watching, I will finally kill you, Denim.”

  Maybe Tito wasn’t a moron after all.

  I opened my hands. “Why would I do that? I just got out of prison.”

  Duke growled. “Sit your ass down too, Alvarez. You wanted a seat at the table. Here we are. Talk.”

  Tito stuck his middle finger up at Duke as he obeyed.

  Duke’s jaw was cement. “That’s no way to gain entrance or my trust.”

  Tension hung in the air, thick, tight, and ready to snap.

  “You have the floor, Tito,” I started. “Let’s talk gun shipment.” It was best to start with that rather than whether or not he’d killed his brother. Maybe I could get him in a good mood by letting him think he was playing with the big boys and then catch him off guard.

  Tito clasped his hands together and set them on the table. He eyed Duke. “First, I’m not giving you any information until I know for sure this meeting isn’t a way to placate me.”

  Duke sat up straighter. “Now why would I waste my time pacifying you? You want to work with me, then give me something I can take to my colleagues.”

  Tito regarded Lou.

  I had to hand it to him—he’d been smart to bring Lou along. After all, Lou knew Duke well.

  Lou nodded, his fat neck rolling under his chin.

  “I want fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of the guns,” Tito said.

  Duke sat back and laughed. “You’re not calling the shots.”

  “Then who is?” Tito asked. “And if it’s your partner, why isn’t he here?”

  Inwardly, I sighed. The more Duke kept talking, the more he would back himself into a wall with the Feds.

  The back doorbell rang.

  Surely that wasn’t Travers wanting to raid the joint. We hadn’t gotten a single ounce of anything he could use to send Tito or my brother to prison.

  I narrowed my eyes. “I told you, Alvarez, not to bring any more men.”

  “Fuck off, Hart,” Alvarez said. “I have two men waiting in the car. Unless they have to take a piss, I have no clue who’s raining on our parade.”

  Duke and I exchanged a perplexed look.

  My guess was that it was Dillon. He was as stubborn as Duke and me.

  Hushed voices filtered in, but I couldn’t make them out except for the hint of a female voice.

  Lou slapped Tito on the arm. “I got a bad feeling, boss.”

  Tito pushed to his feet. “I think this was a mistake.”

  Nonplussed, Duke said, “You walk out that door, you won’t have another chance.”

  My phone vibrated in my back pocket.

  I had to agree with Lou. Something wasn’t right. I pulled my phone out and read the text.

  Dillon: Jade isn’t at the penthouse.

  My stomach dropped to my booted feet, and then I heard Jade yelling, “If you don’t let me in, I will knee you in the balls.”

  I didn’t have time to figure out why she was there or how she knew I was at the club. I hadn’t had time to call her because I’d only had a short window between meeting with Travers and meeting with Tito.

  Jade ran in with Duke’s men hustling behind her. Red rimmed her eyes as though she’d been bawling, her lips were thinned, and she was breathing heavily.

  My brain was clambering to understand what had her about to explode.

  “Sorry, boss,” the big, burly guy said to Duke.

  Tito beamed from ear to ear. “Well now. You’re looking beautiful as ever, Jade. How’s the chest?”

  She sneered at Tito, audibly growling. “I take it you’re Tito Alvarez?” She marched up to Tito. Her hands were closed into fists at her sides, ready to inflict some serious damage. I’d never seen her so enraged.

  I slid closer in the event that Tito had plans to hurt her in any way.

  She held up her hand. “Denim, stay back. This is my fight.”

  My brows climbed to my hairline.

  Jade kneed Tito in the junk, and hard too. “That’s for shooting me.”

  He squealed like a pig, doubling over as he gripped his balls.

  Duke laughed, Lou winced, and I smirked.

&
nbsp; “Fuck,” Tito managed to get out in a high and strained pitch.

  Then she clutched onto Tito’s hair before he could straighten, pulled on it hard, then rammed her knee into his face. “That’s for killing my sister.”

  I choked. How did she know? The only people who knew were Dillon, Duke, and me.

  I looked at Duke, and he shrugged. I didn’t think Duke would’ve shared that with Jade. Maybe Dillon had spilled the beans trying to stop her from coming here.

  Wait, I’d told Kelton. But he’d promised me he wouldn’t say a word until we had the facts.

  Blood oozed out of Tito’s nose as he lifted an arm in the air. “I get it.”

  Jade let go of him. “You don’t fucking get it.”

  Tito straightened. “Are you going to let her beat me, Hart?”

  I couldn’t tell whether he was talking to me or Duke because he didn’t take his eyes off Jade.

  I inched closer to my girl. Tito didn’t have any weapons on him, but he might decide to use his fists. “Jade, let me handle this.”

  Movement caught my eye in my peripheral vision. Mallory inched in and hovered around the bar, watching Jade.

  Jade snarled at me. “Not a chance. Don’t you want revenge too? He killed his brother and framed you.”

  Lou gasped. “You killed your own brother?”

  Tito took a step back. His dazed, dark, guilty expression ricocheted off Lou, Duke, me, then Jade.

  I didn’t have time to find out how she knew because I was focused on Tito. “Well?” I tried to keep my voice steady and my body from lunging at the motherfucker. “Did you kill Hector?”

  Jade pushed him on his ass.

  Tito grunted as his backside hit the floor. He glared at Jade.

  I was frozen as I watched Tito, waiting for him to say something.

  “Tell me, asshole,” Jade shouted at the top of her lungs. “I want to hear that you’re responsible for my sister’s death.”

  Jade’s elevated voice kick-started my legs, and I closed the distance between us. “I want to hear how you killed your own brother.”

  Lou shook his head. “That’s fucked up.”

  Tito seemed to crawl into himself as though he wanted to hide, which was odd with the big personality he had. I’d never seen him cower. But the defeat written on his face disappeared as he rose.