SweetHarts (5 Book Box Set)

by Kira Graham

  “You know, if I went home with you, I bet he’d shit a brick when he finds out about it,” Heath muses, his eyes sparkling when I tilt my head and consider his offer.

  It’s his night off, as far as I know, so it’s not like he’d be standing outside one of our doors anyway. Would it be unfair to take him up on his offer and stop him from going out later to find some other companionship? Probably. Thank God I’m not really one to give in to decency or guilt.

  “That would be awesome. And we could share some of the chocolates that I stole from work,” I add, grinning when he sputters and then nods enthusiastically.

  “Deal. And then you can explain to me why Nate is considering breaking things off with that shrink he was dating in order to rekindle shit with Mindy.”

  “No way! God, I love that girl, but she’s a dead end when it comes to this relationship thing. Alex was so right when she said that they weren’t good together,” I sigh, thinking back on that relationship with a sinking heart.

  I adore Mindy, but the girl has some truly uncool ideas about life, and while I don’t judge her for them, I have tried to steer her towards men who share her ideals. It’s freaking awful that most of those men are butt-ugly and middle-aged, but it’s not like it’s my fault that her spiritual pool is so unpalatable. If she wants to get with a hot guy like Nate, then relaxing some of those beliefs is going to be the only way to make things work.

  “She’s also batshit fucking crazy. You know what I saw her doing last week? Spying on him when he dropped in at that shrink’s office to take her to lunch.”

  “No,” I groan, ignoring the waitress when she comes to take our plates and then offers us the dessert menu.

  A woman who knows that she’s about to go home and eat half a pound of stolen chocolates should probably decline the menu. I don’t. I order two desserts, order two more for Heath—because come on, I need to appear semi-normal even if this is no longer a date—and then listen to him whine about Mindy while I plot a way to introduce her to a friend of mine called Reality.

  By the time we’re done and ready to leave, I am proud to say that I haven’t looked at Paris or his date once.

  Too bad I’ve drunk two more glasses of wine, however, because as I stand, playing into Heath’s excessive touching and attention, my eyes happen to wander Paris’s way and get caught in his lethal gray stare.

  Dammit.

  We lock eyes and glare at each other, and, against my will, I feel my right hand rising up and flipping him the bird, while I bare my teeth and hiss like an animal.

  Well, there goes my nonchalant act, I think, letting Heath sling an arm around my hips to help me hobble out.

  “Well, that ended almost as well as it could have,” he sighs, laughing when I groan and let him lift me into his truck.

  “I hate that man,” I grunt, buckling up as I now compulsively do ever since the accident.

  “Nope,” he responds, after running around the front and hopping in on his side. “You don’t. You don’t hate him at all, which is the problem. Want to know what I think?”

  Not really, and not because I’m trying to be a bitch, but rather because I really, really do not need another person telling me how I feel about Paris. It’s starting to get embarrassing, the way they all just seem to know what I’m feeling for the guy, and it’s even worse when Rosetta calls me at three in the morning, cackling and taunting me because I’m too much of a coward to land my man.

  Although Paris is not my man. He’s barely a man at all. I just wish that my head would agree with me so that we could get over him!

  “Sure. Wow me with yet another lecture about how pathetic I am to have rejected a man I wanted, and now be pining for him while gaining enough weight to guarantee that he’ll be disgusted by me,” I grumble sulkily, my lips twitching when Heath snorts and quirks a brow.

  “I think that you should just flat out be yourself. I like you, Sin, and while I wanted to like you as a lot more than just a friend, I can accept the fact that sometimes you don’t always get what you want. You want Paris, but unfortunately you screwed that up, and the asshole doesn’t seem inclined to forgive or forget.”

  “Oh, brother. Cleo gave me this same speech while she was hitting me with a spatula and threatening to drown me in a bowl of chocolate. Sometimes you don’t get what you want, blah, blah, blah. I get it. Why do you think that I came out on this date with you? I’m agreeing, people. I’m going to move on—”

  “That wasn’t what I meant, crazy lady, so stop glaring at me and reaching for the gun in my glove compartment,” Heath murmurs, laughing when I rip my hand back guiltily and grimace. “What I was trying to say is that I apparently don’t get to date you because you’re hung up on another guy. Now usually, I’d point that out and then seduce you anyway, because that’s just how I roll. But with you and Paris, I’m willing to concede defeat, because I truly do believe that the idiot still has feelings for you. All he needs is time to figure that out.”

  “Yeah, while he screws every crab-infested hooker in town,” I grumble sulkily, my lip curling. “Maybe I won’t even want him after all this. His dick is probably riddled with warts or something.”

  Heath croaks out a laugh and then chokes on his own spit, his chuckles turning to coughs as he tries to keep the truck on the road and also swipe at his eyes so that he can give me a knowing look.

  “He doesn’t have dick warts, and he hardly sleeps with his dates anymore, so if that’s what’s got you so worked up, then calm down. According to Ares, he’s leveled out ever since the accident.”

  “That could mean anything. You forget that I was best buds with that pig, and that he liked to tell me about all his past conquests because he was stupid enough to think that I’d get jealous,” I point out, staring straight ahead because Heath’s eyes are like two shards of twinkling mirth.

  “You didn’t?”

  “Not the point. The point is, I know what a pig he is, and tonight was proof. I have no doubt that he went to Papa’s knowing that we were there, just to poke this bear—and man oh man, Yogi isn’t happy.”

  “Did you just call yourself—you know what? Never mind. If I get onto that, we’ll probably end up talking about everything but what I actually want to talk about.”

  That was kind of the point, I think, sighing tragically when it looks like he’s not about to fall for my diversion tactics.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it at all. Did you see that woman?” I yell, unable to control myself. “She was gorgeous. And her boobs were like, amazing. Even I’d sleep with her, and I promised my mom and Father Donovan that I would never check out another woman,” I rage, feeling all worked up because, darn it, I’m failing.

  Not that I care about breaking my promise—I mean, even as I knelt in church, I was having a silent “please forgive me for lying” conversation with God. The fact that I heard him sighing and giving me a pass, because he knows Mom and understands my plight, is another thing entirely.

  Wait, where was I again? I wonder, trying to collect my thoughts when my mind tries to focus on just how messed up I am for thinking that God spoke to me and forgave my sinning in church. Oh yeah—that woman. Man oh man, was she hot, and this is coming from me, a woman who looks in the mirror, winks, and blows herself kisses on a daily basis. What, like no one else does that kind of thing?

  “She wasn’t all that great.”

  “Oh, come on—you have eyes and a working dick, Heath. She was out-of-this-world pretty, and you know it,” I groan, resting my head back against the seat as he stops at a light and turns to stare at me.

  “You’re much hotter.”

  “Yeah, but I’m an awful person,” I moan, biting my lip with a frown. “Like right now, all I keep thinking about is how I’m going to get Mindy to sleep with Nate, or, if that doesn’t work, how I’m going to set her up with one of those church guys with receding hairlines and ‘basement apartments’ that just happen to be in their mothers’ homes,” I confess.
“Which is awful. Mindy is my friend, and yet I know that I’m not in her corner when it comes to Nate.”

  Don’t get me wrong—I was. I was totally in her corner and ready to tell her how to cheat her way back into a monogamous relationship with the guy. Until I almost died. Now, I’m sorta working on this whole “live the best life you can” thought process. Most days. When I’m feeling like the effort is worth it. And, to my way of thinking, Nate’s best life is not going to be spent hooking up with Mindy, marrying her, and then living a lifetime of Bible-thumping boredom. I love the girl, but even I have to say that she just isn’t right in the head for this day and age.

  “Or, you actually are in her corner, because you know that it’s not going to work between them this time, either. Look, you’re a good person. A little unorthodox in your thinking, and a little quick to react when you’re annoyed. Case in point: flipping Paris off after what I thought was a well-played hour of perfect disinterest,” Heath says, smirking when I flush and curse. “That’s what I like about you, Sinai. You’re always going to be you, no matter what, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. So what if people make fun of you for drooling over Paris Hart? So what if he isn’t responding the way you want? If playing it cool isn’t your thing, then play it like you. Get in his face, be brazen, be shameless, and do what makes you happy, because from where I’m standing, honey, it seems like you haven’t been happy for a while.”

  I’m about to respond and tell him that he’s wrong when his phone goes off, blasting Nickelback’s “Hero” into the cab of the truck. He answers with a curse, and then curses again before hurtling through the now green light and picking up speed.

  “I’m on my way. Give me ten, and I’ll be there—just don’t leave,” he barks into the phone before ending the call. “I’m going to have to drop you off and take a rain check on those chocolates. Nate’s on his way to your place right now and should be there when we arrive, since Grange is with Tee at a club. Sorry, darlin’.”

  “What’s going on? Is everything okay?” I ask, slamming a hand against the dash when Heath takes the turn onto our street with a tire-screaming speed that makes my stomach flip precariously.

  Ever since the accident, I don’t drive, and anyone who drives me has to go no faster than forty or I freak out. Right now, though, I don’t think that our tires are even touching the ground as we make it around the corner and then speed down the street, coming to a jarring halt before my door is ripped open to reveal Nate, who immediately pulls me from the truck so that Heath can speed off in another squeal of tires.

  “What’s going on?” I yell, pushing against Nate until he relents and lets me stand, though I note that his gun is drawn, and he’s practically carrying me as he pins me to his side and starts running.

  He answers only when we’re in the elevator and on the way up to Tee’s apartment, and even then, it’s only to bark that he’ll tell me everything once we’re inside.

  “Nate!” I yell, almost falling on my ass when he drops me inside the apartment, bolts the door, and starts checking the place, calling out, “Clear!” after every room until he’s back with me, standing in the entryway where he left me.

  “I need you to listen to me, Sin, and don’t freak out. Everyone is fine; no one was hurt.”

  “What the hell is going on?” I scream, stamping my bad foot and cursing when a spike of pain shoots up my healing leg.

  I look up and see that Nate looks pissed. His face is pale, and the edges of his mouth are white when he looks down at me and closes his eyes, as if preparing to tell me something terrible.

  “Someone walked into the country club, where your parents, aunts, and uncles were hosting a gala, and opened fire on the place. Both the cops and our guys are already on the scene as we speak, tracking the shooter, who ran as soon as his magazine was empty. That’s where Heath’s going now. He’s our best tracker, and with Zeus there already, we will catch one of these bastards this time.”

  “My family—”

  “Is all fine. Just a little shaken up, is all. From what Adonis has been saying, it sounds like Honey is spitting fire and ready to go on the hunt herself, and don’t even get me started on Jack. I don’t know what was worse—his crying, or the murderous glint in his eyes,” Nate chuckles, his smile turning into a grimace when my knees buckle, and he’s forced to catch me and drag me to the couch.

  “Someone shot a gun? At the country club? And no one was hurt?” I ask dazedly, my mind going blank because this isn’t the first time that I’ve been in a situation like this. Only last time, it was up close and personal.

  I was there the night that that Hilan guy tried to kill Rosetta, and after the car crash—well, it’s become obvious that whoever wants to hurt my family isn’t playing with us anymore. He means business.

  “Thankfully, no. From the photos that Zeus took, and from what Jack could tell us, it looks like he aimed for the walls and the roof. I’m not sure, but it sounds like—”

  “He was trying to scare people, not hurt anyone,” I finish, feeling something niggling at the edges of my mind.

  It’s as frustrating as hell to be in this position, to be helpless and at the mercy of this person, and also to know that it’s all only going to get worse for us…

  “Why? None of this makes any sense to me, Nate. First Cleo, then Rose, then Alex being kidnapped and let go with a warning, and then the accident. And now the parents? Why go after them if this is about Cleo?” I ask, rubbing at my temples, where my head is starting to throb.

  Stress makes me prone to migraines; hence my usual lack of giving a damn in most situations. This, though, is not something that I can just shrug off and ignore, tra-la-la.

  “Well, that’s the thing,” he tells me over his shoulder, going to the kitchen to get us both some water before he comes back and takes up his position by the windows, peeking out through a crack in the curtains and then turning back to me. “We think that our initial assessment may have been wrong, or that the stalker may have evolved his target list. We’ve been digging into every guy that you girls have so much as smiled at—high school friends, boyfriends, crushes. Hell, Grange even ran backgrounds on the people working your local supermarkets and coffee shops.”

  “Nothing?” I ask, knowing that if they had anything, the guy would already be dead and buried in a shallow grave somewhere where the wolves could get at his carcass.

  “Not a damn thing. We’re about as close to figuring this out as we were a year ago—which is to say, we’re getting nowhere fast. That’s why it’s critical that Zeus and Heath track this son of a bitch down and bring him in for questioning. This is the lead that we need in order to finally end this. I just hope that they can actually hunt him down,” he tells me, his mouth going thin when I swallow and firm up my lips to stop them from trembling.

  “Why was Zeus with the parents?” I ask, trying to focus on something that doesn’t involve picturing my family gunned down in a spray of bullets.

  “Well, uh…he and Rosetta wanted to announce—”

  A loud banging on the door makes me jump, and has Nate pointing his gun toward it while motioning for me to get in the bedroom. I obey only because I know that it’ll help if he does not have to keep an eye on me, and almost faint when I hear the door opening and then people arguing loudly before it slams shut again.

  “Sinai! Get out here.”

  Paris. I know that voice, and from the tone, I realize that he’s wired as I peek around the doorframe and meet his eyes. I can no more stop myself from running at him and throwing myself at his chest, than I can stop the shaking in my limbs. Thank God that he catches me, and thank the Lord that he hugs me back when I cling to him and burst into tears. Don’t you judge me, you assholes. Yeah, I am a kickass kinda gal, and I’m not usually a crier, but these are exceptional circumstances, and I just want a hug, okay?

  “It’s okay,” Paris whispers, his breath skittering across my neck while his arms go tightly around me and hold me up, half-
dangling, half-hoisted to his chest.

  “When is this going to stop? When are we going to be safe to live our lives?” I ask softly, collecting myself and pushing against his chest so that he releases me enough to stand, though he keeps me close to his side as Nate clears his throat to gain our attention.

  “You staying?” he asks, looking at me questioningly, as if a no from me will get Paris booted.

  “Yes. Grange took Tee to her parents’ place, and Cleo and Rose are at Jack and Honey’s. If Sin doesn’t want to go, then we’ll just hold tight here until we hear more news. You staying?” Paris asks, nodding when Nate holds out a gun, which he takes and checks thoroughly.

  “I thought that I’d go help them hunt if you’re okay to hang with Sin. We still have to keep teams on everyone, but if I can join the search, I figure that the more men we have looking, the sooner we’ll find this scum. If you’re okay alone?” he asks, once again looking my way.

  “I’m fine. You go make sure that they find that asshole,” I say through gritted teeth, strangely calm now that Paris is here.

  “Will do. Lock this door, engage the alarm, and keep your phones on at all times. Security will lock down this floor for the rest of the night, and the apartment is damn near impenetrable, but it’s better to be safe,” he says before he checks the peephole and then slips out.

  Then I’m left alone with Paris, and as I turn to face him, I feel the blood drain from my face when I catch sight of his expression.

  “You went on a date with Heath?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Paris

  The words leave my lips as a hiss of accusation, and I watch Sin’s nostrils flare before she clamps her lips tightly shut and narrows her eyes. I know this look well, and I revel in its return about as much as I enjoyed watching her flirt with Heath all night, only to turn and flip me off as they were leaving.

  Needless to say, I called the rest of the date off as soon as Sin walked out of the restaurant, and I was already halfway here, having handed my date off to my driver, when I got the call about what had gone down at the country club tonight. It scared the hell out of me and had me sweating bullets, worrying myself sick until I got in here and saw her safe and unharmed.