Hard SEAL: A Dark Bad Boy Next Door Romance

by Jessica Ashe

  Jay, Chet, and Burton all jump out of the car with the energy of three men who are either feeling rejuvenated after a great night’s sleep and a morning yoga session, or are coked up to their eyeballs.

  “I guess we better follow them,” Daron says.

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  “Me neither, but there’s bound to be cash back there, and I need to earn something from today’s mess. Come on, let’s go.”

  Daron steps out and I follow, tucking my gun into my belt and covering it up with my shirt. I feel the reassuring touch of cold steel against my skin. With my gun, I’m usually safe. ‘Usually’ being the key word. Everyone’s going in armed, but I’m the only one who knows how to use these things properly.

  Jay leads the crew straight through the front of the bookstore and heads towards a conspicuous looking door at the back.

  “Stay here, and don’t get involved,” I say to the guy running the store. He’s probably part of this, and might even be armed, but on the off chance he’s innocent, I can’t let him get hurt. If he still insists on getting involved… well, then it’s his own fault.

  Burton is first into the room, screaming “freeze, get your hands up.” He’s swinging his gun around like he doesn’t know where to point it, and by the time I’m in the back room I realize why.

  It’s not just the three goons we saw getting out of the car we need to deal with. There are five other men here too. We are outnumbered eight to five, but we all have our guns drawn and pointed, whereas they are empty-handed. We’ll need to do some crowd control, but this doesn’t have to end badly. Not for us anyway.

  “What the fuck are you idiots doing?” a man in an expensive white suit asks. “You know who I am right? Vince Adams. Son of Edward Adams.”

  “We know who you are,” Jay yells.

  “In that case, you’re even more stupid than I thought.”

  “Yeah, well, we’re the ones pointing guns at you, so who’s stupid now?”

  Second thought, maybe this will end badly.

  “Leave now,” Vince warns, “or I will hunt you down and end you.”

  “Where’s the money?” Jay yells. His hands are shaking now and the safety is already off the gun.

  “What money?”

  Jay has his attention focused squarely on Vince, and Chet and Burton are all over the place. That leaves just Daron and I to cover seven men.

  Yeah, this is going to end badly.

  “We know there’s money,” Burton says. “Open the safe and we can be on our way in five minutes.”

  I spot a guy at the back of the room moving ever so slowly towards one of the tables. The second he reaches out with his hand I yell at him. “Freeze. Stay still, and keep your hands where we can see them.”

  Vince turns to one of his men and nods. The man walks over towards a safe in the corner and opens it. Jay and his mates are now focused on the money and not on Vince and his men. It’s amazing the three of them have stayed alive this long to be honest.

  I move my attention from one man to the next, keeping them all under my gaze as best I can. “Stay still,” I scream at a man whose hand is slowly moving inside his jacket. He stops, but then I spot another one moving. I swing my gun around to face him. He stops too, but I can’t keep this up for much longer.

  “Kill the next one that moves, Tanner,” Jay orders.

  Thanks for telling them my name. Fucking idiot.

  The man by the safe brings the money over to Burton slowly, a handful at a time. None of them thought to bring a bag with them, so Burton and Chet put their guns away to carry the cash. We need to get out of here, and quickly.

  Vince looks calm; too calm. I finally figure out why, but it’s too late. He has his hand slightly outstretched by his side and is counting down with his fingers.

  Fuck.

  Forgive me, Elena.

  I open fire. I hit the first one in the upper arm. Just a flesh wound. The next one I hit in the shoulder. That’s going to be a nasty one. My final shot hits a gun lying on a table and sends it flying.

  If there’s one thing Jay and his friends know how to do, it’s run. By the time I’ve fired the three shots they’re already half way out the door. I follow, keeping my gun trained on the remaining men as long as possible.

  If they want us dead, they can easily shoot us down as we get in the car. However, I don’t think we took enough money for them to risk a full-blown shootout in the street. They do give chase, but only to get a look at our car and license plate.

  This isn’t over.

  No one died, and Vince won’t lose any sleep about a few minor injuries to his men, but his pride has been injured. I’m not an expert on organized crime, but I’d wager good money that men like him don’t take well to bruised egos.

  “How much is that?” Jay asks anxiously as we drive off.

  “About seven thousand,” Burton replies.

  Jay pounds his fist against the door angrily. He desperately wants all this to mean something. He’s scared, which means he at least has a tiny bit of common sense. He should be scared, and not just of Vince.

  Jay should fear me. I’m getting Daron out of this mess before it’s too late. I’m going to keep my promise and if Jay gets in my way then there’s going to be hell to pay.

  Nothing is going to stand between me and a quiet life with Elena. I don’t know how it happened so quickly, but I’ve fallen for that girl. She means the world to me, and I’m not risking her trust. This ends now.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Elena

  I’m hiding in my own bedroom.

  Sadie knocks on the door and comes inside. “I got rid of him. Are you going to tell me what this is about?”

  “I just don’t want to see him right now.”

  “Bullshit. If you didn’t want to see him, then you could’ve told him that to his face, or just sent him a message. Why am I lying to him and saying you’re not in?”

  The last time I saw Tanner he was running out of the secondhand bookstore and jumping in the back of the silver Camry. This was seconds after shots were fired inside.

  Arlene and I could do nothing but watch. Before the shots were fired, we phoned it in, and the task force ordered us to stand down. We couldn’t get involved with the Adams brothers gang, and we couldn’t even give chase to the people we were supposed to be following.

  By the time the task force guys arrived, the entire crew had fled. They must have ran out a back exit somehow. The gunshots we’d heard had hit their targets judging by the blood left behind at the scene. Tanner and his friends didn’t look like they’d been shot judging by the way they ran towards the car, so that means they were the ones who did the firing. Maybe it was Tanner.

  I have no idea what his role was, and I can’t exactly ask him.

  Arlene asked me if I recognized Tanner and Daron; I said no. They weren’t in the files I reviewed, but if she finds out I’m dating Tanner, or that we live next door to each other, I’m going to get fired. Or worse.

  “What’s the deal with you and Daron?” I ask Sadie.

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “I’m not. Are you seeing him again?”

  “Hopefully. We definitely had an entertaining evening.”

  I recognize the smile that appears on her face. It’s a smile I’ve been wearing whenever Tanner comes up in conversation—until now.

  “You can’t see him again,” I say.

  “I think I’ll be the one to make that decision. What the hell is going on, Elena?”

  “Remember what my dad said? About Tanner lying to me?”

  “I got the gist of it. Do you think he’s right?”

  I nod. “He’s definitely right. But he doesn’t know the half of it.”

  I tell Sadie what happened yesterday, and don’t leave anything out. I probably broke about ten laws by doing that, but I don’t care. I need her to understand why I’m ignoring Tanner, and most importantly, I need to convince her
to do the same with Daron.

  “I knew Daron lived a little outside the law, but shootings? Jesus Christ. At least they didn’t get hurt.”

  “Someone did. Someone could’ve died for all I know.”

  “Shit.”

  “Now do you see why I can’t speak to Tanner?”

  “You should let him explain. There must be an explanation for all this. Maybe the guys they shot were bad men. Criminals or something. Maybe Tanner and Daron are trying to rid the city of bad people?”

  “Christ, Sadie. They’re not Batman and Robin. We’re talking gang violence here. They’re all as bad as each other.”

  “I don’t know, I just… this is a lot to take in.”

  “You’re telling me,” I agree.

  This is why I usually go for nice boys. It was my body’s way of preventing this sort of thing from happening. Sure, my ex boyfriends have been a little on the boring side, but on the plus side, I never had to arrest any of them for murder.

  How did I not notice what was going on? Tanner’s always been aggressive, but so are a lot of men. He looks capable of violence, and perhaps even killing someone, but he was in the Navy so I gave him a pass. There’s a pretty big difference between killing people in a war and doing it on the streets.

  “Do you think Tanner and Daron are dangerous?” Sadie asked. “To us, I mean.”

  “No,” I reply quickly. I’m surprised by how certain I feel. “They won’t hurt us. Not deliberately. However, just being close to them is a risk I don’t want you to take.”

  “I hope you’re—” Sadie looks over at the window and screams.

  I hear the window slide up, and see a hand reach through the curtains, quickly followed by another. The hands grip the window ledge and Tanner heaves himself through, landing in a heap on the floor.

  “Fucking hell,” Sadie yells at Tanner. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I told you, I need to speak to Elena.” He looks at me pleadingly. “Please. I don’t know why you’re ignoring me, but it’s important I talk to you now.”

  “Shall I call the police?” Sadie asks.

  “I am the police, remember?”

  “Oh yeah. Are you going to arrest him?”

  “I’m definitely up for being handcuffed,” Tanner says cheekily.

  “Don’t joke right now,” I say sternly. “Sadie, you can leave us. I guess I have to talk to him at some point.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks. I nod in reply. “Okay, I’ll be outside the door. Scream if you need me.”

  I stare at Tanner and can’t tell if he is genuinely confused or just pretending. He knows I have a reason to hate him, but he presumably thinks I’m clueless about the entire thing. I wish I was. I’d do anything to be ignorant again. Just another week of passionate sex with this man before finding out he’s a criminal. That’s all I’d ask for.

  “What’s going on?” Tanner asks. “Why are you ignoring me? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since last night.”

  “I know. I know what you did yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?” There’s a slight shakiness—a lack of confidence—I’ve never heard in his voice before. “All I remember yesterday is constantly trying to get in touch with you and you ignoring me.”

  “Oh really? You don’t remember the bit where you ran into a secondhand bookstore, fired off a few rounds, and then escaped in a silver Camry?”

  The color drains from his face in seconds. At first, I’m relieved he doesn’t try to deny it. I don’t want to stand here arguing with him for hours when I witnessed it with my own eyes. Then it dawns on me—he’s also not denying my comments about firing off a few rounds. Was he the one who fired the gun? Did he kill someone yesterday?

  Maybe I should call the police. Even after everything I saw yesterday, I still don’t believe he would hurt me. Am I being naïve? Probably.

  “How do you know about that?” he asks. “Wait. Have you been working undercover this entire time?” He started off sounding calm, but now he’s loud and aggressive. He’s angry. He is angry at me. “Is this entire relationship your attempt to get information on me?”

  “Uh-uh. No way are you getting angry at me right now.”

  “How am I supposed to feel? You’ve used me this entire time.”

  “Yeah Tanner, I’ve been fucking you to get information. I faked going to the bar three months ago after the bar exam, and I moved in next door to you just so I could find out about your little gang.”

  “You can’t blame me for—”

  “I can blame you for whatever I like. After what I saw yesterday… I never want to see you again.”

  “It’s not how it looks. No one got hurt yesterday. Not seriously anyway.”

  I did.

  “Do you think that’s the problem here? You’re a criminal. I don’t know exactly what you do, but I know it’s bad.”

  “I’ve done some bad shit,” Tanner admits. “Yesterday included. But I swear that’s over now. I’m not some full-fledged career criminal. I help Daron out occasionally when he needs backup, but that’s it.”

  “If you wanted to help Daron you would stop him doing that shit. Some friend you are.”

  “I’ve tried. I even offered him a job at the bar. But it doesn’t matter, it’s over now, I swear. Yesterday was the last job I’m ever going to do. I’m above board from here on out.”

  “Why should I believe you? That’s what everyone says when they get caught. You’ve probably been doing this for years, and you’re not going to change just because of yesterday. That’s not how people like you work.”

  “You’re right,” Tanner says, as he steps forward and reaches a hand out towards my face. I take a step back and grab him by the wrist. He could easily overpower me, but instead he just sighs and lowers his arm. “People usually do this shit for life, or until they’re caught. But most people don’t meet someone like you. I’m not risking what I have with you—what we have together—for a quick dollar here and there.”

  “Too late. You took the risk yesterday, and you got caught. It’s over between us and you need to leave.”

  “Elena, I—”

  “Now,” I yell. “Leave now, and I won’t tell my boss who you are.”

  Tanner looks defeated. He walks towards my door, and then thinks better of it, presumably remembering that Sadie is just on the other side. He climbs out the window and leaves the way he came in. “This isn’t over,” I hear him say as his head disappears from view. “I’m not giving up on you, Elena. Never.”

  I slam the window shut and only just miss his fingers.

  He might not have given up on me, but I have to give up on him. I close the curtains so he doesn’t see me spending the evening in my room crying.

  I’m pathetic. How many detectives get involved with guys who are part of criminal empires? How many of them feel heartbroken when they break up?

  How the hell did I get myself into this mess? And I’ve gotten Sadie involved too. This is fucked up. I should have listened to Dad. I should have listened to myself. I knew this wouldn’t work. I knew it.

  Never again. If I ever date another man, he’s going to be the most boring bastard to walk the face of the Earth.

  I can’t handle excitement. I can’t handle men like Tanner.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tanner

  One last go. I’m going to give it one final shot.

  I’ve tried to convince Daron to leave the scene countless times, but he always ends up staying. He needs money for his family, and it’s more money than an ex-con is ever going to get legitimately.

  Things might be different this time.

  They fucking have to be, because I’m out. I’m not sure I can ever get Elena back, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make it happen.

  The shit that went down Friday shook him up a bit. Jay, Chet, and Burton were furious when we gathered back here afterwards with just $7,000 to show for our efforts. Daron barely said a word the e
ntire time. He’s seen men get beaten bloody before, and he’s heard the crack of a breaking bone, but I’m certain that’s the first time he’s ever seen a bullet fly through someone’s flesh. Waving a gun around is one thing; firing it is quite another.

  Maybe he’s had enough. Maybe Friday was the last straw.

  It was for me. Never again. I intend to go the rest of my life without breaking a single law. I’m not even going to jaywalk or fudge the numbers on my taxes. Whatever it takes to get Elena back. It won’t be easy. The look on her face when she kicked me out was fearsome. She looked capable of doing me serious bodily harm, and not in the good way. She threatened to arrest me, and she meant every word.

  Getting her back is going to take some time, but I will do it. I’ve done some bad shit in my time, but I’m not beyond redemption. The real question is whether I’m beyond forgiveness.

  Daron shows up at the bar at eight in the evening, but only because I ask him to. He’s avoiding the place now, because he knows he might run into Jay and the boys. That’s sensible. If he’s avoiding them, he might be thinking straight for once.

  Daron looks around nervously as he walks in, but the coast is clear. Jay might be disappointed with the score, but he still has seven thousand in cash—less our cuts—to throw around in strip clubs. Hopefully I won’t see him here for at least a week.

  We don’t say anything until I hand him a bottle of beer. “How are you going to spend your money?” I ask.

  “Sending five hundred to Mom and Dad. The rest will go to the landlord as partial payment on the rent I owe.”

  “Wasn’t really worth it, was it?”

  “Not even close. Seven thousand is a lot of money, but I’d give it back not to be in Vince’s bad books. Do you think he’ll come after us?”

  Vince will get grief from his dad for letting a few nobodies come in and steal his money, but it was only seven thousand. The Adams brothers will want to teach us a lesson, but they won’t want word to get around that they were jacked by surprise. It makes them look weak.