Nick hauled him off Colin. The pilot shouted something as the helicopter steadied. Harden didn’t care as he fought to be free to finish beating the shit out of Colin. That same fucked up logic kept him from having a father, having a brother, being accepted on the most basic level. They called him mongrel, half-breed, told him he would never be one of them, never be good enough. Well, fuck them, he was better, and so was Jentry.
Finally, he shoved Nick away as Bruno pulled duct tape from his coat pocket, ripped off a length, and slapped it across Colin’s bloody mouth. “I’ve heard enough.”
Harden couldn’t agree more. The rest of the ride was silent. His mind was on Allie and Jentry, not on business. Plus, he refused to talk in front of Colin.
They landed at the Westside heliport. His men were waiting for him. “To the port.” Harden instructed Nick where to take Colin. He’d deal with his half-sibling later.
Harden and Bruno headed to the hospital. The last phone call from Quincy said nothing had changed. All that meant was Allie was still in danger. Jentry must be losing her mind.
The drive was reckless. Neither Harden nor Bruno gave a shit about the speed limit, but NYC traffic didn’t give a shit either. It crawled. Harden was close to climbing out of the car and beating everyone down. Or grabbing the wheel and driving on the sidewalk. Fed up, he grabbed the door handle to run the distance.
Bruno snatched him in a head lock to keep him in the car. “It’s not safe!” he growled in Harden’s ear.
Decades of friendship kept his hand off his gun and forced him to settle because in the end, damn it, Bruno was right. Jumping out of the car and running through New York like the mad man he was, with a gun in the small of his back, and Bruno, plus an army of his men on his heels, would draw every policeman in the area. Jentry and Allie didn’t need him in prison on a weapons charge.
Harden tapped out. Bruno released him and quickly put some space between them in case Harden came out swinging. He wouldn’t kick his friend’s ass for being right. Most of his men were taking the long way back as quickly as they could. The helicopter evacuation was only for three people. Harden, Bruno, and Nick were it.
The drive was torturous. When he spotted the red-and-white emergency awning up ahead, no one could stop him from opening the rear door and slipping into the afternoon sun with Bruno on his heels. The two covered a block and a half in seconds. He stormed into the Emergency Department, scattering everybody out of his way. “Allie Playne, she’s here. I need to see her,” he said to the triage nurse safely behind her plexiglass window.
“Are you family?” He opened his mouth to say yes but the nurse continued. “Because the father’s already here.”
Harden paused at the sharp retort perched on the tip of his tongue. The woman had obviously mistaken one of the bodyguards for Allie’s father. Annoyed, he huffed. “Tell the father Harden Gage is here.”
A whistle jerked him around. Quincy peered around a side door with a cypher lock. Harden and Bruno joined him while the rest of his men remained in the full waiting room.
“Where are they?” He demanded once he crossed the threshold and took in the controlled chaos.
Quincy pointed. “Room fifteen.”
Harden took off with Bruno and Quincy by his side. “Who’s pretending to be the father? You?”
“No one.” Quincy hissed. “Allie’s father really is here.”
Harden slowed, then stopped completely two doors away from room fifteen. A range of emotions threatened to explode. He quelled all of them and forced himself to calm. “Where’s Jentry?”
“With Allie and the father inside the room.”
“Are you sure it’s her father?”
“He shouted it loud enough. ‘I’m Carl Jones! Allison Playne’s father.’”
CDJ. If he wasn’t angry before, now Harden was furious. He closed the distance to the room and didn’t need to eavesdrop. Carl D. Jones was loud enough to hear every word in the hallway even with all the traffic and noise of the emergency department. He demanded to know who Gerard was, then kicked him out of the room.
Gerard startled at Harden’s presence right outside the door and had to be shushed by Bruno’s hand slapped across his mouth. Harden edged closer, listening to every word out of the asshole’s mouth. The man had big dreams, dreams that would turn Jentry into a cash register. A cash register that would fill his pockets and empty Harden’s. The fool was ambitious. And Jentry…
She didn’t say no.
The warmth he held in the center of his chest withered—the warmth that represented her—transformed into a solid block of ice. Trust no one. That was his motto, had been since practically birth. Except for his handful of friends.
“Do you even care who that man is? Do you even know?” Jentry said.
“Some old rich guy is what I heard.”
So now I’m old, but at least I’m rich. Harden had heard enough.
“From who? Who told you that, Carl?”
Harden pulled back the curtain and stepped into the room. “Yeah, Carl. Who gave you that information?”
Relief, that’s what he saw in Jentry’s eyes, which he returned with a dead glare. He was here to save her, but no one would save her from him. And she knew it.
“Who the fuck are you, another bodyguard? No…”
The hesitation in his voice almost made Harden, well, hard. “I’m not old and fat.” He clarified.
Carl cocked his head to the side studying Harden. “You look familiar. Do you know me?”
The man had one ball too many. “No. You know me. You know of me. Harden Gage.”
It took a second. First, Carl frowned, racking his memory. And then, a lightbulb went off in his tiny brain and his mouth dropped open at the same time as his eyes widened in horror. “Harden Gage,” he whispered. “New York syndicate.”
Harden smirked; he couldn’t help himself. “Present and accounted for. And who are you?”
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed and he cleared his throat. “Carl Jones. Allie’s dad.”
You’re not her dad. He nearly snarled and wrapped his hand around Carl’s throat. Deep breaths, inhale, and exhale kept Harden from killing the man inside the ED. At least he wouldn’t be far from help. He stepped in front of Jentry, who held Allie safely in her arms because he had a question. Just one.
“Your initials. CDJ, right?” That question wasn’t what he wanted to ask. “Was it your idea to tattoo property of on her back? It was, wasn’t it?” He posed the question quietly, belying the rage seething in his blood. His gun was close, but for this a gun wasn’t personal enough. For Carl, Harden wanted to feel the life leave the man. Only that would be personal enough.
Carl’s head tipped up, proud and arrogant. “She wanted it. Didn’t you, Jentry.”
Harden twisted half around and locked onto her. Their fractured trust, trust that was still in its infancy, chipped further away. He needed to see her face because she would answer the damn question.
Revulsion crossed her face and stayed even as she said, “Leave, Carl. Leave before you end up in one of these rooms.”
“Alright. I’ll go, but I’m heading to court to get my rights. That’s my kid and no one, not even the head of the New York syndicate will keep me from her,” he said arrogantly, then withered under Harden’s unwavering glare. “I-I don’t want no trouble, but if anything happens to me, everyone will know where to start looking. I told people where I was going.”
People. What people? Harden wanted names. He kept the dead man walking in his sight as the coward edged out of the room until the curtain swung closed behind him. He didn’t need to tell Bruno to have someone trail the soon-to-be deceased. His underboss knew what to do.
Harden spun, prepared to rip into the woman who’d betrayed him. How? He was about to verbally list the ways yet couldn’t. Not when she sat, clearly shellshocked, on a stool rocking Allie who was clutched tightly in her arms.
He benched his wounded pride, something he never ever
would’ve done, not even for a friend. Suddenly, the reason why he was here in the ED slammed into him. His chest tightened and he dropped to his haunches in front of the woman and child who meant more to him than they should. Somehow, they’d become an integral part of his life, members by association, not initiation, into an unpredictable, yet predictably bloody world. He should’ve let them go to the beach house. It was safe there. But he was selfish, and greedy. What Harden Gage wanted, he got. Even if it hurt innocent beings. Even if it hurt the ones he loved.
“The child, what’s wrong with her?”
Jentry stopped rocking and her suspiciously dry eyes rose to meet his. He expected anger, just not directed at him.
“Her name is Allie.” Her voice threaded with tension and hushed tears.
Defensive, he snapped, “I know what her name is. Now tell me what’s wrong with her.”
In excruciating increments, she broke. First, her shoulders, followed by a sob and tears flooding her eyes. “They think she has pneumonia. The doctor said her lungs are wet.” She sniffled. “She’s so hot. They gave her something, but she’s still so hot.”
He reached for Allie, and careful of the IV in her little arm, Jentry handed Allie to Harden.
Even at now nine months old, she was a tiny thing. His hands swallowed her, and he was afraid he’d drop her and make everything worse.
“Hold her in the crook of your arm.” Jentry adjusted Allie. “There. That’s better. And sit.” She pointed to the rocking chair next to the crib.
He’d held her before. She was always light, like air in his arms, and so damn fragile he was afraid he’d hurt her. More so now that she was sick and limp in his arms.
“I never…” A lump blocked his throat. “I shouldn’t…” Damn! He glanced up and met her confused gaze. He had to explain, wanted to explain as he held one so precious. “I didn’t plan on getting close. She’s too innocent for me to touch, too pure…while I roll in filth.” And he was about to get filthier. To protect everyone he loved, not only did he have no choice, he anticipated it.
Harden looked away from the surprise on her face to find big brown innocent eyes intently studying him. He reached to stroke her sweaty curls and halted. His hands were bloody, much too bloody to hold one so pure. “You have to get better, Allie,” he murmured. “We need you well.”
Jentry dropped down next to him to press a kiss to Allie’s forehead. “What if—”
“Don’t,” he whispered, harsher than he meant to.
“I can’t lose her.” She stared at the wall straight ahead instead of looking at Harden. “She’s the only reason I get up in the morning. She’s the only reason I never gave up. Couldn’t give up. I’m the one who sent Carl to prison, or at least I thought I would.” Her gaze shifted his way.
He knew she expected him to judge her. No one hated snitches more than the mob. Harden had no judgement to spare, especially not for her. Not when he already guessed why she did it.
“He beat me. Nothing unusual about that. The first time was a week after I ran away with him. He didn’t even start with a slap. No initiation into the domestic abuse club. He took a belt buckle to my back when I refused to be his whore. Then he kept me locked up in Albany until he thought he’d brainwashed me enough. I hate to admit, he had.” A tear ran unchecked down her cheek. “I…I did it. I prostituted myself. I had my own corner.” The silent tear dripped from her cheek, followed by a stream of others joining the first.
“Stop, Jentry.” Harden heard enough. He didn’t need or want to hear anything else when the man was already dead and just didn’t know it.
She frowned and her sharp gaze cut to his. “I knew I’d find a way to get out of it. I just didn’t know how. After one particularly bad night”—she shuddered—“I wanted to die. I planned it.”
“But you didn’t.” Harden thanked God for small favors. He couldn’t imagine her and Allie not in his life.
“Only because of her.” She tipped her head at Allie. “I found out I was pregnant, and he scheduled an abortion. He didn’t even go with me, just dropped me off. I walked into the office and never checked in. I sat there for an hour and left. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I wasn’t getting rid of her. He didn’t want her, but I did.”
She closed her eyes and let her head fall back. “He found me, though I wasn’t trying to hide. Can’t do that at the diner where we ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought he’d beaten me before…” She shook her head. “A social worker helped me get into a program. I was in the hospital for a week. By the time I got out he was arrested for burglary and couldn’t make bail. I didn’t know that when I went to the police and told them everything. After I spilled my guts, they told me he was already in jail.”
Still, she’d snitched. Instead of running and never looking back, like anyone with any common sense and a sense of self-preservation.
“Why?” he asked. “Why snitch when it would further paint a target on you?”
“I was mad.” She snorted darkly. “I make rash decisions when I’m mad. Not so much anymore.” Her gaze dipped to Allie. “I figured I’d always be looking over my shoulder. To be honest, I thought he’d get more time for burglary, but he cut a deal. Everything happened fast. He got five years with chance of parole after four. He served eighteen months. How the fuck is that possible?”
“Probably early release because the prisons are overcrowded,” he murmured.
“Must be nice.” She turned sideways and faced him. “Even though his incarceration had nothing to do with me, I snitched. And I’d do it again. I’d do it a thousand times.”
“Good. I’m glad you did.”
She smiled a sad little grin that broke his heart and fueled his anger. “I planned on being gone by the time he got out. California or Texas. Someplace Allie and I could get lost because he’s gonna do everything in his power to hurt me, my family, Allie. I hate to ask, but can you help me get out of town, relocate to—”
His hand snapped out to grip the back of her neck and drag her close to him. Forehead to forehead with Allie secured between them, he snarled. “You’re not going anywhere.”
She blinked, fast then slow, a panicked Morse code. He had a moment of remorse but couldn’t back off, not when everything he wanted threatened to slip through his fingers.
Jentry gripped his hand, her fingers circled his wrist, yet she didn’t push him away. By all rights she should be afraid of him. His hands were bloody, his soul dark, but she wasn’t afraid, and he had never been more grateful because she and Allie were his light, a tiny glimmer in his darkness, and he couldn’t let them go. Not yet because he was a selfish, greedy bastard and he had blood on his hands. And he would have more blood, buckets, bathtubs, an ocean of blood if it kept her looking at him like the savior he wasn’t. He’d do anything for her and Allie, anything.
“B-but—” She stuttered.
“You are not going anywhere.” Each word stressed so she completely understood. “Because you have me.”
And I will kill anyone and everyone to keep you safe.
∞∞∞
Hours later Bruno poked his head between the curtain and peered into the room. Jentry had fallen asleep in a hard chair while Harden paced with Allie. She had just drifted to sleep, constant motion and the sound of his voice ordering her to get well the only thing helping her to rest.
Bruno glanced at Allie, then at Jentry and stepped silently into the room. A deep frown on his face, tension rolling off his shoulders, he stopped close to Harden.
Well acquainted with Bruno’s limited range of expressions, Harden whispered one word, “Spill.”
After another glance at Jentry, Bruno said, “Colin escaped.”
Only the innocent child cradled in his arms kept Harden from burying his underboss in the nearest wall. Even so, Allie whimpered, registering the sudden tension in the arms holding her.
Shushing Allie even though his voice was too rough, too filled with anger, she steeled. He resumed pa
cing, taking the time to calm down. “What. Happened?” He demanded, now under control.
“Ambushed after we left the heliport. They were sideswiped. The car they were in rolled. They pulled Colin out. Nick was trapped, tried to hold onto him and couldn’t. Got knifed for his effort. Arm wound. He’ll survive.”
“How many dead?”
“Two. Nick’s being stitched up at a hospital across town. I already called the attorney. He’ll be with him during the interrogation.”
Harden nodded and rocked Allie as his mind worked overtime. “Who knew we were landing at the heliport?”
“Already on it.” Bruno tapped him on the back and headed for the curtain. “I’ll let you know what I find.”
“You do that.” Bitterness filled his soul. Someone had betrayed him. That someone was dead.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The chest X-ray confirmed it. It was pneumonia. Allie was admitted and Jentry fell apart. Harden did the only thing he could, he called Laverne Playne, her mother. Four females showed up, the mother and Jentry’s three sisters. Though he was shoved to the sidelines, Jentry had what she needed, her family.
He stepped out of the room, leaving the women alone to bond.
“Harden.”
His name and the sound of her footsteps closing fast behind him spun him around. “What?” He caught her to him. “Did something happen?”
She threw herself into his arms. “Thank you. I needed them and you knew it. Thank you for calling my mom and sisters.”
He didn’t know it. Calling her mother was a Hail Mary because he couldn’t stand seeing her cry anymore and was helpless to do anything about it. But the way she looked at him, as if he were a fucking hero when he was the villain, fed what soul he had. He eased her away to cup her face. “I sent Gerard for a change of clothes and food. He should be here soon. Stay with your family.”
She frowned and clutched him tighter. “You’re leaving?”
Surprised that she wanted him to stay, he blurted, “I thought you’d want to be with your family.”
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