Page 41 of Heartless (Scathing Hearts #1)

Jake

After our run, Sile and I entered the penthouse. He’d crashed here last night because Cam was coming to our sports bar to introduce us to her woman. Heading straight to the fridge, I tagged two bottles of water and tossed one to him.

He uncapped his water and drank it. “When’s your new guy starting?”

After the cemetery fuckup, I’d hired a female bodyguard who’d be able to get in places Ruiz couldn’t.

“A week ago. She’ll be at the bar tonight.”

His chin jerked. “Talk to me.”

It’d been two weeks since I’d last held Sienna. Morrison hadn’t come out of his house. Neither Joel, nor the jackals had approached her. Two weeks during which I hadn’t been able to fucking sleep.

The bottle crackled in my fist. “The Morrison bitches visited her at work.”

“Who?”

“Roe, Cecily, and Kimmy.”

He whistled low. “The fucking triad.”

After I’d summed up what had happened, and Sienna wanting to take some distance, Sile nodded slowly. “That’d do it.”

“I’ve given her two weeks. I’m done.”

At that, he straightened up. “What’s the plan?”

“Make her mine. Make her happy.”

“’Bout fucking time, Jakey,” he drawled.

****

The elevator doors opened on the underground car park, and I headed toward my car. Sienna’s parking space was empty. Twenty minutes ago, Ruiz had texted me she’d left for the bar. Later, another text had come through, this time from Sile to tell me she’d safely arrived.

Half an hour later, on my way to our table, I clocked Kelly, the woman bodyguard, seated at the end of the bar.

Sienna was standing beside Sile with her arm around his waist and her back to me. Her flirty dress bared her shoulders and her legs, made longer by her sexy heels, and I got harder.

The drinks on the table were full, and the wings and nachos were steaming.

Cam was seated next to a blonde woman. When she spotted me, she got to her feet and pulled the woman with her. She threw her arms around my neck, and I hugged her back.

Wrapping one arm around me, she reached for her woman’s hand.

“Jake, this is Jo. Baby, this is Jake, my other heart brother.”

“Hey, Jo.”

The woman smiled. “I’ve heard so much about you. And it was mostly good.”

While the women slid back to the booth, I turned to Sienna.

Her lashes blinked over her beautiful eyes. “Hi, Jake.”

“Hey, Sienna.”

****

“Me too!” Sienna said to Jo during a conversation I hadn’t listened to.

Perched on the outer end of the booth, half of her body was twisted toward Cam and Jo. She was her sunny self, and I loved watching my girl eat junk food. She did it like most people ate canapes. While the women were talking over each other, Sile jerked his chin.

“Looks like you need another beer.”

Sienna got to her feet still talking to Jo and Cam. Brushing her palms on the skirt of her dress, she said, “I’ll be right back.”

After grabbing her purse, she scanned the room and strutted toward the bathroom. Kelly was three steps behind her.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Cam leaned in. “How are things with you and Sia?”

I unclenched my fist around my beer. “We’re taking a break.”

She readied to say something, but her woman beat her to it.

“You’re in love with her. And I mean, how could you not?

She’s got that beautiful personality that just hooks you in.

And I’m not one to objectify women, but that smile, those eyes, and those legs.

.. shi-it.” While Cam and Sile chuckled, she went on.

“The electricity between you two is...” Her cheeks puffed out and she fanned her fingers out, mimicking an explosion.

“I bet you burn the sheets together. I—”

A server stopped at our table with a fresh round of drinks. Sile raised his beer to Jo. “Welcome to the family, Jo.”

When Sienna returned to the table, she glided onto the leather seat and pointed at the screens behind Sile and me. “That’s very violent but also very intriguing.”

Sile grinned. “You like MMA? I can take you to some live matches if you want.”

Her small frown was on the screen, and she winced before her questioning gaze slid back to Sile. “What’s MMA?”

“Mixed Martial Arts.”

“Oh, so that’s why they’re punching and kicking each other.”

When Sile laughed, Sienna rolled her eyes, but she did it smiling.

My body hardened. I was fucking done with time and space apart. “Do you want more wings, baby?”

****

Sienna

My heart pinched. I’d missed ‘baby’ said in that deep voice mixed with heat and tenderness.

“Sienna?” a male voice called out from the room.

Twirling toward the voice, I grinned. “Matt? Oh my god. Matt. Hi.”

As I stood to greet him, Camila smiled into her drink.

In a deep green t-shirt that molded his muscly chest and arms, and light-wash jeans, the man approaching our table was every bit the heartthrob he personified. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace.

When he set me back on my feet, I touched his chest. “What are you doing here?”

His voice was as mellow as I recalled. “Book signing at the Writers Conference.”

“Is your new book out?”

He nodded. “A collection of short stories.”

My grin widened. “Congratulations. I’ll buy a copy tomorrow. Will you sign it for me?”

Matt winked. “Absolutely.”

“I’m going to the conference too. My colleagues and I will be there on Monday and Tuesday.”

His gaze warmed. “Your colleagues?”

I was about to tell him about the changes in my life since I’d last seen him, but remembering my manners, I shifted to his side while Matt kept his arm around my waist. “You’ve met everyone except for Jodie. Jodie, this is Matt.”

The men jerked their chins, and the women waved.

Tilting my smile at Matt’s profile, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I asked Bianca for your number, but she must have been busy.” He took his cell out of his back pocket and handed it to me. “Here. I’m not losing you again.”

After keying in my number, I gave it back to him.

His arm tautened around my waist. “I’m here the whole week. Dinner on Saturday?”

“I’d like that.”

After a quick peck on the corner of my mouth, he flicked his fingers at the table. “Nice to see you again. Great to meet you, Jodie.”

As Matt walked toward his table, I settled back beside Camila.

God, I could feel Jake’s gaze on me. I crossed my legs and clasped my fingers in my lap to tame the shiver skimming all over my skin.

Focusing solely on Camila and Jodie, I bared my teeth into a forced smile to squash the completely unjustified pang of guilt squeezing my chest.

I was rescued by Camila. “Do you still want to order some wings, sweet girl?”

“And nachos,” Jodie said before slanting her head to the side. “Who’s the hottie, Sia?”

Jodie was smart and funny and very much in love with Camila. Right now, she was also tipsy.

My cheeks flamed up. “I met Matt at my birthday party. I don’t know him well. But what I know is very nice.”

Her blunt bob swayed as she nodded. “Girl, you have good taste. Jake, and now Matt-the-hottie. I played the field too when I was your age. My advice is enjoy as much down and dirtiness as—”

My face had caught fire, but again I was saved by Camila, who touched Jodie’s cheek and pecked her lips.

Jodie grinned wide. “Big mouth syndrome?”

When Camila nodded, she chuckled and reached for her beer.

Slanting back in my seat, I made the mistake of looking at Jake. His expression was... oh God. It did funny things to my belly, and I lowered my eyes to the table while Camila touched my fist I’d curled in my lap.

****

At the brightly illuminated parking lot of the bar, we’d all walked Jodie and Camila to her car. After I’d hugged Jodie, Camila pulled me into her usual loving embrace, and I spoke right into her ear.

“I like Jodie.”

“Me too,” she whispered with a smile in her voice.

After she’d helped her girlfriend into her car, and we’d waved them off, Silas engulfed me in one of his bear hugs before kissing the top of my head. “See you soon, honey.”

He strode back inside the bar, leaving me alone with Jake, and before I could think of anything to say, Jake took my hand and led me to my car.

“Wait for me to roll behind you,” he said in what sounded like a promise.

“All right.”

He waited until I’d locked my seatbelt before striding to his truck.

On the way home, his headlights right behind me created a totally inappropriate thrill that sparked my skin alive.

Since our break-up, I spent many nights tossing and turning in my bed, searching for him in my sleep. I even got up several times in the middle of the night and walked straight to the elevator. Then I recalled how we started.

We parked in the underground seconds apart. I let out a calming breath and swiped my palms over the skirt of my dress for a few seconds. The muted clap of his car door closing made me gasp. Dear God. Get a grip, Sienna. He was just a man. An incredibly sexy man, but nonetheless, just a man.

I followed him into the elevator. As his arm reached out past my body to press our floors, I fused my shoulder to the mirrored metal wall of the cabin and held my breath.

He shifted his big body, and I found myself with my back against the cool surface while the warmth of his body grazed the front of mine. Planting one palm against the metallic wall by my head, he wrapped the other around my nape, sending my body hurtling into a shiver so sharp, I trembled.

“Look at me, kitten.”

My body had a will of its own, so the next second, my eyes were locked onto his.

He leaned in, and when his lips brushed mine, I clamped mine shut. His head slanted, and I held my breath at the touch of his open-mouth kiss on the side of my neck.

When he pulled me flush against his hard body, his erection pushed into my lower belly, igniting a ripple of need and pleasure that bordered on a mini orgasm.

Again, he spoke against my mouth. “You’re mine, Sienna.”

Then, he nipped my bottom lip, and my mouth opened for his tongue. My sex clenched under the sensual onslaught, and I clung onto him. The devouring kiss ended, and I blinked fast while my breath rushed out.

In a daze, I was led by the hand to my apartment where Jake pinned my body between his and the wall of the hallway.

As his big hands curled around the back of my legs to hitch me up, my purse thumped on the floor.

My legs looped around his waist. My arms around his neck.

Pushing his erection against my panties, he smashed his mouth onto my panting lips.

The slow rock of his hips made my whole-body moan while my impending orgasm coiled inside me.

“Jake...”

“You come to me tonight, kitten.”

When his hands slid off my legs, I clamped them tighter. “Jake...”

His lips slid to my ear. “I’ll make you come in my bed.”

He easily unknotted my legs from his waist. The side of his mouth hitched, and he pecked my nose. Then he stalked out, closing the front door behind him.

I touched my tingling lips and reached for the door handle. Clenching the doorknob in my fist, I exhaled slowly and placed my heated forehead on the cool panel of wood.

Sex would make things even more confusing. Even mind-shattering sex. I slowly unfurled my fingers and staggered to my bedroom.

****

Jake

She hadn’t come. Standing in front of the wide window of my office, I flexed my neck from right to left. Playing games wasn’t in her nature, she was too pure hearted for that shit. Those bitches had hurt her. And drove her straight into the arms of the fucking poet.

Tam knocked on the door. “Come in.”

My no-nonsense assistant started talking while approaching my desk.

“There’s a woman at my desk who wouldn’t leave her name.

Five feet eight, maybe nine, well-dressed, athletic build, medium-length, curly, brown hair, light brown eyes, my age or thereabout.

” Her brow rose. “She’s agitated, but not in a bunny-boiler kind of way. Should I let her in?”

Roe Wheelan was in my office. “Yes. Thanks, Tam.”

Morrison’s discarded daughter walked in and raised her palm up. “I’m not here to make a scene. I just want to talk, and I know you won’t pick up my calls.”

I slid my hands in the pockets of my slacks while she got close enough for me to see her welling up.

“My dad... Nigel’s in hospital, and he’s... not good, Jake. Please, please, talk to Sienna. She’s in love with you and she’ll do it if you ask her. He’s going—”

“Even if I didn’t want that motherfucker dead, you and your fucking gang of dipshits telling my woman how I give head was the wrong fucking move.”

Her mouth hung open. “Your... woman? You like her?” She shook her head. “It wasn’t my idea. Kimmy thought—”

“Don’t give a fuck.”

The woman lurched closer. “Jake, he’s my father. I love him—"

“Roe, he doesn’t fucking love you, and he never will.”

Her spine went ramrod straight, and her eyes narrowed. “Because you know so much about love. The only thing that makes you hard is revenge.”

I leaned in, and her head twitched back. “Roe, you fucking came to me because you wanted Daddy’s attention. And he didn’t give a flying fuck. Get a clue, woman, and stop begging for something you’ll never get.”

Her face turned red. “You’re a piece of shit scumbag, and I pity that poor girl.”

“We both know you’d cut off both your tits for an ounce of the attention he’s been giving her.”

“Fuck you, Jake.”

“Been there, not fucking worth a repeat performance.”

She stomped out of my office and slammed the door behind her.

I dialed Kelly. “Kel, Morrison’s camp’s getting antsy.”

“Copy,” she replied. “Ruiz’s outside, and I’m in the office with her. I spotted two teams of guys watching her. They’re good at blending in, so there might be more of them.”

“How is she?”

“She offered to bring me back coffee. Most people don’t even notice office temps.” Her tone went back to business. “She received some flowers this morning.”

My neck got tight. “Who?”

“Matt Heller.”

Over my fucking dead body. “Thanks, Kel.”

I tossed my phone on my desk and buried myself in work.

****

I veered into my parking space. Sienna’s car was there. Good. After making her moan my fucking name, I was going to spank her bubble ass then kiss it better. The thought of introducing her to sex games made me hard enough to pound nails. I was heading toward the elevator when a call came through.

“Jake Rhodes.”

The woman’s voice was tight. “Jake, it’s Dr. Nuys. How soon can you be here?”

“What happened?”

“We’ve called Dr. Altman.”

His neurologist.

“I’m on my way.”