Black Hearts (Sins Duet #1)

I’m so angry my hands are shaking, I can barely type back.

I want to leave tonight, I type and then toss the phone on my bed. I bring a duffel bag out of my closet and start throwing clothes in it. Just a few nights would be fine, the weekend. Ben can deal with this shit on his own. God knows I’ve tried.

I look back at the phone and Vicente’s reply:

Ok. I’ll text you when I’m there.

I text back: Park on Clayton. I’ll have to sneak out my window.

He says: Like Romeo and Juliet?

I actually laugh at that. God I hope not.

We all know how that turned out.





Chapter Twenty-One





Vicente




I lied to Violet.

I’m not on the way to her house.

I’m already here.

I just drove past Camden who was walking down Haight, in only a T-shirt on this cold night, looking like he was ready to rip the head off something.

I have a feeling shit went down at their house tonight.

And I’m about to make it all worse.

I park on Clayton as she asked but instead of waiting in the car I get out and head down her street. With Camden out of the way, now is the perfect time to pay Ellie a visit.

Just the two of us.

I jog up the steps, my gun secure in the inside of my jacket.

I knock on the door.

No answer.

I have a feeling Violet is up in her room, waiting for the storm to blow over. But it’s only getting started.

I open the front door and step inside.

It’s dark except for the lights from the kitchen.

“Camden?” I hear Ellie’s voice.

She appears in the hallway, a dark silhouette.

“Hello Ellie,” I say to her, keeping my voice low.

Even in the shadows I can see the whites of her eyes flash as she storms over to me. I have to admire her lack of fear.

She stops a foot away, her finger jabbing at the air.

“You get the fuck out of this house,” she growls like me.

I grab her finger and snap it downward. “Like a fucking mama bear, huh.”

She yanks her finger back, cradling it with her hand. I guess I hurt her.

“You’re the animal here,” she says in a hiss. “What you did to her…”

I shake my head, giving her a wry smile. “That’s what you think of me? You think I did that to her? I didn’t. And I don’t know who did but I can guarantee I want them dead as much as you do.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not? My father never hit you.”

I watch her carefully. The realization as it slowly spreads through her.

“That was one of his personal oaths. Like a fucking doctor, right? He could torture a man in the most gruesome ways but he would never ever strike a woman. I guess he thought it made him better than everyone else. Less of a savage. But we both know how savage he really is. Don’t you, Ellie Watt?”

Her jaw clenches. Every muscle in her is primed, ready to fight or flee. And I don’t think she’ll be fleeing.

“Easy now,” I murmur, raising my jacket enough for her to see the gun. “I didn’t come here to start trouble. Well, I guess that’s a lie. Sometimes I believe the lies myself.”

“You,” she whispers. She shakes her head, her dark hair falling into her eyes. She’s finally getting it, finally believing how right her instincts were. “You’re Javier’s son.”

“Is it gratifying?” I ask. “To know you were right. Does it feel good, deep inside? Are you feeling vindicated right now?”

She swallows hard, eyes going to the gun and back.

“Careful,” I tease her, reaching for her face, trying to brush her hair from her eyes.

She bats my arm away, stumbles backward. But doesn’t run.

“What do you want?” she whispers.

“It’s not you, if that makes you feel better,” I tell her. “It’s Violet.”

“You can’t have her.” Her voice breaks with determination. I have to be careful. This is a mama bear that knows how to fight. I have no doubt that if I give her even the slightest advantage, she’ll try and kill me with her claws. Her old habits have not died.

I sigh. “It’s not a matter of being able to have her or not. I do have her. Go and ask her and she’ll tell you. I’m guessing she already has told you.”

“I’ll call her down here right now and tell her the truth about you. All of it. Who you really are. You’re not Vicente Cortez.”

I laugh. “She already knows. And guess what? She doesn’t care. Doesn’t care that I belong to a cartel, doesn’t care that I kill people. If anything, it made her fuck me even more.” I pause, smirking. “Like mother like daughter, huh?”

Crack.

Ellie winds up and smacks me across the face.

I guess I should have seen that coming.

She packed quite the wallop too.

I rub my fingers along tender skin and give her an exaggerated wince.

“I suppose I deserve that one.”

“Get out of here or I’ll call the police.” I watch her desperate fists clench and release at her sides. She’s about to do something stupid. That’s the last thing I want.

“I’ll leave,” I tell her. “But here’s the thing. You have nothing on me. You call the police, I can bring up everything about Ellie Watt. Or Eden White. Or whatever names you used to call yourself. You think that just because you’ve spent the last twenty years trying to start over that you haven’t left your mark on the world? Oh, Ellie. You’ve left it everywhere. All anyone has to do is lift up the floorboards and see.” I bite my lip, my eyes searching her face. “You have nothing. Do you understand me?”

But she refuses to back down. She makes a move to turn and I’m quick.