Black Hearts (Sins Duet #1)

I have her against the wall, my hand over her mouth, the gun under her chin. Such a similar position to the way I was with Violet a week ago.

“How do I make myself more clear?” My lips are at her ear. She’s breathing heavily against my mouth, her eyes wide. “You have nothing on me. I am Vicente Bernal, nothing but a ghost in your country. Before you can do anything about me, I’ll be long gone. You, on the other hand, can easily be thrown away without a key. Is that what you want for your daughter? What about Ben, the son who isn’t your son? Do you want them to live their lives knowing their mother was a criminal, a con artist, that their father was a money launderer who killed people? And whatever did happen to Sophia Madano? She’s dead somewhere. I just can’t figure out if it’s your fault or my father’s. It’s hard to tell, you’re both so similar.”

Ellie whimpers, I press the gun harder into her chin, tipping her head back. “Shhh, shhh. Good girl. You be quiet now. Be the good mom you always wanted to be but never could. Now is your chance, you know. Just let your daughter go. Let her be with who she wants to be with. Let her live the life she wants and be the person she needs to.” My lips raze the tip of her ear. “You know, she’s a lot like you and you don’t even know it. You hide it. She doesn’t. She can’t hide anything, that’s what makes her so special. And in time, she’ll know exactly what she’s capable of. No more being weak. She’s going to embrace every bad bone in her body and come out stronger. You’ll see.”

I pause, trailing the gun down her neck, to her chest. “Or maybe you won’t see. Maybe she’s never coming back. Maybe you’ll never see her again because I can give her everything you couldn’t.” I feel it punch through me like a fist. “You won’t believe this but I’m in love with her. So I guess you don’t have to worry about that.” I steal a glance at her face. She looks even more terrified than before. “Or maybe you should be more worried. I can see what my father’s love did to you.”

She tries to laugh.

I remove my hand, curious.

“Your father never knew what love was,” she sneers, gulping in air. “And neither do you.”

Then with sheer disgust she spits.

Right in my face.

I stare at her in shock before slowly wiping it from my cheek.

“I will never hurt your daughter, Ellie Watt,” I tell her, fire rising from my chest. “But I don’t feel the same way about you.”

With one quick thwack, I bring the gun down on the side of her head, knocking her to the ground where she crumbles in a heap.

I glance up at the ceiling, listening, wondering if Violet heard anything. While a semi-conscious Ellie moans at my feet – clearly my pistol-whipping skills could use some work – I grab her by the arms and haul her into the kitchen and leave her on the floor. I quickly rifle through the drawers until I find the one with all the junk, then bring out the duct tape.

I tear off a few strips placing it across her mouth, then bring her over to the dining room chair which I sat in a few weeks ago. With her head slumped over, I make her sit up and place her hands around the back of the chair, tying them together with the tape before taping her across the chest to the actual chair itself.

It’s not the best but it will buy us enough time.

I can only hope that Camden doesn’t come back in the next few seconds – now that I know him better, I have a feeling that man fights dirty – and that Violet has already snuck out and is making her way to the car.

I shove the tape into my jacket along with the gun and then raise Ellie’s chin to get a better look at her. She tries to open her eyes but can’t, passing out. She’ll be all right. Hopefully nothing more than a terrible headache when she wakes up.

“Sorry,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head. “My father probably wouldn’t have approved of that.”

Luckily his approval doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.

The only thing that does is hopefully waiting by my car.

I run out of the front door, gently closing it behind me, and head down the street like I was never in the McQueen’s house at all.





Chapter Twenty-Two





Violet




Where the fuck is he?

I’m standing by his Mustang, illegally parked on Clayton, mind you, but Vicente is nowhere in sight. It’s freezing cold, my scarf and jacket doing little to warm me up and after everything I’m jumping at every shadow I see moving in the fog.

Am I doing the right thing?

I’m trying not to have doubts. We’ll just go away for the weekend. When I come back, maybe everything will settle. Maybe when Ben gets here he can find a way to talk to them, to get the truth. I think with me it’s that there’s too much baggage, especially since they’ve somehow roped Vicente into all of this.

I wish they’d just give him a chance. Honestly, if they could see how he treats me, they’d know he’s not capable of hurting me. I mean, outside of the bedroom of course. Plus, there’s the fact that he really does seem to get me, know me inside and out, all my dark and ugly places, and he still wants to be with me. He celebrates it.

Of course they wouldn’t give him much of a chance if they knew the whole truth, what with his father being head of a cartel and all but that’s something they never need to know. They have their secrets, I can have mine.

“Violet,” Vicente says, sounding out of breath. He’s walking toward me fast, hands shoved in his pockets.

When he reaches me he pulls me into a long kiss that sends shivers on the inside of my skin. Fuck, this man leaves me breathless.

“Where did you go?” I ask softly once I have the strength to pull away from his warmth.

He unlocks my door and opens it for me. “I was early so I went to Haight to see if I could get a coffee. Everything was closed.”

I throw my bag in the backseat and get in while he walks around the front.

“By the way, I saw your father,” he says casually as he gets in the driver’s seat.

“What?”

“On Haight.” The car starts with a purr. “He looked pretty pissed. Something happen?”