Jaded Hearts (25 page)

"If you guys don't mind, could you step out
while I speak with Ms. Spencer?" I like the way he doesn't ask, and
I'm relieved that he is helping to run interference.

"If it's ok with Jade, I would like to
stay," Julian retorts. I pry my eyes away from the real alpha-male
of this situation to glare at Julian. But as soon as I see his
determined stance, and the pain that he can barely hid behind his
eyes, I give in.

"I "think the detective is right," I reply.
What I didn't really count on, or want to witness is the anger that
this incites in John. I offer him a reproachful look, hoping he
won't decide to cause a scene. He doesn't. Julian lets out another
grumble, and stalks out. Well as best he could with a limp.

Oh, God!

I didn't have time to deal with all of the
drama. I knew I wanted a change when I left Miami, and this was a
clear reminder to be careful what you wish for.

Note to self to be more decisive and direct
in the future.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you, and I know
you're still trying to recover from the trauma of what happened. I
just need to ask a few questions and you can come down to the
station for a full report in few days when you're feeling up to
it."

"No, I'm fine. Please, get started Detective
Walsh," I manage to speak.

"Please, call my Walsh, or Ryan. I'll try to
make this quick."

It wasn't as bad as I expected. For a cop,
Ryan had a very polite demeanor. He wasn't all hard and gruff like
I would have expected him to be, but he did possess an edge that
warned you not to fuck with him. It also wasn't as difficult for me
to replay the events of the night in question. Whatever drug had
been used to sedate me, kept me from having to many details since I
was blacking in and out. The worst of it was remembering the cold
water that I thought would drown me, and what they had done to
Julian. I almost broke down at that point and Ryan stopped taking
my statement.

"Thank you Jade. What you said lines right
up with Mr. Garza's statement. Here is my card. Please give me a
call when you are ready to set up an appointment." He handed me his
card, closing my palm around it, and strode out of the room.

Boy, he is manly!

I leaned back against my pillow, and then
decided to acknowledge my self-designated guard dog. As soon as
Ryan walked out, Julian hobbled right in.

He made his way to the chair next to my bed,
and I grimaced at the slight limp to his step. Visions of baseball
bats pummeling his legs flashed before my eyes and I squeezed them
tight, crushing the edge of my palms against them to try to push
those ugly thoughts away. For a moment I forget anyone else was
there. I forget who I was, and I just wished I were somewhere
else.

"Jade?" Julian's voice snaps me back. I was
headed to a dark place, and terrified of what would have happened
next.

"So..." I didn't know where to start so I
began with, "What now?"

Julian gingerly leaned back into his seat
and I winced for him. He gave me that look that said I didn't know
the half.

"Fuck. I don't even know. Well, what I do
know is that I need to leave New York again. I'd been in the City
for all of five hours before someone was able to organize an attack
against me. That's why I had to go away, what I was trying to
explain to you that night. I spent so many years trying to stay
away from this kinda shit, and I don't even know where all of this
came from. My only goal was to make sure you were ok, and because
of me you barely are..." He stopped when his emotions started
getting the better of him.

That was a lot.

"Who? And why?"

"That's just it, I had no idea who Nina's
father was until now. I remember her talking about her Russian
mother. I had no idea her father was Italian, or connected. And I
never even slept with her, much less get her pregnant. 'Ryan'
already tracked her down and took her statement. Apparently, the
man who was so infuriated over her condition wasn't even her real
father. Her father was conveniently at a well-attended family
event, not at a warehouse avenging his daughter's virtue. So, back
at square one."

I couldn't even wrap my mind around
that.

"What? So all of that was a lie? Oh,
God!"

I felt sick.

Oh Jesus, I'm gonna puke!

I could feel the cold sweat making it's way
up down my neck and my stomach was churning. Somehow the situation
was easier to deal with when I thought there was a definite
suspect. Now, that slight comfort, no matter how minuscule, was
snatched away. I slid out of my bed and hurried, as quickly as I
was able to move, into my bathroom. No regard or concern that my
entire ass was hanging free from the opening in the back. I had
untied the knots when they interfered with my nap. Shame I had to
give up that glorious soup I had for lunch. It was the best thing
to happen to me in weeks.

I washed my face and brushed my teeth. When
I returned to the room, Julian was still sitting in the chair, but
his posture, with his head cradled in his hands, projected defeat.
Instead of getting back in the bed, I walked over to the side
nearest his chair, and perched on the edge of the stiff mattress as
I stroked his head. I'm glad he was handling it in a different
manner than me, because he wouldn't have been able to make it to
the bathroom as quick as I did.

"Sorry about that. I don't know what that
was. I never toss my cookies like that," I tried an attempt to make
him feel better. Funny how life is.

"Toss. Your. Cookies?" Julian peeked up at
me through his fingers. I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly, and
then laughed. He smirked, and for that split second the world was
normal. Then I heard the hurricane that was my brother and cousin
approaching. Even in a hospital, they were so inappropriate. I
looked at Julian and rolled my eyes just as they came bounding in
behind my nurse. Drew was carrying my overnight bag and Jackie had
flowers and a balloon.

"Guess who gets to go home today?"
Apparently they had worn off on my poor sweet nurse. She was such a
nice lady.

What a shame.

Drew tossed my bag on the bed, walking over
to give Julian a pound. How much had I missed these last few
days?

"That would be the bootylicious flasher,
just in case you weren't sure," Jackie joked as she actually tugged
my gown closed before she poked my butt.

"Yes, Ms. Spencer," Ms. Nice Nurse
confirmed. "I just need you to sign these forms, and you are
cleared for release."

"That's the best news I've heard all week.
Let me get dressed and I'm out of here." I'm sure they would have
appreciated a bit more enthusiasm, but I was just glad I didn't
still have to puke. The nurse took her paperwork and Drew and
Jackie followed her out. Julian remained in his seat.

"I was going to ask you to come with me to
my place, but after we talked to Walsh, something really hit me. My
driver had been switched that night. I don't know who to trust
right now. Someone is trying to set me up and I don't even know
why." He paused as he contemplated his decision. "So, I'll probably
go to my mother's." He stared off into space, lost in his
thoughts.

"I'm sure she would like that. She's
probably worried sick about you."

"No, she doesn't know I'm here. I asked
Edward not to tell her, I didn't want her to freak out and worry,
you know?"

"Julian! What do you think she's gonna do
when she see's you? Your face is..." I didn't want to state the
obvious. The deep purple bruise didn't need any
acknowledgement.

"She won't see me, she's out of the country
right now visiting family. I'll be gone before she get's back."

My stomach flipped when I heard that.

"Where are you going?" My voice was barely
louder than a whisper. Julian looked at me with calculated
patience, like he was holding back his sarcasm.

"Jade, the reason I left before was because
I was advised to. I knew someone was out for me, but I had no idea
to what extent. My family thought it was best that I get out of the
limelight for a while, till whoever was making the threats was
discovered. The only reason I came back was because of you."

"But why? Why did you come for me? I was
fine!"

"I was tired of being in isolation. And I
missed you. I wanted to ask you what I should have asked before I
left." He ran his hands through his thick, curly hair, bristling
with tension. I sat for a while to let his words sink in. While we
sat there quietly observing each other, his phone buzzed. Pulling
it out of his pocket, he glanced at the screen, let out a deep
breath and stood up. I continued to watch him, still stupefied.

"Edward is here to pick me up," he
announced.

"Oh," was all that I managed to reply. I
felt a weird sense of desolation at the idea of him leaving, that I
didn't understand. I wanted to blame him for what happened and be
angry, but really I just felt sad for him, for us. And just like
that I was crying. The dam of uncertainty and denial that I had
filled for the last few days cracked and crumbled. I was so lost in
my thoughts and my pain; I didn't remember he was standing in front
of me, watching. He rubbed both thumbs across each of my cheeks,
attempting to wipe away my tears.

"I'm so sorry Jade," his voice wavered as he
spoke. "Sorry is such a weak word, it can't fix shit or express how
fucked up I feel about what happened. I just hope you can forgive
me."

I just nodded my head. My words were not
going to show up, trapped somewhere between my thoughts and my
mouth.

“I’m going to speak with Edward, and the I’m
coming to see you. We will figure this out,” he said.

Again, I just nodded. With nothing from me
but silence, Julian left me with a light kiss on my forehead.

A brief shower and change of clothes later,
and I was ready to go. I decided to enjoy the last few moments of
hospital solitude, before alerting my brother that I was ready to
go home. Vivian's confession was still weighing on me, because it
just seemed like something was off. Why would she wait until now to
tell me the real reason that my mother went away? I spent all these
years feeling abandoned and unloved, and she just kept putting
band-aids on my heart instead of telling me the truth. And John.
What was he hiding? That thought made my stomach churn with a
myriad of emotions, none of them good. When did my life become so
out of focus? The urge to wallow in my own pity was tempting, but I
was just too fed up. I was tired of existing within the shadows of
my own life.

I was ready to live.

Thank you for reading Jaded Hearts! Please
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For sneak peeks, trailers, and more about
The Jaded Hearts Club visit me at
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Sneak peek of Secret Obsession

Sylvia Davis couldn’t believe her luck.
Well, the lack of it to be exact. Her day began thirty minutes
late, after she slept through her alarm, and was ending with a flat
tire. A flat tire, and a cell phone with no battery life because
she was running late and forgot to grab her travel charger. She
ignored the voice in her head that chided her for not just leaving
the damned charger in the damn car. Shit! Ok, no time to worry
about that now. Sidling out of the car, she headed to the trunk.
The spare was hidden beneath her gym bag and the load of clothes
she had yet to drop off at church for their clothing drive. Shaking
her head, she managed to pull the donut out while only breaking one
nail. Excellent! Now all she had to do was remember how the fuck
you changed a flat.

After thirty minutes of strenuous labor, the
only progress made was removing two lug nuts from one tire. Sylvia
wanted to cry in sheer frustration. It was moments like this when
she wished she had a man in her life. A good man, not just the kind
she usually dated who were only good for taking up space on her
couch. If she was really lucky, they were so stellar in the sack
that she’d forget how horrible they were out of it. Which now
reminded her that she was horny, since she hadn’t been with a man
of any kind in months. Seven months and thirteen days if you wanted
an exact count. Sixty-five of those days had been spent in close
quarters with the sexiest man she’d seen in real life.
Unfortunately he was off-limits. The good ones always were.

The threat of tears caused her eyes to
twitch. The thick humidity of the July evening clung to her skin,
like a wet towel. Weighing down on her. The work blazer she sported
that day, was already discarded, and the sweat rolling between her
breasts was enough to grant her access to any wet t-shirt
competition. Why had she taken this route home? If she would have
just stayed on the main road another car would have driven past by
now, and she could have at least flagged them down for the use of
their phone. All around her, crickets and other noisy insects were
taunting her. She had already swatted her neck three times with the
fear that a nasty bug was trying to stowaway down her shirt. Sylvia
wondered if Pennsylvania had a higher bug count than most states,
or if it just part of her misfortune to be stranded in the middle
of the most bug ridden field ever? So lost in her thoughts she was,
that the distant sound of tires crunching over gravel eluded
her.

Finn Walters was intrigued. He wasn’t sure
what was more interesting. Sylvia changing a tire, or Sylvia hot
and sweaty on her hands and knees. The slight twitch of his cock in
his jeans answered that question. Her thick dark brown, wavy hair
was settled around her shoulders like a blanket, and the seam of
the tiny top she wore rested just at her waist, leaving her plump
little ass fully exposed. His stepsister had the body of a porn
star. He didn’t know much about her besides the fact that she moved
back home from college, and worked in her father’s office all day.
Oh, and she liked taking long showers. Many a night he had
succumbed to massaging his own dick imagining her naked body as the
water rained down her smooth skin, or of him joining her while she
bathed. This real life image of her bending over with her ass in
the air would now be put into rotation.