Page 51 of Hart of Vengeance
Mallory squeezed my hand for good measure.
When we stepped off the elevator, the air jetted from Mallory’s lungs. “Cara?”
Mallory’s sister clung to Duke, who was standing next to a pillar. His hair was messy, his chest and feet were bare, and he wore an expression that would scare a baby for sure.
Cara’s light-red eyebrows hiked to her hairline as she snapped her spine straight. She always had a way of stealing one’s thunder. Well, not that night. I didn’t care why she had her hands all over Duke or why she was even there.
Hell, I didn’t even care when Denim ambled closer, watching me with a steadfast intensity. “Did something happen?”
I held up my hand. “Don’t come any closer.” It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him he wasn’t the brother I wanted right then. But it was best that I stick to my plan. Denim could change my mind with his disarming smile.
He stopped in his tracks. His blue eyes were glossy. He was either buzzed or high. He’d been known to drink and smoke weed prior to prison.
I let go of Mallory and charged up to the imposing human whose heart I envisioned driving a stake through. Inwardly, I laughed. I doubted any type of blade or sharp object would kill Duke Hart.
He didn’t move as we stood toe-to-toe.
I craned my neck up. “You killed her,” I said without a crack in my voice or a tear in my eye.
He didn’t flinch. He didn’t blink. The only sign he’d heard me was a muscle jumping along his jaw.
Cara’s arms came at me, but Mallory, or maybe Denim, held her back.
Duke deadpanned as his empty brown eyes dropped to my hand.
Fuck the mace.I kneed him in the balls. “You killed her. You.”
A whoosh of air gushed out of him as the blood rushed to his face. But he didn’t drop to his knees or bend over or even cup his balls. He stood erect and stolid, not revealing his true pain.
Dropping the mace, I punched him in the gut, my knuckles meeting abs harder than stone. But no matter how bruised I would be, I would beat him until I bled.
Strong hands gripped the sides of my arms from behind. “Love.” Denim’s breath fanned my ear.
In that moment, I not only hated the word “love,” I hated him. He represented everything bad in my life. I’d let him rule me, even if it was the memory of him and us. I couldn’t keep hoping and wishing and praying. Somehow, I had to unlove him.
I hated myself and hated that I was sandwiched in between Duke and Denim. One was coldblooded, and the other had a heart. I wanted to kill one and kiss the other.
My heart wentboom, boom, boomagainst my rib cage.
If Mallory was yelling or talking to her younger sister, I didn’t hear her.
The only sound in my ears was Denim’s breath until he said once more, “Love.”
As though that word was the worst swear word in the universe, I spun around and pushed him. “Don’t call me that. I am not your love. Not anymore. If you think you can waltz into my life like nothing happened, you’re sorely mistaken. You and I will never be. Never, ever, ever.”
He raised his hands and edged back, hurt washing over his handsome face.
I couldn’t care. If I did, he would hurt me again, and the second time would be more devastating than the first. I had to take a play out of Duke’s playbook. I had to be cold. I had to be numb. I had to walk away. It was the best course of action to protect my heart. I had to heal, and I couldn’t do that in the presence of any Hart brother.
“Savannah is dead,” I screamed. “She’s dead because of men like you.” Then I turned again and faced Duke. “You are a monster. You drove her to do evil things. Why didn’t you see her in jail? Why didn’t you take her calls? If you had, she might still be alive.”
The man still didn’t display any reaction except for that muscle in his jaw, which was moving wicked fast.
I was done blaming myself. Duke might not be the one who’d beaten her, but he’d had an invisible hand in the process leading up to her death.
I sucked in a long breath, and with all the strength I could muster, I punched him in the face.
That freaking hurt. The man was a stone wall.
