Chained Hands (Chained Hearts Duet Book 1) Read online

  “You’re still associating with him! After everything?” my mother shrieks, shaking her head.

  “In her defense, he’s hard to get rid of,” Joey says unhelpfully.

  My parents gawk at him, and he offers them a smile.

  “Please leave,” I say, more to Keir, and he nods, grabbing his jacket before he and Joey head for the door.

  “I’ll be back later.” He winks, then he’s gone.

  My father walks straight over, kisses the top of my head, and checks me over before he steps back so my mother can take his place.

  “How are you affording this place?” Her eyes scan the private room I am in. I didn’t realize I was in a private hospital until after the pain medication took full effect and my hand was stitched.

  “Keir is paying for it,” I tell her.

  “Of course, he is.” She shakes her head and grabs my arm, careful not to hurt me, as she looks at it. “How did it happen? All he bothered to tell us was that there was an accident and you’re okay.”

  “I am okay,” I assure her.

  “You aren’t.” She nods to my hand. “Obviously.” She shakes her head again. “If you weren’t an adult, I’d haul your ass into the back of that camper van we have and take you away from him.”

  She didn’t say here.

  Just him.

  “I’ll go and get us some coffee. Just relax.” My father kisses the top of my mother’s head before he walks out, leaving my mother and me alone. She has highs and lows, and sometimes, you wouldn’t even know she has bipolar. My father is a champ with it all, though. He always knows what to do. How to help her. How to guide her through the highs and lows that come from such a debilitating disease. She has had lots of help over the years, though. And she seems stable most of the time with the drugs, medical interventions, and regular psychiatrist visits.

  “I was with a man like him once,” my mother confesses, sitting next to me. “He consumed me.” She smiles. “I thought I would never find another man like him, and I guess I was right, I never really did. But I’m glad because it led me to your father.” She pauses, then looks me in the eye. “It’s in our nature to be attracted to the one we can’t obtain, the one just out of our reach, yet somehow always in our circle. He’s going to stay in your circle until you remove him. And let me tell you something, you want to remove him. A man like that won’t just remove you, he’ll remove everything about you. You will be nothing, he will consume you.”

  “It’s nothing serious,” I tell her.

  She shakes her head.

  “Lies. But that’s okay. If that helps you sleep at night. Now, tell me the real reason you are lying in this bed with your hand wrapped and security at the door.” I look past her to the door. “Oh, they’re gone now, but I bet not for long.” She sighs, standing. “The mafia, Sailor, really?”

  “We’ve had this discussion.”

  She reaches for my hand and examines it.

  “Sure looks like someone stabbed you.” Her eyes, the same color as my own, lock on to mine. “Care to tell me different?”

  “No,” I say, pulling my hand free.

  “Figured as much.” She huffs, sitting back down. “It’s okay, I can work it out in my head. You stabbed yourself because he told you he can’t love you.” Her hand falls to her heart. “Or … better yet. He has a wife, and she stabbed you.” I bite the inside of my cheek at her words, and her eyes go wider. “Wow, okay, that was a joke. But, fuck, Sailor … she stabbed you? He has a wife?”

  “No and no.”

  The door opens again, and my father comes in holding three coffee cups. My mother stands to take hers and sits back down.

  “You are coming with us.”

  I look at the door to make sure it’s shut. “I actually want to go back home,” I tell them.

  “We sold the place so we could travel,” my father says. “But Benny lives there now. He’s old. Needs help with things. I’m sure he would let you rent your old room from him.” Benny is my father’s brother. They aren’t close but talk every now and then.

  “Really?” I ask.

  It’s been a long time since I’ve been home. It’s where I met Dillan. When I lived a different life.

  “Just don’t go back to who you used to be. You’ve come so far, apart from this hiccup, that is,” my mother can’t help but add, and I smile at her.

  My parents spend the rest of the day with me. We eat lunch, they tell me about their trip, and my father rings Benny, who sounds ecstatic to have someone else live with him.

  Plus, it’s basically rent-free. And with the savings I have from working three jobs, I should be fine for a while.

  “You can leave now,” my mother says to Keir as he walks back into the room later that day, clean and dressed in a new suit. He looks good. I’m jealous. I look like a piece of shit. My hair hasn’t been brushed, and I can feel my face starting to bruise and swell, yet here he is, looking like he just walked off a mafia movie set, and he’s playing the lead role.

  I touch my hair, patting it down.

  “You look beautiful.” His voice stuns the room, but none more so than Joey whose eyes are wide as he stares at his brother.

  Keir walks over to my bedside, flowers in hand.

  “You got me flowers?” I ask, confused. It’s not a small bouquet either. It’s huge and probably cost a small fortune.

  “The room needed brightness.” His eyes scan our surroundings before they come back to me. “The doctor said tomorrow you are free to go home. I’ll stay the night, and you can come home with me after they discharge you. You’ll need help for the next few days while your hand is healing.”

  Before I can say anything, my mother does, “Oh, fuck no.” She shakes her head.

  “No, I’ll go with my parents,” I tell him.

  “We can discuss this tomorrow,” he says, firmly ending the discussion. “I’ve ordered dinner, if you all wish to stay,” he announces, and in walks Phillip, carrying bags of food that smell delicious. I can tell it’s pasta and garlic bread. My mother gives him her evil eye before she turns away and faces me.

  I can tell what she’s thinking.

  I simply choose not to acknowledge it.

  He isn’t going to let me go so easily.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Keir

  I’d kiss those lips every chance I got.

  Every fucking chance I had.

  Without a doubt.

  I spent the night next to her again as she softly snored. The doctor wants to do some final tests before she’s discharged, so I have left to do some work and to give her some more time with her family before I take her home.

  She isn’t fucking going anywhere with her parents.

  Does that make me controlling? Maybe.

  I’m not really sure how to work out any of these feelings. Joey tells me to just walk away—that it would be easier for everyone if I simply left her alone.

  But I have a choice, like I always do, and I choose not to walk away from someone who makes me feel not dead inside. And that’s exactly what she does.

  I didn’t see many examples of love growing up.

  My father never loved my mother, and the only other versions of love I saw were all fictionalized. You had to work out what was real and what was fake, and most of it is fake.

  Joey uses the word love. He uses it lightly when he describes us. I almost took his head off when he first mentioned it last night after we left Sailor.

  But then, when I saw her, I know what it is.

  Joey is right.

  “More flowers?” Joey asks. “Maybe you need to kill someone to bring the real Keir back,” he jokes as he pays for them. Heading to the shop door, we spot Paige standing outside next to her brother.

  “You should wait in here,” Joey says as he walks out.

  Like that’s going to happen.

  “I just want to see if he’ll talk to me.” I hear Paige say as I step up behind Joey. He notices Paige’s and her broth
er’s gazes focusing over his shoulder, so he turns his head to see what’s caught their attention.

  “Keir.” Her head drops. “I’m sorry, please don’t cancel our contract.”

  “You aren’t sorry, Paige. You’re just sorry you got caught. There is a difference,” I tell her. My driver gets out of the car, his hand going to his gun as he watches our interaction on the street.

  “You’re right, I’m not sorry. At all. You aren’t meant to be with her. Your father signed with mine, and you are meant to be with me.” Gone is her soft side, and out comes the vindictive, conniving, and spiteful side.

  “Sometimes things get broken,” I tell her. She goes to step closer to me, but Frank grabs her arm with his bandaged hands, keeping her in place. I look at him. “You’re lucky to be alive. It’s only because our families have a history with each other that you are. Remember that, and keep your sister in line in the future,” I tell him.

  Frank nods and pulls his sister back and we walk to our car.

  “She’s like a dog with a bone, that one. And you gave her one hell of a bone,” Joey says, shaking his head.

  “A dog is an incredibly nice word for her,” I chime back.

  Joey laughs.

  “Keir …” We both turn at the sound of Ellie’s voice. “Joey.” She eyes him up and down with absolutely no shame. This from a woman who couldn’t stand us not that long ago, but is now around us every chance she gets. She’s holding a bouquet of flowers too.

  Interesting.

  “Ellie,” Joey says.

  “Sailor called and asked me to get a few things from home.” She holds up a small bag and smiles. “She said she’s okay. What happened? Do you know?”

  “No, we don’t. I can take that to her,” Joey says, reaching for the bag.

  “Actually, there’s more in the car. Do you think you can help me?” She looks at me, but it’s Joey who scrunches his nose up at her. She turns back and points in the direction of the parking lot.

  “I’ll help.” I pass the flowers to Joey, knowing full well he wants nothing to do with her. “I’ll be right up,” I tell him.

  “Lifesaver, thanks. Sailor asked for some weird things, so I didn’t know what to bring. I may have packed a lot into the suitcase, and anyway, the handle is broken so I couldn’t carry it myself. Thanks again.” I remain silent as we walk through the lot. “Do you think Joey likes me? I know he walks away from me all the time, but I like him, you know? He’s different.”

  She’s annoying, but she’s also harmless. I know my brother is a good-looking man who has enough pussy to last him a lifetime. His type is usually not the clingy or crazy ones, though. And, unfortunately for Ellie, she fits both those bills. Why she has clung on to Sailor is beyond me. And why Sailor has allowed it, is insane.

  “I don’t know,” I answer her.

  “What about Sailor? How are you two? She’s such a good soul. I can see why Dillan loved her so much.”

  I pause at her words. What the fuck?

  “Dillan loved himself, that much was clear,” I tell her.

  She nods. “He did. But every night he would tell me about her. He really did love her.”

  “You never found that weird, that your partner was telling you about his ex?”

  “Shit, where did I park? This place is so big.” She looks around, then points toward the back. “No, I didn’t. He said she left him for you, so I figured he was just getting over her.” She shrugs.

  “He sold her to me to pay off his debts.”

  “You can’t sell a person. Not in this day and age,” Ellie states, her hands going to her hips. “Now, can you?”

  “I did,” I argue back at her.

  “Oh, I see it.” She starts walking faster, and I follow, wondering how many screws are loose with this woman. It’s then I notice something that shouldn’t be there.

  “You aren’t this stupid, are you?” I ask, reaching for my gun.

  She pulls one out of her purse and raises it to my head. “Aren’t you?” she chimes back at me. “How stupid are you? You really think a woman couldn’t carry her suitcase? To tell you the truth, I was hoping for Joey, but you’ll do.” She flicks the safety off as two men get out of the car. Both of them crack their knuckles and walk closer.

  “Really?” I ask. “You work for Romarc?” I shake my head. “You could have done better,” I tell her, looking to the goons walking toward me. “One thing you should know about me, Ellie … if that’s even your real name … is that I’ve played this game way longer than you.” I smile as I reach into my pocket and press a button. When I do, her car and the two people next to it go up in smoke. Joey put it on her car last week. Said she was fishing for information, and he didn’t trust her. I guess his instincts were right. The tracker and bomb came in very handy. I’ll be sure to thank him later. The guys fly forward, their faces meeting the pavement, and she looks back, shocked, which gives me enough opportunity to move in and grab the gun from her hand. I shoot once, quickly, in her leg, making her drop to the ground. I pick up Sailor’s bag and crouch down next to her as she clutches her leg, crying out in agony.

  “He’s going to kill you. You aren’t the king of this town anymore,” she sneers.

  “How so?” I ask.

  “Romarc owns the drug run, he owns the town. You know this. And next he will kill you and her.”

  “You planned to kill Sailor?” I ask.

  Ellie smiles through her tears. “No, I did actually like her. But now he will. You should have let me kill you.”

  I shake my head at her words and stand.

  “Did she know?” I ask, my gun at my side.

  I hear sirens getting closer.

  “Did who?”

  “Did Sailor know who you were?”

  “I’ll never tell.” She smiles a sinister smile before I raise the gun and pull the trigger.

  Joey reaches me at that moment, his eyes wide in shock at what he sees.

  “Fuck.” He rubs the back of his head. “Fuck! I can’t leave you alone for one fucking minute.” He shakes his head and looks at Ellie’s lifeless body. “Really? No way. Why did you kill her? I mean, we thought she was shitty, but fuck.”

  “She was working with Romarc,” I state flatly.

  His eyes go even wider in surprise if that’s possible. “Does that mean …” He looks back to the hospital.

  “Go back inside, I’ll be there soon.”

  Joey turns to leave. “Sailor will ask where Ellie is.”

  “Tell her she went home.”

  He walks away, only giving me a curt nod in response.

  I turn back around to hear the two men groan as they writhe on the ground.

  I put two bullets in each of their heads before the clean-up crew arrive. Hopefully they get here before the police do.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sailor

  “What was that?” I ask the nurse as she goes to the window and looks out.

  “Looks like a car is on fire,” she says. “That’s not something you see every day.”

  I get up and follow her, staring out the window at a fire in the parking lot. We’re too far up to see what kind of car or if anyone is hurt.

  “Get back into bed until the doctor clears you.” She lays her hand on my shoulder and walks me back.

  My parents left to get changed and have some food. I’m meant to be leaving today, and I can’t wait. I plan to leave this city altogether. It was always a dream to live here, but now that dream isn’t my reality anymore. It’s more my own personal hell.

  “Sweetcheeks.” I turn to see Joey walking in the room, a smile on his face, but it seems forced.

  “You hear that outside?”

  Joey nods and sits in the chair by the bed. I’m still waiting for Ellie to come with my things so I can shower and change. I want my own toothbrush, not the hard one they gave me. And I want my own clothes, not this flimsy hospital gown. “Do you know if everyone is okay?” I ask.

  “I
’m sure it will be fine.”

  “Is Keir coming back?” I check, then chew on my bottom lip.

  Joey looks up and sends me another uneasy smile. “I’m sure he won’t be long.”

  I don’t know why I asked that. I don’t need him back. But for some reason I wanted to know. As the words left Joey’s mouth, Keir steps in holding my bag. He walks over, drops it on my bed, and steps back. Coldness radiates from him. He looks at me, and there is no warmth in those eyes like there was yesterday.

  “Ellie was bringing that.”

  “Ellie had other plans she needed to attend to.” The way he says it doesn’t make me feel good—something is wrong.

  “What plans?” Joey stands, and my eyes fall to him before they go back to Keir.

  “Lessons,” he responds cryptically.

  “Ellie doesn’t do lessons,” I say, confused.

  “How well do you really know her?” Joey asks. Keir shoots him a hard stare before they both look back at me.

  “Not well. Just that she doesn’t know many people here.” I shrug.

  “Oh, that’s all?” Joey says. Keir shoots him another look. “I’m going to wait outside.” Joey leaves the room, and it’s just Keir.

  Last night’s Keir and this Keir are two entirely different people.

  This is the one I’m used to.

  “I feel like something is going on that you aren’t telling me.”

  “I saw Paige today.” My back straightens at his words. He doesn’t seem to notice and carries on, “Asked me to forgive her. Do you think I should forgive someone who betrayed me?”

  I feel like he’s asking me a trick question, and my answer is one he is counting on to be right—well, his version of right, whatever that is.

  “That’s up to you. You had plans with her. Why let me get in the way of that?”

  “Maybe you’re right,” he answers thoughtfully and walks to the window. “She would carry a child to full term.” He glances back at me, and I know that stab meant to hurt me.