Black Hearted - An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Complete)

Black Hearted: Chapter 16

Sweetheart. Ice flowed through her veins every time Jack uttered the word. At the moment, she didn't mind so much as it brought relief to the flamed skin on her cheek from Jack's touch. Other parts of her body flushed with heat as well when he'd dragged his thumb across her bottom lip. It was all she could do not to open her mouth and taste him.

The notion was completely irrational, and the response made her furious at herself. To stop from considering why she reacted that way, she channeled her rage in a more logical direction.

Spiraling away from Jack, she glared at Bram. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"He..." Bram's gaze shifted to Jack and then back to Solana.

She put her hands on her hips. "He what?"

"Yes, Abraham, I what?" Jack's arm brushed her elbow and a remnant of the heat from before singed her. She ignored the sensation, focusing on her friend.

His fist pumped open and shut, and Solana knew what lay ahead. Bram had a boiling point and once reached there would be no stopping him. In tenth grade he'd caught a boy she was dating forcing himself on her and Bram went ballistic, beating the boy with those enormous fists of his. It had taken two of his friends to pull Bram off the boy, and her date got a trip to the emergency room. The boy never came near her again.

Solana glanced around the empty restaurant, searching for an alternative to diffuse whatever she'd stepped into. "Go get him some ice." She pointed to the kitchen. Abraham scowled at her. "Now."

Her friend shoved the chair he'd picked up after Jack had knocked it over and stomped away.

Solana revolved back to Jack, examining the red welt forming on the edge of his jaw. She resisted the urge to reach out again or worse, kiss the injury better, by crossing her arms. "Care to explain to me what that was all about?"

Jack shrugged in his pompous nothing-affects-me way and the urge to kiss him dissipated somewhat. "Did you say something to upset him?"

"Who me?" His voice mocked her as one side of his mouth twitched. "Never."

Irritation swirled in her head, and she tried a different approach. "What are you even doing here?"

"Abraham asked me to come. Had a business proposition for me." Jack rubbed his chin and Solana's insides lurched. At least Bram hadn't broken Jack's nose. "Don't think he liked my terms."

Solana suppressed a groan. She knew this was going to happen. As soon as Bram discovered who Jack was, he'd begun scheming. While not exactly a criminal like her ex-husband, Bram was consistently on the hunt for an opportunity to improve his situation. Sometimes his schemes were legit, like investing in a food truck, and others were more fortuitous, like his wins at the racetrack. But some were more ambiguous, and she tried to stay away from those. She definitely didn't want Jack engaged in anything Bram had up his sleeve.

"Good." She gazed up at him. "Don't get involved with Bram. Walk away."

Jack stepped closer. "Is that an order?" His eyes twinkled at the challenge, and Solana hated the way her stomach flipped at the heated glance. Loathed how she craved to answer his challenge with one of her own.

"No." She backed away, picking up an empty coffee mug. "A suggestion. If you know what's good for you."

"Oh, I have a pretty solid idea of what's good for me." Jack's finger traced the length of her bicep. She shrugged off his advance, picking up the other mug. "Tell your friend I'll be in touch. After he cools off."

With effort, she willed her heart to stop hammering in her chest. When the pounding subsided, she was alone in the restaurant.

It should have been a relief. There wouldn't be another altercation with Jack gone. Instead, a chill chased over the spot Jack's finger had caressed her. The sooner she could pay him back for Ximena's hospital stay, the better. Then they could go their separate ways.

Shoulder pressed against the steel door, Solana entered the kitchen and deposited the two mugs on a stack of dirty dishes. She wandered past the prep station and yanked open the walk-in freezer door. Bram's broad back greeted her. "He's gone."

Bram slowly turned, his light brown skin covered in goosebumps. "Good." He brushed past her, a tub of ice cream in one hand.

Solana trailed his hulking form to the cutlery dispensary, where Bram plucked out two spoons. She took the one he offered her. "He said you had a business proposition for him."

Bram ripped off the lid to the tub of ice cream, tossing it onto the stainless steel counter. "What else did he say?"

"Nothing." Bram jabbed his spoon into the green concoction, digging around and withdrawing a blob speckled in chocolate chips. She had to identify what he was up to. "What are you planning?"

Bram's thick lips engulfed the spoon, and he shrugged. "Thought he might like to help franchise the diner."

Solana stuck her spoon into the ice cream. "Bad idea. You don't want to get into bed with Jack Blackhorne. He'd gentrify this place in a snap, triple the price of everything, and remove empanadas from the menu. Where would we eat then?"

"I'd always make room for you." Bram's gaze met hers and she had to focus on the spoon, the look too intense. She wasn't a fool. She realized Bram had a soft spot for her. Well, maybe more. For years her world and Bram's were intertwined, growing up together, first loves, first losses. He was family, a brother who had her back against the cruelties of the world.

Yet she saw how he broke up with his girlfriends when she got dumped. Then, like now, Bram looked at her with a desire she couldn't return. She didn't think of him in that way. Couldn't. Bram and Luc were the only men in her life who hadn't betrayed her. She needed Bram's friendship. Couldn't take the chance of ruining what they had with sex. Because every man she ever had sex with eventually disappointed her. Or worse, destroyed her.

Mint mixed with the sweetness of the cream melted in her mouth. "Not the point. Stay away from Jack."

Bram nudged her foot with his. "I will if you will."

"Not a problem." Lie. She had to pay him back for the hospital bill. It could take years before she rinsed Jack Blackhorne out of her life. She hated how the idea didn't abhor her.

"Good. He's a snob."

She dove in for another spoonful. "Agreed."

"Walks around in those thousand-dollar suits. Acts like he has a stick up his ass." Solana gulped the ice cream. She liked how Jack looked in his suits. They molded to his toned body nicely and exuded a confidence the more casual clothes other men wore didn't. She eyed Bram's plain white T-shirt, a size too small, causing the material to strain against his muscles.

"I'm going to the track tomorrow. Wanna help me pick my bets?" He winked. "I'll split my winnings with you."

"Shouldn't you stay here and help with prep for Jack's party?"

"Nah, you know ma. She doesn't like me getting in her way."

Mrs. Fernandez did everything for her only son. Growing up, Solana had been envious of how the woman spoilt her child, wishing for an ounce of that from her own mother. As an adult, she saw the woman gave too much of herself to the men in her life. Solana vowed never to be like that.

Abraham pulled out his phone and scrolled. "Which one do you like?"

Solana slid in beside her best friend and surveyed the names of the horses. This was a pipe dream they played all the time, always hoping to win big, knowing such a notion was a long shot. The most they'd ever won was four-hundred and seventy-five dollars. They'd selected the winner based on colours that fortuitous round.

She pointed to the name Lavender Lady. "That one." Two hundred dollars meant the world. Not to pay Jack back, but to purchase Ximena's pills.