Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7) by Kaylie Hunter (great books for teens txt) 📗

Farmer shrugged.

“Said he was going for a run,” Beth answered.

“In jeans?” I asked, gathering my coat and handbag.

Haley appeared beside me, taking my keys as she grabbed her coat and followed me out of the house.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she slid behind the wheel.

“Headquarters. Wild Card went to confront Grady.”

“Oh, shit,” Haley said, throwing the SUV in reverse and hitting the gas.

Haley wasn’t on the guest list at Headquarters, and the guards refused to let her inside. When I rounded the corner, turning into the gym, I stumbled, surprised by the sight in front of me. Grady and Wild Card were on the far mat. Both were panting hard, covered in sweat, and bleeding from facial wounds. They must’ve been at it for a few rounds, because they both sagged from exhaustion. I placed a hand on the wall to steady myself before making my way across the gym.

Donovan stepped in front of me, blocking my path, but Bones grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head. “It needs to end.”

Donovan nodded and stepped aside.

Walking onto the mat, I lightly kicked the back of Grady’s legs, throwing him forward to his knees. If he wasn’t so physically spent, he could’ve easily avoided the amateur move. I shook my head and moved in front of Wild Card. I pushed him by his chest, forcing him to stumble backward until he was off the mat and standing on the hardwood floor.

“This isn’t about you,” Wild Card said, exhaling a deep breath as he wiped a streak of blood away from his eye with his forearm.

“I know, Cooper.”

“Cooper, huh?” Grady said, chuckling as he sat back on his ankles. He wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “How cozy. Knew it was only a matter of time.”

I walked back to Grady. Crouching in front of him, I inspected his wounds. The bandage around his shoulder was bleeding through. “Say anything you want about me, Grady,” I tilted my head to the side, watching him, “but if you contact my son again, it will be me, not Wild Card, coming after you. And I’ll do more than hurt you. I’ll end you.” I stood and stepped back. “Promise.”

I walked off the mat, only to come face to face with Sebrina.

“You make a lot of threats for such a little thing.” Being a good six inches taller than me, she looked down her nose at me.

“Look around, honey,” I said, stepping closer. “Do you think everyone would be so quiet if they thought it was an empty threat?”

Sebrina glanced around, seeing everyone was indeed quiet. “You wouldn’t actually kill Grady.”

“I’ve killed many times to protect my family. What makes you think Grady would be exempt? Because I’ve slept with him? Honey,” I said, shaking my head, “unlike you, my pussy doesn’t run my life.”

Wild Card laughed before groaning and leaning over to hold his gut.

“Come on, slugger,” I called to Wild Card over my shoulder. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

I started for the exit, but stopped halfway there. A large white board displayed the randomly drawn teams for the weekend tournament. I grabbed the eraser and cleared the board. No way in hell was I teaming up with Grady.

At the top of the board I wrote Team Kelsey and added my name, Bridget, Trigger, Tech, Katie, Anne, and Wild Card, completing our seven-person team. Donovan took the marker, adding Team Alpha with his name underneath. Bones wrote his name under Donovan’s. Wayne started another team name for Team Bravo. I left as everyone silently lined up.

In the parking lot, Donovan jogged over to me as Haley helped Wild Card into the SUV. “We were supposed to kick off the team competition with the relay race in the woodlands tonight.”

“And?”

“My guys aren’t allowed to cross the highway.”

I glanced toward the road, considering the security risks. “We’ll open the border a half hour before the event and close it a half an hour after. No one is to be within fifty feet of the houses or store. They also have to walk across so my security team doesn’t need to worry about searching vehicles. Clear?”

“I’ll make it work,” Donovan said. “I heard about the pharmacy incident. You okay?”

“I’m good, but the guy was a pro. Stay alert.”

“You got it. Take care of Wild Card.”

“You betcha,” I said, grinning as I mimicked Tweedle. “It’s all about teamwork.”

“Yeah, sure. Then why aren’t you staying to help clean the blood off the mats?” Donovan said as he jogged backwards toward the building.

~*~*~

Once again, we ended up at the store. Alex offered to help clean Wild Card’s wounds and find him a change of clothes. I decided to track Katie down, finding her in the office we used to share.

“Looks different in here,” I said as I walked in.

“I only changed a few pictures and painted the walls,” Katie said, leaning back in her chair behind the desk. “You like?”

“It’s nice. Not as fun as my war room, but it works.”

“I’m not sure axes and crossbows mounted to the walls is the best impression for a retail store office. Otherwise, I’d be cool with it.”

I laughed, sitting in the guest chair. “I signed you and Anne up to be on Team Kelsey for the tournament.”

“Yes!” Katie said, making a fist in the air. “Anne and I were hoping we could compete. Are you sure it’s okay since we don’t work for Silver Aces?”

“It’s a done deal, whether people like it or not.”

“This is going to be epic,” Katie said, laughing. “Oh! Bridget and I ordered t-shirts.” Katie jumped out of her chair and grabbed a box from the floor. Opening it, she tossed me a grey t-shirt with silver glitter lettering: Kelsey’s Crew.