Hopelessly Yours by Ellery Rhodes Read Free Book Online

confusion. “Yeah, how did you know?”
    Mom’s nostrils flared like she smelled something rotten. “I’m familiar with his case.”
    Confusion melted into something cold and frozen. Jace’s face looked just like it did whenever Josh and his friends came over when we talked and gave him a hard time. It was a look of something wild backed into a corner. He looked moments away from hissing.
    Or worse—clawing.
    Mom pulled me out of earshot of Jace, her voice lowered. “You need to get a new partner, Victoria.”
    I yanked away from her. “What? It’s too late for that.” My lips trembled as I looked back at him and smiled. “Besides, I like my partner.”
    She sighed, shaking her head like I’d said the most tragic thing she’d ever heard. “I can see that.” I nearly went into shock when she tucked my hair behind my ear and cupped my cheeks. Mom was never physically affectionate with me. I was lucky that she said I love you every blue moon.
    “Don’t get too close, honey. He’s going to break your heart.”
    *
    "J ace Murrow?" Dad murmured beside me. He leaned on the counter, ruffling his hair. "That was the guy you dated, right? Skinny kid with the long hair?"
    I didn't tell him that he was a muscled, tattooed sex god now. "Uh huh."
    Dad traced the rim of his glass. "He was a nice boy. I could tell he came from a tough home environment, but he had a good heart."
    "Please," Mom snorted behind us, eavesdropping from the top stair. "I hope you steer clear of him this time, Victoria. Tough home environment is an understatement. His uncle is connected to Macone. I'd put money on the kid getting mixed up in it, too. Crime pays better than McDonald’s."
    "You don't know anything about him," I snarled, my face giving away everything.
    Even after what happened in the car, when he slammed on the brakes and ignored me the rest of the car ride, I refused to believe that he was that different from the guy I knew. The gentle, romantic guy...because there was nothing gentle about Anthony Macone.
    Macone hid behind respectable businesses and suits, but the guy just oozed villain. He had the slicked back hair, the empty eyes, and he rode around in an Escalade with pitch-black windows doing God knows what behind them. I wanted to unsee the crime photos I'd sneaked a peek at in my mom's office, with people beaten to the point where dental records were the only way to identify them. Bodies riddled with bullet holes. Women with throats slit.
    I even had my own Macone memory. Rachel's dad used to own a franchise sandwich shop, and I remember she and I were eating there late after school one night. I let her talk me into keeping watch while she smoked behind the dumpster.
    One of Macone’s SUVs was parked in the alley, and her dad stumbled out of the back. I ducked behind the corner and saw him clutching his nose, blood gushing between his fingers. I knew from the way he shook that he was looking into the eyes of the person that hurt him, but he was apologizing. His terror-filled voice would stay with me forever.
    "My next payment will be on time, Mr. Macone."
    I shook my head so hard my teeth rattled, the memory chilling me to the bone. "No way would he have anything to do with that man. You don't know him." My mind flashed back to the darkness in Jace's eyes as he gripped my chin, his touch blurring the line between firm and pain. You don't either, Vix. Not anymore.
    "I don't want you seeing him again," Mom ordered. She was using her lawyer voice. The one that commanded attention and obedience.
    Usually I'd ignore it just to spite her, but there was that worry again. Glowing in her eyes, begging me to heed her warnings.
    She'd been right about Jace before.
    He did break my heart.
    "Okay," I said finally. Lying...because now I wouldn't rest until I knew if my Jace was gone forever.

Chapter Eight: Jace
    I parked my car and strode toward the entrance. Luigi’s Pizzeria was as old as time itself. It stood in the center of Markham