NINE: Boyle Heights

  Books by Elizabeth Reyes

  Desert Heat

  Defining Love

  Moreno Brothers Series

  Forever Mine

  Sweet Sofie

  Forever Yours

  When You Were Mine

  Always Been Mine

  Romero

  Making You Mine

  Tangled—A Moreno Brothers novella

  5th Street Series

  Noah

  Gio

  Hector

  Abel

  Felix

  Fate Series

  Fate

  Breaking Brandon

  Suspicious Minds

  Again

  Rage

  His to Guard

  Uninvited

  Boyle Heights Series

  Lila

  Beast

  Nine

  Looking Glass Series

  Girl in the Mirror

  We Were One

  NINE

  (Boyle Heights #3)

  Elizabeth Reyes

  Nine

  Elizabeth Reyes

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Reyes

  Edited by Theresa Wegand

  Cover Design by Amanda Simpson of Pixel Mischief Design

  To D.

  You're one of the strongest persons I know, and I believe with all my heart we're all going to get through this together!

  You got this, sister! I love you!

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Next up in the Boyle Heights series!

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Ten years ago

  Heron’s Nest, Maryland

  The knock at her bedroom door had barely registered when the door was pushed open and Daniel barged in. “Dad’s home.”

  “What?” Drew wiped the tears away, sitting up in her bed. “He’s not supposed to be home until Sunday. You think he knows?”

  “When does he ever get home this early from his trips?” Her brother huffed. “Of course he knows.”

  With her heart at her throat, Drew got off her bed, scrambling to find her sandals. “Where’s Mom?”

  “In her room still, I think.”

  “Katherine!” her dad called out from the front room, and from the sound of his booming voice, Drew knew he knew.

  She and her brother exchanged looks before rushing out of her room. By the time they reached the front room, their mom was at the top of the staircase and their father in the middle of the front room.

  “How long?” their dad demanded, and despite how pissed Drew had been at her mom all day, she secretly prayed she’d deny it as she had to her and Daniel. At the very least that she’d say it hadn’t been too long.

  Her mom turned to Drew and her brother. “Kids, go to your room—”

  “No!” her dad yelled. “I want them to hear this. How long have you been fucking the coach?” The ugly words stung Drew’s ears, and she brought her hands over them. “How long, Katherine?”

  Her mom started down the stairs slowly. “I won’t do this in front of the kids,” she said firmly.

  “Why the hell not? They’re not kids anymore, Katherine, and if the whole damn neighborhood knows it, don’t you think they do too?”

  Her mom reached the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her dad. “We do need to talk. I can explain it all, but this is not a conversation I’ll be having in front of them.”

  “You think I wanna talk about this? I just wanna hear you say it,” her father yelled, even as the tears streamed down her mother’s face. “His wife sent me pictures, Katherine. There’s nothing to discuss. I was just curious about how long you’ve been making a fool of me while I’m out working my ass off to put a roof over my cheating wife’s fucked-up head.”

  “Maybe if you were home more—”

  The slap across her mother’s face made Drew yelp; though she brought her hands over her mouth to muffle her crying. “Dad, no!” Drew cried out when his backhand went up again. He stopped just in time and turned to Drew. “Please!”

  As angry as she’d ever seen her father, Drew saw more behind those enraged eyes. He was hurting, in spite of it all, and she couldn’t blame him.

  “I just need to get a few things and I’m out of here.”

  “Daddy, don’t go!” Drew called out as he rushed past her mom and up the stairs.

  She felt like a child, not an almost eighteen-year-old adult, but she was sobbing now and couldn’t even look at her mom. Her father continued upstairs as Daniel walked silently out of the room toward his bedroom.

  “Drew, honey . . .” her mother said, but Drew still refused to acknowledge her, rushing past her and up the stairs after her dad.

  “Daddy, please,” she cried as she reached his bedroom door and watched him pack a large suitcase in a hurry. “Don’t leave us.”

  He stopped mid-fold of a shirt he was putting in his suitcase but didn’t look at her. “I’m not leaving you or your brother, sweetheart.”

  “Yes, you are!” She sobbed. “I know what she did was bad, but I still love you and need you here with us.”

  He finally looked up, and his red-rimmed eyes confirmed what she’d seen earlier. He was hurting just as much as Drew was. More, and Drew’s heart ached for him. “I can’t stay here anymore, baby. But I’m not leaving you. I will always be there for you and your brother. I just can’t be anywhere near her anymore.”

  Zipping the suitcase quickly, he picked it up off the bed and started to the door where Drew still stood.

  “Can I come with you?”

  He stopped in front of her and hugged her. “Not tonight, baby. I need to be alone.”

  Drew held on to him for dear life as if maybe she could somehow keep him from leaving. Maybe if he felt how much she needed him to stay, he just might change his mind. The smell of his aftershave and the starch in his perfectly pressed uniform shirt reminded her of all the times he’d come home after having been gone for days and she’d run into his arms when she was still a little girl. He’d pick her up and swing her around, making her giggle silly. She may’ve stopped running into his arms years ago, but she still greeted him with just as much love whenever he got home. He let her hold on to him for a bit longer, kissing her head, even as she sobbed into his chest.<
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  After a few more minutes, he pulled away gently, and she looked up at him. She knew she was biased, but he’d always been so handsome in Drew’s eyes. He’d always been her Superman. How could her mother choose that stupid coach over her perfect father?

  “Listen to me, Dee Dee. I know it was in the heat of the moment—what I did out there.” He motioned out the door. “But it’s no excuse. Hitting a woman is never acceptable, and if she wanted to press charges, she’d have every right to.”

  He placed his finger over Drew’s mouth when she shook her head adamantly. Then he nodded. “Yes, she would, and you shouldn’t hold it against her. I wouldn’t want you to. I lost my head for a moment there, but it was wrong. I’ll have to apologize to her and thank her for not calling the cops on my ass. Just not today.” He hugged Drew again when she began to fall apart, but sadly, the hug came to an end again as he pulled away. “I’ll call you every day.” He wiped her tears away. “You and your brother can call me any time. I’m sorry this is happening, baby, but we’ll get through it. I promise.”

  He kissed her forehead one last time before heading out toward the stairs. Drew prayed her mom had enough sense to be out of the way and just let him go so things wouldn’t get ugly again. She wasn’t too worried about her mother calling the cops. After what her mother had done, Drew was already going to have a hard enough time trying to find it in her heart to ever forgive her. If her mother had him arrested on top of it all, right or wrong, it would only make trying to forgive her a million times worse.

  Thankfully, her mother was nowhere in the front room as he walked toward the front door. “Tell your brother I love him and I’ll be calling you both.”

  Sniffling, Drew’s face scrunched up again as he opened the front door. She watched him, holding her hands to her mouth to stifle the sobs, until he pulled out of the driveway and away from their family home forever. Hearing the door behind her, Drew turned to see her mom standing at the kitchen door.

  “How could you?” Drew spoke through her teeth; then she remembered what her mother had started to say earlier and felt even more infuriated. “He works for us—for you!—to keep you happy, and this is how you repay him?”

  Her mother shook her head. “Honey—”

  “Don’t call me that!” Drew screamed. “Don’t you ever call me that again! You ruined everything and I hate you!”

  Her brother walked out of the hallway just as Drew walked toward it. She didn’t even slow, just stalked past him into her room and slammed the door behind her. Plopping onto her bed, she sobbed and sobbed, hating her mother more with every trembling breath she took. She knew then that she’d never forgive her mother because there was nothing her mother could do or say that would excuse what she’d done to their family.

  Chapter 1

  Present day

  Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California

  Drew

  “Yeah, that’s about right,” Drew muttered under her breath as she took in the sight waiting for her by her car.

  This night just kept getting better. First time in too long that Drew got the chance to go out and let her hair down, and it turned out disastrously. In the midst of her night out, she got a call that her daughter. Chelsea, was in the ER with a raging fever; then her friend Ali nearly got raped, and Ali’s boyfriend, Beast, took matters into his own hands.

  As if that weren’t bad enough, the blinding reminder of the kind of guy her stupid heart used to fall for now stood there leaning against her car. His shirt was completely unbuttoned, confirming what she’d already imagined. Not only was his body ripped with muscle, but every ripple was further accentuated by tattoos.

  Because of everything else going on tonight, Drew had successfully managed not to get too caught up staring at the teasing peek of ink that stuck out from under his collar and cuffs. But it was hard not to notice. She’d wondered just how much more of it was hiding under that long-sleeved dress shirt. Apparently, a lot more.

  He was the epitome of what she’d finally admitted a few years back was her weakness: a dangerously smug bad boy, who she had no business thinking about what he might be like in bed. On top of it all, after making absolutely sure Ali was okay, he’d said goodnight to Ali and excused himself to take a smoke and wait for Drew outside. Cigarettes were something not allowed around her daughter, Chelsea. But did he have to look so damn good doing it, damn it?

  “Muggy as fuck out here,” Nine said, taking a drag of his smoke then letting it out. “Could you’ve taken any longer?”

  As incredibly annoying and insensitive as his remark was, this was good. This was very good. Aside from the fact that Drew was very spoken for and really had no business even thinking about Nine in any other way, this was a reminder of why she no longer allowed herself to get drawn in by foul-mouthed douche bags, like this jerk.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” She huffed, walking around the car. “My friend in there—you know the one who was nearly raped tonight—was still a little upset. I was in there trying to comfort her, before leaving her all alone for the night.”

  Glancing around at all the security surrounding Ali’s sister’s huge estate, Nine took one long unimpressed drag of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and putting it out with his foot. Drew got in the car without waiting for a response from him. So what if the place was brimming with security? So what if Nine even made sure to speak to the staff inside the estate and confirmed they’d be there overnight with Ali. He knew what she’d meant by alone. Her sister was out of town, and now Beast was on the run. Drew wouldn’t let Nine make her feel stupid.

  The passenger side door opened, and he slid in next to her. Drew swallowed hard, trying her damnedest to ignore her body’s sudden but undeniable awareness of him. On the ride to drop off Ali, he’d sat in the back seat, and Drew had been too busy trying to comfort Ali. Sitting this close to his potent masculinity, she noticed it was suddenly stifling in her car.

  To make it worse, the entire car was instantly engulfed with the scent of him, something she’d picked up earlier. But with him in the backseat, the distraction of talking to Ali had made it less intoxicating. Only it wasn’t cologne. No. This was different: a fresh-smelling body wash or maybe hair product. Contrary to the rest of his bad-boy image, his short, thick, dark hair was impeccably groomed and styled. Mixed in was the scent of cigarette smoke, something she should hate but only disapproved of because she refused to have it around Chelsea.

  “I’m just saying you knew I was out here waiting and what a sticky night it is—”

  “Her boyfriend killed someone tonight and is now on the run—”

  “We don’t know he’s on the run yet,” Nine said, rolling his eyes. “And even if he is, he’ll be fine.”

  “How do you know that?” She turned to him, shocked by his nonchalant attitude about this whole thing.

  He shrugged as a trace of that self-satisfied smirk she’d seen more than once tonight made an appearance. “Because he’ll be taken care of. He’s probably more worried about her right now than he is himself.”

  Drew turned on the car, shaking her head. Thank God she was older and wiser. She could hardly believe she’d ever been into guys like Nine at all. She’d since concluded it was a stupid on-and-off phase she kept falling into—but not anymore.

  “Now I get it.” She pulled out of the circular driveway of the mansion they’d been parked in front of and started down the long driveway.

  “Get what?”

  “Your name or, rather, nickname.” She turned to face him, breathing in deeply, when those dark eyes bored into her, because it was impossible not to. “Ali said you’re reckless—”

  “She said that?” The otherwise gorgeous face soured. “She hardly knows me.”

  “Well, maybe she didn’t use those exact words.” Drew glanced back at the road ahead of her, feeling bad for putting words in Ali’s mouth, but it had been something along those lines. “She just explained about your name. You’ve had so many close
calls they dubbed you Mr. Nine Lives. No wonder you’d be so blasé about your friend murdering someone in cold blood—”

  “He beat the shit out of the asshole that nearly raped his girl. I’d have done the same thing in a fucking heartbeat. Hell, if I hadn’t been forced to get Ali out of there, I would’ve stayed and helped him do it.”

  Instantly, Drew was chastising her traitorous heart. Don’t you dare get all warm and fuzzy. We’re talking about murder here!

  Lifting her chin, she was just starting to gather her thoughts so she could respond to that when he went on. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same for Chelsea.”

  Drew turned to him, her jaw dropping as they reached the end of the driveway. “Don’t bring my daughter into this.”

  “I’m just sayin’. I saw you with her tonight. Love is love, babe. I don’t even have to ask if you’d be willing to kill for her.” He shrugged again, glancing out the window, and waved at the guard standing at the gate they drove through. “You fuck with someone’s loved one, and you’re gambling with your own life.”

  Babe? Drew shook her head. This was so typical. He likely called all girls that. Instead, she focused on his full comment. As much as she’d like to argue, there was no way she could. He was right. She’d jump in front of a moving train if it meant saving her daughter.

  Just as she’d begun to respond, the loudest, most obnoxious bodily noise interrupted the quiet in the car. Drew’s face was on fire the moment she realized it’d come from her belly. She stared straight ahead, eyes wide, as they both sat silent.

  “Please tell me that was your stomach.”

  “Of course it was.” She gasped, turning to him as if it’d come from anywhere else. “I skipped lunch; then tonight was just . . .” She shook her head. “I’m starving. I didn’t even realize it.”

  “Thank God.” He groaned, making a show of his relief. “But I’m not gonna lie. My stomach—while not as rude as yours—is feeling the pain too. Let’s go grab something before you drop me off. My treat.”

  Completely mortified still, Drew questioned her sanity because, for a moment, she actually considered taking him up on his offer. Mostly because she was afraid her stomach might make that god-awful noise again. Thankfully, she came to her senses quickly enough and shook her head. “It’s too late, and I still wanna stop by to see Chelsea one last time before I head home.”