Page 12 of Furious Protector
He smirks and taps my nose.“I’m not immune at all.I just think there’s a time and a place.You needed sleep last night, Jules.”
I pull his head down to me.“You just scored even more points in my book.Thank you for being a gentleman.”I kiss his lips lightly.“I’ll go freshen up, grab some shoes and my purse and I’ll be ready to go.”
I spin to walk out of the kitchen, but he turns me around and draws me into his big strong arms.“One more for the road, darling.”
9
Beckett
The minute I allow her to come up for air this time, she looks right into my eyes, those baby blues lit on fire with desire.The same look I plan to put on her face tonight, because just kissing Jules is never going to be enough.I want her in the worst of ways and consuming her with my desire is going to be hard to get off my mind today.
But keeping her and this town safe is priority one, at least right now.I stroke a hand down her luxurious silky hair.“We’ll finish this later.Go get your things, Jules.”
I grab my duffle from the living room and tuck it behind the couch while she’s gone, fold the blanket I used last night and toss it back over the couch before checking for messages on my phone.
Things are coming together nicely; we’ll have the boots on the ground we need and a good plan in place to keep everyone safe and end the intimidation of this town.
The barrel of my Glock is pointed to the floor, and I’m making sure all is intact when Jules walks into the living room.
Her blue eyes widen at the sight of it, and she inhales a deep breath.“All this playing house let me temporarily forget that you’re here for some pretty serious business.I don’t know how much Cole told you about Eldridge and his crew, but they are about as mean as they come.They work for the Chicago Crime Family.They want to turn our gold-hearted town into another Vegas.Buy up all the real estate, the bars and shops.They want to run all the shopkeepers out of town and take over.”
Her eyes track my movements as I move the Glock, until it disappears from her sight and is safely holstered in the waistband of my pants.The worry she’s feeling rolls from her like waves.I close the distance between us, put an arm around her, and guide her to the door.“It’s just in case.The hope is always that I won’t need it, but I won’t hesitate to defend the members of this town.It’s what I’m paid to do.”
Jules nods, but there’s a part of me that wonders if she’ll look at me differently now.It’s one thing to talk about security and protection, it’s another thing to see exactly how it’s handled if it comes right down to using that gun.She wouldn’t be the first woman who’s shied away from a relationship with a man like me and probably won’t be the last.
My jaw tightens.I’m not looking for a relationship, yet I’ve never had to remind myself of that fact before.Damn the little blue-eyed darling all to hell.
She’s looking up at me and I get the feeling she’s expecting an answer to a question I didn’t hear.“Sorry, what did you say?”
Her lip purses in the cutest of ways.“I asked if you know the history of the town.You know, with everything going on between the Eldridge crew and the shopkeepers?”
“Cole’s been keeping me apprised of the situation over the last few years, but I don’t pretend to have a handle on it all yet.The Larussios have been dealing with the Chicago Crime Family for quite some time.”
She nods and steps around a crack in the sidewalk.“That’s what I heard.”
“They’ve given them every chance possible to settle things in an amiable way, forbid them from stepping foot back in this town, and instead of keeping the peace, they send men to intimidate.”
“It’s going to get messy, isn’t it?”
“There’s nothing for you to worry about.I won’t let anyone hurt you, but you can bet there’s going to be retribution.”
“A mafia war?”she asks.
We reach my truck.“Call it what you will, but we’re right in the middle of it and we’re not on the side that’s going to lose.I don’t plan on you or any of the townspeople becoming a casualty of a turf battle either.The Larussios have eyes and ears all over the place.We’ll know before they get here when the Eldridge crew sets foot in town.”
“Tommy’s guy?The ones you were talking about last night?”
I may want to give Jules as much information as I can, and some is public knowledge, but information about the Larussio’s inside people is not and I don’t plan for it to be.Better to just avoid the question all together.“We usually stay on the perimeter of the Larussio work.We guard the family and for those of us in Deadwood, this town.”
“Cole, Garrett and Mason needed more bodies after learning about the intimidation and already dealing with security for the grand opening.They didn’t want to take a chance and the Larussios are done sending quiet messages to the family in Chicago who seems to have deaf ears when it suits them the best.So now they’re going to be up against us and Tommy and his men.”I leave out reference to anyone else.
I open the passenger door of my truck.Jules hops in and puts her seat belt on before I close the door.The neighborhood looks clear as I scan the area around us before heading around the back of the truck.
The minute I’m in the front seat, a black sedan that sure as hell doesn’t belong sitting on the side of the road in this neighborhood, catches my eye down the street.
I pull out my cell and connect with Cole, putting it on speaker so I don’t have to repeat everything for Jules.“Jules and I are just heading out from her house.I’ve got you on speaker.I’m gonna have a tail on my ass in about five minutes heading out to the highway.Can you send Tommy and his boys to pick them up?”
“Copy that.Jay, Matt and Damian just touched down too.They flew in to help.I’ll have Tommy let them know to head that way.Hell, they may even all be together by now.I’m at Wild Deuces with Garrett, Mason, Lacy, PJ, and Patti.”
