Connor grins, but it wobbles. “A Gambino fella, the brother of the one she had murdered. He’s been making the rounds, leaving photos of her about, hoping someone will be desperate to cash in.”
“Are you?” I ask evenly. “Desperate to cash in, I mean.”
Connor Kelly attempts a shrug. His face turns white, and he lets out a growl of agony. “I didn’t need the money, but here she was. I took it as a sign. Can’t ignore a sign like that, not when it falls into your lap so prettily.”
Alejandra asks the question that plays on my mind, “How much am I worth?” I run my thumb over her collarbone, a gentle caress that says I’m here.
Connor blinks tiredly. The loss of blood is starting to weaken him. “Put it this way, love. Someone wants you very, very badly.”
The room becomes solemn at that feebly delivered statement. Aileen takes in her ailing son, and agrees with a nod, “All right, Carter. Braden’s favor for Connor’s life.” She swallows hard, an expression of sympathetic suffering having her look much older than her years. “Now, fix him.”
Alejandra adds then, “You won’t tell a soul we’ve been here.”
Aileen scoffs at her. “I’ve been in this world a lot longer than you, m’dear. I know all the unwritten rules. In fact, I could teach you a thing or two about loyalty.”
But Alejandra doesn’t budge, not intimidated in the slightest. “Then I’ll have your word if you don’t mind.” Before Aileen manages to make her vow, Alejandra inserts, “Just so you know, if you do break your word, it’s not Julius you’ll have to worry about.” Without an ounce of emotion, Ana announces, “I will gun down your entire family, shoot them all dead, if you put mine in danger.”
Aileen watches Alejandra closely, deeming the threat very real. “You would too, wouldn’t you, lassie?” She leans back against the wall and replies tiredly, “You have my word. None of the Kellys will speak a word.” She looks about at her sons with meaning. “Ain’t that right, boys?”
All three mumble at the same time, “Yes, Mam.”
Aida waits patiently, and I signal her with a nod. As she approaches Connor, she utters the very same words she said to Alejandra on the day they met. “I hope you’re a tough one, because I don’t tolerate bullshit. Especially the self-inflicted variety.”
I don’t miss the subtle smile that graces Alejandra’s beautiful face.
They don’t make it back to the house till after dawn. I stand by the kitchen counter sipping at my coffee as though I’d just woken up when they enter, feigning vigilance. Little do they know I haven’t slept at all.
I mentally cringe at the sight of them. Julius leads the way, holding her small hand in his and pulling her tired body along, taking care not to rush her. The delicate flower. She blinks sleepily, her eyes fluttering closed of their own accord.
They move to walk past me as if I’m not even there.
Because to them, I’m not.
When I cough lightly, Julius turns to face me and yawns while pulling Alejandra close, fitting her into his side, where she closes her eyes while wearing an expression of serene calm. “I thought you’d be sleeping.”
It hits me. That’s all I am right now.
A side thought.
The knowledge stuns me.
My, how things have changed. This small woman yields a large amount of power over a man I thought too smart to be treated like he is.
“Hey,” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“Hold on a second,” he mutters, ushering Alejandra off into his bedroom.
Their bedroom, I should say.
Ugh. The thought has my veins sizzling in liquid heat.
He returns looking stressed and tired, seeming half the man he was a fortnight ago. “What’s up?”
I think carefully about what I’m about to say. I don’t want to come off needy. I just want to state facts. Clearing my throat, I kick off. “What happened to us, Julius? You don’t talk to me. You don’t even look at me anymore. Things were good around here until she came along.”
The answer I’m hoping to get never comes. Instead of being told I am an irreplaceable part of this team, his brows furrow in confusion. “What is this? Are you quitting?”
Me, quit?
Does he even know me?
I play to win. Always. “No, I’m not quitting. Just hoping this change isn’t a permanent one is all. I miss the way it used to be.”
My concerns pushed aside, he sits on a stool at the kitchen counter and runs a hand over his face. “I don’t know what’s happening, Ling, and I don’t know if things will ever be the same. But right now, we’ve got more important things to deal with.” He sighs. “Alejandra has a bounty on her head.”
“More important things to deal with” is what he says. More important than me is what he means.
“Right,” I say without feeling. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
“We,” he utters and raises his head to rest his weary gaze on me. “What are we going to do about it,” he states. “I can’t do this alone, Ling Ling. I need your help.”
I’m losing my only friend, and it breaks my blackened heart. This is not the Julius of four years ago. Hell, this is not the Julius of a month ago. I don’t know this guy, but the Julius I know would never let a woman lead him by the balls.
All I can do right now is offer him a forced smile as he falls apart over a stup
id cunt of a woman, and offer, “Okay, boss man. What are we going to do about it?”
I fume in complete silence.
Look at him.
Look at what she’s done to him, to one of the only men I’ve ever admired.
Damn her. This is not going to end well.
She is going to get hers.
The bitch is going to pay.
Julius is quiet on the best of days, but the recent change in our relationship has me seeing a different side of him. Today, he has reverted back to the old Julius, the one who kept his other side hidden from the prying eyes of the world. He is closing himself off to me, and it doesn’t just hurt; it makes me angry.
How dare he give me something so beautiful, something I was scared to invest myself in, and then take it away only moments after I begin to cherish it? I am worried I’ll not be able to function in a world where his indifference eats away at me like a plague.
First, I thought it was all in my head, but as the day progressed, it became clear that perhaps his issue lay in me.
When I woke in the early afternoon, after having spent dusk till dawn with the Kellys, my first thought was to find Julius, wrap my arms around him, to be close to him. Reaching out under the covers, my fingers found his, and in a lazy but tender move, I wrapped my index finger around his, linking it as I stroked his thumb with mine.
Eyes closed, I smiled into the pillow, and my body went limp at the comfort I found in waking up next to this man.
As soon as I moved to shuffle closer, Julius slid out of bed without speaking a word and strode naked to the bathroom, his cock stiff with morning wood.
My stomach coiled at the unusual change in characteristic.
Had I done something wrong?
Flipping onto my back to stare up at the ceiling, I thought about it with a frown.
I wasn’t exactly sure. The only thing that came to mind was my dangerous flirtation with Connor Kelly the night before. But Julius was a straight shooter. If I had done something he didn’t like, he would tell me.
Or at least, I thought he would.