Her Secret Santa: A Christmas Protector Romance (Perfect Kisses Book 3)

by Miley Maine

  “I’m about twenty minutes from the house,” I said. “Listen. You need to go back inside and wait for me. If Saul shows up and you aren’t there or if he even suspects that you are trying to screw him over, he is going to bail and the whole operation will just be a watch. We only have one chance to get him.”

  “Wait… how do you know where I am?”

  “Just trust me. I know. We can talk about it later. Right now, I need you to go back inside and get warmed up. You have to wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”

  “Ok,” she said. “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Love you, babe. I’ll be right there.”

  The call ended and I leaned back in the seat. I popped open a whiskey and leaned back. The warm liquid began to calm my own nerves. I was getting excited. I wanted to see this punk in person and to watch the look on his face, that doubt in his eyes when he realized he was royally fucked. And I wanted to introduce myself in person that way so that he would never forget my name. And the prick would never forget that he should have ever dreamt about laying a hand on Julie. That son of a bitch was going to pay.

  I squeezed the bottle hard until it broke in my gloved hand. I wished it was Saul’s thick fucking skull.

  I closed my eyes and thought about pointing a gun at him and watching him squirm. I hoped he begged. A part of me genuinely hoped that Derek and the crew did not actually show up fast enough. I hoped Saul did something stupid and I could just shoot him down justifiably right there in my home. The bastard deserved the worst.

  I didn’t like feeling so angry at someone, knowing that I could kill that despicable person without, but that was exactly how I felt about him.

  I grabbed another small bottle of whiskey and chugged this one, downing the entire bottle. I didn’t usually drink so early in the morning, but today was going to be a day unlike any other. And it would finally end with Julie having the peace back in her life that she deserved.

  We approached the house just then. I didn’t see anything alarming going on. And I hoped that Saul didn’t either. This was not some gated community. This was a house out in the middle of the wilderness down a private driveway. I didn’t need the kind of protective measures that I might have required in other areas. It was sweet and peaceful looking here. I hoped Saul felt that warm invitation.

  I got out of the car and went into the house where I found Julie sitting at the kitchen table sweating but cold in her sweatsuit. She came to me leaping out of her seat and threw her arms around my neck. I held her close to me. She was so scared. I was glad I was there. I had to reassure her that she would be alright. I kissed her sweetly on the lips and pulled her even closer to me.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry that I left. I just didn’t know what to do. What if he got here first? I woke up and the fear just overtook me. I was going to go hide in one of the blinds until you told me you were almost here.”

  “It’s ok,” I said. “You are safe. I’m not going to let him hurt you. But you have to be brave. You are not alone. You have to let him think that you are alone, though. You have to let Saul think that he is winning this. You are acting as a bait, but you aren’t in any danger. I assure you that I would never put you in a harm’s way.”

  “I know,” she said. “I’m just so glad you are back home.”

  She kissed me hard on the mouth. I hugged her tightly to my chest just then. She was my everything. I loved this woman more than I could ever love myself. I would die before I ever let any harm befall her. She had to see that. Surely, she could see how much she meant to me. I hated that this man was making her so afraid. I would never let him hurt her. I had vowed to keep her safe and protect her.

  “Honey, it’s going to be alright. But I need you to be strong. You are brave. You are strong. You are a warrior. And you will have to be all of those things if we are going to do this. I know I can count on you. Baby, just believe in yourself as much as I do, and this nightmare will soon be over.”

  She kissed me softly and rested her head against my shoulder. “I am trying.”

  18

  Julie

  I had to do this.

  I could do this. I knew it. I was stronger than this. I had to tap into that courage that I held down deep inside of myself. It was ok. Tony believed in me and now I could believe in myself, too. He was here. I would not have to go through all of this alone. I had that backup and support. And we had the cops. We had the monitoring all set up. It would capture Saul as he came up to the house, and everything that he said or did while he was inside with me. I just had to embrace it and just go with it.

  We’d been sitting at the kitchen table for about two hours when the motion detector detected some motion driving up the driveway. I could see the Camaro pulling into the driveway. It was him. That dark car, those dark windows, and the darkness inside the car, it was him. I knew it.

  I was on my feet instantly. Tony quickly moved towards the back of the kitchen. “I’ll just be over here. Good luck. You will be fine.”

  Tony disappeared down the hall into a side room. He would be hiding there with his revolver ready. I could hear him on radio with Derek and asking the cops to be ready as well.

  My heart had leapt into my throat. I felt sick to my stomach. My head felt like it was going to fall off my shoulders. I really felt like I was going to die today. Something was going to go wrong. I could feel it. It would go wrong and then the whole thing would go to shit. I’d be dead. Maybe Tony. And Saul would finally die in a hail of gunfire from the cops. At least he’d be gone. But I was not going to let this bastard cut my life short now. I had far too much to live for.

  I watched as Saul’s feet swung out of the open car door and then the rest of him lumbered out. He looked just as I had remembered him. He was tall, stocky, with broad shoulders and a heavy walk. His movements were slow as if he didn’t care anything and had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted. It was really a bit scary to watch. He was such an intimidating figure. It just came naturally to him. And he was so used to watching people get scared and recoil from his mere presence. Even in prison he’d been in charge of things.

  He knocked on the door. I froze. I didn’t want to do this. I wanted it to all be over. Why couldn’t it be over? Why did this had to happen to me? Couldn’t I just close my eyes and wish I was away to dreamland? It was a nightmare. That was all. A horrible nightmare.

  The knock came again.

  I summoned up the courage to open the door just then. My feet felt as if they would never reach my destination. But I found myself there, gripping the doorknob, and then turning it as I opened the door.

  There he was.

  Saul stood there for several seconds watching me. His swagger was so damned cocky. I hated him so much. I wished so badly that I had never met him. He was vile and disgusting to me. I wanted him dead so badly. I’d never actually wanted someone dead before, but now I wished that for him. I wanted that son of a bitch six feet under.

  “Well, aren’t you a sight?” he asked.

  I hated the sound of his stupid voice. I didn’t respond. I just glared at him. Then I turned and walked back into the kitchen.

  He followed me allowing the door to close behind him. “Well, are you even going to speak to me?” Saul asked.

  “Let my family go,” I said. I knew that they were safe, but I had to keep up the ruse. I hoped I didn’t blow it. I was so angry though that I didn’t think this was going to be a real problem anyway.

  “Sure,” he said. “Now that I know you are here, and what a beautiful figure you have changed into. Damn, honey. I’ve missed you.”

  “Charmed,” I said.

  He stepped close to me and stroked my cheek with his finger. I recoiled from him and took a step back. That sparked the anger in him, and he stepped quickly forward and grabbed my face in his hand. He held me close to him and growled in my face. “Don’t you dare fucking back away from
me!”

  I was scared, so scared, but I found right then that my anger and my hatred far outweighed it. I decided to play along with the fool. “Or what? You going to beat me up like you used to? You going to kill me like you killed Jack, Benny, and what was that other guy’s name? Toby? Right?”

  He shrugged. “Wow, I guess I thought I had pulled a few over on you. I didn’t even know you even knew I finished those idiots, but kudos to you. Now, as far as you and me… you will obey me and do what I say. I’m your husband, remember?”

  “No. I divorced your ass a long time ago when you were behind bars where you belong. You never should have come here for me.”

  “Why not? You are mine. You will always be mine, no matter what some stupid piece of paper says. You belong to me.”

  “I don’t belong to anyone. I have my own independent identity and I decide things for myself. You understand that you piece of shit?”

  I watched his eyes fly wide with fury. I wondered what he was going to do to me. I was trying to push his buttons, get him to make a move, and also it felt so good to insult him. The look on his face was priceless.

  “You bitch!” he screamed.

  He swung his meaty right hand at me. I ducked under it and came up with a hard straight jab to his nose, stepping into the jab as Tony had taught me and throwing my weight behind it to center the power right on my first two knuckles. I connected with his nose and I felt and heard the crunch of his nose.

  He staggered back grunting loudly with shock and pain. The blood poured from his nose instantly. Saul caught himself and reached for his nose. He felt the blood and wiped it away, staring at his hand in disbelief. He glared at me with fire in his eyes. “You bitch. I guess someone taught you a move or two. Would it be that rich asshole you’ve been banging with? Yeah? Well, I’ll fix his ass, too.”

  Saul stepped forward and charged at me. He threw his weight at my midsection to tackle me. I quickly sidestepped the move and threw my leg out to trip him. He stumbled over my leg and ran headfirst into the wall. I got into stance and then quickly kicked him in the back of the head with a vicious back leg side kick.

  He slumped to the ground. I thought I might have put him out, but his head just happened to move at the last second, so the kick was more of a glancing blow. Saul staggered to his feet. He was dazed and full of rage. He was going to kill me. I was not going to make it out of the house alive.

  It felt good to finally fight back. I wanted him to attack again so I could hurt him more. I wanted to bloody his face up until it was no longer recognizable.

  But Saul had other ideas. He pulled the gun from his waist. It was a glock. He cocked it and pointed it right at me. “Burn in hell, bitch.”

  He started to fire.

  Suddenly, a body hit me from the side and tackled me to the ground just as the bullet fired into the wall behind me. I was on the ground underneath Tony. He reached for his own gun to return fire at Saul, but Saul was too fast. He pointed at Tony as he ran to the other side of the small kitchen table so that he could get a clear shot on us.

  Suddenly, the door behind him burst open.

  Saul wheeled around with his gun only to run right into Derek who grabbed the gun and began to wrestle Saul for it. The two men were locked in a hard fight struggling with the gun above their heads. Saul kicked Derek in the groin and Derek’s grip began to falter. He was about to lose this fight. Saul was so dirty.

  Saul kicked him once more. Derek screamed and tried to hold on, but his body was collapsing right then. He was almost out of this one. And that would mean his certain death.

  Tony leapt off the floor and tackled Saul to the ground. The gun fell from his grip and scattered on the floor. Tony was on top of Saul now reigning punches on him. I could hear each punch landing with a huge smacking sound as Tony’s fist met Saul’s face, pounding him hard. Yes! It was so satisfying. I stood up and walked over to where Tony was finishing pummeling this man into a pulp.

  Tony stopped punching and stood up breathing heavily. Saul was out. His face was bloodied as could be and he was unconscious.

  Derek was up now pointing the gun at Saul. The other cops were running through the door right then. “Cuff him!” Derek demanded.

  The cops went to work cuffing Saul. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It was awesome to see, but the feeling I got from it was beyond anything I could ever have imagined. It was real. This was really happening.

  Saul was totally unconscious and needed some medical treatment, so an ambulance was called.

  I stood there looking at Tony. I felt like collapsing. The emotional and physical stress this had all just taken from me was just too much. I leaned against him and let myself fall forward. He held me tightly to his body just then. His hands came behind me. One hand was on my lower back and the other was stroking the back of my head. It was so comforting. I couldn’t believe that this was really it.

  “Are you ok?” Tony asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “I’m finally alright. I… I just can’t believe it’s done. It feels like a dream, something I am afraid I am just going to wake up from.”

  “I know, but I can assure you it isn’t a dream. It’s real. Every single bit of it is real. You were amazing.”

  “Yeah, it was so much fun punching him.”

  He laughed. “Yeah. I saw that. I would have stepped in sooner, but it looked like you had it under control, and I didn’t want to step on your toes. I wouldn’t have dreamed of depriving you from some much-needed payback.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “But you could have been a bit faster when he pulled out the gun.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, that kind of surprised me, too. I should have.”

  “I guess not,” I said. “But you did pretty amazing yourself. I can’t believe you set all this up. If it weren’t for you… I don’t know what would have happened.”

  Tony pulled me closer to him gently and kissed me on the mouth. His kiss was warm and so loving. “Honey, I’ll always be there for you. I want you to know that. You will never be alone again. I will always do what I can to keep you safe and support you in any way that I can.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, babe. I love you so much.”

  I leaned into his arms and I knew that he meant every single word.

  19

  Tony

  Three Weeks Later

  I had to do a double take when Julie walked into the room. She was by far the most beautiful vision that my eyes had ever beheld. Her long, beautiful hair was flowing and shining brightly as it bounced softly on her shoulders. Her piercing eyes were sparkling to me. The dress was clinging to her body in that oh so perfect way so that it hit every single curve when she walked.

  And her energy was right on point. It beckoned to me and I smiled warmly at her as I watched her entering the room of our mansion in Anchorage. Every single person in the room turned and stared at her. None of them could believe such a beauty was real, but there she was a real-life work of art, a true masterpiece walking in poetic motion right in front of us all. And she was smiling at me. I wanted her so badly. I almost forgot where I was or what I was doing as she walked down the steps towards me.

  The ball room was filled with capacity. All of our closest friends, our families, and our coworkers were there. I’d flown them all out here to celebrate the company and the love that Julie and I shared. I was going to ask Julie a question this evening that I wanted every single person in that room to witness. I just hoped Julie said the right answer to me.

  I had to admit to myself I was a bit nervous. I’d even rehearsed the move, working as hard as I could to get the words, the phrasing, and the sentiment of what I wanted to say just right. It was still going to be difficult.

  “You look ravishing,” I said when she met me in the middle of the ball room.

  She gave that beautiful smile to me that melted my heart and made me instantly hard as a rock and then she hugge
d me softly. “You look pretty damn amazing yourself.”

  “Thank you. I was afraid you weren’t coming down.”

  “Well, perfection takes time,” she teased.

  “I see. Well, perfection accomplished.”

  She laughed and I took her arm in mine as we walked along mingling with everyone around us. The party was our annual company Christmas party. The great day was only in two weeks and I certainly was more excited about this Christmas than I’d been about any other in my entire life. It was like I’d been reborn somehow and a new chance for real happiness had been given to me. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve it, but I was grateful for it. I was finally happy. I was with the woman that I loved and the woman I wanted to spend my life with.

  “So, how is the happy couple tonight?” Quinton asked as we joined them at our table. The food would be out shortly and right now Quinton was piling through as much of the free liquor as he could. The guy was already three sheets to the wind and the party had just started about an hour before.

  “We are fine,” I said.

  “You look amazing,” Sophie said to Julie. They embraced and smiled at each other. The two had become fairly good friends the past month or so. That was great. Quinton and I had a wonderful time going out with our significant others as a foursome now. It was a lot of fun, almost as if we were college kids and goofing off together or something while we blew off the steam of mid-terms. And it turned out that Julie had become quite the extreme activities junkie. It was startling to see her transformation.

  She was still the same her, but she had this other component to her. She was tougher, edgier, more confident in every single thing she did, and she was so much more enthusiastic about her life now. The thing with Saul, fighting him, confronting him, and getting the best of him had really reawakened the real her. She was no longer under that bastard’s thrall. She was not intimidated by him or anyone else for that matter.