by Dee J. Adams
Troy canted his head. “Well, yeah, it matters because Ari didn’t know I was working for her. He thought I was on his payroll.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Julie said, “I don’t understand.”
Troy ran a hand through his hair, and a prickly feeling raced down Julie’s spine.
“Sophia hired me to...to watch Ari.”
“Right. I figured that. That’s what bodyguards do.”
“I’m not a bodyguard. I’m a private investigator. Sophia thought...thinks that Ari is having an affair with someone.”
Julie snorted. “She’s probably right. He can barely keep his pants zip—” Private investigator. The words slammed around in her skull. She put a hand out, finger up, trying to put the pieces together. “Wait a minute. You were hired to watch Ari and find out who he was screwing, is that it?”
Troy nodded. “Yeah, but I hated it and quit when I told you I quit.”
The pieces slowly connected and Julie struggled to make sense of everything. “You quit the morning of the car bomb.” The morning after they’d spent the night together. A cold chill zinged down her spine and she covered her face with her hand as she backed out of the bed. No, no, no, this was not happening. “Are you telling me that I was the one you thought Ari was having an affair with? And you slept with me before you quit the job?” Her stomach turned over as a few more pieces clicked into place. The night they’d slept together he’d knocked on her door a minute after she’d hung up with him because he’d been in front of her house waiting for Ari to show up. Holy shit. Ari had been there and kissed her in the doorway. She’d called Troy and she’d looked out the window to see the coyotes on her front lawn. Her stomach flipped again and she did her own pacing on the other side of the bed. A nervous laugh escaped her chest. “This is beautiful. Just beautiful. You were watching me the whole time, weren’t you?”
“I was watching Ari,” he said.
“Bullshit.” She spoke very quietly, very succinctly. “You were in front of my house on at least two nights. Don’t deny it.”
His stiff body language was the picture of guilt and her stomach lurched. She wanted the truth. Her gaze never wavered.
“Yes,” he said. “I was.”
“Okay.” She nodded. Now what? Get the hell out. She needed space. Time. Needed to be away from him to sort this whole thing out, because right now she couldn’t stand the sight of him. She opened up her suitcase perched on a chair in the corner of the room, then scooped up all the clothes inside the top dresser drawer and tossed them into her luggage. She was out of there.
* * *
“Whoa. Wait a minute. What are you doing?” Troy asked, rounding the corner of the bed.
“You’re the P.I. Figure it out. Do not touch me,” she said, jumping back as he reached for her. She uttered the words quietly with the most deadly intent he’d ever heard. He kept his distance.
“Then stop whatever the hell you think you’re doing and let me explain.”
“You know what?” She nailed him with a hard blue gaze. “I don’t want an explanation. I don’t want to know why you’ve been lying to me for so long. For weeks. Especially the last two weeks!” Yeah, she spit those last words out like they were poison on her tongue. She scooped her clothes out of the second drawer and tossed them into her bag.
“Dammit, wait,” Troy said, blocking her path.
She stopped in front of him, her eyes blazing like fire, her skin flushed and every muscle taut. Lifting one hand, she ticked off a finger. “You could have told me in the hospital at the very beginning.” She still sounded deadly calm. “Oh, but wait, why bother since you left without saying goodbye, because you clearly planned to spy on me more. But then someone shot at me on the balcony so you were stuck on top of me for—what—forty-five minutes until SWAT got there. Maybe a few minutes more. But, no, you couldn’t tell me then because you still planned on watching to see if I was fucking Ari.” She swerved around him and got another load of clothes from the drawer. “Of course, then I made it easy for you. I called you. That’s right, like the biggest naïve fool that I am, I thought, ‘Hey, here’s a nice guy, he’s saved my life twice. Why don’t I give him a call to help me with security?’” She dumped her new load into the suitcase.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
“What does it look like?” She slid open the closet door with a bang and got out her other suitcase.
“You aren’t leaving,” Troy said with as much calm as he could muster.
Julie turned on him. The eyes that had been full of fire now fairly spit molten lava. “Oh really?” She all but whispered the words. The effect was ten times worse than if she’d raised her voice. “Do you plan on kidnapping me then? Was Cal right? I shouldn’t have come on this trip with a man I barely know?” She didn’t look in any way scared of him, not that Troy wanted that, but he did want her to see reality.
“No, I’m not—and I didn’t—kidnap you. I got you out of California to keep you safe. Alive.”
She snorted and tossed her second bag onto the bed. “Right. Excuse me while I finish packing.”
“Julie, dammit, hear me out.” He slapped the top of her suitcase down and forced her to look at him.
“That night when you showed up at my door in...like a minute...” She laughed, but it lacked any humor. “Stupid me, I thought you were watching me because you were worried about someone getting into my house, but all you wanted to know was if Ari was getting into my bed.” She flipped up the lid of her suitcase. “When am I going to learn?”
The anger in her voice cut Troy deep. “This is what I was trying to avoid,” he said “Everything changed after that night.”
“Really?” She spun on him. “Yet you didn’t see the point in telling me? Maybe you never planned to tell me, is that it?”
“No! That’s not it!” He blocked her path to the closet. “I wanted to tell you. More than anything. Why do you think I nearly walked out that first night we were together?”
“Yeah, there’s the operative word. Nearly. Maybe you should take up acting since you had me fooled this whole time.”
“I was going to tell you right then. That’s why I stayed. I was going to tell you, but I saw your face and it about killed me. I didn’t want to make you cry. I don’t ever want to make you upset. I care about you too much. I love you, dammit. That wasn’t bullshit. I love you.”
Since she couldn’t pass him to get to the closet she grabbed a pair of jeans on the bed and yanked them on, commando style. “Yeah, great way to go about not making me upset.” She zipped up and marched to the bathroom where she gathered her toiletries and marched back to her suitcase.
“Stop packing,” he shouted. “Would you stop fucking packing? You’re not leaving.”
“One of us is definitely leaving.”
Troy ran his hands through his hair. Unfuckingbelievable. “Fine. Then I’ll go. You stay.” He grabbed his duffel bag from the closet and started tossing his shit inside. “Yes, I should’ve told you, okay. I know that. There was never a good time. I was afraid if I told you during the car ride you’d have gotten out in Middle America. And once we got here, Zach came into the picture and I sure as hell hadn’t planned on that.”
“Well, we have that in common. Neither one of us planned on a few things.” She faced him, lifted her hands in the air, then dropped them on her head. “I can’t believe... I’ve got nothing. No words. I am beyond words.” She threw her underwear and pajamas into the suitcase.
“Stop packing, dammit. I told you I’d go. Just stay here and cool off, okay?”
“Cool off?” Her succinct words had the precision of a bullet to his heart. “Did you just tell me to ‘cool off’?” She got in his face. “I’ve got two words for you. Fuck off. How’s that?”
He’d never seen her like this. “Look, I know you’re pissed. You have every right to be. But I quit with Ari after that night with you. Then I called Sophia and quit with her.” He snag
ged a T-shirt from the bottom of the bed and whipped it on.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God! Ari doesn’t even know who you are. He thinks you’re a bodyguard.” She went to her first suitcase and zipped it up. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. I should feel better knowing you lie to everyone, not only me.”
“Stop packing your damn suitcases. I’m leaving, okay?”
She faced him, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes like blue steel. “Fine.” She ran a hand through her hair.
Troy shook his head, frustration eating at him like a virus, but he gathered more of his things and tossed them into his bag. “I know you never slept with Ari. I know you never wanted to or planned to. I told Sophia I quit because I met you. The real Julie Fraser. And you know me. You know more about me than anyone. I’ve never talked to anyone the way I talked to you. Yeah, okay. I should’ve told you sooner. I’m sorry. I am so fucking sorry, because I wanted to avoid this very thing. I want to keep you safe and not having you with me means you’re open to someone getting at you without my protection. I can’t stand that.”
“Guess you should’ve thought of that before you started keeping secrets.”
Whomp. It was like a hit to the chest. Deep and hard. With no mercy, no remorse.
He threw the last few things in his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere. Don’t call anybody. Please, Julie. Take the time you need to be pissed at me, fine, but don’t put yourself in danger because you’re angry with me. Please.”
“Now is not really a good time to be telling me what to do. No one followed us here so no one knows where I am. I’m fairly certain I could leave and manage to lay low enough where no one is going to recognize me. You lost any and all rights to an opinion in my life when you lied to me.” She headed out of the room and he followed. Without a glance backward, she opened the front door and waited, stonefaced and steaming.
“I’ll call you in a little while, okay?”
She lifted her eyebrows and her smile was one of pure shock. “I’m going to need more than just a little while. I’ve said all I plan to say to you for a good chunk of time.”
Troy’s own anger boiled hotter. “I may have lied to you about my occupation, but that doesn’t change the fact that someone is trying to kill you. It doesn’t change the fact that I want to protect you, that I love you. So you think about that for a chunk of time.”
She met his gaze, no sign of relenting. “Or I could think about how big a fool I was to fall for a man who lied to me just like my father did, a man who was convinced I whored myself for movie roles, a man who didn’t have enough courage to be honest with me from the beginning. There’s lots to choose from.” She held the door wider. Troy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was—hands down—his biggest fuckup. Ever. He’d barely cleared the frame before the door slammed behind him.
* * *
Julie leaned against the door and struggled to catch her breath. Her heart pounded out of control. Deep breath in, deep breath out. In and out. She would not let this man throw her into a panic. She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. She would not break down and sob out a broken heart. She wouldn’t. But she felt the moisture against her palms anyway as the knot in her throat got unbearably tight.
“Fuck you. Fuck you.” She didn’t know if she meant the words for Troy or herself. She hated that she’d been duped like a teenager with rampant hormones. “Well, isn’t that what you acted like?” she raged aloud as she stormed back into the bedroom. The room was a wreck. Her things half in and out of both suitcases, socks and underwear on the floor where they’d fallen out of her arms.
“Dammit. How am supposed to stay here?” The whole place reminded her of him. Smelled like him. She snatched her phone off the dresser and punched her speed dial for Cal.
“Hey, there,” Cal answered. “How’s your seclusion going? Ready to come home?”
“You have no idea. Speaking of home, if I decided to fly back, could you pick me up at the airport?”
Silence greeted her question. “Don’t you dare fucking tell me you’re flying back to L.A.”
Julie actually smiled at Cal’s tone. “Okay. I won’t. But I might if I can get a flight out.” Her chances of getting through an airport without being recognized were slim to none. Did she really want to risk it when she’d come so close to losing her life already? It wasn’t like she’d booked the flight. “So can you pick me up if I decide to come back now?”
“Oh, thank God. You scared the shit out of me. What happened? You and the Boy Scout have a fight? It was just a matter of time. I told you not to go with him.”
“Yeah, yeah, you can gloat about being right when I get home. I’m not even sure I’m leaving, but I’m going to check on flights so I know what my options are. I’ll call you right back when I’ve figured it out. I can call Fido if you can’t make it, but I need some girl time.”
“You don’t need to call Fido. And you actually don’t need to call the airlines. I’m about five hours from Massachusetts. If you can hold onto your panties, I’ll pick you up and we can have a girls’ road trip home.”
Julie’s eyes widened. “What! What do you mean you’re five hours away? How could you know I was going to need you?”
Cal laughed. “I didn’t. I was coming to surprise you for your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way. So what did the jackass do? I never liked that guy.”
Even though he’d saved her life. Twice. Stupid thing to think about. Julie’s chest constricted. “Thanks. Uh, I can’t talk about it now. We’ll talk when you get here.”
“Will I need to kick his ass?” Cal asked. “Because I would be happy to do that.”
“You can save your tough girl routine. It’s not necessary. There will be no ass kicking and if there was, I would be more than happy to do it myself.”
“Sometimes you take all the fun out of living,” Cal groused.
“Yep. That’s me. Fun killer.” She couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t about lose control so she cut it short. “Look, I’m going to let you go. Drive safe. I’ll text you the address so you can plug it into your GPS.”
“Sounds good. See you tonight.”
“Bye, Cal. And, Cal... Thanks.”
“You got it. Trust me. It’s my pleasure. We’re going to make this a bang-up birthday.” She disconnected the call.
Julie stared at the black screen of her phone. Nothing beat the friendship of a best pal. Cal had always been there for her, helping her pick up the pieces when things in her life fell apart. She’d have to do something extra special for her, something that would really take her by surprise. Cal deserved it.
But as the seconds passed, her chest got heavy. She’d gotten her hopes up with this man. She would have sworn he was the one for her. Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and remembered the devastation on his face, the heartbreak in his eyes. How did he think she felt? God, what was she supposed to do? Just forgive him like it didn’t matter that he’d slept with her when he’d been working for the Nepalis, when he’d been paid to watch her, when he’d lied to her about his profession?
She wasn’t an idiot. She knew everything he’d been doing had been about keeping her safe, but he’d done the one thing that hurt her most. So did she risk her safety and leave with Cal?
Her throat tightened, her chest constricted, but she’d be damned before she cried any tears.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Why didn’t you tell her about me?” Allen asked. He wasn’t sure if he was pissed or not, but he wanted to hear Carrie Ann’s excuse.
“I’m keeping you a surprise, remember? For her birthday. Wasn’t that the plan?”
“I guess. It sounded like something was wrong. What’s up? Is she upset?” Frustration and anger already were making his stomach twist. This trip was more brutal than he’d anticipated, but he’d kill anyone who upset Julie.
“The dickwad she came up here with did something. I don’t know what. She wouldn’t tell me.”
“So we’re kind of saving the day. I like that.” It would be the first of many times where he’d save the day for her. She wouldn’t ever want to be without him.
“Feeling like a hero, are you?” Cal’s smirk mocked him.
“Why do you do that? Why take something said out of kindness and make fun of it?”
She glanced at him. “Wow, taking a shot to the kidneys, eh?”
“I’m serious. There’s like this rage in you, but you only let it out in little venomous spurts. It’s not especially attractive.” The killer look she gave him was meant to scare him, but it didn’t. “Fine. Be that way. You know, when we met, you seemed really happy and very focused, but the real you needs a little refining, if you don’t mind me saying.”
Carrie Ann’s killer look turned into a low chuckle as she set her sights back to the road. “Al, you crack me up. You really do.”
He didn’t like her tone at all. He’d given her every last chance to be halfway decent to him and she’d only gotten nastier and nastier. Fine. He could make the trip home with Julie all alone, and that was fine. In fact, once Carrie Ann had her little accident—whatever he decided it would be—Julie would be glad to have a shoulder to cry on. Meeting under such difficult circumstances would bond them in a way that nothing else could. Perfect.
The closer they got to their destination, the quicker the time ran out on Carrie Ann’s life.
“How is this surprise going to work anyway?” he asked. Maybe if he knew her plan, he’d be able to make one of his own.
“I guess we still need to figure that out, don’t we?” Carrie Ann said with a nod. “You should probably stay in the car when I pull up. I’ll go in first so I know what’s going on. Then I’ll give you a sign and bring you in.” Her cell phone beeped. “That’s probably Julie texting me the address. She is efficient, I’ll give her that.” She hit a button on her phone and activated the car’s Bluetooth. “Call Drew,” she said. A few seconds later a phone rang. Voice mail told the caller to leave a message after the tone. “Drew, it’s me,” Carrie Ann said. “I told you I’d get the address. So don’t worry. I’m on my way there now. Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.” She disconnected the call. “You want to put the address in my GPS?”