“Do with what?”
“Everything.” She shrugged. “We have nothing to worry about anymore. The hotel doesn’t exactly pay in gold bricks, but we’re going to be okay if we’re careful—”
Voices in the hallway had them both glancing back just in time to see Arlo stride into the room, followed closely by Phil. The two stopped at the foot of the bed, Phil with a scowl.
“Hey there, Juliette,” Arlo said in that tone she had never wanted to hear again. “They told me you were awake.”
Juliette nodded. “Yeah.”
“Excellent.” His brown eyes flicked over to Vi, lingered in a way that made Juliette’s skin prickle before returning to her. “Glad to hear it.”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded with more bite than was necessary.
“Just coming to check on my favorite person. You had the entire underground community looking for you. McClary is probably happy to have you back.” His gaze slid to Vi again, who stared back at him without a trace of emotion. “Also came to see when they were letting you out.”
Juliette frowned. “Why?”
He shrugged. “Curiosity.”
“It’s none of your business,” she retorted.
He fixed her with an arched eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s the attitude I get for saving your life?”
A muscle tightened in the pit of Juliette’s stomach as a sickening realization crept home; was he going to strong arm her into owing him all over again? Was that why he was there?
“I won’t come back to you,” she hissed. “Not ever.”
Arlo rolled his eyes. “Calm down. I don’t want you back. My father was already compensated for his help in your rescue, which means you get to go on and live your boring little life.”
“Compensated how? By whom?”
“McClary,” he said simply. “Gave my dad the deed to the ports.”
Juliette remembered all too well how badly Arlo had wanted the port papers signed, enough so that he’d knocked the shit out of her for it.
“Lucky you,” she muttered.
“Yup.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I personally think we got the better end of the deal, but whatever.” He slanted his gaze towards Vi again. “Hey, walk me out.”
“No!” Coffee sloshed over the rim of her cup when she shot up and grabbed Vi’s arm. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“It’s okay.” Vi detached herself from the hold and rose. “I’ll be right back.”
Arlo smirked at Juliette. “I’ll see you around, Juliette.”
With an arrogant salute, he spun on his heels and led the way out of the room with Vi right behind him. Juliette met Phil’s angry gaze.
“Follow them. Don’t let him touch her.”
Phil didn’t even hesitate.
Juliette set her cup down and hurriedly kicked the blankets off. She scooted to the edge of the bed and tossed her legs over. The cold tiles bit into her bare feet as she hopped down. She reached for the IV pole and was about to follow when Vi returned.
“What are you doing out of bed?” the girl demanded.
“What are you doing following that asshole?” Juliette shot back. “Do you have any idea what level of bad news—”
“Chill!” Vi laughed. “Trust me, nothing will ever happen between me and that guy. Like ever. I know exactly what he is and what he wants and I’m not an idiot.”
Juliette jerked back in surprise. “Really?”
Vi nodded as she made her way back to the bed. “I can overlook a lot of things about a guy, but selling, beating, and degrading women is where I draw the line. So, yeah.” She flopped down on the stiff mattress and reached for her bagel. “No sexy fun time for him.”
Juliette blanched. “Ew!” Gingerly, she regained her seat. “So, what did he want?”
Vi bit into her breakfast, chewed, and swallowed before speaking. “A kiss.”
Thank God she was already sitting or she would have fallen over.
“What?”
Vi snorted. “He made me this promise before they set off to find you the other night, that if he found you first, I owed him a kiss.”
“And you said…?”
“What do you think I said? Obviously no. I know what he did to you, what he made you do. He told me everything.”
Juliette blinked. “He told you?”
“Yeah, we were stuck together in Killian’s house for like days and there was nothing to do. So, we talked. He was honest about everything.”
None of it made sense. The last thing Juliette ever expected was honesty from Arlo, never mind his inexplicable interest in her sister, which irritated the shit out of her.
“Well, stay away from him,” she mumbled. “He’s not like Killian. He’s definitely not the good guy.”
“I know.” Vi stuffed the rest of her bagel into her mouth. “I’m pretty sure that’s the last time we’ll ever see him.”
Juliette could only hope.
Chapter 31
Five months later…
“I honestly couldn’t care how you get it done. Get that wall down and put a door in.”
Killian scribbled his name on the contract before him while cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder. The cord kept getting caught on his arm, but he hoped the conversation would end soon so he could get back to actual work.
“I understand, sir, but there are shelves on this side—”
“Get the shelves down,” he said with great exasperation. “Honestly, what am I paying you for?” He hung up, took the contract he’d finished writing and set it with the others and rose. “Frank! Where is the finance report for Ice?”
The figure that stepped into the room wasn’t Frank nor did Killian need to glance up to recognize the steady click of heels crossing the floor.
“How much longer are you going to hide in here?” Maraveet propped a hip against the edge of his desk and regarded him with annoyance furrowing her brows. “I would like to spend some time with you, especially considering you’re the one who asked me to stay.”
“Not now,” he muttered, rifling through the papers across his desk. “I don’t have time. Frank!”
“You never have time!” Maraveet interjected with a slight whine in her voice. “You sit in this bloody office all day, making phone calls and whatever all this is.” She waved a hand over the mess. “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of you in months! Honestly, what are you doing in here?”
“Work.” Leaving her there, he marched to the door and stuck his head out into the corridor. “Frank! Where the hell is he?”
Maraveet huffed. “He’s outside doing a parameter check, if you must know so stop shouting.”
Exasperated, Killian marched back to his desk and tore through his papers a second time. He knew the damn thing was there somewhere. He’d seen it only that morning. Unless Frank moved it.
With a deep inhale, Maraveet rose. “Fine. I’m going out. I don’t know when I’ll be back, not that you’ll worry or care.”
He let her walk out, in no mood for her whining. Lord knew he loved the woman, but he had no time to sit and do nothing. He didn’t have the courage. The moment he had even a second of free time, he was engulfed by thoughts of Juliette and as soon as that happened, days could pass in a swirling mess of depression and he wouldn’t notice. His every waking and sleeping hour would be consumed by images of her face, the lilt of her voice, and the consistent wondering if she was all right. He knew she was still working at the hotel, but that was all he would allow himself.
Frank appeared in the doorway. “You were looking for me?”
Relieved, Killian straightened. “Where is the finance report for Ice?”
“I filed it away, as per your request.”
Killian had no memory of this, but he let it go. “Bring them to me please, along with the end of year tax forms for—”