“That’s ridiculous,” she protested. “How can you do your jobs properly when you’re exhausted and hungry? No. I insist. Don’t argue with me!” she warned when he opened his mouth.
Not waiting for him to respond again, she marched to the van and knocked on the backdoor. It opened almost immediately and two faces peered back at her.
“Come inside,” she told the men she couldn’t remember the names of. “Both of you.” She stalked back to the driveway, pausing only long enough to catch Phil’s eye. “You too.”
She stormed inside as quietly as one can storm without waking everyone up. She left the door open as she kicked out of her shoes and hurried to the hallway closet. She tore out blankets and pillows. In the foyer, she could hear the shuffle of feet as the group entered the house.
Arms full of everything they could use to sleep on, she charged into the living room and dumped it all on the sofa. Breathing hard, she swiped hair back from her face and eyed the crowd.
“I’ll get air mattresses tomorrow, or cots. For tonight, I have a bed upstairs if you don’t mind doubling up and there’s the sofa and unfortunately the floor. The bathroom is just down the hall, same with the kitchen. Help yourselves to whatever.”
With that, she turned and left them staring after her as she headed upstairs to shower and climb into bed.
“They’re there to protect you, not shack up with you, Juliette!”
Juliette stared hard at the man glowering back at her from the expense of his shiny office. Her own arms were folded, her lips pursed thin. She wasn’t sure how he found out, but she guessed one of his men had thought to inform him of her change in his orders.
“They’re not shacking up with me,” she retorted hotly. “But it’s cruel to let them sleep outside in a car when they are there because of me. Plus, what difference does it make, Killian? Outside, inside, they can still do their job, but at least they’ll be fed and rested. Besides, I have the room for it! Please don’t make them go back out there.”
With a vicious growl that made her think she’d maybe won, he scrubbed hard at his face with a palm. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut tight.
“They are not puppies,” he bit out finally.
“Exactly. They are men who are putting their lives on the line to protect someone they don’t even know.” She sighed and moved closer a step. “Please let them stay.”
His hand dropped and he peered at her for what felt like hours. He looked no closer to thinking what she’d done was right, but the lines around his face weren’t as harsh and she took that as a good sign.
“You’re impossible, you know that, right?”
Knowing a win when she heard one, Juliette beamed. She crossed the rest of the space between them and kissed him.
“Thank you.”
He continued to scowl. “I’ll want something back for this,” he informed her.
Grinning, she reached up and tugged lightly on his tie the way she’d wanted to do since she’d arrived. The burgundy strip running down the length of his white dress shirt made her think of fresh blood. Seeing it against his chest closed a fist of ice around her chest. So she felt no guilt tearing it off and tossing it somewhere over her shoulder. With it gone, her hands were free to glide up the toned valley of his beautiful chest to curl over his shoulders.
“I have a meeting—”
“A different tie,” she whispered. “Any other color. Not red.”
If he thought her request as odd, he never questioned it. Instead, his hands settled on the curve of her hips and she was drawn forward.
“What will you do today?” he asked.
“I promised the boys air mattresses,” she said, skimming her fingers over the hot skin along the back of his neck between collar and hairline. “And we need food in the house.”
“So you’re going to spend your first day off shopping?”
Her mouth curved and she hummed softly. “I guess so.”
His fingers skated up the length of her spine, traced each bump up the span to cup the back of her neck with five strips of heat that sent a wave of electricity through her. He kissed her lightly. The kind of kiss that had her toes curling and her heart dancing. It was the kind of kiss she loved and hated coming from him. It said too much when she knew it shouldn’t.
“Come back when you’re finished,” he murmured against her mouth. “Wait for me in my room.”
Her eyes opened and she found herself caught in the endless black of his. “I will.”
His head began to lower once more when a scuffle from the doorway had them pulling apart.
Frank in his navy blue suit and a deep scowl stood blocking a group of men Juliette didn’t recognize. Whoever they were, their presence had Killian stiffening and his arms quickly dropping from around her. The unexpected abandonment had Juliette staggering back a step in confusion.
“Leave,” he said to her quietly, his eyes full of something that curdled all the happiness inside her. “Now!”
Not asking, Juliette ducked her head and walked out at a quick pace without looking at anyone. She knew enough about that part of Killian’s life not to linger. Whoever these men were, they were not men she wanted memorizing her face or why she was with Killian.
“You’re early, Mr. Smith,” was the last thing she heard Killian say before she hit the hallway at a near run.
John and Tyson moved to her side the moment she tumbled to the bottom of the stairs. The front doors were open wide to a group of men, men who didn’t belong to Killian and men who did. They seemed to be in a silent battle on the threshold that filled the air with a ripple of tension so thick, it was a near, physical heat wave washing over her skin. Sweat dampened her spine and her strides faltered.
John grabbed her elbow and hauled her the rest of the way by force to the SUV.
“Is he safe?” she demanded.
“My orders are to remove you off the premises,” was her brisk answer.
“John!”
She was shoved into the back and the door was slammed shut behind her. John jumped in behind the wheel as Tyson took the seat next to her. The wheels screeched on marble as they tore through the open gates.
“John!” she shouted again. “Is Killian going to be okay? Who were those men?”
Nobody answered. Honestly, she wasn’t expecting one.
It was ridiculous to be concerned for the safety of a person who had chosen that life, who had chosen to bring that kind of evil into his own home, but she was scared numb, scared of what was happening, but more scared of losing Killian. She tried to tell herself that Mr. Smith—if that really was his name—was in Killian’s territory, which meant that Killian would have the higher hand. But it didn’t matter. He was in there with what was clearly a threat and Juliette had no way of knowing if he was all right.
“Ma’am?” John was watching her through the rearview mirror, his hazel eyes apologetic, but calm. “Where would you like to go?”
Home.
That was her first thought and it even worked its way to her throat before she swallowed it down; going home wasn’t going to make her worry any less. In fact, she was pretty certain she would spend all her time pacing and badgering everyone if there had been any news.
“The mall,” she whispered in a sort of garble when her tongue refused to unglue from the roof of her mouth. “The mall, please,” she repeated once she had regained control of her mouth.
John inclined his head.
“We will be informed when it will be safe to return you,” Tyson said from beside her in a gruff, almost accented tone she couldn’t quite place.
“You mean when those men are gone,” she guessed.
Tyson said nothing, but she got a feeling he was trying to make her feel better. While she appreciated the gesture, it made no dent in her giant wall of worry.