Chapter 18
Wes
“I really like when you cook at the stove wearing a robe with nothing underneath.” I came up behind Juliette, tugged the tie on her robe so it came loose, and cupped both her breasts.
She laughed and pushed her ass out to force me to take a few steps back, but that only turned me on more.
“This is even better.” I groaned and slid my hands around to her ass. “Bend a little more. Grab on to the stove.”
“You’re a fiend.” She giggled and turned around, holding the spatula up. “I’m frying bacon, so my robe needs to be closed and my face far away from the sizzle. Now go sit. We’re going to eat in a few minutes.”
I pouted but sat my ass in a chair at the table.
My spot had the newspaper folded and a vitamin waiting for me on the napkin.
Juliette had teased me last week when I’d mentioned that I missed reading a physical newspaper, yet a few days later, when I sat down to breakfast, there was a copy of the New York Post waiting for me.
Apparently, you can get it delivered out here in California.
I opened the paper from the back, last page forward, to get to the sports section and started reading.
But not even halfway through an article about the Mets’ rookie pitcher, my eyes found their way back to the lady standing at the stove.
Juliette and I had settled into what felt a hell of a lot like domestic bliss lately.
She made me breakfast and did my laundry.
I fixed the dishwasher and took out the garbage, and we went food shopping together.
We were practically an old married couple, and I hated to admit it, but I loved every mundane task when I was with her.
But for every minute I let myself enjoy playing house, there were twice as many sleepless ones spent staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how the hell to get out of the mess I was in.
Leave the country with her and never come back?
That idea was starting to seem less ridiculous by the day.
Though I had no doubt that Vince Ginocassi would scour the Earth to find his only daughter.
Even in moments like this—when I felt content and my heart was full, I couldn’t shake the shadow of a bad feeling, like something was bound to go wrong. Some days, it took everything I had just to let myself live in the moment here and there.
Juliette set pancakes and bacon on the table, then took the seat across from me.
I folded the newspaper and set it aside. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I have to go meet Bradley Wilson.”
“The asshole actor you were doing rewrites for when we first met?”
She nodded. “I thought I was finally done with them. They’re almost to the end of filming, but he’s decided to change the ending now. I’m sure the author of the book is going to love that.”
“What time do you need to be there?”
“Ten.” She looked at the time on her phone. “Which is in an hour, and I didn’t even shower yet.”
“Me neither.” I grinned. “Sounds like we should save time and do that together.”
“That will not save time. It will make me late,” she replied. “Besides, we had sex an hour ago.”
“I know, but I’m still turned on from watching you at the stove.”
“You’re insatiable.” Juliette chuckled. “We’re meeting at the studio offices instead of on set. So at least you won’t be bothered about being on the lot today.”
An hour later, after a quickie in the shower, we were on the road, and I caught myself whistling.
Whistling. I wasn’t a damn whistler. But I guess two rounds of morning sex before ten AM will do that to a man.
Though my whistle was cut short when I glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed that a black sedan three car-lengths back changed lanes right after I did.
Tinted windows. Same car I’d clocked when we first hit the highway.
I didn’t want to alarm Juliette, since it was probably nothing, but I sat up straighter, my hands tightening on the wheel as I sharpened my focus.
When I got off at the next exit, the sedan did, too, though it was now back five lengths.
At the first light, I turned left, and the car kept going straight, so I breathed a little easier.
Five minutes later, we pulled up to the studio office.
I parked in the loading zone in front of the building, hoping no one would hassle me since I was staying in the car.
If they did, I’d have to pull the ex-cop card and hope I got a courtesy.
While Juliette unbuckled and gathered her things, I jogged around the car to open her door.
“I’m probably going to be here most of the day,” she said, stepping out. “Nothing to do with Bradley Wilson is quick.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ll be here waiting.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” She leaned in and kissed me.
At first, it didn’t even register. Kissing her goodbye felt natural at this point. But then a heavy feeling washed over me. What if one of Vince’s guys had eyes on us? What if that simple gesture got me killed and ruined her life because she’d have to carry the burden forever?
We needed to be smarter. I’d have to remind Juliette about that when she got back.
I returned to the driver’s seat and scanned the street.
Everything ahead looked clear. But when I checked the rearview mirror, I froze.
The black sedan with tinted windows was now parked four cars back.
Had it been there when we pulled up and I’d missed it?
Or had it crept to the curb while I was busy kissing Juliette goodbye?
Suddenly on high alert, I adjusted the mirror, my eyes darting all over the cars behind me. Which was probably why I didn’t notice the figure closing in on the passenger side.
The door yanked open, and before I could react, someone slipped into the seat beside me.
I didn’t even get a chance to breathe a sigh of relief once I saw it wasn’t Vince or any of his men. Because it was someone worse.
My boss.
Captain Dana Rourke.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she yelled.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuck! I played dumb. Stupid move, considering I knew her well enough to know it’d only piss her off more. “What are you talking about? I’m parked here because Juliette’s inside.”
“I’m talking about kissing the suspect’s daughter! What the fuck’s going on, Callahan? You trying to blow our entire sting operation because you need to get your dick wet?”
The shock of having my NYPD captain slide into the car started to fade, just enough for me to realize something else.
A cop being here in my car was more dangerous than kissing Vince’s daughter.
I glanced toward the building Juliette had gone into, then scanned the street and sidewalks all around me.
“Me blow it? Juliette could see you. Or worse, Vince’s guys could be lurking around. ”
“It’s not my first day on the job, Callahan,” she snapped. “I know what I’m doing. I have four of LA’s finest in cars keeping an eye on the area to make sure it’s secure.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “What are you doing here?”
“First, you answer my questions. Are you fucking that mob princess?”
My teeth clenched, and I lied right through them.
Who wasn’t I lying to at this point? My mother, Juliette, now my damn boss.
I shook my head. “She kissed me the other night. I pulled away, of course, but then I noticed she got a lot more talkative after. So I’ve been letting her think there’s a chance something could happen between us. I won’t allow it to go any further.”
My captain side-eyed me. “I better not find out you’re full of shit and have put this entire undercover operation at risk when I went to bat for you. If you fuck this up, I’ll personally make sure you can’t even get a job working security at Target.”
I swallowed. “Understood.”
“It damn well better be,” she grumbled.
“What’s going on, Cap? Are you here just to check on me?”
“No. I need to give you some intel, and I need you to get some for me. There’s a sit-down happening with all five families. We need to know where it’s happening.”
“How do you know about the sit-down but not the location?”
“Because everyone’s talking in code on the fed wire taps. The meeting is going down at some place they’re calling the rooster—wherever the hell that is. A big rodeo is expected—all the bosses and all the captains from each of the five families, including Salvatore Termini.”
“Uncle Sal is coming back to the US?”
“That’s what we’re hearing. No one is allowed to miss. The chief doesn’t want to disrupt our undercover operation, so we’re planning to let the get-together happen. But he wants to scoop up Termini before he slips back out of the country. So we need you to tell us where the meeting is going to be.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know if I can get that kind of intel now. I’m not around Vince anymore. I’m limited to watching his daughter, and she’s not involved in the business at all.”
Captain Rourke opened the passenger door.
“I don’t care what you have to do to get it.
Fuck it out of that girl, if you have to.
But the chief wants it, and I want to be the one to give it to him.
” She climbed out of the car and reached into her back pocket, tossing a cell phone on the front seat.
“Text me the details when you have them—and make it soon.”
“I thought it was too dangerous for me to have a cell while I’m undercover? What if one of Vince’s guys decides to pat me down?”
“Don’t keep it on you. Stick it under the mattress while you’re banging the princess.” She slammed the car door without another word, not even a goodbye or good luck. And God knows, I needed all the luck I could get to save my ass now.
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