Chapter 26
Juliette
Beep beep.
I looked around the bedroom to see where the muffled sound was coming from, but nothing obvious stood out.
The shower was running in the bathroom, so I chalked it up to Wes’s phone buzzing from his jeans or something.
For a second, I thought about stripping out of my clothes and joining him.
It felt like forever since we’d been together.
But then I pictured the bandage across his back.
He needed to heal, not be tempted into doing something more strenuous than he should.
Instead, I took off my clothes and opened the drawer to get something more comfortable to wear.
The meeting with my agent hadn’t gone well, and all I wanted was a pair of comfy sweatpants and a tall glass of wine.
I tossed my dirty clothes into the hamper and was about to head to the kitchen for just that until…
Beep beep.
There it was again. I turned in a slow circle.
It sounded more like it was coming from the bed than the bathroom now.
I lifted the pillow and checked under the blanket.
Nothing. Bending down, I picked up the bed skirt.
The only thing underneath was Wes’s duffel bag, the one he’d brought when he showed up at my door that first day.
But it was empty. Wasn’t it?
My heart started to race. My eyes flicked to the bathroom door, then back to under the bed.
Holding my breath, I listened for proof the shower was still running.
Once I confirmed that I still heard water, my pulse kicked up another notch and I reached for the bag and unzipped it.
Inside, tucked into a folded sweatshirt, was a phone.
Not Wes’s regular iPhone, but one I’d never seen before—a flip phone.
And the small LED screen glowed with 1 New Message.
My heart thudded. What the hell? Why did Wes have a second phone? All the doubts I’d managed to bury about him having an affair came roaring back to life. I didn’t think twice before flipping open the cell and pressing the button to play the message.
A woman’s voice came through—calm, clipped, and professional.
“Hey, Wes. I forgot to mention something yesterday at the hotel. We had to pull Detective Tiramani, the other guy we had on the inside back in New York, because we heard chatter that one of Vince’s guys was asking questions about him.
Apparently, Tiramani ran into one of Vince’s captains who was out to dinner with his nephew and his nephew’s friend.
The friend recognized Tiramani and asked if they’d ever met before.
Tiramani lied and said no, but the truth is, he’d locked the kid up a few years ago for possession of stolen goods.
We thought Tiramani pulled it off and everything was fine, but then the uncle started asking around about him a few days later.
We had to be safe rather than sorry. None of this has anything to do with you, or the operation you’ve got going on out there with the daughter.
There’s no indication your cover is blown, but I wanted to let you know anyway. ”
Then there was a soft click, not nearly as dramatic an ending as it should’ve been for something that had rocked my entire world.
Holy shit.
Wes hadn’t been lying about not having an affair.
This lie was worse.
So, so much worse.
He was still a cop.
And he was undercover.
Using me to get to my dad.
All this time I’d thought my father was the only crooked person in this situation. Turned out I was wrong.
Wes was the crook.
I stood frozen for a minute, the flip phone in my hand, until I suddenly realized I couldn’t hear the water running in the shower anymore. Panicked, I tossed the cell back into the sweatshirt and shoved the duffel under the bed.
I barely had time to get to my feet before the bathroom door opened. Wes walked out, wrapped in a towel, hair still wet, like nothing had happened. Fury burned hot in me, yet I managed to breathe. I needed time to think. To plan. To figure out what the hell to do.
He smiled. “Hey. You’re home.”
“Yes, but…I forgot something at my agent’s. I need to go.”
“What did you—”
Wes didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as I tore ass from the bedroom, bolted through the living room, and grabbed my keys from the kitchen counter. I was at the front door before he caught up.
“Hey. Hang on. Is everything okay?”
“Fine. I just need to go.”
The guards fell in step behind me as I walked out of the house and toward my car.
I didn’t look back as I got in, started the engine, and took off like a bat out of hell.
At the corner, I nearly smashed into a stopped delivery van before slamming on the brakes.
Then I drove, barely seeing the road, until I arrived at my agent’s building.
My bodyguards parked next to me, not looking too happy.
I rolled down the window and spoke to the one in the driver’s seat.
“Change of plans. My meeting is a video call. I’m doing it here from the car.”
“Okay.”
Rolling the window back up, I’d at least bought myself some time.
Time to think, to replay every moment since the day I met Wes.
What had I told him? Had I compromised my father?
Given him information that he could use against him?
I’d told the man about my childhood, for God’s sake—confided things I’d never trusted to anyone.
Because I’d thought he was one of us. On my side. I’d thought he was mine.
Questions spun in my head until it hurt, pounding with the worst headache.
What should I do now? If I told my father, Wes was a dead man.
If I did nothing, I’d be putting my father more at risk than I already had.
I hated the choices, hated how torn I felt about who to save.
The man I loved had betrayed me. Everything he’d ever said or done had been an act. My tears came, sudden and heavy.
I have no idea how long I sat there, but eventually, the tears stopped. I wiped my face, cleared my head, and slammed the car into drive.
Wes was on the couch when I walked in. Dressed, hair now dry, he stood. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
I’d rehearsed what I was going to say on the drive home, but when I opened my mouth to speak, even I was surprised at how emotionless my voice was. “Sit at the table,” I said.
Wes’s brows dipped. “What happened? Did—”
“Shut the fuck up and sit your ass in the chair!” My voice was loud and cold. I sounded a lot like my father.
Wes was a smart man, though. Lord knows he’d fooled me into believing I meant something to him all this time. So he walked to the table and took a seat. “What happened? Juliette, talk to—”
“Save it,” I snapped. “Stop acting. I’ve had enough of your lies.” I spelled out everything I knew—the flip phone, the message from his captain, that he’d been using me all along.
He opened his mouth to interrupt when I said that last part, but I lifted a hand and cut him off.
“This is how it’s going to go.” I spoke with a calm I didn’t feel.
“You’re going to get the fuck out of my house and tell Vince you’re not capable of taking care of me after the shooting.
Say your injury is worse than you originally thought, if you have to. ”
He tried to protest, to tell me things weren’t what they seemed. But I was in no mood.
“Stop talking and start listening,” I told him.
“I’m going next door to Pam’s for a much-needed drink.
If you’re still in this house when I get back, I will tell my father everything I know.
Do you understand me? And if Vince finds out you’re a cop and manipulated his only daughter, you’re a dead man.
Not maybe. Dead. He won’t care if he goes to prison for the rest of his life for shooting you himself. ”
Wes stared at me. I could see the conflict in his eyes, the turmoil pulsing through him. For a beat, I thought I saw something that looked like love, too. But it had to be a lie like everything else.
“Don’t do this,” he whispered. “Juliette, I love—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” If eyes could shoot daggers, he would’ve been on the floor. “Be gone by the time I get back.”
I grabbed my coat and never looked back as I swung open the front door and walked out.