Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
Julie
The conversation from this morning keeps playing in my head.
His need to keep me safe. His demand that I allow him to monitor my life in such a personal way.
As if I need cameras inside my home to keep me safe.
He claimed he would only look if they went off, but do I really believe that?
After the visual image he painted? No, I’m not sure I do.
I just hate the idea of being watched. I won’t feel like I can’t be myself in my own home.
Had he only said outside, I would have agreed without hesitation, but inside my home too?
My mind flickers to the dirty dream I had about him last night.
Yeah, I don’t need him watching my every move.
What if I do something embarrassing? Is he going to watch me shower?
I mean he’s been in the bathroom when I showered before, but I knew he was there.
I knew he was sneaking little peeks, and I allowed it.
With the cameras, I will never know when he is watching.
Am I really going to allow this?
Lisa can tell something is off. She has tried talking to me all morning, but my mind’s not in it. It’s on him.
It’s weird how things can change so quickly. Last week, I would have been focused on work and not the man who has become my savior and a secret I’m not sure I can keep. He haunts both my dreams and conscious thoughts.
I should heed his warning. Run to my father and tell him I messed up and need protection. I could run away and live somewhere else.
The thought makes me sick, though. I don’t want to leave Jameson. Or I guess Yak, as he told me I need to call him when we aren’t alone.
I should be worried this is a trauma bond. Like in the movie Speed. They develop romantic feelings for one another because of the intense situation they are forced to endure together.
I don’t care what it is. The way my stomach flutters when he is around is more than I have felt for another man in my entire life. It’s what poets write about. The feelings of being so infatuated with another person that you can’t think straight.
I’m there right now. I don’t know if he feels the same, but I am willing to ride this crazy ride to the end.
Besides, he told me he wants to protect me, so who am I to protest?
“Julie, can I see you in my office?” Henry says as he pops his head out of said office.
“Sure.” I grab a notebook and a pen and head inside.
Once the door is closed, Henry gestures to the seat in front of his desk as he takes his chair.
“What can I do for you?” I ask.
He smiles kindly. “It’s not what you can do for me, but what I am going to do for you.”
“Okay…” I trail off.
“We have a mutual friend. He says you might be into some trouble in relation to your connection with him. I don’t want you walking to your car alone anymore. In fact, I’m hiring security for the building, so they will walk you to your car.”
“Wait, what?” I gasp, feeling completely caught off guard.
“I should already have security on board. We work with criminals. While I choose to believe our clients are all innocent until proven guilty, some of them could be dangerous. Honestly, it was an oversight on my part. One that I am rectifying.”
I shake my head. “So, you’re telling me because Ja…I mean, Yak talked to you, I now have a personal bodyguard at work? One that you are paying for?”
He frowns. “We shouldn’t discuss who our mutual friend is. Not here in the office. Never know who you can trust, but no. It’s not a personal bodyguard. It’s security for the building to protect all of the employees.”
“Are you going to make Lisa get walked to her car?” I quirk an eyebrow.
He laughs. “I told him you were spirited. Yes, Julie. Lisa and even Michael will be walked to their cars as well. If you all leave together, you can even walk with each other. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like special treatment made to look like it’s for the good of everyone,” I mutter.
“It was something I hadn’t considered before, and we are now implementing it. I am only telling you in private so you are aware. I will be telling the office by the end of the day.” His tone loses its friendliness as he slips back into the asshole boss I know.
“Understood.” I swallow hard before standing to leave.
“This is a good thing, Julie,” he says as I start to leave.
I don’t respond. How can I?
“Everything okay?” Lisa asks as I drop my stuff off at my desk.
“Yep. I just need some air. I’ll be right back.”
She nods as I head toward the front door. I need to get out of here. My skin feels like it’s tight as my blood pumps through my body. I can’t believe Yak did this. He called my boss and demanded a security guard for me.
What the fiddlesticks?
I fully plan on calling him as soon as I’m outside, but I stop short when I see a man at the front reception. He’s talking to the receptionist so he hasn’t seen me, but I recognize him. He’s the same man who let us through the gate last night at the party.
Is he here to hurt me?
My breaths come quicker as my mind starts to race. Yak told me that it wasn’t safe. That they would be looking for me. His claim protects me, but not completely. He said that.
Oh my good gracious. What if this man is here to kidnap me and bring me back to the man who tried to hurt me?
Abandoning all the anger before, I pull out my phone and dial Yak as I escape down the hall to the bathroom. The panic flowing through my body has me paranoid that he saw me. That he could be following me.
“Hey, Angel. What can I do for you?” His warm, deep voice comes through the phone.
“Mayday, or whatever people say. There’s a man here at the office. He’s from your club. I saw him last night. What do I do?”
When he doesn’t respond right away, I hiss into the phone.
“Jameson, am I in danger?”
Yak
“Jameson, am I in danger?”
I hate the sound of panic in her voice, but I needed to know. I had to find out what she would do if she thought she was in trouble.
Would she call her father and put her trust in him? Or would she run to me?
Her choice would change everything for us. Had she gone to her father, I would have had to cut her loose and pray her father could save her.
She didn’t run to him, though. She trusted me. She came to me. Whether she realizes it or not, she is already turning to me for safety. Something I will give her without hesitation.
My life might not be safe, but she will be if I have anything to say about it.
“No. He’s one of mine. I trust him,” I tell her.
“What? You sent someone here and didn’t think that it might, I don’t know, cause me a gosh-darn heart attack?”
I smile at her avoidance of curse words. It’s quite endearing. Even if she threatened to make me put money in a curse jar the next time I cursed.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t consider how it would look to you. You can trust him. He is there to check on you and vet whoever Henry decides to put in place for security.”
She huffs. “What’s that about anyway? I don’t need all this special treatment.”
“You thought you were in danger for a split second. Tell me, had I said that he was dangerous, would you rethink your need for independence? Would you want that security?” I bark at her.
I don’t mean to snap at her, but I don’t know how many more times I can repeat myself.
She goes quiet for a moment.
“Angel, I need words.” I try to keep my tone softer.
“Yes. I would,” she admits.
I look up and see Yooper walking my way.
“Then thank me and get back to work. I told you I would protect you, so let me do my job.”
She sighs. “Thank you.”
“Good girl. I’ll see you tonight.”
I hang up before she can say anything else.
“The troublemaker?” Yooper asks.
“None other.” I rub my hand down my face.
“She is causing a stir in the club. We don’t need this heat right now. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I wasn’t going to let the girl get fucking raped in our clubhouse. I know you do things differently here, but that’s where I draw the line. If that’s a problem, I’ll head back home and take the girl with me,” I growl.
Yooper holds up his hands. “That’s my line too, but you could have handled it differently. Aragon already hates you. You are giving him more ammo against you.”
I snort. “To do what? What is he going to do?”
“He’s a legacy member. His father might be retired, but he is still part of the club in his own way. He says you unfairly claimed dibs on a woman. You took a willing woman from his arms.”
I cross my arms. “She wasn’t willing. She was there for me. She wanted to see me. So yes, I claimed her.”
“You claimed her as your old lady? You meant that?”
I pause but nod. “I did, and I do.”
“Are you serious about this? I can pass it off as you needed to get laid, but if you keep the claim, it’s going to make shit a whole lot harder for us. You’ll have something to lose.”
I shrug. “I will, but she’s worth it. She doesn’t deserve the heat she’s going to get being mine, nor would she deserve him hunting her down and hurting her just because he can.
I don’t know what put her in my path, but she’s mine now.
Even if she decides later on that she wants nothing to do with me, I will still protect her. ”
“Is this some sort of savior complex thing?” he asks.
I think about it. Is it?
I don’t think it is. I didn’t feel the need to hunt down her friend and save her.
No, I think this is all about Julie and the connection we unbiddenly formed.
“No, it’s not. I sent Poutine to check on her and arrange with her boss for security.”
He gives me a long hard look before nodding. “Good. He’s the only one we know for sure we can trust.”
It’s true. We brought him in personally and let him in on some of the issues. He’s our eyes and ears that no one would suspect because members don’t tell prospects shit. He’s the perfect mole.
“Sap is good too,” I tell him.
He seems surprised. “How do you know?”
“It’s a gut feeling. Some things he has said. He covered for me with Aragon once. If he were working with him, he would have tossed me to the wolves,” I admit.
“So that’s two we can trust. What about the others?”
“We go through them one by one. Aragon is for sure doing shady shit. I just need to find the proof. I can’t figure out who he is working with, though. He changes who is with him a lot. I don’t know if that’s a way to keep us off his trail or if all of them are working for him.”
“I’ll dig a little deeper. See what I can find on my end. Try to clear Predator next. He’s a wiz on the computer. We could really use him if he can be trusted.”
“On it, boss.” I nod and start to walk away.
“Yak,” he calls out, so I stop and look back. “I’m happy for you. We will keep her safe. I won’t let you lose anything else.”
I snort. “Stop worrying about me so much, big bro. I can handle it. You worry about your club, and I’ll worry about my woman.”
I keep the silly smile on my face until I know he can’t see me. Then I let it fall away.
This inquisition into the members of the club is wearing on me. It’s tearing me down piece by piece. This is supposed to be a brotherhood, and instead, I feel like I am inside the beginnings of a mutiny.
Yooper wasn’t wrong about one thing, though.
I have something to lose now.
I refuse to let anything touch her, though. I will protect her.
Or I’ll die trying.