“Yeah.” I held my head high, even though I wanted to duck and hide my scars, the same ones Chuck had given me. Since the mirror sex with Eddie, I’d been trying to wrap my head around accepting them, but it wasn’t easy. It would be a work in progress for the rest of my life.
Regardless of the Christmas carols in the background, the moment grew heavy between us, the air thickening until Ithought I’d suffocate. Ari wasn’t asking for answers, he was demanding. He wanted to hear me say it was Chuck who’d fucked me up.
“Don’t worry about him,” Eddie said to Ari, surprising me. “I’ll handle him. We don’t need your help.”
Jules’s eyebrows shot up. “Handle him, will you? Like you did with Shanahan?”
Protectiveness surged through me, and I straightened, sending him a glare, even though he scared the shit out of me. I resisted the urge to jump to my feet and point a finger at him. “He will and he has. Eddie’s the reason Mike is dead. He takes care of me better than anyone ever has. Don’t make fun of him.”
“Calm down, pup. Put those teeth away.” Jules laughed and it went deep, right into his chest. Clearly, he was genuinely amused. “I’m making a point.”
“Well, do it somewhere else because I won’t let you insult him. He’s my Eddie.” I clenched my fist around my fork, wondering if I could reach him and stab him right in the neck before Ari could do anything. Doubtful. Ari was quick. “We invited you over to have a nice dinner, not for you to mock him.”
“We’re not,” Ari said, then paused to glance at Jules. “We’re not mocking him, are we?”
Jules shook his head. “No.” He held up his palms toward me. “I’m only saying that the next time he decides to kill someone, he should go about it in a better way. He made a mess at the pawnshop, and he’s lucky you know us or he’d be behind bars right now.”
“How about what I did for you?” I rose to my feet this time, hands flat on the table while I glared down at him. “I could’ve thrown you under the bus when you put James into a deep fryer, but I didn’t. I protected you. I could’ve gone to the cops, but I didn’t, so I’d watch your mouth if I were you, Jules. You’re not above making mistakes.”
Eddie stood, offering me support with a hand on the middle of my back.
Silence filled the kitchen, and Ari leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and a smirk on his mouth.
Jules grinned, popping the tension bubble. “You have more than puppy teeth. You chomp down hard, don’t you?”
“When it comes to Eddie, you bet your ass I do. We take care of each other.” Anger swirled in my gut, churning in a way that made me think I wasn’t completely over the run-in with Chuck.
He’d screwed with my head.
While I’d kept myself under control, I’d had enough of cops messing with me. “Now, if you want to give us a suggestion on how to deal with my ex-stepdad, maybe how to bring down a man of his status in the police department, I’m happy to listen.”
“We could help—” Ari began, but Jules shushed him.
“We can’t. Wheelwright knows I hate him. This one is too close to home.” He leaned back in his chair and rested an arm around the back of Ari’s seat, staring me down. “Do you have the balls to take on a cop? He’s friends with Johnston, that’s how he gets away with things. If you think you can get him into trouble, then think again. This isn’t a game. If you want to take him out, it has be permanent. Fast. Clean.”
Eddie’s fingers curled into the back of my shirt. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”
The corner of Jules’s mouth quirked and his face was deceptively handsome. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Quiet reigned again as Eddie and I took our seats.
Ari leaned forward, elbows on the table and interest in his gaze, almost like he wanted to say something but knew not to do it. Jules was his Master, as far as I knew, and there was a reason for that. Ari could go off half-assed when he got into the wrong mood, and Jules pulled him into line. Kept him alive and out of prison. Maybe that’s what we needed.
My gaze slid to Eddie, and I studied his wide-eyed expression. He was smart and had his whole life ahead of him. I couldn’t ask him to ruin his future for me. It wasn’t fair.
“We don’t need to do a damned thing.” I smiled at Eddie when he focused on me. “We’re fine.”
He stared, the gears in his head clearly turning.
“We’refine. He can’t get to us, not anymore. We’re adults.”
“And he’s a detective with important friends who doesn’t let grudges go.” Jules shrugged. “But you do whatever you need to do.”
“Sounds like you want us to kill him.” I cocked my head, taking in the minuscule movement of the corner of his mouth. An annoyed twitch. So, Chuck pissed him off somehow. I wasn’t surprised. Chuck knew how to make a lot of people angry. He was a self-important d-bag.
Jules didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. Instead, I changed the topic.
“I heard there was a really horrific car crash yesterday. Some idiot drove in front of a train.” I focused on my food now that I’d gotten a handle on Jules. I hadn’t spent much time around him, but tonight was enough for me to understand more about his personality.
