Wes cackled. “Here I was thinking I could protect you from anything. But that right there was as covert an operation as I’ve ever seen.”
I cracked up, too. It sucked to lose a shoe, but it would always make for a good story. And it felt really good to laugh.
When it was time to walk back to the car, Wes carried me across the lot, since it skeeved me out to walk on the pavement with my bare foot. I felt light as a feather in his arms and wouldn’t have minded if the walk had lasted a bit longer.
I was so relaxed on the ride home that I nearly fell asleep. It had turned out to be a wonderful evening, thanks to Wes.
When he came around to let me out of the car, I hopped on one foot to the door. We cracked up all over again at the ridiculousness of it.
But our laughter came to an abrupt end as the lights of an approaching car registered.
Wes placed his arm around me protectively before shielding me. A window rolled down, and Wes reached for his gun.
Then we realized who it was.
“Where have you two been, and where the hell is your shoe?” my father bellowed.
CHAPTER 8
Wes
What the fuck?
The pulse in my neck throbbed as I sat in the car, listening to Vince and Juliette scream at each other inside the house. I’d never been a fan of Vince Ginocassi, but hearing that asshole bark at his daughter like she worked for him sent fire coursing through my veins. Who talks to their kid like that? It took every ounce of my self-control not to storm in there and break up their argument. But a glance in my rearview at the two goons sitting in the car behind me reminded me why I wasn’t making a move. Across the street was a second SUV parked with two more men—four guys in total. Vince usually traveled with just one bodyguard, so something must’ve happened if he needed this much security.
After another tense ten minutes, Juliette’s front door finally whipped open. Vince stomped down the porch steps and headed straight to my car, sliding into the passenger seat without asking.
“Are you even capable of not thinking with your dick around my daughter?” he roared.
Heat rushed to my face as I fought to maintain my composure. “I’ve been nothing but professional around Juliette.”
“Didn’t look very professional from where I was sitting when you two pulled up,” he scoffed. “Looked like you were having a good ol’ time.”
My jaw flexed. “What’s going on? I know you didn’t come all the way out to California to make sure I wasn’t smiling around Juliette. If you didn’t trust me, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
Vince stared at me before he spoke again. He was trying to intimidate me, but I wasn’t going to kiss his feet, no matter who the hell he was. “Things have gotten hot,” he said. “Boiling.”
“You told me this morning that Altieri and his men had left town, and I didn’t need to keep Juliette locked up in the house anymore.”
“That was fucking this morning!”he bellowed. “Tonight, things are different.”
“What happened?”
His eyes narrowed. “What are you, writing a fucking book?”
I clenched my teeth, rather than my fists, but I was about two seconds away from punching this asshole in the face. “I can’t do my job unless I know what I’m looking out for.”
He heaved a sigh. “Everything. Anything. One of my men’s kids got popped. Thirteen fucking years old. And he wasn’t collateral damage. It was a direct hit, aimed right at the boy. The old rules are gone—families aren’t off-limits anymore. The next generation coming up area bunch of damn animals.” He looked over at Juliette’s house. “I got word that Juliette’s a target, and they know where she lives.”
Shit. “What’s the plan?”
“I want her off the grid for a while, at least until things cool down. So pack your shit. You’re flying private. I’m not taking any chances that someone follows her out of town. The plane leaves Van Nuys Airport in two hours.”
“Where are we going?”
He held out an envelope. “Ortigia.”
Vince opened the car door and started to get out, then turned back with a raised finger. “If you so much as touch my daughter, I’ll have your dick cut off and stuffed for my mantel. Do you understand me?”
