“It’s best that I wind up an old maid because everyone in the world is afraid of Dad?”
“No, best because Wes works for your father. Even if Wes had Dad’s blessing, you know what would happen. You’d get sucked back into that life because your man’s life would be tied to your father. You moved three-thousand miles away to escape that world.”
My shoulders slumped. Mom was probably right. The men in my father’s world didn’t go to work at nine and come home at five, leaving their job behind. They were in deep. And half the guys who lived that life wound up in jail or…worse. Right now it was easy to pretend Wes was just a guy who did private security. But what would his next job be? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what my father had him doing before this either.
“Maybe Dad could release him from the job, and Wes could do private security out here in LA. I’m sure there are tons of celebrities who hire security.”
“There is no release from that world, honey. Look at me.”
CHAPTER 15
Wes
The next morning, Juliette was still sleeping when there was a knock at the door. My body went rigid, and I went over to the peephole to check it.
Frannie Ginocassi and her bodyguard.What the hell are they doing here so early?
I took a deep breath to gear myself up for this. Opening the door, I feigned a smile. “Good morning.”
Frannie gave me a once-over and brushed past my shirtless body into the house. “We left the cat at the hotel to spare you. I wanted to be here when my daughter woke up.”
Paulie followed her inside.
I closed the door. “Well, you know she likes to sleep in.”
Paulie smacked me on the back. “Frannie, I’ll wait for you out in the car. I have some phone calls to make.”
“Take your time, Paulie.” She turned to me after he left. “I sort of figured Juliette might be sleeping.” She lowered her voice. “Actually, I was hoping you and I could talk before she woke up.”
I stiffened. “All right.” Running a hand through my hair, I said, “I haven’t had my coffee yet. Can I make you one?”
“Please.” She followed me into the kitchen. “Heavy on the cream. No sugar.”
“You got it.”
As I reached for two mugs and got the coffee going, I considered what she could possibly want to talk to me about. Couldn’t be good, whatever it was.
While the coffee was brewing, I took a seat across from her.
Frannie cocked her head. “Do you have feelings for my daughter?”
Well, all right then.Maybe I should’ve seen that coming. My eyes widened. “You couldn’t have waited until I’d had my coffee to hit me with that?”
“It’s a yes or no response.”
“No.”
“Considering you’re turning various shades of red right now, I think I have my answer.” She smirked. “How long have you had feelings for her?” When I remained silent, she added, “You can trust that anything you tell me will not get back to Vince. I know my daughter is fond of you. And she’s my number-one priority. I wouldn’t abuse her trust or put you in danger.”
The gurgling sound of the coffee finishing prompted me to stand. I was thankful for the brief reprieve. I nervously prepared her coffee, clanking the spoon against the ceramic a little too loudly while I stirred in her cream.
As I set the cup of joe in front of her, she stared at me like she’d been waiting for my answer to her question the entire time. Rather than give her what she wanted,I returned to the coffee station and took my sweet time preparing my own mug.
Sitting back down, I took a long sip, which didn’t go to my head fast enough. I sighed. “My feelings for Juliette aren’t relevant to the current situation.”
She blew on her coffee and took a sip. “Take the situation out of the equation. I understand your predicament. Anyone working for Vince is under the gun—literally. But try to put that aside. I’ll ask again… Do you have feelings for my daughter?”
“What good is putting the facts aside? That’s not realistic.” I shook my head. “Admitting to you that I have feelings for Juliette isn’t going to change how I have to proceed.”
