After a bit, Frannie suggested that we all go out to breakfast. Juliette agreed, so Paulie and I sat at a corner table at the restaurant to give her and her mother some privacy while still keeping close tabs on them. Together they were a double target, and we had to be especially vigilant.
Paulie was an interesting guy—a bit of an oddball. He was pretty quiet and only spoke when spoken to, even with me. I couldn’t quite figure out his deal, except that he seemed ambivalent overall. Still, I was kind of hoping to talk to him. It would be nice to chat with someone else in the same predicament as me. It wasn’t every day you got to sit down with other bodyguards working for the mob, let alone for the same guy.
After we ordered, I leaned back in my chair. “How are you holding up?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, seeming genuinely confused.
“Working for Vince.”
He shrugged. “It’s all right.”
I raised a brow. “Just all right?”
“It’s a job.”
I squinted, finding his attitude hard to believe. “It’s not just a job, and you know it.”
Paulie shrugged again. “I don’t sweat it too much.”
I continued my inquisition. “How did you end up working for him?”
“My father owed him a favor.”
Ah. Should’ve known.
I nodded. “Well, I wish I could be like you...looking at this as just a job.” I shook my head. “I feel like I’m on edge every second of the day.”
As I took a sip of coffee, it hit me. Paulie’s ability to view this gig as just a job was directly related to the fact that he didn’t have personal feelings for Frannie. If something happened to her, it would be a failure from a business perspective, but it likely wouldn’t shatter him. If something happened to Juliette, I knew it would wreck me. Juliette had never felt like just a client, even in the beginning, but especially not now as we’d gotten closer. Her life felt like my life. And that was pretty damn eye opening.
A waiter brought our food, and Paulie happily escaped into his eggs rather than encouraging deeper conversation with me about the plight of the mob bodyguard.
After they finished their breakfast, Juliette and her mother came walking toward our table.
“We should go pick up the cat and get to the airport, Paulie.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Paulie stood from the table.
“I already paid for all of us,” Frannie announced.
I nodded. “That was very nice of you. Thank you.”
Frannie placed her hand on my arm. “It’s the least I can do with how well you take care of my baby.”
I watched as Juliette and her mother embraced. After, I gave Frannie a hug and clasped hands with Paulie.
“Call me when you get home, Mom.”
“I will, my darling.”
After they left, Juliette and I walked to the car together.
“What were you and my mother talking about this morning before I woke up?”
Damn. I hoped we’d gotten past that. “Nothing. Just shooting the shit.”
She gave me a look. She knew I was lying. Of course, Frannie told her how she’d confronted me. There weren’t many secrets between those two.
“Your mother’s advice to me this morning only solidified the fact that I need to keep things purely business with you.”
