I shrugged. “She feels guilty for what happened and wants to take care of me. Figured it was my way to stay in the game.”
His eyes searched my face. “Be careful. Getting close is good. Buttooclose can be dangerous.”
Tell me about it. “I know how to play it.”
“I hope so, for your sake.”
***
Two hours later, Juliette and I pulled up in front of her house. She got out of the car and ran around to offer me a hand getting out.
“Thanks. But I got it.”
Up and down movements caused the worst pain, but I managed to get out on my own. Her two new guards followed as we made our way up the path to her door.
“Wes needs his rest,” Juliette said. “You guys are going to have to stay out here from now on.”
“Boss won’t like that,” Eddie warned.
“Ask me if I care.” She opened the screen door and put her key in the lock. I was grateful they didn’t fight her on it because all the moving around had wiped me out.
Inside, I plopped down on the couch, and Juliette brought me a blanket. “You relax while I make us some lunch.”
“Thanks.”
The smell of soup soon wafted through the air. I hadn’t eaten much of the disgusting hospital food, so by the time she was finished, I was starving.
“Grilled cheese and tomato soup.” She smiled and pulled out my chair, hovering until I sat.
“Thank you.”
While I dug right in, Juliette barely touched her food. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if anything had happened to you.”
I put down the sandwich and reached across the table, taking her hand, even though stretching hurt. “I’m right here. And pretty soon I’ll be as good as new.”
“You almost died because of me.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I stepped around it. “But you’re fine, and I’m going to be too.”
“This is why I hate my father’s life so much. Innocent people get hurt.”
“It’s what I signed up for.”
“You didn’tsign upfor it, not really anyway. You took the lesser of two evils.” She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking about how my father deals with things. I’m sure he’s grateful to you right now.”
I nodded. “He actually came by the hospital to tell me he was.”
“We need to capitalize on how he’s feeling, use the shooting as a way to get you out, Wes. You can ask my father to be released from the deal you made, tell him you want your freedom rather than cash.”
“How did you know Vince wants to give me cash?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s the way my father fixes all problems.”
“I don’t think your father will go for something like that.”
The truth was, the same idea had crossed my mind while I was in the hospital. I could tell Vince I wasn’t physically capable of protecting his daughter anymore. But even if I could get him to go for it, I still had to finish the undercover job to keep up my end of the deal I’d made with the NYPD, which meant sticking around Vince’s organization long enough to take people down. Basically, I was their bitch, which meant I had to stay Vince’s bitch. Any way I looked at it, I was royally fucked.
