Page 13 of Furious Protector (Ruthless Guardians #4)

Beckett

H er glossy eyes cause my chest to expand with a feeling I’m not accustomed to. I’ve taken care of a lot of ladies in sticky situations, protected them from many things, but not one of them has gotten under my skin like the little blue-eyed blonde.

I kiss her lips, and towel dry the rest of her body, totally unaccustomed to being taken care of like that.

I do the taking care of, yet I can’t deny the intimacy of her drying me has sealed itself into my heart, just like the little darling herself.

But still the thought of what happened years ago causes my chest to tighten with angst. Some scars simply will not heal.

“Just because I haven’t done relationships doesn’t mean I’m not interested. It’s just new.” That’s the truth, but I can’t bring myself to tell her about what happened before or to commit to anything more. At least not yet. But she’s the only woman that’s ever made the thought cross my mind.

“Get dressed, darling. We’ll head to Wild Deuces and grab something to eat there while we catch up. Hopefully they’ve been able to get some information from Eldridge. Then we can come back and talk some more.”

Her eyes tell me everything she doesn’t though.

She regrets letting herself go, regrets the moments in my arms, and is looking for far more than I can give.

A man who moves around from place to place, going wherever there is a need has nothing to offer a woman like Jules.

Because for her, I would want to give her everything.

For her, I’d build a white picket fence.

But I get the sense she just wants me to take her far away from all of this. Both ride out of here on a white horse? And to what? Moving from town to town, wherever trouble goes? That’s my life, and it’s no place for her to be.

Jules walks out of the bathroom, and I let her go.

Jules needs space and time to process everything that’s happened recently.

Her emotions have to be all over the place and for one second, I let myself regret taking her at all.

But that feeling is short lived. Even if just a short memory in the future, it will be the best one I’ve ever had.

The minute we reach Wild Deuces, Kenny and the guys wave to me from the back, and she catches sight of her friends talking with Lettie at the bar.

“I’m going to join the ladies. Is that okay?

” She’s not being sarcastic in the slightest. Jules has seen first-hand just how dangerous these men can be and is trusting me to take care of her.

“It’s fine. I’ll be watching,” I tell her, giving a nod to Jay, Matt, Damian and Dereck who are sitting at different tables not too far away. “We’re in good hands, and my eyes won’t be off you.”

Leaving her at the bar, knowing how she feels, still reeling from the silent treatment of the ten-minute drive is hard to do. I should have said more, but hindsight is twenty-twenty and right now, there’s work to be done.

I make my way through the throng of tables scattered throughout the establishment to a seat at the back table next to Garrett. “How is the intel going?”

He shrugs and takes a sip of soda. “Lots going on. Jay and Matt said Tommy and his men got some information from Eldridge. It corroborates what we learned before about the Chicago Crime Family sending others, but we don’t yet know how many for sure.

But you were right, our inside man confirmed that after you sent the first one to jail, the Chicago boys sent more guys and they’re on their way. ”

“How are we in terms of manpower if they send an army?”

“Well, my friend, if they send an army, we’re screwed, and if they don’t, we’re going to shut them down before they make it through the front door.”

Lettie arrives with a huge laden platter of nachos piled high with beef, onions, olives, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. “Now that looks delicious,” I tell her, taking all the little plates from the tray for her and passing them around.

She puts the platter in the center of the table, fills our water glasses, and gets her pen and pad of paper out. “What else will you have to drink, Beckett?”

We all know these men are either already here or will be soon and not one of us including me wants to be off our game. “Dr. Pepper, please.”

“I thought maybe you might want a glass of milk to cry over.”

My eyes meet the kindly older lady’s, who looks a little harder at me now. “Come again?”

“Jules is one of the nicest women I know. You leave her behind and you’re going to be crying in your milk for the longest of times. The chemistry between the two of you can be felt by everyone around. You’re a damn fool if you let whatever is bothering you get between the two of you.”

Clearly, she talks to her friends but doesn’t say a word to me.

I probably deserve that in all fairness.

I’m not accustomed to airing my laundry in public, especially intimate stuff, but I also don’t want my friends or hers to think I treated her like a piece because that’s simply not the case.

No matter how this ends, she is much more than that to me and I’m not afraid to say so either.

I meet the eyes of the kindly lady. “Jules is special. Too special to be following me around the countryside, chasing every bad guy that comes out of the woodwork. She deserves someone who can give her a house, that white picket fence, and babies if that’s what she wants.

Security, maybe it’s old fashioned these days, but it’s important to me. I don’t want her to miss out on that.”

Lettie’s eyes narrow, and she places a hand on my shoulder. “Honey, Jules isn’t looking to follow you out of town. She wants you to stay, to put roots down here.” She gestures to the rest of the guys. “You’d have some pretty good company if I do say so myself.”

I smirk at the matchmaker who’s been in my business since the moment I stepped into this club. “Oh, yeah. You think the Larussios are just going to add yet another guard to the town. And what about Marla? I thought you had the two of us pegged for a couple?”

She laughs. “That thought went out the window the minute Jules walked in the door and your eyes were like glue on her behind. No, that type of chemistry comes once in a lifetime young man.” She looks at Cole. “You fix this now, hear?”

He grins as she bustles away back to the bar. “Good lord, you’ve gone and gotten Lettie all stirred up. She is not going to rest until I offer you a job. Might as well get it over with right here and now.”

The glass of water in my hand stops midway in the air. “Come again?”

The whole crew laughs. Cole piles some nachos on his plate.

Don’t you dare tell Lettie that’s exactly what we were going to ask you about tonight with or without her interference.

She likes to think she has the ultimate influence, and we let her think just that but we don’t want it to go straight to her head. ”

Now it’s my time to smile, looking from one to the other. “You’re serious? You need another man out here in Deadwood?”

Garrett gives me a wide grin and puts his drink down with a thud. “Damn straight. These assholes just don’t back down. Year after year it’s something new, some new angle. I wouldn’t put anything past them. Until the Larussios and the Chicago Crime Family have it out. For good.”

“You’re serious? About needing another guy? I’m not interested in a handout, guys.”

Garrett shakes his head. “No handouts my friend. This town is a critical territory to the crime families. The hotels, the restaurants, and casinos? The Larussios have an eye for spotting gold and that’s why they’ve been backing Kenny and keeping the townspeople safe and protected.

Don’t think for a minute that they don’t make good bank.

At the end of the day, they’re businessmen, and if we need more men to protect the area, we do. ”

Cole clears his throat. “We need more power if they want us to protect this territory. You bring the skills we need. We’ve all talked about it and agree.

We’d love to have you. The Larussios won’t bat an eyelash Beckett, so if you want the full-time job, just say so.

And Lettie’s right. Some things are obvious.

You and Jules? When it’s right, it’s right. ”

I point to all of the smiling faces around the table. “So, all of you are under Lettie’s matchmaking spell? She’s forced you to ask me to join you in protecting the town.”

They all laugh. “Seriously, it’s a good fit for everyone,” Garrett says. We’ll get you to town and then work on Mason to pop the big question to PJ. Then we’ll see if we can get Patti and someone paired up.”

Mason grins and looks at me. “It’ll be good to have someone else they can bug the hell out of instead of me. I’m working on plans for me and PJ. I want it to be perfect when I ask her to say I do.”

Across the room, Jay stands up and looks out the window he’s been sitting next to, and all conversation stops.

His hand slides to his cell and I answer the call before it’s even had time to ring.

Jay’s voice is gruff. “Trouble times three just rolled into town. Three black SUVs with about four men in each.”

My blood pumps hard knowing we’ll have to keep vigilant every second now. These men don’t mess around. “Where are Tommy and the guys?”

“A couple of them are still getting information from Eldridge, but I think we have our answer now. Tommy and most of his boys are protecting Cole’s house and are positioned around Main Street. They’ve got their eyes and ears open.”

“Where’s Kenny? The minute he finds out those guys are here, he may try to take things into his own hands. A lot of people could have seen them drive by,” Cole says from across the table.

“Do you know where Kenny is?” I repeat into the phone for Jay.

I nod, listening to him for a minute before relaying the info back to the group. “Roger that,” I say into the phone before turning to Cole. “He and Eileen haven’t left your house and your kids. Don’t worry. We’ve got them covered.”

Jay stands a minute longer and then takes a seat.

“Doesn’t look like they’re coming this way.

They’re heading out of town, probably to the outskirts.

Probably Eldridge Sr.’s old place if I had to guess.

Tommy will keep an eye out. In the meantime, let’s finish the plan and go hang out with the ladies.

Tomorrow is going to be a long-ass day.”