Page 9 of Furious Protector (Ruthless Guardians #4)

Beckett

T he minute I allow her to come up for air this time, she looks right into my eyes, those baby blues lit on fire with desire.

The same look I plan to put on her face tonight, because just kissing Jules is never going to be enough.

I want her in the worst of ways and consuming her with my desire is going to be hard to get off my mind today.

But keeping her and this town safe is priority one, at least right now. I stroke a hand down her luxurious silky hair. “We’ll finish this later. Go get your things, Jules.”

I grab my duffle from the living room and tuck it behind the couch while she’s gone, fold the blanket I used last night and toss it back over the couch before checking for messages on my phone.

Things are coming together nicely; we’ll have the boots on the ground we need and a good plan in place to keep everyone safe and end the intimidation of this town.

The barrel of my Glock is pointed to the floor, and I’m making sure all is intact when Jules walks into the living room.

Her blue eyes widen at the sight of it, and she inhales a deep breath.

“All this playing house let me temporarily forget that you’re here for some pretty serious business.

I don’t know how much Cole told you about Eldridge and his crew, but they are about as mean as they come.

They work for the Chicago Crime Family. They want to turn our gold-hearted town into another Vegas.

Buy up all the real estate, the bars and shops.

They want to run all the shopkeepers out of town and take over. ”

Her eyes track my movements as I move the Glock, until it disappears from her sight and is safely holstered in the waistband of my pants.

The worry she’s feeling rolls from her like waves.

I close the distance between us, put an arm around her, and guide her to the door.

“It’s just in case. The hope is always that I won’t need it, but I won’t hesitate to defend the members of this town. It’s what I’m paid to do.”

Jules nods, but there’s a part of me that wonders if she’ll look at me differently now.

It’s one thing to talk about security and protection, it’s another thing to see exactly how it’s handled if it comes right down to using that gun.

She wouldn’t be the first woman who’s shied away from a relationship with a man like me and probably won’t be the last.

My jaw tightens. I’m not looking for a relationship, yet I’ve never had to remind myself of that fact before. Damn the little blue-eyed darling all to hell.

She’s looking up at me and I get the feeling she’s expecting an answer to a question I didn’t hear. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Her lip purses in the cutest of ways. “I asked if you know the history of the town. You know, with everything going on between the Eldridge crew and the shopkeepers?”

“Cole’s been keeping me apprised of the situation over the last few years, but I don’t pretend to have a handle on it all yet. The Larussios have been dealing with the Chicago Crime Family for quite some time.”

She nods and steps around a crack in the sidewalk. “That’s what I heard.”

“They’ve given them every chance possible to settle things in an amiable way, forbid them from stepping foot back in this town, and instead of keeping the peace, they send men to intimidate.”

“It’s going to get messy, isn’t it?”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. I won’t let anyone hurt you, but you can bet there’s going to be retribution.”

“A mafia war?” she asks.

We reach my truck. “Call it what you will, but we’re right in the middle of it and we’re not on the side that’s going to lose.

I don’t plan on you or any of the townspeople becoming a casualty of a turf battle either.

The Larussios have eyes and ears all over the place.

We’ll know before they get here when the Eldridge crew sets foot in town. ”

“Tommy’s guy? The ones you were talking about last night?”

I may want to give Jules as much information as I can, and some is public knowledge, but information about the Larussio’s inside people is not and I don’t plan for it to be.

Better to just avoid the question all together.

“We usually stay on the perimeter of the Larussio work. We guard the family and for those of us in Deadwood, this town.”

“Cole, Garrett and Mason needed more bodies after learning about the intimidation and already dealing with security for the grand opening. They didn’t want to take a chance and the Larussios are done sending quiet messages to the family in Chicago who seems to have deaf ears when it suits them the best. So now they’re going to be up against us and Tommy and his men. ” I leave out reference to anyone else.

I open the passenger door of my truck. Jules hops in and puts her seat belt on before I close the door. The neighborhood looks clear as I scan the area around us before heading around the back of the truck.

The minute I’m in the front seat, a black sedan that sure as hell doesn’t belong sitting on the side of the road in this neighborhood, catches my eye down the street.

I pull out my cell and connect with Cole, putting it on speaker so I don’t have to repeat everything for Jules.

“Jules and I are just heading out from her house. I’ve got you on speaker.

I’m gonna have a tail on my ass in about five minutes heading out to the highway.

Can you send Tommy and his boys to pick them up? ”

“Copy that. Jay, Matt and Damian just touched down too. They flew in to help. I’ll have Tommy let them know to head that way. Hell, they may even all be together by now. I’m at Wild Deuces with Garrett, Mason, Lacy, PJ, and Patti.”

I can feel Jules let out a sigh of relief just knowing that her friends are safe in the protection of the guys she trusts. I reach for her hand and give it a squeeze.

“Okay, I’m going to keep the speaker on overhead, and be driving right by them in about two minutes,” I tell Cole, backing down the driveway and heading right toward the sitting car and Main Street that will merge with the ramp right out to the highway.

“Don’t look at the car, no matter how curious you are, don’t do it. Eyes straight ahead,” I tell Jules.

She exhales a deep breath. “Okay, got it. Eyes on the road. Looking straight ahead.” We pass them and they flip a U-turn in the middle of the road to get on our ass.

Jules turns to me oblivious of the tail. “Do you think it’s Eldridge Jr.? I swear we were all so scared for Lacy for months. It’s not just the land you know. He and Lacy were a thing for a while, and when she broke it off, he did not take it well at all.”

The four-way stop causes me to grimace, but I give the brake a tap, check all lanes and then roll right through. I do not want that sedan any closer than it is. “I did hear that from Garrett.”

“His father owned half this town until the Larussios set them straight and took over the shopkeepers’ debts from those bastards.

Now everyone is making a good living again, and things are going great.

They’re just jealous of how well Kenny is doing.

When he first opened, that place was just a little bar with a few areas for some slot gambling.

He has really turned it into somewhere everyone wants to be. ”

My eyes scan the road ahead of me and then check the rearview again.

“They’re not so much jealous, darling. They’re ruthless and greedy.

They saw what a gold mine this town could be and wanted it for themselves, and now that it’s doing so well, they want it even more.

Territory, money and power, that’s what they want, and it comes in that order. ”

She sighs as I accelerate onto the open highway.

“I just feel sorry for Kenny. Even the two biggest rival bars want to see him do well, because he doesn’t try to keep all the entertainment and customers for himself.

He’s worked with the two other establishments in town and created a rotation for holiday fun. ”

“Is that so?”

“Yep, he says there is enough business for all three, so now they’re all supporting each other. It’s been pretty fantastic to see. And now, Eldridge Jr. and Sr. and their Chicago Crime Family want to just ruin it all.”

It’s not that I’m not listening, I hear every word Jules is saying, it’s just that I’m more focused on the sedan gaining speed, and the fact that I don’t yet see Tommy or any of the guys anywhere in sight as that sedan gets closer to our ass.

But then I hear it … and so does she. A loud whirring noise overhead that’s hard not to hear.

“Beckett?” Jules asks from her seat, glancing up and out the back window. I would hit the sunroof window and slide it open, letting her see exactly what’s in the sky, but she’s far more protected from debris with it closed.

“Eyes straight ahead, brace yourself and the airbag will do its job. The guys are here,” I tell Jules, still keeping both hands on the wheel in case we get some of the heat from what I know my buddies are about to do.

The speed of the helicopter’s rapid descent almost on top of the sedan behind us sends the sedan into a spin. It veers off the road, sliding onto the sand and gravel shoulder, screeching to a stop before landing sideways, the front end almost hanging off of the road.

My foot presses down on the pedal, keeping the truck accelerating, speeding to get out of the way because when the Larussios send a message, absolutely nothing is left to claim.

The men chasing us know it just as well as I do. They race out of the vehicle, scrambling down the ravine and into the tumbleweeded terrain. They’d rather get caught than to have their remnants scraped from the inside of that car.

They and I both know that helicopter overhead will be sending a very strong message back to their boss.

Don’t fuck with the Larussios. And when that grenade is tossed, the entire car explodes in the rearview mirror, lighting the sky with a streak of orange fire as the helicopter veers away from it and on to a mission to round up the escaping men.

Jules’ breathing is coming fast and furious. I don’t need a medical degree to tell me exactly what’s going on. I pull off the road now that we’re out of the radius of the blast and release her from the seat belt and pull her into my arms. “Come here, darling.”

I coax her head onto my shoulder while shifting her light frame over the center divider and into my lap. “This thing is going to be far from pretty, but it’s a necessary evil in order to get them to stop.”

“They were after us? Me?”

“Afraid so.” I stroke a finger down her face. “What I don’t understand is why you? Out of all of Lacy’s friends, why do they keep coming for you? They haven’t come after any of the others.”

She lets out a little sob. “I think they thought last year that I could get Lacy to change her mind about marrying Garrett or talk her into selling her grandma’s house.

But they clearly don’t know Lacy. No one talks Lacy into doing anything that she doesn’t want to, not that I’d even try.

Eldridge Jr. probably just knows me better than most of her friends. That’s just a guess though.”

“Well, the men who followed us won’t be bothering you again. Tommy and his boys will take care of that.”

“Now I feel like a helpless little female, wiping her tears away while the big hunky bodyguard protects me in his lap. It’s like a dirty little twist.”

I kiss her lips softly. “You’re not helpless, and I happen to like being the one to protect you. I’m all about dirty little twists.”

“Ahh ... one of those me man and you woman types?” she jokes, wiping a tear.

I shake my head. “No, but I protect and take care of what’s mine. I know you can do certain things, but I’m going to be taking care of you, at least while I’m in town.”

Her sweet smile dims. She kisses me softly and slips out of my arms and back into her seat, solemn again, just as the helicopter lifts up into the sky filled with a plume of grey smoke.

I don’t have time to find out what’s wrong with Jules before Tommy’s voice comes over the line.

“We’ve got all four of the fuckers. Heading back to town. ”

Cole jumps onto the line. “Sheriff Cates is going to want to be involved. I’ll call him and get him updated. Better it comes from us in case someone saw us out here.”

A gruff voice intercedes. “Can’t happen yet, Cole.”

I grin, not realizing Jay was up in the chopper. I’d recognize his voice anywhere. “We’re going to drop these guys off along with Tommy and his crew. They’ll get them to talk, and then you can bring Sheriff Cates into the fold,” Jay tells us all.

My jaw tightens knowing what a predicament that will put Cole, Garrett, and Mason right in the middle of with the sheriff.

Nothing is ever as straightforward as it should be, that’s for damn sure.

“Jules and I are going to head to Wild Deuces. We’llcatch up with you and the guys there, Cole. Thanks for the assist, everyone.”

“Roger that.”

Jules’ eyebrows raise. “You think they’ll talk to those guys?”

“They’ll talk.” They won’t be given a choice, but that’s nothing that Jules needs to deal with or know anything about. “As soon as they do, the sheriff can lock them up.”

“Then your job is done, you’ll join your group, and life will go on. You’ll leave this town and I’ll be a memory of a good time.”

And now I know exactly what’s bothering the blue-eyed little doll.