Page 29 of Gator
“Don’t touch the merchandise,” she squawked back.
“It’s been a long day for both Julius and Trixie. Come on, Jules, let’s get you two settled. I can give Axel an update when we’re done.”
We crossed the room and stopped at 917. I tapped my keycard to unlock it and pushed the door open. It was one of the better furnished ones with a dark leather sofa, a big TV, a fully stocked kitchenette, and a bedroom off to the right.
He set Trixie’s cage on the dining table and turned in a slow circle.
“I’ll put your bags in the bedroom while you check it out.”
I left him with the bird and carried his bags to the other room. I dropped them on the bed and went back into the living room.
He grinned at me. “Not bad. Very safe house chic.”
“Most of the furniture came from Mika’s place. When he moved in upstairs with Hawk, they had to pick and choose what they kept, so we used the excess to finish furnishing the three guest apartments.”
“Mika and Hawk live here in this building?”
“Yeah, on the tenth floor. Hawk, Wolfe, and I all have a place up there. Your card won’t get up on that floor, though, so if you want to go up, you’ll have to get him to come down here first. We all mostly hang out down here, anyway.”
We stood there for a second, neither of us sure what to say. Again, I felt the urge to go to him and pull him close, tell him to forget about the apartment, that he would be safest upstairs in my apartment, but now wasn’t the time. He had people who were, best case, watching him, worst case, wanting to do him harm, and finding them and protecting him needed to be my focus.
Finally, he broke the silence. “So I guess this is the part where you tell me the rules?”
I shrugged. “It’s simple. The building is pretty secure, so you should be safe as long as you stay here. Just don’t leave without telling me. And that includes the sandwich shop downstairs. They have great food, but an outside entrance. You should have plenty of food in the kitchen, though. Caden will have made sure of it.”
“So that’s it. Don’t leave without telling you?”
I nodded.
“But what about work? I have a salon to run, not to mention I’m fully booked for the next week.”
“And you can’t cancel the appointments?” I asked.
“No. I can’t cancel. This is my business, Gator. My livelihood.”
“Okay, then someone will go with you. They know where you work, so it isn’t safe for you there.”
“Alright. I can’t imagine they would come inside a public place like the salon, though.”
“We don’t even know what these guys want, Jules, and until we do, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Okay.” He sighed. “This is your area of expertise, not mine, so we do it your way. That’s why I came to you.”
“And I’m glad you did. We’ll figure this out. I want to check in with Kat and see if she has any updates, so I’ll leave you two to get settled.”
“Thank you, Gator.”
“You’re welcome.” I moved to the door. “Goodnight, Julius.”
Behind me, I heard Trixie say, clear as a bell, “Night, night, Daddy.”
Julius
The door closed behind Gator, and I let out a long sigh. I had no idea how I’d gotten into this mess, but I did feel safe here. I opened the door to Trixie’s cage and stuck my arm inside. She hopped on, and I lifted her out. I placed her on the bar that doubled as both a carrier handle and a perch. That cage was way too small for her to be in long-term, and my girl didn’t like to be confined.
She spread out her wings and danced from one end of the perch to the other. “Trixie needs a stachio.”
I chuckled and went to the bag of treats I’d brought for her. She loved pistachios, and while they couldn’t make up her entire diet, they were fine as a treat. Of course, if I gave her one every time she asked, she would eat nothing else.