Juliana was still sleeping when James came back the next morning. As promised, late last night, he’d come back with Emmaline to bring us food. I still fed Juliana like I always did, and she basically went back to sleep right after, curled up against my side beneath my arm.
“How are you feeling?” James asked me, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed – the same one Juliana had been occupying the day before.
“Fine,” I told him. “They’re weaning me off the morphine onto hydrocodone.”
“Could have gotten you some of that myself,” he snorted. I just grinned at him.
“Rather have it prescribed, James,” I laughed. “Violate my parole, and my ass is back inside again.”
He snorted. “Sure as fuck don’t want that happening.”
I sure as hell didn’t either. Juliana needed me free, not locked up behind bars.
A light knock sounded on the door, and an older nurse walked in. Her graying hair was twisted back into a bun, and her large eyes were framed by a pair of thick glasses.
“Hi, hun. Good to see you awake. You were still out of it yesterday when I was here,” she explained. “My name is Melissa. I’m going to be your nurse for the next few hours. I just need to check your vitals, and I’ll be on my way. Do you want anything for breakfast?”
“Not right now,” I told her. “If I need anything, I’ll send my brother to get it.”
She nodded with a kind smile. James and I were silent as Melissa checked my vitals. With another kind smile and a wish to get better, she left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. James still remained silent for a couple of minutes.
“Alright,” he finally said, turning to face me, “is there anything you can tell me while we’re here? I feel like I’m sitting on my ass and twiddling my thumbs. Not a damn good feeling.”
I sighed. I knew how he felt. I hated being confined to this hospital bed, unable to fucking do anything. I hated all of this bullshit, and I hated even more that it all centered around Juliana. She deserved to be free and happy, not feeling like she had to constantly look over her shoulder.
“He’s got a sex trafficking ring,” I told him. James clenched his jaw. He and I were both strongly against anyone being trafficked. “Men, women, kids – he’s got them all, and his men seemed to get a taste of some of them before they went up for auction.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” James swore.
“If you go through my tracking history, you can find it easily,” I told him. “I don’t know what you want to do with it, but we can use it to put him and his men behind bars, and from there, we can order a hit inside – keep us out here as clean as possible. Because killing Andres outside isn’t going to be an easy thing to make disappear. He’s too fucking powerful.”
James nodded in agreement. I knew he could make the hit out here disappear, but not without a lot of work and extremely late hours – not to mention all of the favors he would have to call in.
My brother shook his head and stood up. “I’m going to go home – go through your tracking history. I’ll be back around noon with Emmaline and Carter. Emmaline wants to bring you guys some more food.”
“Sounds good,” I told him, my stomach rumbling at the thought of Mrs. Judy’s cooking. “Make sure she brings a couple bottles of water and cranberry juice for Juliana.”
He nodded. “Got it, brother.”
He stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I sighed and glared up at the ceiling.
I hated not being part of this fucking takedown with James. But I’d done what I could to help before my dumb ass fucking got caught.
I should have known better. Instead, I’d been thinking about Juliana, not keeping my head in the game and my senses focused on my surroundings.
It had almost cost me my life.
James popped back into the room a moment later and handed me my gun. “Almost forgot to give you this. Keep this close,” he told me. “I’ve got protection up, but we can’t ever be too careful.”
He fucking had that right. I shoved it under my thigh where it would easily be reachable.
“Hey,” I quietly called when he got ready to leave again. He turned to look at me. “I never asked yesterday. How bad was her reaction to me being missing?”
James clenched his jaw. “She panicked, brother. Fucking threw up and passed out. I carried her down to Dr. Williams.” He shook his head. My heart clenched in my chest. I tightened my arm around her. I never wanted her to feel that shit again. “I’ve never heard her speak to anyone but you. I barely heard her utter a word to Emmaline. But when I got her here yesterday, brother, the way she cried your name gutted me. She feels guilty. No fucking doubt in my mind about that.”
I clenched my jaw and glared up at the ceiling. He turned and left again.
I looked down at my sleeping angel, leaning my head down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
When she woke up, I would reinforce my bond with her. This shit wasn’t her fault. It was mine. I hadn’t been careful enough, and I knew better. And she sure as hell wasn’t at fault for no longer wanting to be abused.
She was strong. Andres might have fucked her up, but my woman was a fucking survivor – a goddamn warrior.
I’d watch her rise above her demons if it was the last fucking thing I did.
“I will always protect you,” I whispered into her hair. “Always.”