Vincent
Iknow what they all are thinking. That I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have, but I can only think of one way to get it back, and that is exactly what I’m doing right now. Both Graysen and Aaron, my assistant, keep flicking worried looks my way.
I’ve crossed some lines that I haven’t crossed in years in the last twenty-four hours. Not since I was a kid trying to make a name for myself. Cleaning up a mess my father had gotten himself tangled into. I did what I had to back then, but since then I’ve kept my nose clean. Except for Graysen. He crosses lines so I don’t have to.
My little Julieta sounded so worried on the phone. The thought of her being in any sort of distress had put me on edge. The only thing I want to do is make things right for her. Hearing the worry in her voice almost brought me to my knees. For a second, I thought about calling it all off. I was the one that put that worry there to begin with.
Then how would I get her here? It had to be done. It would only be a matter of time before Travis got himself into something worse. Then God knows what Julieta would be running back home to then to try and save his sorry ass. I couldn’t let that happen.
I may not know much about her or anything really at all, to be honest. But I do know that she’s mine. It’s better that it’s me she’ll have to pay Travis's debts to. And his debts are stacking up by the second now. Not to Anderson. To me.
“The drop is done,” Graysen says, looking up from his phone.
“Where is Travis?”
“He’s on his way back here now.” Graysen taps on the screen, bringing up the tracker he’d put on him. He shot it right into his armpit. Graysen is going to need a raise.
“I take it everything went smoothly then.”
“Seems so.” Graysen nods his head.
I’d let Travis finish his heist. It was the quickest way to get Anderson off his back. I didn’t need Anderson and his goons sniffing around Travis. Not with Julieta on her way back to town.
“Cut the contracts after you inform Anderson that their freight was once again robbed. This time pay out the money and don’t alert the insurance. We’ll cover the loss ourselves.”
“We’re going to pay them? They got their shit.” Aaron is barely keeping his composure.
“Yes.”
“They’ll do it again.”
“Not from us, they won’t. Cancel their contract. We clearly can’t do a proper job for them. They’ll need to find someone else.” That perks Aaron up.
It will be a pain in the ass for Anderson to find another dock. I’m the only thing that is local. He’ll have to have all of his shipments docked now and then hauled hundreds of miles. It will cut into his cost. But he made his bed so he can lie in it. None of that is my problem.
“I sent you the files on Julieta Jones,” Graysen informs me, seconds before it pops up in my inbox. I click the files. “She is already on a plane headed this way.”
“How?” That was quick. How the hell had she managed to get out so quickly? When I looked earlier, there were only four flights leaving from her closest airport today. The first wasn’t for another two hours. I wish I could’ve just sent a plane for her, but that might have spooked her. When Graysen doesn't answer me, I turn my attention away from my computer screen. He’s holding something back, and it doesn’t look like he wants to tell me whatever it is. “Say it,” I order him, not in the mood for games.
“Her boss gave her a ride. Her name popped up in his flight manifest.”
“Her boss?” I grilled Travis on Julieta. He said she didn’t have anyone in her life. He’d know it because Raegan would have mentioned it. I click on my screen, pulling up her job information.
“Ivan Lawson.”
Fuck me. I don’t see Ivan giving one of his assistants a ride out of the kindness of his heart. Ivan isn’t a cruel man; he's just not a gracious one, either. I haven't seen him in years, but I don’t see the man changing. Then again, Julieta has me doing things I never have before. This is going to be a problem. A big one.
“I’ve done a bit of digging already, and I don’t see anything romantic between them. I pulled up some security footage too of his office building and home. She’s never been to his home, and at the office, he barely talks to her. Like I said, I don’t see any romantic connection.”
“You hacked his security footage?” I feel marginally better after hearing this bit of information.
“I don’t know if I’d call it hacked. I know the owner of the security system he uses. He had a look for me and sent me a few clips.”
“I want to see them.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, Graysen hits a few buttons, and the footage is in my inbox.
I watch through the clips, not seeing even a spark of interest on either of their parts. Sometimes Ivan is so lost in his work he doesn't even know Julieta is there. That’s the Ivan I know. We went to college together, and he’d been the same way. It’s why we’d gotten along. We both put our heads down and worked because we wanted to get our shit done.
When I’m done with the videos, I go back to her file. As Travis had said when I’d all but interrogated him, Julieta, or JJ as they call her, met him and Rae while they lived together in a foster home. They’d all stuck together until a few years ago when Julieta went off to college on a scholarship. Travis said it would only take a panicked call from his sister Rae to get Julieta to rush home.
Rae was hesitant to call her, but her fear for her brother overruled it all. I laid their options out on the table and let them decide how they wanted to proceed. I haven’t forced anyone to do anything. Though some may consider my choices to be a form of blackmail.
“Should I call Carson?” Aaron asks, stealing my attention away from learning everything I can about my sweet Julieta.
“Why?” Aaron opens and closes his mouth. He really doesn’t know how to handle me right now. I’ve never been invested in someone the way I am with her.
“Where do I begin? Marriages and children. Protecting your assets and rights.”
“Don’t call him.” I can already hear Carson losing his mind. Then as soon as he got it back, he would draft a contract that would likely scare Julieta. Then again, what if I could give her something that made her feel safe? Made her feel secure to a degree. “Actually, set up a meeting. I need to talk to him as soon as possible.” I will do whatever I feel is necessary in order to get my sweet Julieta.
“Oh, thank God,” Aaron blurts out in one breath before he’s half running from the room to get a hold of Carson. Most days I find Aaron a bit amusing, but today isn’t one of those days. I’m still on edge. This isn’t going to be an easy thing to complete. While I might be able to get her to agree to some of this deal, I have to do it in a way so she doesn’t hate me. In fact, I want the very opposite.