“Because you’re thoughtful like that.”
“I’ve never felt less than with the guys around, and the desire to be the best or your favorite ... I’ll deal with that. You’re worth being with, no matter the conditions.”
“Take that back,” Max says immediately.
Juliana looks at him, but I shrug. “I mean it.”
“I won’t abuse that.” She says to Max, then repeats it to me while holding my face between her hands.
She kisses me softly. “You humble me so much.”
Max sucks in a breath. “Doll, I think you need to see something. Something I received from your father.”
“Um, just me?” She asks.
“Gio is still doing the rounds, right?”
“It should take him another four minutes,” I report easily. “Why?”
Max looks troubled, but he comes over to us and shows us a picture. It immediately grabs Juliana’s attention and I see that spark of fury in her eyes alongside an analytical approach I haven’t seen.
It takes me a second to catch up.
It’s the file for Mr. Alister. But at the bottom is Gio’s note. The suspicion that it’s arson based on a number of legitimate factors. He knew more than he was telling. The whole time, he knew that he had contributed to this.
The same way I contributed to the hitman or hitwoman getting closer to Juliana.
She takes a slow breath. Max sets the iPad down. “I don’t know what to tell you, Juliana.”
“He didn’t know it would lead to this,” She says softly. “There’s no way he could have known and Gio would never put me in danger. Hell, he stood between me and a rattlesnake when we were little and tried to speak to it in some snake language.”
I rub her back. “I can’t say anything. If I wouldn’t have gotten fired, Sharon never would have gotten so close to you. Who knows how many close calls you had with her.”
“That’s not your fault either it ...” Juliana puts her hands up. “Hold on. Sharon wouldn’t have just gotten to walk into the job. No way the Volkov clan approved her. You would have been spoken to, Kon.”
I nod in agreement.
My eyes flick to Max as I try to catch up to her train of thought. He nods. “She already knew exactly where to set up to take the shot at your apartment. That’s not something that can be done easily if it’s going to be done well. If she knew the spot, she may have seen you and Kon together and sent through an alert to your father.”
“But my dad doesn’t trust just anyone with information. And if someone was going to tell him something, it would have to be someone he trusts, which means someone he’s business friends with.”
Max nods and starts writing things down.
I rub Juliana’s sides until Charlie brings me a ball. I toss it for him and kiss Juliana’s cheek. “It wouldn’t be anyone with the Volkov clan. They don’t double cross and your father has never overstepped his bounds. The Italian mafia has been laying low for a while now as well.”
“Juliana!” Gio bursts into the house, slamming the door behind him. He pants and walks over to us. “Did you tell anyone else you were here?”
“No.”
“You didn’t tell anyone your dad works with?”
“I haven’t even spoken to him!” She defends, standing up. “Why?”
He hands something to her and I see fury build in her. “This lawsuit waiting to happen? Are you kidding me?!”
“Hey.” Gio takes her wrists and pulls her towards him. “Words. We need them right now.”
“This is the guy who kept sexually harassing people. John .... John Booker. I had people worry about his aggression level. But he’s one of dad’s cousin’s kids. So he kept getting leeway. I tried getting him fired over and over. How did ... where did you get this?”