Targeted Risk (R.I.S.C. #7) - Anna Blakely Page 0,23

eyes on the road in front of him. “You didn’t.”

“Liar.”

There was a touch of humor in her tired voice, but she was right. He was lying. Seemed to be all he did where Juliet was concerned.

But Mike knew if he told Juliet the truth—that her tossing and turning, and soft whimpers had kept him from sleeping—she’d feel even worse than she already did. So he lied. Again.

Gotta cut that shit out, man.

The voice in his head was right. He needed to quit being dishonest about shit and start telling her the fucking truth for a change. Starting with who he really was.

Soon. I’ll tell her soon.

First, he needed to figure out why that bastard Schreiber broke into her house and tried to murder her in cold blood. What happened last night wasn’t random, no matter how many times she tried playing it off as if it were.

Pulling up to the curb in front of her house, Mike parked behind her white Toyota Rav4. When they left last night, she’d tried talking him into letting her follow him to the hotel. He’d stood his ground, insisting they ride together, just in case.

If she didn’t like the idea of sharing a vehicle to the hotel last night, she was going to love what he had planned for them today.

“Thanks, again. For everything.” Juliet unbuckled her seatbelt and glanced over at him. “It seems like an odd thing to say after what you did for me, but...” She offered him a slight grin. “It’s all I’ve got.”

“Told you last night, you don’t have to thank me for that.” Mike pulled the keys from the ignition and opened his door. He stopped when he felt her small hand on his arm.

“You killed a man for me, Jay. I never wanted...” Juliet’s eyes glistened as she licked her ruby red lips. “I never thought you’d have to do that. Not for me.”

With a look he prayed she could feel to her soul, Mike told her, “I’d kill a hundred times over and not think twice about it, if it meant keeping you safe.”

Her lips parted, her sharp intake of air filling every crevice of the vehicle’s interior. Not giving her a chance to respond to his bold statement, he climbed out of the truck and shut the door behind him.

After giving her a hand as she slid out of the passenger seat, Mike pressed the lock on his key fob and started up the sidewalk, toward her house.

“Jay, wait. My bags.”

Mike ground his teeth together. The more he heard that name falling off her lips, the more he resented the hell out of it.

“We’re not staying,” he blurted, immediately regretting it. He’d planned on easing her into the idea of coming back to Dallas to stay with him.

“What do you mean, we’re not staying?”

“Just what I said. We’ll go in, get your cat and whatever else you need, and then we’re leaving.”

“Leaving?” She walked double-time to catch up to him. “To go where?”

“Dallas.”

Juliet laughed. “I’m not going to Dallas, Jay. I have a home here. Not to mention my job.”

“You also have someone who wants you dead. Until we know who and why, it’s not safe for you to be here.”

“The man who wanted me dead is lying on a slab in the morgue. It’s over.”

Stopping just before the door, Mike spun around to face her. “Schreiber worked for your dad, Jules.”

Juliet’s shoulders shook with a half-chuckle. “A lot of guys worked for my father.”

“Yeah? How many of them have put a fucking gun to your head?” She flinched, making Mike feel like a total prick. Still, he couldn’t seem to let it go. “You knew Schreiber, didn’t you?”

“What?” She frowned. “No. I-I didn’t—”

“I saw the look in your eye when I said his name. You recognized it. Question is, do you know why he came here last night?”

“I told you, I don’t—”

“Damn it, Jules. I’m trying to help y—”

A loud crash came from inside the house.

“What was that?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“I don’t know.” Mike shook his head. Reaching for the gun he had hidden at his waistband, he whispered, “Stay here.”

“Uh...not a chance.” She peered up at him.

Knowing they didn’t have time to argue, he let out a low curse. “Fine. Stay right on my six and do as I say. No arguing.”

Though she looked like she wanted to say something more, Juliet gave him a single nod. “Fine.”

With his gun in one hand, Mike used the other to unlock the