"I can keep you safe. I can protect everyone." His declaration was accompanied with a snarl.
"Show me you can protect the people you actually give a shit about, and then we’ll talk, Malice," I replied before bracing both hands against his chest and shoving him away.
He stood speechless, and with as much confidence as I could muster, I got off the table and walked out of the conference room, feeling a bit more powerful than when I’d arrived.
15
"I don’t think this swimsuit even fits me anymore," Grams said while staring at the black one piece in her hand. Grams wanted to dip her toes in her sister's hot tub in Palm Springs.
I grabbed it from her pale hands and folded it up. "It’s your size!" I replied before putting my arm around her. After giving her a brief hug, I placed it in her large cheetah-print suitcase before continuing to work through an emergency folder with a list of all her medications and emergency contacts.
Was I nervous about Grams being all the way in California without me? Absolutely. Was I still excited for her? Yes. Reluctantly, yes. It had been a full week since I had seen Cora at that bus stop, and Malice was trying to prove me wrong about his ability to keep me safe. I had a car—a BMW—and an escort every day before my shift and after it. Sometimes, I’d seen someone parked outside our house, but luckily it was never Hale.
Malice was sending a clear message to Cora if she was watching: I was his.
Malice also spoke with Dr. Hoffstead about Grams’s trip, and they coordinated with another doctor in Los Angeles who agreed to be on call should she need anything while visiting her sister. Grams had another checkup yesterday and was cleared for her trip. Dr. Hoffstead seemed ecstatic to see us and thanked me profusely for whatever good word I’d put in with Malice.
Grams was happy. Really fucking happy. I’d catch her grinning to herself and humming.
"Agnes said that we could go to the casino and see a Bon Jovi cover band one night, so I will need a pretty dress for that," she said with a giddy grin. I hopped from her bed and started searching through her closet.
Grams had always been very close to her sister, Agnes. She probably would've visited her more often, but I kept her here. After Mom's disappearance, Grams didn't really feel comfortable leaving me. But this felt like a fresh start. An exciting adventure. Even though I was really worried about her, I knew that she was going to be in good hands. And as painful as it was to admit, who knew how much longer she’d be able to do this? This was going to be good for Grams, and if I were being honest, I was happy to have her away from here while I did all this work with Malice. Lying to Grams was difficult. Trying to play detective while taking care of her was stretching both of us thin.
"I'm so excited," Grams said before looking at me. The smile on her face dipped some, and she cocked her head to the side. "You know I don't have to go. If you'd rather me stay here —"
I quickly cut her off. "I'm excited for you to go. I just worry about you. But I know Aunt Agnes will take good care of you. It will be weird being separated from you, though."
Grams shuffled over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist for a tender hug. I breathed in her lavender scent and sighed. "Maybe this will be a good thing. You work so hard, Juliet. Then, you come home and cook my food, fold my laundry, hover over me about my medicine. You need to relax every now and then and not worry about your grandmother. I feel like you've been scared ever since your mother disappeared. Like you're afraid to have me out of your sight. I don't want that for you."
I wanted to argue with my grandmother and tell her that it wasn't true, that I wasn't the same little girl who was scared that all the people she loved would one day disappear. Parkinson's wasn't an abductor, it wasn't a police officer telling me that my mother was never coming back. But it was a slow disease that was eating at my grandmother, and I just felt like we didn't have enough time.
I loved her, and I wanted her to experience life. I wasn't going to let my fears stop her from seeing her sister.
"I'm excited for you to go, Grams," I emphasized, more for my own sake than hers. "It'll be good for you. I'm okay, I promise."
Grams looked like she wanted to talk some more, but the doorbell ringing made both of us pause. "Are you expecting anyone?" she asked.
I shook my head. "I'll go see who's at the door."
I wasn't expecting to see Malice standing on my grandmother's front porch. As soon as I saw his piercing eyes looking back at me, I wanted to slam my door in his face. He predicted my instinct immediately and reached out to push his palm against the door, preventing me from blocking him from my home. Asshole.
The slim black tie around his neck matched his black slacks and white button-up shirt. His blond hair was slicked to the side like he’d just gotten back from the barber shop. On the street, I could see one of his town cars and a couple of guards standing outside the driver's door.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed.
"I need you to work tonight," he said, pushing his way through the door with a smirk. I didn't want him anywhere near Grams.
"And you couldn’t tell me that in a text message?" I asked.
He seemed to be lost in the midst of our small home. "I wanted to make sure she doesn’t need anything for her trip. Dr. Hoffstead sent over a report. I am glad she will be taken care of there. What airline is she flying on?"
"Why do you want to know?" I asked. I rolled my shoulders back and looked down the hall where Grams was still in her bedroom. Pretty soon she would walk out here and want to talk with Malice. It was getting harder and harder to hide my double life.
Malice took a step closer to me. And another step. His eyes swept up and down my body. I was in shorts and a tank top, nothing overly revealing, especially when compared to the uniform at Eden's Place. But the way he stared at me made me feel stripped bare. "I figured I could anonymously upgrade her flight so that she’s more comfortable."
His reasoning caught me off guard. Wow. Well. That would be nice, actually. "I can email you her flight information. But, Malice, I don’t want to be in any more debt with you than I already am. I appreciate your kindness, but we are fine. We don’t need—"
"Did you know that you didn’t have a deadbolt on your door until yesterday, Juliet?" he asked, interrupting me. "That’s not very safe…"
"Is this about what I said before? About you not protecting me? You’ve proven your point." I didn’t need him to overcompensate. Didn’t he have his own family to obsess over?
"I got a good look at your refrigerator. It’s all cheap, quick meals. Not quite the sustenance I’d like for you."
"We are fine, Malice," I said through gritted teeth. "You can leave now. I appreciate it but—"
Malice got up in my space. He was always getting in my space. His dark presence made my breath hitch and a quick thrill jolt up my spine. "I come when I want to come. I'll leave when I want to leave. You can expect more checkups from me in the future. I like having my finger on the pulse of every employee in my empire. I’m just keeping you safe, Little Fighter." I didn’t feel very safe with his hungry eyes staring me down.