Juliet continue to stare at P.J. in stunned silence until he finally gave her a wry grin.
“Okay. Alright. So, no killing the killer.”
“Were you just messing with me right now? How can you possibly think this is time for joking?”
“Can you think of a better time? And for the record, I was only half kidding. Because you say the word, you don’t feel safe with that motherfucker still alive, I will have him killed in a New York minute.” P.J. held her eyes with his. “But the truth is, I’ve had enough of death to last a lifetime, Juliet. I guess we’re alike that way. But I promise you this, as long as you live in this world, with or without me, I will make sure you are always safe.”
“With or without you?”
“Yeah, I mean I hope to hell that you decide it’s with me, but I know I ain’t exactly Prince Charming. Maybe I didn’t ride in on a white horse or carry a glass slipper, but if you let me, I’ll turn the rest of your life into a goddamn fairy tale.” He told her. The love evident in his tone, in his eyes.
“Do you really think we can do this? Leave the past behind and build our own Happily Ever After?”
“Hell yeah, I don’t just think we can, Juliet. I know we can.” He promised her. “But first I’m gonna have to give you the respect that your share deserves. You should know that I have blood on my hands, Juliet, and not just a little.”
“I know the kind of man you are. You are a good, good man, P.J. McCabe” Juliet put her hand on his hard chest over the place where his heart beat. “And if I had any doubt about where you come from? That ended the moment that I came here, to your childhood home, and found it surrounded by security cameras and high voltage fences.”
“I’m storing guns for the club.” P.J. blurted out. “You should know that.”
“You’re what?”
“Back in Maine.” P.J. went on. “I transport and store illegal weapons in my gun shop. Now it looks like that could be dangerous.”
“Now it looks like that could be dangerous?” Juliet twisted her legs off the couch and put both feet on the floor.
“Yeah.” P.J. told her. “We’ve usually got this kind of thing covered. We’ve got a pain in the ass senator who’s been in our pocket for years, and is now making threats to become an even bigger pain in the ass than he already is. The Colombian cartel is at our back door, and that’s not gonna end well. Jet, the standing president of the club, for some reason thinks he has an obligation to keep knocking his woman up. His wife, Willow, is a bigger pain in the ass than the cartel and senator combined.”
“And you are telling me all this because?”
“Because, as my woman, you have a right to know all there is to know about the shitshow you are gonna be stepping in to. I’m needed back here, Juliet. My family needs me home, my club needs to know I got their back. And I want you with me.”
“Can I think about it?”
“Babe. You are acting as if it were a question.”
“And it isn’t?
“No. It’s a done deal. You’re coming with me. You need me, Juliet, and I need you. What I just gave you right there, was some information.”
“Oh, okay, then. So, we’re getting married?” Juliet decided that she liked that idea. A lot.
P.J. looked at her with an expression of surprise.
“I…uh…uh… I never thought about…I mean…uh… married?” P.J. stammered out. “I guess. I mean…I just never thought of myself as that guy. But yeah…”
“Then I accept!” Juliet smiled wide as she threw her arms around P.J.
An hour later, they lay on the floor tangled in each other’s arms, their clothes strewn all over the carpet. Juliet and P.J. stared up at the ceiling. It sounded as though hundreds of footsteps were moving through the rooms; the sound of chairs scraping across the floor, doors opening and closing The joyful noise of children playing, people shouting, and laughter filled the air.
“Show’s about to start. The family wants to meet you.” P.J. gave her a quick kiss before getting up and gathering their clothes from the floor.
Juliet stood up and began pulling on her panties. “Awkward.”
“What?”
“Really? I have to say it?”
“Oh, that whole deal that just happened out in the yard? Like I said, Jules got the information I asked him to get. And he looked for something in that info that would hurt the club. That’s all he cares about, and that’s all his stake in this was. Trust me, he’s already forgotten.”
“And the rest of your family?”
“No one is gonna know shit unless you tell them. I just explained all that to you.”
“But your dad knows. And he’s going to tell your mother.”
“Oh, yeah. Those two paragons of virtue.” P.J. let out a small chuckle.
“P.J. don’t laugh. I wanted to make a good impression.” Juliet frowned as she finished getting dressed. “Bad enough we’ve obviously been down here having sex in their basement, but the other stuff…you know.”
“Okay.” P.J. looked up from where he was tying his boots. “If it makes you feel better, when my mom was about your age, she killed a guy with a hammer hit to the head. That was just after her sister, my Aunt Raine, speared his balls together with a nail gun. Trust me Juliet, you’re gonna fit right in.”
Juliet spent the rest of the week getting to know P.J.’s tribe. It was something she found thoroughly enjoyable. Claire McCabe accepted her
