Page 41 of Ruthless Passion

"We need to get these changes down. How are we going to do this? We should work on this as soon as possible while we're still feeling the creative juices." Jo's excitement is cut short when her phone rings. She turns slightly, giving me a chance to watch her.

The subtle beauty of her full lips moving as she speaks brings vivid memories of her mouth wrapping around my cock. At her mercy again, blood rushes to my lower head, punishing me for falling for a woman in such a short time. Jo is mine to protect. I dragged her life into the limelight, which has caused a cascading shitshow of dangerous idiocy from Duke and Vito Dacosta. I'll keep her and Jett safe by any means necessary. I'll even keep an eye on her brother.

Jo ends her call and turns to me. "That was Mojo, um, Monique."

"How is she?" I ask her, remembering how much pain she was in yesterday at the hospital.

"Irritated. She had a date with a doctor and he had to cancel. Something about making a house call to extract a bullet."

"That's very, um—" I'm struggling to find the words.

"Honest?" Jo laughs. "Yeah, Mojo felt the same way. But apparently, Dr. Ronan hates starting off any kind of relationship with a lie. Even if that relationship is cock-related only."

"What a dirty mouth you have." I grin, leaning in to kiss her softly. I can feel every ounce of me wanting to take this further, but standing in the corridor in the middle of my studio is a stark reminder I don't always get what I want. All I want is Josephine.

She pulls away from the kiss, stroking the side of my face gently with a warm smile in her eyes. "Well, the doctor is recommending she take a few days off work. She's shooting some action flick on the Parliament lot. She's hoping that since she can't exactly work on that ankle, she wants to take Jett for a few days."

"Let's get the contracts signed so everything's in order for Agent Shaw and we can add her to the payroll as childcare. Is Jett going to mind?"

"Am I going to mind what?" he asks, poking his head out of the crafty room. Craft services, crafty, always has a decent menu for the cast and crew on set. They make sure all the people working have food to eat. That's another invoice I can shove in Agent Shaw's face.

"Mojo wants you to stay with her for the next few days," Jo tells him, and Jett's eyes light up.

"I love her house. She has a PS5, tennis court, pool, and that training room where she lets me run on the treadmill." Jett's excitement at this news replaces the joy of eating the free food in his hands.

"You run on the treadmill?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I'm really fast for a wide receiver. I want to play on the team, but Mom says maybe next year. I've been doing the workouts Coach Evans gives the team so when I try out, I can make the cut."

"Well, we're going to have to stop home to grab some of your stuff and we can have Mojo meet us there." Jo runs her hands over his hair and turns to me. "If he's going to be with Mojo, she lives in one of those new apartment buildings Downtown."

"Why don't you grab a few things and come to my place when you're done? We can start going over the script and bring Cadence out of you again."

A flush of red coats her cheeks as she remembers our time together as vividly as I do. I want a repeat. She nods with seduction in her eyes as she and Jett head back into crafty.

They leave a short time after that, giving me time in my office to actually get work done. Still, there are so many moving parts to Jo's situation. I don't want to leave any loose ends if I have to deal with Duke or Vito.

My first call is to Julian. He picks up after the first ring. "Blackwell."

"It's Luca."

"Hey man. How did that security footage work out for you?"

I sigh. "It's not enough. This guy's a real tool. Do you know anyone working in the family court system?"

"Edward still has some connections. I'm not on anyone's list of favors. Charleston tried to help me run for that Councilman seat and ended up pissing off a lot of people. Thankfully, I never have to worry about him again."

Julian has had a hate-hate relationship with his father for longer than I can remember. I don't even know mine. From the stories I've heard, no father is always better than Charleston Blackwell. Mine disappeared right after Gina was born, and my mother was higher than a kite most days until…

I push those thoughts of my shaky upbringing away as I focus on the call. "The guy in the footage is a problem for someone."

Julian picks up on my energy for Jo. "Someone special? You're calling in a lot of markers."

"Is that a problem?" I ask him.

"No. It's an observation. You've done plenty of favors and work for my uncle. It's only right you start asking for more than money in return. What do you want done to the guy?"

"Nothing for now. I might need to go fishing with him at some point." I know Julian understands, as well as anyone else who knows Don Marzano. They have a boat where people go out, but someone never makes it back. Still, that's not something I want to commit to right now. I don't want to kill Duke until I'm sure his removal won't hurt Jett or Josephine.

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