Page 68 of The Woman with the Target on her Back (Grassi Family)

“More or less,” James said, voice tight. “There are some men I know to be loyal,” he went on, and I assumed he knew that because he had dirt on them to keep their loyalty.

There wasn’t usually a way for any criminal, and James Moon, despite being the chief of police, was undoubtedly a criminal himself, to have such certainty in someone’s loyalty unless there was the potential for blackmail involved.

You could get a lot of ass-kissing from people whose lives you could implode with one picture, video, or recording.

“But it still leaves a lot of others,” James went on. “I’ll know soon enough. I’m heading there after this.”

“Shouldn’t you be avoiding that place if there are people there who want to kill you?”

“They only managed to get the jump on me because I didn’t know there was a threat. They won’t get the better of me now.”

“That’s ridiculous. There’s always a chance—”

“I will have five of my best men stationed at your shop from now on,” he cut her off.

“Dad, that—“

“We are not discussing this,” he cut her off again. “I need to know you are safe. You will be safe with these men. Your uncles, plus three other men I would trust with my life.”

James was an only child, so I assumed that these “uncles” were very good friends of James’s, likely all the way back to his Academy days. Men Traveler would be comfortable with as well since she likely grew up around them.

“Dad, I can wait to reopen until things are… settled,” Traveler said.

“Absolutely fucking not,” James said, shaking his head. “I will not have your life on hold because of this. That’s unacceptable.”

I could see why Traveler had a complicated relationship with her old man. He seemed like the kind of person who was used to getting his way, to having his demands obeyed. And to a headstrong and independent woman with many of her own strong opinions and feelings, attempting to reason with someone like James Moon must have felt like screaming at a brick wall to try to get it to move.

Granted, it was clear that the man absolutely had her best interest at heart. But Traveler clearly bristled at the way he wanted to take charge and make decisions for her.

The thing was, her dad was right.

She couldn’t have her life on hold forever.

Even from a financial standpoint, she had to know that. I wouldn’t pretend to know everything about her finances, but she shared a duplex. She drove an ancient truck. She never closed her shop to have time off. You had to assume that she was likely not more than a few weeks away from ruin if she didn’t get things going again.

“He’s right,” I said, watching as her gaze cut to me, her gaze unreadable. “You have to be able to get back to your life,” I said, shrugging.

Then I watched as a hardness came over her face.

But, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why.

“Yeah,” she agreed, tone cool. “What about home then?” she asked. “I have to go back eventually,” she added.

“Tonight. You can go back tonight. I will have it arranged within a few hours.”

“Okay. Good,” Traveler said. “I should pack up then,” she added, turning and striding off to do just that.

I avoided Aurelio’s gaze, knowing what I would find there. Confusion at her tone. Concern about my reaction to her declaration.

I should have been fine with it.

This was always going to be temporary.

We were just passing the time until she could go back to her life, and I could go back to mine.

Why, then, did it feel like there was a fucking black hole in my chest?

“I appreciate you two taking care of my little girl. As difficult as I’m sure she was,” he added with a smile that said he actually enjoyed that about her.

---