The Bodyguard: A BWWM Bad Body Romance(70)

When Hank wrote again, the motion was stiff, almost angry. He showed her the pad, his good eye gleaming gray fire.

Why the hell did you come? He would have killed me anyway. It wasn’t worth it.

“Don’t you dare say that,” Juliet’s own vehemence surprised her. She glanced around the room and out into the hallway to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop before leaning as close to him as she dared. Even from a hospital bed, the heat radiating from him was enough to make her lightheaded. “I wouldn’t have let him. There was no way I was letting Solomon take you from me, Hank. I’ve never had anyone...It would have killed me to lose you. So don’t you dare say it wasn’t worth it.”

She couldn’t tell him.

Juliet could only imagine what Hank might think if she blurted out her feelings impulsively. She had no idea how long she’d remain under federal protection, then she’d have to testify against Solomon. Her life would be difficult over the next few months, and Hank would be occupied with trying to recover. The time for their inevitable separation was almost at hand...she just wished it were under better circumstances.

She didn’t lift her head until Hank’s hand touched hers, making her jump. She was surprised to see he’d scribbled on the pad anew.

You’re brave. Brave and stupid.

At that, she laughed softly. “Well, that makes two of us.”

When he merely rolled his single eye and gestured for water from the bedside table, Juliet rose to take the glass and hold it to his lips. She jumped when he took hold of her wrist and yanked her closer so she was forced to hoist a knee onto the bed to keep her balance. The water sloshed over the edge of the glass and onto the sheets but Hank hardly seemed to care.

His arms closed around her, drawing her close. He obviously didn’t give two shits about anyone who might walk in, and after a moment of resistance, Juliet relaxed against him. She forced herself to swallow the tears that rose to her eyes as Hank brushed his lips over the place where her pulse hummed just beneath her skin.

“Safe.” He murmured against her ear, the sound warped by his wired jaw.

But Juliet understood it all the same.

She was safe, after all this time. Safe from Solomon. Safe from the Aguilers...Safe in Hank’s arms.

It was one time she supposed she didn’t mind crying. Tears of relief were much more gratifying than those of grief.

**

Two weeks later

“Fuck protocol. I want back on the detail.”

Despite the fact that having his jaw wired shut was uncomfortable as fucking hell, Hank managed to learn to speak clearly enough to be understood. And to argue - which was what he was doing with Simmons now.

Juliet wasn’t due to visit for another hour or so, so now was the perfect time to make his demands. For the first time in his entire career, Hank could only hope that playing the wounded card would work in his favor.

“No way, Hank. You’re in no condition to work. You’ll need eight weeks off, at the very least. And after that there’s a mountain of paperwork to get you back on board.”

“Cut the shit, Simmons.” Hank scowled, grimacing at the discomfort it caused. “I got us Solomon Aguiler-”

“Yes, with the help of the wayward protectee who shouldn’t have been near you. Do you know what she did to get to you?”

It was a point of curious pride that, yes, Hank knew exactly what Juliet had done. It took him almost five days to get her to admit it, and then he had to give her brownie points for her sheer audacity.

That was, of course, after he chewed her out for putting herself in danger in the first place. He could still see her all but walking back into Solomon’s grasp, see the fucker touching her...Like hell. He wanted to be right back where he belonged: at her side.

“None of that matters now. We got him. I’m fine and she’s fine and I want to make sure it stays that way.”

Simmons’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. “The man hunting her is in custody, Hank. And she has a three-man detail on her twenty-four-seven. One she can’t charm into doing her bidding. She’s perfectly safe.”

“What about Caesar?” Hank immediate snapped, grasping at straws as he tried to contend with the fact that his time with Juliet was coming to an end. “What if he-”

“Something tells me this isn’t about protecting Juliet,” Simmons interjected, his tone carefully neutral.

Immediately, Hank opened his mouth to retort - but found that none rose to his lips. Instead, he merely sagged against the pillows of his bed, glowering at the older man before him. What the hell was he supposed to say? He could deny everything, but that would only mean that Juliet was whisked away sooner. At this point, it was just a matter of time.

The moment his involvement with the case was over, there wouldn’t really be any reason to see her again. Simmons was bending the rules allowing her to visit him at the hospital as it is. She sure as hell wasn’t family, so they’d been getting away with telling the nurses on duty that she was his wife.

A year ago, the mere thought would have made him grimace. Now, he remembered the way she looked at him when she found him - the way her eyes glazed with relief and she took him in her arms like he was fragile instead of two hundred fifty pounds of hulking muscle.

She knew him, better than anyone ever had. Call him a selfish sonofabitch, but he didn’t want to lose that.