Chapter 4

"So tell me your name." I turn onto another back road and keep on driving until it's time to meet the boys.

"I think the less you know the better."

"I could take your purse again and find out for myself." I cock my head to the side as I look at her in the back seat. Night has fallen and it's too dark to see her facial expression and I don't like it.

As if she thinks this over for a moment she sighs and her shoulders drop. "Jules."

"Jules," I repeat, and I like the way her name feels on my tongue.

"Is Cooper your real name?" She sounds skeptical, and I smile.

"If I could have changed it to something more badass, I would have, but by this point it's stuck."

"It's sweet." Her voice is soft and I see her turn to the window and pretend to look out.

"It's time for me to go to the meet-up spot." I pause, waiting for her to start bargaining, but it doesn"t come. "These guys we are going to meet, they're important to me."

"Why are you telling me this?" Her tone is cautious and questioning, but not hostile like before.

"Because I want you to understand that to all of us, you're the outsider. We're the ones trying to do this for the right reasons. For all we know you are part of what Monte is trying to do."

"I'm not. That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"All I'm saying is that I'm putting my trust in you by introducing you to these men. They are my brothers in every way that counts and I wouldn't bring you with me if I had another choice."

"There's always a choice." She crosses her arms and looks away again, and I curse the darkness.

"There's one way to keep you safe and that's far away from Monte. I'm choosing to believe you and I need you to choose to believe me."

I watch as she imperceptibly nods and looks at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm going to protect you, Jules, so no matter what happens you stay with me. Got it?"

"Will your friends try and hurt me?" she asks softly, and I shake my head.

"No, they won't, but if someone showed up and tried to, I would protect you." My words are clear and I stand by every one of them.

Watching the panic attack hit her earlier was almost too much to bear. I saw it coming and had to pull the car over and get her out so she could feel the cool night air in her lungs. I've seen it happen to Jonas a few times and we are usually able to help him calm down. I can't imagine what she's been through today and I hate that I scared her. It's true I didn't know who she was to Monte at first, but now I can see that she's just an innocent caught in the crossfire.

"You really mean that, don't you?"

"I know you don't know me, but I don't have a reason to lie to you."

I see the dark cabin up ahead as I turn down the gravel driveway. Once I get to the end of it I put the SUV in park and then shut it off. I get out and open her backseat door and hold my hand to help her down.

"Come on, buttercup, let me introduce you to my family." I wink at her and she rolls her eyes, but I can tell she's fighting a smile.

"Of course I'd get kidnapped by Prince Charming." Her words drip with sarcasm and I keep a hold of her hand as we walk to the cabin.

"Just think of it as a mandatory vacation," I say as I give the secret knock on the door.

"Too bad I didn't pack a bathing suit." She's a smartass and I'm beginning to like it.

"Guess you'll just have to go commando like me." I wink at her again as the door opens and in the light I can see her cheeks flush.

"Who the hell is this?" Track is standing there, pissed and staring right at Jules.

"Track, manners. Allow the lady to get in the door before you let the accusations fly."

"What the hell have you done?" Walsh is walking over to us as we step into the house, but I ignore him.

"Jonas and Levi, the money is in the SUV. If you guys want to get started then let's get to work." The two guys in the back nod as they get up from the table and walk past us out to my ride.

"Do you care to explain what the hell you are thinking by bringing her in here?" Track begins to pace and I can see his wheels are already turning.

I hold Jules's hand and pull her closer to me. We walk into the living room. I feel Jules relax a little when the heat of the fire warms her up from the panic attack earlier and the cool night air.

I wait for Jonas and Levi to come back inside with the bags of money, and they open them and begin to divide them up.

"How are you planning to make this work?" Walsh crosses his arms over his chest as he waits expectantly for me to talk.

"She's in trouble and I'm going to help her," I say simply, and they all look at me like I'm crazy. "She had no idea what Monte was up to and they were just using her for the drop. You all know as well as I do that she can't go home now and she certainly can't go back to Monte empty-handed."

"What makes you think she's telling the truth?" Track takes a step toward us and I can feel Jules moving slightly behind me.

I've never felt so protective of anything before and it's instinct alone that drives me to step in front of her.

"Watch yourself," I warn, and Track looks at me in surprise. "I believe what she's telling me is the truth, and you of all people should know that I can smell bullshit a mile away." He thinks about it for a second before he looks around me to her and then back to me.

"Tell me you're getting her as far away from here as possible once this is over," he says, and the thought of never seeing Jules again causes a tightness in my chest I don't understand.

I look back over my shoulder before facing him and nodding. "Of course," I answer, but as soon as the words are out of my mouth I know they are a lie.

"Then let's get this taken care of and get the hell out of here," Walsh commands to the room and everyone gets to work.

I go into the kitchen and get Jules a soda and a pack of crackers. She needs the sugar after her crash earlier and I need to get food in her. It's not much, but it's something for now until I can get us out of here.

We spend the next six hours sorting the cash into bags and labeling them where they're supposed to go.

At one point I give Jules my jacket and she sleeps on the love seat next to the fire for a while. Every now and then I look over at her and sometimes I catch her looking at me and then pretending to sleep. I wink at her and she smiles, though she tries to fight it.

"Hey, buttercup, it's time to roll." I look out the window and see the sun is going to be up in about an hour or so and we need to be gone before then. The coals of the fire have long gone cold and we've cleaned the cabin of all traces of us. It's not likely anyone would ever find this place, but it's better to be safe.

"How can it take so long to split all that money between you guys?" she asks as she yawns and stands up.

I laugh and shake my head. "We're not that bad at math." I pretend to be offended as I take her hand again and we walk outside.

My jacket is still wrapped around her as I help her into the passenger seat and turn on the heat when I get into my side.

"What took you so long then?" she persists.

"We had to divide it up between a lot of people, not just our share. The guys took back their losses when the factories shut down. They only took what was owed to them and enough to cover their families. The rest of the money was split between families in our neighborhood that were affected the same way and then the local owners who were put out of business by Monte's crew."

"Seriously?" Her voice is disbelieving and I look over at her and smile.

"Seriously," I confirm. "We also have a stack that's going to the local law enforcement and the mayor because we need to grease the wheels, but also because they're local people too and they put their lives on the line for that piece of shit. It's not what you'd call legal, but it's the reason we stole it."

"Holy shit, you're like a hot Robin Hood," she says and then presses her lips together like she shouldn't have said it.

"No, please. Tell me more about how hot you think I am." She rolls her eyes as I pull into a fast food drive-through and order about ten things off the menu.

"Shut up," she says, and I pay for our food and hand her the bags. "Thank you, by the way."

She hands me a breakfast sandwich and I eat it in three bites as she laughs next to me and eats hers.

"I'm a growing boy." I shrug and the sound of her laughter makes that funny feeling in my chest happen again.

"So, tell me, Cooper," she says, taking a sip of her drink. "What are you going to do with your cut of the money?"

"Oh, that's easy, buttercup," I answer as I look over at her. "I didn't take any."