“What did I tell ya?” Jacob said beaming at Juliet as she finished off the last of her pastrami sandwich.

“I can’t even believe I was able to eat anything at all,” she replied, licking his special mustard off her fingers. “Honestly, my stomach is in knots.”

“Like I told Chance, you’re fine here with me. Then when this game is over you can return to your normal life, as you put it,” he said with one eyebrow raised making it seem like more of a question than a statement.

“Is that so terrible?”

“Not at all, especially for someone like you who isn’t used to all of this. There’s something to be said for normal and boring.”

Juliet didn’t think it was fair to equate normal with boring, but she left it alone. She was a guest in his house after all. Being here with someone she didn’t know all that well was awkward at first, but Jacob had a disarming personality and soon had her at ease, or at least as at ease as she could be under the circumstances.

“Okay, young lady,” Jacob said, rubbing his hands together. “We aren’t going to have you sitting here worrying. You head out to the living room. I’m going to rinse up these dishes.”

“Nonsense. I should be the one doing the dishes, especially since you—”

“You are a guest in my house. That means you relax and I do the dishes. No more discussion. Go, young lady.”

He reminded her of her dad when he wanted his way. It made her feel even more at ease. Perhaps not everyone involved in organized crime was so horrible. Juliet still wasn’t quite sure what Jacob’s actually involvement was, but he seemed harmless enough.

She at least helped him carry her own plate and glass back to the kitchen before he shooed her out. She left with a laugh and went back to the living room.

From the outside, the house looked nice but wasn’t anything special; a standard upper-middle class affair. The inside was amazing. It had obviously been professionally decorated in such a way that money had been no object. Juliet mulled that one over in her head and could figure out a few reasons why someone with so many ties to illegal activities would want to hide any overt public signs of wealth.

Juliet felt a gurgle of laughter boil in her stomach. Here she was being “protected” from the Bratva in the house of…she wasn’t exactly sure how to label Jacob. All because she had met a man in a museum.

She wandered around the living room with its oriental rugs and custom built-in bookcases tastefully filled with books and art and other prized objects. Her eye was caught by something in particular and she came in closer to inspect it. Her eyes grew wide.

Oh my God!

“That’s the very one,” she heard Jacob’s voice say behind her.

Juliet nearly jumped out of her skin and spun around to see him smiling at her from the entryway into the living room.

“Carter Fox’s first home run ball with the Sluggers,” he said, coming in to stand next to her. “Are you a fan?”

“Of baseball? Oh yeah. Of the Sluggers? Definitely yeah.”

Jacob just laughed in a jovial way, which seemed to be his trademark. “Go ahead and have a closer look.”

It was in a sturdy clear case with a bottom that looked like it was made of marble. “Oh, I couldn’t,” she protested.

“Nonsense,” he said, lifting it up himself to hand it to her. “I’m not one of those old fuddy duddies who doesn’t want people touching his things. The whole point of owning it is to have people admire it.”

Juliet laughed and accepted the case from him. “Whoa, it’s heavy.”

“Well, if someone is going to steal it, I certainly can’t make it too easy for them, no?”

It felt about the same weight as a sack of flour in her hands, but was half the size. She hefted it up and down in her hands.

“Come, let’s have some of that vodka I mentioned earlier,” he said guiding her to one of the couches.

Juliet followed him, still inspecting the ball inside the case. She set it down on the coffee table before them as Jacob brought a bottle and two glasses back from the bar. The heavy rain created an almost cozy soundtrack in combination with the warmth of the tastefully decorated room.

“Here now, this should help untie all those knots in your stomach,” he said handing her a glass that probably had a bit more vodka in it than it should have had. Juliet took a sip and let the liquor mellow her out.

“You know, Chance isn’t a bad man. This business, it’s not him. Me, on the other hand,” he gave a self-effacing shrug. “But Chance is strictly poker. You should maybe think about giving him another shot when this is all over.”

Juliet let that one simmer as she took another sip. To be honest, she couldn’t stop thinking about Chance at that game. Yes, they were by all accounts over, but no one completely got over someone they had developed such a deep connection with, even if it had been brief…even if it had gone down in flames. Especially since 99.9% of it had been absolutely perfect.

Every time she hated herself for her silly outburst, wanting to take it all back, she reminded herself of where she was sitting right now. No, it had been for the best, especially if things went awry at that game and Chance had a target on his back. No sense in putting herself in the crosshairs as well.

All the same, she certainly didn’t want him getting killed.

“Maybe not all the love is lost?”

Juliet’s mind snapped back to reality and she blinked up at Jacob, realizing that she had given all her thoughts away. She recovered, giving him a guilty shrug.

“I know he despises me, and I have a feeling Katherine wouldn’t mind ripping my throat out after what I said to him.”

“She just loves her boys is all, like all mothers. Still, I understand your concerns. Someone involving you like that first with the pink bear and that note, then those photos. Whoever it was who sent them certainly knew which buttons to push.”

“Yeah,” Juliet said. “I still don’t even understand what it all means. I just hope he wins this thing and I can as you said, go back to being boring and normal.”

Jacob gave her a critical eye then laughed. “My dear, I have a feeling you are anything but boring.”

Juliet gave an appreciative laugh as she brought her glass up for another sip. It was starting to relax her already, which was a good thing. Perhaps the next few hours wouldn’t be all that terrible.

Her mind stopped cold, just like the rim of the glass that was pressed against her lips. Her brain worked like one of those flip-books with the pages flying by, creating an animated picture. It stopped all of a sudden, landing on a single page that revealed exactly what was going on. The blast of lightning and immediate crack of thunder outside, hit at the same time the realization hit her.

That’s the very moment that she knew her life was in danger.