Page 15 of Little Sunshine
Maximo’s face was its usual unreadable throughout it all. “Have Miles?—”
“You can’t give it over,” Juliet interrupted with a sad shake of her head. “That poor, poor girl.”
“Dove,” Maximo warned, but she didn’t heed it.
“She was starving.” Juliet got up and paced. “I remember what it was like to be hungry, but at least I had some crappy food. I can’t imagine how much pain she must be in.”
His eyes softened as they tracked his wife, though his jaw was clenched. “Stop?—”
“Being hungry with no food is like torture,” Juliet shared, lost in her memories. “It’s this ache that you can’t fill. Not with water or distraction or anything. It seeps into your dreams so there’s no break from it.”
“Juliet.” Maximo’s voice was soft but stern. It was enough to make her freeze. “Come here.” She did it immediately, and he pulled her onto his lap. “Can I finish a damn sentence now?”
She nodded. “Sorry, Daddy.”
He rubbed his thumb across his lip. “You will be once Ash leaves.”
Their interaction made my gut clench with envy. I didn’t want Juliet. Even if I did, she loved Maximo like he hung the moon exclusively for her each night, and he loved her enough to kill.
I’d have to be a masochist and suicidal to want her.
But I wanted what they had. An atypical relationship that was so smooth, so easy, it made it normal.
Because for them, it was. It was what they both wanted. Needed.
Grabbing his phone, Maximo touched the screen a few times before putting it to his ear. “Send me the footage with the girl.” He was silent for a few seconds. “Good.”
When the email came through, Maximo played it on one of the monitors that lined the wall across from his desk.
We watched from three different angles as the mystery woman brushed by the man. None of it showed her taking his wallet.
“You sure she even took it?” Maximo slowed the video and leaned forward.
“It was quick.”
I wondered again what kind of life she lived where learning to pickpocket with that skill level had been necessary. Her subtle sleight-of-hand work put Vegas magicians to shame.
“God, she’s so tiny.” Juliet’s focus and concern was on the woman, not the wallet. “Did she eat any food before Miles scared her away?”
“Part of a burger, some salad, and a handful of fries.”
She scowled. “That’s not enough.”
It wasn’t. Especially since she’d run off without the leftovers.
Focusing on the monitor, I watched myself talk to the woman, struck again by how beautiful she was.
Beautiful and broken and in need of someone to take her in their tattooed hands to keep her safe.
And would you look at that? My hands just happened to be tattooed—under the blood that coated them.
She walked away, and the angle changed again.
“Shit,” Maximo bit out before rewinding the footage.
I shifted my attention to watch what happened on the screen, not just the woman.
Taking a few steps, she dipped like she was picking up the wallet. But from that angle, it was easy to see there’d been nothing on the floor before that.
