Desperate Measures

"And what do you think this is?" The gun pointed from her to him, emphasizing what wasn't said. "How I prefer to spend my off nights?"

The question caught her off guard, for she had never assumed he had nights off, but now she found herself wondering how he spent them. Somehow she doubted it was with a glass of wine and lavender bubbles.

"I told you. I had it under control-"

His sudden movement stopped the words on her tongue, but the cool metal under her chin was the culprit responsible for the gasp that replaced them. He was close, too close, for she could smell the subtle presence of his cologne. Their eyes met, his gaze hardened as it roamed over her face. "You got some nerve, you know that?" He nudged her chin up a little with the barrel. "Tell me one reason why I shouldn't just end this right now."

Jules didn't respond. She held his gaze, seconds teetering into a minute before he lowered the gun. He didn't move away, nor did his expression soften. She also held her ground.

"I didn't have a choice-"

"You always have a choice. This time you made the wrong one."

***

Born and raised on the outskirts of Detroit, Juliet Devlin, like everyone else, dreamed of making it big enough to leave her troubled youth behind. As with most dreams, her plans had more than a few kinks thrown in them. Now, almost thirty years old, she finds herself still cleaning up after her parents, leaning entirely too heavily on her siblings, and on the cusp of losing her husband. When things go from dreary to worse, Juliet responds in a way that no one close to her anticipates. Will her newfound gumption help her rise up or is she simply hurtling faster towards an inevitable crash? With her sister and best friend at her side, she doesn't plan on pausing any time soon to figure it out. And the handsomely dangerous man her decisions keep bringing her closer to? The jury is still out on that one, too.

***

This is a Good Girls fanfiction. I do not own Rio/Christopher.