Colby's POV
Julia watched me as I buttoned up my suit jacket. There was a concerned and almost scared look painted on her face.
"Hey." I said, causing her to blink away the hazed look on her face.
"Sorry." Julia said then looked away from me. "Trust me sweetheart, I wasn't asking for you to look away." I said and messed with the cuffs of my jacket.
"Oh." She said as I sighed and walked up to her. "I don't want you to worry." I said and put my hands on her upper arms.
"Well I am." She said quietly. "Glued at the hip." I said with a grin then kissed her forehead. "I won't let anything happen." I said as she nodded.
"I'm trusting you." She said as I turned to grab my keys. "I know. We're gonna be okay." I said then held my hand out to her. "Are you excited to see the girls?" I asked as she took my hand.
"Yeah. I wish the circumstances were a little different." Julia said with a sigh as I led the way out of the room.
I knew that she has been sad about being a part of the crime world but it was getting really bad.
I craved normalcy for her, but there was literally nothing I could do as of now.
"They're excited to see you." I said quietly. "They're gonna be so confused about us." She said with a laugh.
"Let them be confused. It's funnier that way." I said and opened the passenger door of my car.
"Thank you." Julia said and got in the car with my help. "You're welcome." I said with a smile then closed her door and went to the driver's side.
The venue that Sam's banquet was at was luckily only a couple minutes away because if it was longer I think Julia would have had more time to get even more nervous.
"Wow, nice place." Julia said and looked at the mansion in front of us. "Yeah, he's balling out." I said with a laugh and pulled up to the valet stand.
I watched as the valet guy opened Julia's door so he could help her out.
I knew I was probably being a little overprotective by glaring at the guy, but tonight was scary for Julia.
It had been a long time since she has actually been to a party like this, and the last time she did she was shot by her father.
I couldn't blame her for being scared.
I got out of the car, keeping the hard look on my face as the valet guy turned to me, taking his hand away from Julia's.
"Thank you in advance." I said then tossed him my keys.
"Cool it." Julia mumbled as I wrapped my arm around her waist. "I have to be like this. If I soften up, that's when you get hurt." I said as we walked inside.
"Well there they are." Sam said with a grin as he walked up to us. "Hey, brother." I said as he gave Julia a hug.
"Glad you guys could make it." He said then gave me a hug. "We're glad to be here. It's good to get away from the chaos." I said and wrapped my arm around Julia again.
"You doing okay, Jules?" Sam asked as Julia nodded. "Excited to be out of the house." She said as he smiled and looked around.
"The girls are around here somewhere if you want to hang out with them." Sam said as Julia nodded and looked up at me.
"We'll catch up with you later." I said to Sam causing his eyes brows to scrunch with confusion.
The look on his face was only there for a second before he realized why I was going to go with her.
"Okay, let me know if I can get you anything." He said then gave a reassuring smile to Julia.
"Let's go find your friends." I said then led the way through the crowd.
We walked around for a little while before we were being stopped by someone who I hardly recognized.
"Well look what the cat dragged in." The guy said while I tried to remember his name.
I remembered that he was in charge of gang in West Hollywood, but he was never big enough to truly be on my radar.
I think his name was Joe.
"Yep. Back for just a night." I lied, keeping my face level. I didn't want to tell him Julia and I would be staying longer because I had learned to not share so much.
"Very good. Who's this pretty thing?" Joe asked and looked at Julia. I felt her flinch and step closer to me causing me to tighten my arm around her.
"That's none of your concern." I said simply as Joe nodded. "Gotcha. Well I hope you enjoy your time back." He said then walked away.
"Who was that?" Julia asked quietly. "Nobody." I said and led her through the crowd.
"Julia!!" Kat yelled with excitement causing me to flinch slightly. I wasn't exactly thrilled that she just yelled Julia's name while surrounded by dangerous people but she was excited.
"Hey." Julia said with a smile as Kat and Stas ran over to us. "I miss you so much." Kat said and hugged Julia tightly. "I miss you, too." Julia said quietly as she closed her eyes.
"Are you guys back together yet?" Stas asked me causing me to shrug. I could have told her that we were in fact together, but this was a lot more fun.
"You're annoying." She said then hugged Julia. "That's my job." I said as Julia stepped closer to me again.
"The other girls are going to be so excited to see you. Let's go find them."Â Kat said and took Julia's hand, pulling her slightly.
"Oh, uh.." Julia said and looked up at me. "We're kind of a package deal tonight." I said as Kat's face dropped slightly. "Is everything okay?" She asked Julia.
"Yeah, we just don't have a good track record at parties." She said then pursed her lips.
"True. Okay, I guess hanging out with Colby is fine." Stas said causing me to chuckle.
"Gee, thanks." I said then wrapped my arm around Julia and followed behind the girls.
"Sorry." Julia said quietly as we walked. "Hey, don't worry about it." I said and caressed her hip with my thumb.
We walked through the crowd, trying to find the others. As we walked I noticed people looking at me and more importantly Julia.
Every time I would catch someone I would glare at them with so much hatred that they looked away uncomfortably.
I needed to make sure that nobody would fuck with me or Julia tonight and as of now I was doing a good job at that.
"Julia!" Devyn said with excitement as we walked up to her and Tara.
"You look so hot!" Tara said as they attacked Julia with hugs. "Thank you so much." Julia said quietly.
It almost seemed like something was bothering Julia. I knew she loved the girls and would usually be much more bubbly with them.
Was it because I had to be with her all night?
"Let's get you a drink. We need to catch up." Tara said and took Julia's hand, trying to drag her away from me once again.
"Colby's hanging with us, too." Kat said causing Tara to groan.
"We're gonna have a babysitter? Do you know how much I had to beg Jake to let me hang out with you guys?" Tara asked and crossed her arms.
"Sorry, Tara. I'm just here to protect Julia." I said with a shrug. "So you guys are back together?" Devyn asked as someone tapped my shoulder.
"Brock?" Max asked as I nodded. "That's me." I said blandly causing him to laugh.
"You still get invited to these things?" He asked and took a sip of his drink.
"Of course I do. I'm still wondering why you were ever invited in the first place." I said as his eyes flickered to Julia.
"I thought she died." Max said as I clenched my jaw. "Mind your business, before I make you." I said and took a step towards him, clenching my fist.
"Always so touchy. Just making an observation." He said nonchalantly. "Well do yourself a favor and focus on yourself." I said lowly.
"You don't have to worry about me, Brock. There are a couple people here who are gonna talk though." Max said as Julia went rigid next to me.
I wanted to comfort her because I knew she was probably scared, but I couldn't be overly affectionate.
Sure, being around her all night would be enough for people to be curious but I had to be careful with how close I was to her.
Before I could respond to Max, I heard Kat gasp as a loud thud sounded right next to me.
It was the sound of Julia falling to the ground.