His To Keep (25 page)

“And you won’t let her out of your sight now, anyway.” Jimmy shook his head. “Go through the numbers. If you recognize any of them, let me know and I’ll get some more info.”

Nic nodded, going over this schedule in his head. Tiffany Jones needed him to find her deadbeat ex. He had two security installations scheduled for later this week. The other crap, the paperwork… Well, he didn’t give a flying fuck about that.

“Nic.” Annie’s voice drew his gaze to the doorway, where she stood looking from him to papers in his hands. “You got another call, didn’t you?”

He wanted to stuff the papers in his desk drawer, not let it infect her more than it already had.

“Yeah.” He laid it on his desk. “Jimmy’s gonna–”

“What did he say this time?”

He shook his head automatically. “You don’t want know.”

He knew the second the words were out of his mouth he’d screwed up.

Her eyes narrowed, but he saw the hurt there before she submerged it under anger. She had her mouth open and was ready to blast him before he cut her off.

“Sorry. Annie, I’m sorry. But it’s bad. I just didn’t want…” The hell with it. “No. You’re right. Come here.”

He motioned for her to come around the desk.

She didn’t come right away. She stared at him for a second, looking into his eyes, then she moved. When she stood by his side, Nic punched up the recording.

He watched her flush then go pale, watched her swallow, her hand trembling as she looked between the brothers.

“Well, that was…creepy.” She took a deep breath and visibly stiffened her spine. “So, what does this tell us about this guy?”

If he hadn’t already been in love with her, he would have fallen hard right then. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman—strong, smart, beautiful and brave. He’d make damn sure nothing happened her.

He stood, put his hands on her cheeks and drew her up on her toes. He didn’t say anything. Just looked into her eyes, watched hers dilate and darken. And then he kissed her with every bit of emotion he had inside, leaving her limp and breathless. Okay, leaving them both breathless.

When he drew back, it was only far enough to look into her eyes. Only Jimmy’s low whistle brought Nic back to reality.

“Is it me or did the temperature in here just go through the roof?”

Annie blushed pale pink but shot Jimmy a haughty glance that made both brothers laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you two are amused. But since we all have work to do, maybe we should get back to it.”

She headed for the door then turned at the last moment to give Nic a smile before disappearing.

Jimmy let out a low whistle. “Oh, you are in so much trouble, brother. You’re not gonna know which way is up.”

Nic grinned. “Yeah, but it’s gonna be a hell of a ride.”

* * * * *

Nic spent the rest of the morning going through the list Jimmy had generated then spent lunch with Annie, a surprisingly low-key hour that helped ground him.

After lunch, he wound up in Jimmy’s lab. None of the names or numbers kicked off any warning bells but there were at least fifty numbers that had no names attached or were obvious aliases.

Those he separated onto another list to examine more closely.

“God damn, this sucks, Jimmy. It’s getting us nowhere.”

Nic pushed his chair away from the table and got up to pace. He thought better on his feet and, as big as the lab was, it was still a completely enclosed space. Below street-level, it had no windows, the walls were lead-lined five feet of concrete and there was only one way out.

It was huge compared to the elevator he’d been trapped in during the earthquake in Mexico City, but with an irrationality that infuriated him, it didn’t matter to his brain. His brain wanted to panic, wanted him to run for the steps, to get upstairs and out on the street, out in the open.

And since Nic refused to let that happen, he forced himself into the basement every once in a while to prove he still controlled his own responses.

“He’s smart enough to disguise his voice but he hasn’t come at me or Annie at all.”

“Maybe you need to start questioning some of your top suspects. See if anything jumps out at you.”

“If I do that, I give the guy a heads up that I’m on to him. And I could interview twenty guys and still not know who it is. I don’t have Mom or Janey’s knack for reading people. I’m a soldier. Point me in the direction of the bad guy and I can take him down. But this…”

Damn it. He didn’t have time for his insecurities to get in the way. Jimmy and Janey got most of the brains. He was the brawn. He’d made peace with that years ago. He was good at what he did but he needed to be better for Annie’s sake.

“You’ve always been the bravest person I’ve ever known, Dominic. You never falter. You never give up. And I’ve never known you to fail.”

Bullshit. He’d failed Nino.

“And don’t give me that crap about failing Nino.”

Damn Jimmy for knowing exactly what he was thinking.

He looked into his brother’s eyes. Such an odd color, as if genetics had tried to blend their mother’s green eyes with their father’s blue and ended up with a swirled mix. Those eyes had always been able to read Nic’s every mood.

“You’ll find this guy, Nic. I know you will. You won’t give up until you do.”

He’d never admit it, but Jimmy’s confidence in him made him feel a hell of a lot better.

Still … “Since when do you get to give out pep talks?”

Jimmy’s smirk played over his lips. “Since you went and lost your head over a girl. At least I’m smart enough not to do that.”

Right again. “I’ll give you that one.” Nic sighed. “Alright, smart ass, let’s get back to work.”

Chapter Eleven

By Friday, there’d been no more calls. It was almost as if whoever had been threatening Nic had decided to take the week off.

Even so, Annie knew Nic didn’t let down his guard. He was never more than a floor away from her.

And for the past five nights, she’d been more content than she’d been since she was a kid. Every night, she made love to the man she adored and woke to find him curled around her.

When they weren’t at the office, Annie trained for the competition that started tonight in the ballroom at the Airport Sheraton. Nic’s parents were on their way home from a trip to Washington, D.C., as was Janey, who’d gone from Pittsburgh, where she’d wrapped a case of corporate espionage, to New York for a consultation with a computer firm.

Annie knew the second Janey looked at her, Janey would know exactly what had happened since she’d been gone. And Annie didn’t know what she was going to tell her best friend.

Yes, she and Nic were sleeping together, but it wasn’t like he’d asked her to marry him.

Leaning against the doorjamb to the bathroom, she watched him shave.

“Your parents and Janey come home today. Are you worried?”

Turning away from the mirror, Nic shot Annie a look, his gaze wandering down her body, stopping to take in her pink lace underwear and matching bra.

“Are you?” he countered.

She shrugged and let her gaze trail down his gorgeous body, feeling the slight tug of fear that got her every time she saw the scar on his back. He’d nearly died in Afghanistan. She knew that, but she didn’t like looking at such a vivid reminder. “Not really. Janey’s always known I wanted you. Even when I said I didn’t. Your parents, well …” she smiled, “they’re a different story. It will be a little strange. But I won’t be embarrassed. I’d never be embarrassed to be with you.”

He didn’t say anything, just continued to stare.

“Anyway,” she continued, “we probably won’t see them until tonight at the competition. If you still insist on following me everywhere, I have a hair appointment this afternoon and then nails and I have to be at the hotel by four to get ready.”

She got a kick out of his automatic grimace. Nic could handle people shooting at him, but a hair salon made him cringe.

Innocently, she added, “I could ask Tracy to squeeze you in for a trim and a manicure while you’re waiting for me.”

She wanted to laugh at the horror that flared in his eyes before he realized she was needling him. Then he resumed shaving.

“Hey, if you want me to cut my hair, I’ve got my own barber.”

“Which I know you won’t do because you don’t want to go every month to get it cut.” Besides, she’d murder the person who cut Nic’s hair. Of course, what would he think when she walked out of the hair salon this afternoon? She’d been planning this for months. She wasn’t going to back out now.

She hated the little voice inside her head that kept repeating, But what will Nic say?

“So, what time is this appointment?”

“Noon. You don’t have to stay—”

“Don’t even say it.” That blue gaze flashed her way again. “I know there hasn’t been another call all week but that just means he’s waiting for me to get sloppy. And until I know he’s out of commission, you don’t go anywhere without me.”

She knew the look on his face well enough not to argue. “So, we’ll go into the office for a few hours and then,” she took a deep breath, “then I hope to get through the day without hyperventilating.”

“Are you worried about tonight?”

She shrugged.

Splashing away excess shaving cream, Nic grabbed a towel and turned toward her, drying his face. “I’ve never seen anyone dance as beautifully as you do. But if you’re doing this to prove to someone other than yourself that you can, then don’t bother. You can only do it for yourself.

She knew that, but… “What am I supposed to tell your parents and Janey when they ask what’s going on with us?”

His expression showed nothing. “What do you want to tell them?”

She wanted to tell everyone she loved him. She wanted to know if he loved her back. She still had so many unanswered questions but never found the right time to ask him for fear she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted.

She wanted to know what happened after Nic caught the guy stalking them. Would they continue their current relationship or would they actually go back to dating? Would he take it further and—

Shaking her head, she dropped his gaze. “I don’t want to lie.”

“Me either. If you don’t mind telling them we’re in a relationship, then that’s what we’ll tell them.” He paused and waited until she returned his gaze. “And when this is all over, we’ll figure out what that means, exactly. Come on, Annie. Better get ready. Sounds like we’ve got a lot to do today.”

* * * * *

Nic stood inside the front door of the hotel, checking out the formally attired crowd.

“Are Aunt Grace and Uncle Frank gonna be here soon?” Toni stood on his right, looking much older than her twelve years in small heels, a tiny bit of makeup and a midnight blue gown that bared her shoulders and covered her legs.

Annie had sprung the fact that Toni was coming with them this morning. Turns out, Mags had called and asked if Toni could tag along, as she’d been driving Mags nuts about it since that day at the garage.

He could have said no. Could’ve told Mags he didn’t want the kid anywhere near him for fear of getting her hurt, but he couldn’t do that either. He’d missed Toni and, truthfully, he didn’t think she was in any danger. Especially not tonight, at an event this large.