Seeking Vengeance: Callaghan Brothers, Book 4 (7 page)

He walked back over to his desk and poured another brandy for himself.  Generally, Jason allowed himself one drink at the end of a stressful night.  Tonight he was making an exception.  He didn’t bother pouring one for Sean. 

“What the hell have you gone and gotten yourself into now?” he asked his old friend.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sean shrugged, but he couldn’t completely hide the wicked intent in his eyes.  When Sean barged into his office an hour ago, he had been very specific – no more interactive show segments with Nicki.  If Sean wasn’t such a good friend (and he hadn’t owed Sean a few favors), Jason would never have even considered such a crazy suggestion.  Nicki was a goldmine - she drew the men in, no doubt about that.  Attendance had risen in the couple of weeks she’d joined the staff, and that was no coincidence.  The atmosphere was definitely more electric when Nicki was around.  And yeah, it heightened the tension, but Jason had no doubt he could handle it with a few more well-placed men.  Keeping her out of the show was going to hurt his bottom line. 

He’d told Sean as much, but Sean wasn’t the least bit sympathetic.

Hell, after watching the show those two had put on, Jason couldn’t really say he was surprised.  He’d had his eyes glued to the monitor during her performance, every bit enthralled as those down on the floor.  A woman in the throes of pleasure was impossible for any healthy man to ignore, and Jason was no exception.

“Right,” Jason scoffed.  If Sean didn’t want to come clean, it was no skin off his nose.  They already had a hell of a lot of secrets between them; one more wouldn’t matter. “But we’re even now, true?”

“Yeah, we’re good.  Later, Jacie.”

Jason shook his head as Sean cheerfully whistled his way down the corridor to the private exit.  The two of them went back a long way, and Jason had never seen Sean so proprietary over a woman.  Sean wasn’t exactly a flowers-and-roses kind of guy, prone to romantic gestures.  It was kind of amusing, actually, seeing his badass friend smitten.  He always knew that when Sean fell, he would fall hard.  The funniest thing was, Sean probably thought he had it all under control. 

Sean was going to have his hands full with this one, though.  Nicki wasn’t like most of the women who worked at
Angels.
  It was easy enough to understand their motives – kids, college, mortgage, but none of those seem to apply in Nicki’s case.  Whatever drove her wasn’t so obvious.   

A drug habit, maybe?  Instinct told him no.  She kept herself in excellent shape, and her focus and control were unquestionable.  Supporting someone else?  Again, not likely.  A background check listed only her brother as next of kin, and he had his own job in town (working for Sean Callaghan, no less). 

Even more intriguing than her underlying motivation was the woman herself.  Stunningly lovely with her dark hair and unusual eyes, he could easily picture her in an elegant ball gown at a gala premiere, yet she wore the whole bad girl persona like a second skin.  She came across tough as nails on the outside, but sometimes – like those few minutes when she thought he was firing her – he had the impression she was as fragile as fine crystal on the inside.  If anyone could reach her there, that was.

Jason sighed heavily and resumed his seat behind the desk to start going through the night’s receipts.  Whatever her deal was, she was Sean’s problem now. 

The thought made him smile.

* * *

N
icki was in her own little world as she made her way back to the dressing room.  The few others still there looked at her questioningly, hoping for some scoop, but she refused to meet their eyes.  It took only a few minutes to don her street clothes and grab her few personal belongings.  There was no sense leaving anything here if she wasn’t sure she was coming back.

Nicki peeked cautiously out of the club’s back entrance.  Club security kept things pretty tight, but there were usually a few losers out there, hoping to get lucky.  It looked strangely empty, tonight, though.  With a sigh she pulled down her baseball cap and pushed the door open slowly, half expecting someone to appear out of the shadows.  She gripped her keys between her fingers in one hand and fisted a small roll of solid steel in the other, just in case, as she walked quickly across the lot.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise when she saw him by her bike, leaning against the black and silver Harley parked next to it.  She ignored him, mounting her quasi-Ducati as if he wasn’t even there, glad beyond measure when her badly-shaking legs didn’t give out on her completely.  As far as she was concerned, they were even.  She’d invaded his space, he’d invaded hers.  End of story.

“Aren’t you even going to acknowledge me, Nicki?” His deep, male voice caressed her as tangibly as if he reached out and touched her and made her tingle in all the right places.  It evoked a small but potent echo of the sensations that had rippled through her body only an hour ago.  And it pissed her off.

“It meant nothing,” she bit out, cursing herself for saying anything, for even feeling the need to.

She heard his soft chuckle, hating how it made her nipples so goddamned hard.  “Somehow I don’t believe that.  Or do you come for every man you give a lap dance to?”

“Get over yourself!”  White hot fury and embarrassment burned through her so hot she half expected to burn to ash right where she stood, taking him with her.  No such luck.  Sean remained where he was, blue eyes glowing, radiating that sexy, arrogant manner that oozed dominance and made her crazy.  She’d never met a man she felt was strong enough – or worthy enough – for her to even consider voluntary submission.  And, goddammit, she wasn’t about to start now. 

Nicki kicked the bike hard, and took off like a bat out of hell.  Visions of his intense blue eyes raking over her possessively followed her all the way home.

“S
o you’re on babysitting duty today, huh?”  Maggie carried a big plate of warm cookies over to the table, along with a quart of whole milk.  She slid herself down carefully in the seat adjacent to his, her expression tight.

“Yeah, kind of,” he said with a sheepish grin.  “But you know I love you, right?”

“You love my
cookies
,” she corrected on an exhale, but her smile was genuine.  As an only child, it had been quite a culture shock for Maggie to find herself as part of a big family when she hooked up with his brother Michael, but she was adjusting nicely.  One of them was almost always with her now whenever Michael got called into the hospital.  He didn’t like leaving her alone at their farm when she was already three days past her due date, especially when he worried that her irrational fear of doctors and medical procedures in general might keep her from getting to the hospital on time.

“Hey, Mags, you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m awesome,” she said, sounding slightly winded.  “I think your nephew’s going to be a linebacker for sure.”  She grimaced as she rubbed her belly and blew out measured breaths.

Sean grinned boyishly.  “Can I?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Sean gently placed his hand over Maggie’s distended belly.  She guided him to the side.  His hand visibly jumped.

“Holy shit, Mags.  That kid’s strong!”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she said, wincing.  “I think I might need my ribs taped after the delivery, though.  Ever since he turned he’s been doing a number on them.” 

Within a few minutes, she exhaled and gave him a grateful glance.  “Thanks, Sean.  I think he recognizes your voice already.  He does that whenever he hears one of you, and refuses to calm down until you acknowledge him.”

“My pleasure.  These cookies are awesome, by the way.”

“Thanks.  This waiting is driving me crazy, so I’ve been baking up a storm.  So, are you going to tell me about her or do I have to wait to get the dirt from Taryn?”

He should have known.  Maggie didn’t miss anything.  She was also the only one Sean could talk to.  She never laughed or made jokes at his expense, always listened, always had time for him.  Her little farmhouse in the country had become the place to go when any of them needed to get away from the rest of the family for a little while.  Helping out Michael was just a bonus; he would have found himself here regardless.  Plus her cookies rocked.

Sean grinned.  “Not even Taryn knows about this yet, Mags. “

“Ooooo,” said Maggie excitedly, her eyes sparkling.  “An exclusive.  I’m honored.”

“You should be.  But... I’m not even sure there’s really that much to tell.”

“Start with the basics.  What’s her name?”  Maggie rubbed her belly, both hands making large circles, her breaths deep and even.

“Nicki.”

“Hmmm, pretty.  Is that short for Nicole?  Nicolette?”

Sean frowned.  “Not sure.”

Maggie waved it off.  “Doesn’t matter.  Where did you meet her?”

“The garage, actually.”

“Car trouble?  That’s what brought Taryn into town, right?”  Maggie sharply sucked in a breath.  “Another kick,” she explained when Sean looked at her suspiciously.

“Yes to Taryn, but no to Nicki.  She’s visiting her brother, Nick.  He works for me.”

“Nick and Nicki?”

“Yeah,” Sean smiled.  “Twins.”

“You’ve got something in common with her already, then, huh.”  She shifted on her seat.  “So, I’m guessing she’s gorgeous.  Probably a perfect size six.”  She looked down ruefully at her big belly.

“She is beautiful, Mags.  Sexy as hell, too.  Full of fire.”  He paused, a frown tugging his lips downward.  “She’s working up at
Angels
while she’s in town.”

“No wonder she caught your eye.  I hear Callaghan men really go for exotic dancers,” she joked, reminding Sean of how she and Michael had met when she danced at Ian’s bachelor party as a favor to a friend. 

“She’s something else.  I’ve never met anyone like her.  I want to throttle her and kiss her at the same time.  And when the other guys were watching her dance?  I wanted to kill every one of them.  That’s not like me, Mags.”

Maggie looked at him thoughtfully.  “Michael told me once that something just clicked inside him when we met.  That everything changed.  Maybe that’s what’s happening to you, too.”

“Maybe, I don’t know.  I can’t explain it, Mags.  One second, everything was fine, life as usual.  The next – hell, it was like a grenade went off.  No, make that three grenades.  One in my head, one in my chest, and one in my pants.”

“And what about her?  Does she feel the same way about you, do you think?”

That’s what he loved about Maggie.  No smart-assed comments, no words of doom or salvation.  Just acceptance and genuine interest.  He couldn’t conceive of talking to anyone else about this.  His brother, Michael, was a smart – and very fortunate – man to have her.

He thought about it as he chewed a few more cookies, washing them down with a healthy swig of milk.  Ah, whole milk.  He knew she kept it around just for him and his brothers; she only drank soy herself.  Maggie was the best.

He filled her in on the little bit he knew, leaving out the explicit details, but it was enough that she got the idea.  Maggie blew out a breath and seemed to relax a little, looking at her watch.  “Sounds like the real thing to me, Sean,” she said, sounding slightly winded again.  “You owe it to yourself to at least find out.”

He nodded.  “Except I think she despises me.”  He probably shouldn’t have grinned when he said it, but
damn
, he liked the fire in her eyes and the way she challenged him.  Nicki Milligan was definitely a woman who would keep him on his toes.

“There is a very fine line between love and hate, Sean.  If I had to guess I’d say she’s probably scared stiff.”

“Yeah?”  Fear was definitely not the first thing that jumped into his mind.  Lust, maybe.  Anger, probably.  Defiance, absolutely.

“Yeah.  I felt exactly like that around Michael when I first met him.  Still do sometimes.  When it hits you, it hits hard, and ... ” she paused briefly “... you just don’t even know if you can handle it.”  She clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath.

“Mags?”

Sean reached out to her and she latched on to his hand as if it was a lifeline.  His eyes widened as the realization hit him.  “Oh, fuck, you’re in labor, aren’t you?”

She nodded, breathing through the pain. 

“Maggie, we gotta call Mick.”

She shook her head vehemently.  “First one... takes... forever.  Rather be... here ... as long as... I can.  Hate... hospitals...”

“Sorry, Mags.  I love you, but...”  Sean whipped out his mobile and hit the speed dial.  “Mick, yeah, Sean.  Listen...  Yeah, I think so...  Hang on...”  He looked at Maggie.  “Did your water break?”  She nodded.  “Yeah.”  “When?”  Maggie looked at the clock.  “T-T-Ten... “ 

“Ten minutes ago?”  She shook her head. 

“Ten of eight...” she blew out.

The clock read nine-fifteen.  “Holy shit, Mags!  Mick, she says her water broke over an hour ago.”  Sean was forced to hold the phone away from his ear; even Maggie could hear her husband cursing a blue streak.  “Yeah... About two to three minutes, I think,” Sean said, his eyes sharp and accusing.  “Uh-huh...  got it.”

Sean pocketed the cell.  “Oh, Mags, he is so going to paddle your ass for this one.”

She nearly collapsed in relief as the pain ebbed away and smiled weakly.  “That’s what got me into this mess in the first place.”

Despite himself and the worry he felt for her, he smiled.  “Come on, Mick’s waiting for us at the hospital.” 

“I thought you were the nice one,” she complained in a breathless
whoosh
as he helped her to her feet.  “I gave you cookies.”

Maggie struggled to walk on her own, but the next pain had her nearly doubled over.  Sean slung her bag over his shoulder and scooped her up easily into his arms.  “Sorry, babe.  Common mistake – Shane’s the nice one, and I’m under strict orders here.  Hey, you’ve got one hell of a grip, you know that?”

He got her settled into the car as quickly as possible, then took off like a bat out of hell. 

“Have you thought about asking her to work at the garage?” Maggie said in between dog-like panting breaths as Sean drove expertly down the mountain roads at speeds that probably shouldn’t be attempted below ten thousand feet.  He glanced over to see her gripping the dash with one hand and the door with the other.