17. Viviana
Viviana
W hen I walk down the stairs Tuesday morning, I see Nox waiting by the front door. “Come on. I’m going to take you to class this morning.”
My cheeks ache and I realize I’m smiling like a lunatic. I manage to wipe the smile away and shoot him with a skeptical look. “You’re just in it for the coffee, aren’t you?”
Nox’s eyes practically twinkle. “It’s just a plus. I’m mostly in it to spend some extra time with you.”
I suddenly feel guilty. I usually spend the mornings with Sloane at the gym where we run together.
We split off for him to go to the ice rink and me to the pool, but we drive there and back together.
Zane never lets me be alone while he’s around, we do a lot together every day.
Cain is just Cain, he’s still trying to deny that anything is going on between us.
Nox however, hasn’t been spending much time with me.
I hadn’t really realized that our interactions had lessened since we got back from New York, and now I feel bad.
I was so wrapped up in getting my summer assignments done that I hadn’t realized I wasn’t taking the time out to cook with him or just exist in the same space outside of dinner where we’re all sitting together. I need to get better at this whole ‘they’re mine’ thing.
I grin at him. “That sounds great.”
He opens the door and gestures for me to go out first, and I’m so busy watching him over my shoulder as I walk through the door that I stumble and almost fall. I huff at myself. I don’t stumble. I’m a badass bitch who knows how to handle at least a dozen weapons. Stumbling is not something I do.
Nox pretends like he didn’t see that and I appreciate it even though we both know he couldn’t have missed it. In his car, which is practically the same as mine, he turns on the radio low on some rock station I don’t recognize.
“Are you free Wednesday night?” he asks as we pull out of the driveway.
I take a moment to think on it. “I don’t have anything planned. Why?”
He grins at me. “Well the guy I’ve been keeping tabs on has an event a few cities over, so we’ll have plenty of time to install the security cameras and bugs. I wasn’t expecting to get it done so early, but it’s a golden opportunity I can’t let pass by.”
My heartbeat ticks up. I’ve never done something like this before.
Sure, breaking and entering was in my skillset, but usually it was to kidnap someone or teach them a valuable lesson.
Usually the lesson was don’t do that because now your dead.
I guess that never really gave them the opportunity to learn from their actions, but what can you do about that?
“Lets do it. It sounds fun.” I’m actually really excited about it. It’ll give me an opportunity to learn something new as well as understand how they operate better. “What exactly is the point of the surveillance and background checks?” I ask, turning in my seat to see him better.
He glances over at me before focusing back on the road.
“We take jobs that are given to us, but we only accept the ones that are well deserved. If we get hired to take out an ex-wife because she got the house in the divorce, we wouldn’t accept that job.
If we’re hired to steal money from an ex-spouse that hid funds in overseas checking accounts, we would do that.
The really bad jobs are the ones like this where the target has been accused of something bad.
We need to get proof of wrong doing before we take action.
It sucks, but we can’t just go around hurting people because someone said they do bad things. ”
I nod my head. “That makes sense. What happens with the jobs you don’t take?”
Nox grins at me. “Well, it depends. There was this one job where we were hired to take out a competitor for some guys business. The other guy was actually pretty great. He donated a lot of money to the community and volunteered at a soup kitchen in his spare time. The guy who tried to hire us on the other hand, was awful. Embezzlement of company funds as well as trips to countries known for sex tourism. We had no proof of what he was doing there, but we’re pretty sure it involved children.
” His knuckles whiten from his tight grip on the steering wheel.
“So I made sure all of his financial indiscretions were in a tidy little bow and made a few anonymous reports to the authorities. He’s bankrupt and in prison now.
I also managed to get him on several no-fly lists which will have him wrapped up in red tape for years after his incarceration. ”
The fact that he just casually throws it out there that he hacked into government databases to add that douche to no-fly lists suddenly has my panties soaked.
I really need to watch him work. He helped me do background info on my selections for promotion but it was nothing this in-depth.
I want to watch him systematically dismantle a man’s life, all behind his computer screen.
Maybe I could even convince him to do it naked.
I have to put those thoughts on hold when Nox parks the car.
When we get out, he waits for me to catch up before threading his fingers through mine.
It feels nice to be able to walk through the halls hand in hand.
It’s so nice that even seeing Carol doesn’t ruin my day.
The scowl on her face even brightens it a little.
When she pulls her phone out and aims it at me, I stick my tongue out at her.
It’s not like I need to stay hidden anymore, everyone knows where I am already.
I really don’t care what she does with the picture, though I’m pretty sure it will be something equal parts stupid and infuriating.
She’ll probably send it to Sloane and tell him I’m cheating on him or something.
She doesn’t say anything as we pass her, but the smug smile on her face really makes me want to say something to wipe the look off.
Nox’s hand tightens in mine like he’s afraid I might run off to go murder the girl in plain sight of everyone around us.
But I’m not so unhinged that I can’t consider the consequences of something like that.
I ignore the desperate girl and follow Nox into the cafe. Once we’ve both gotten a white chocolate raspberry latte we take a seat at one of the two seaters in the corner. It’s actually the same table where Nox saved me from the guy that was failing at flirting with me last year.
“So what classes do you have today?” Nox asks before taking his first sip of coffee.
The look of pure bliss that crosses his face makes me pause before answering his question. “I have Physics with Hanson first. Then History of Ancient Warfare, I’m not sure who the teacher is for that. It’s a guest lecturer but they never released their name, so I guess I’ll find out today.”
Nox frowns at that but shrugs. “Maybe it was a last-minute thing?”
“It really doesn’t matter. I’m only taking the class because it’s the only one that seemed interesting to fill my requirement. History isn’t really my thing.”
Nox grins. “With all the violence in history I figured you would love it.”
I huff at him and glare indignantly before taking a long drink from my coffee.
Nox looks down at the table, his fingers fiddling with the cardboard sleeve around his coffee cup. By the time he starts ripping a strip off it I know something is bothering him. “What’s wrong?” I lean forward and lower my voice.
Nox stops his anxious destruction to look up at me. A small smile spreads across his face, though it doesn’t reach his eyes so it looks more nervous than happy. “I… uh… just wanted to ask you to do something,” he says softly.
My brows lower. “You can ask me to do anything.” I’m not even joking. I would probably agree without hesitation as long as it doesn’t involve killing one of my guys.
The small smile that appears on his face does reach his eyes this time. “I just wanted to see if you would sleep in my room tonight. Only if you want to, of course.”
“Absolutely. You don’t need to feel weird about asking for that. We’ve slept together plenty of times.” I furrow my brow, confused about why he felt so nervous to ask.
“I know. Usually it’s not a planned thing.
I find myself in your bed without any conscious thought, it’s just that lately Sloane and Zane are always there.
Which I’m not upset about or anything, I just have a hard time sleeping with anyone else in the bed.
And you’ve never slept in my bed. I always go to yours.
I’ve been meaning to ask, but I just didn’t know how to without making it awkward. ” He bites his bottom lip.
I reach across the table and place my hand on top of his. “All you have to do is ask and I’m there. I don’t understand it. The guys have mentioned that you usually have trouble sleeping, but I’ve never witnessed that. I actually think you’re a pretty deep sleeper.”
Nox frowns before turning his hand over to thread his fingers through mine.
“Well when I’m with you I don’t have trouble sleeping.
It also helps that I know you can handle your own if I get startled…
Like what happened at your dad’s place.” His jaw clenches and I know he’s feeling guilty again when his eyes trail to my neck where he’d wrapped his hand around my throat.
I laugh softly. “You were there when I woke up swinging a knife at Sloane after he snuck into my dorm room last year. I can understand those kind of instincts. I don’t know what kind of trauma gave them to you, but I can guess.
Waking up to assassins in my room on more than one occasion has made me very jumpy when woken abruptly too.
I’ll be more careful next time. I didn’t realize that was a problem for you. ”
Nox winces and rubs his eyebrow. “Yeah. I probably should have let you know about that, especially since I find my way into your bed more often than not.”