Chapter 60
Thank God she was home.
Angie snuggled into Jared’s bed. Well, she guessed it was also her bed now too.
Jared had just finished feeding her some soup and now North was choosing a movie for them to watch. They both settled in next to her, one on either side.
A sigh of happiness left her.
“Are you all right, baby?” Jared asked.
“Better than all right,” she said. “I feel amazing.”
“You just got out of the hospital,” North pointed out. “How amazing can you possibly feel?”
“Oh, yeah, well that part sucks. So does the second head.” She swallowed heavily.
Do not think about that.
“Do you . . . should you both be going . . . to investigate?” She really didn’t want them to leave her.
“I’ll do that once you’re asleep,” North said.
“Oh.” Shoot. She really shouldn’t pressure him into staying. It wasn’t fair.
But she just wanted them both close.
Reaching over, North took hold of her chin, turning her face toward him. “It’s not that I don’t want to be with you.”
“I know. You’ve got work to do. You really can go now.”
Don’t go. Don’t go.
“I’m not going anywhere. But I also don’t want to risk falling asleep and hurting you.”
“How would you hurt me?” she asked.
“Sometimes I have nightmares and I lash out. And I don't think I could fall asleep anyway. I’ve never been able to sleep with anyone.” He glanced over at Jared then back to her.
“What do you have nightmares about?” she asked.
“My old life. Before I meet Jared.”
“Have you ever talked to anybody about it?” she asked.
He gave her a stern look. “No.”
She knew that he didn't want to talk about it any longer and she nodded. Angie understood not wanting to talk about your bad stuff.
“If you ever do want to talk about it I'm here,” she told him.
“We both are,” Jared added.
“I know.”
They settled in to watch the movie and it wasn't long until her eyes grew tired.
She yawned and they helped her snuggle down further into the bed. As she drifted off to sleep she felt lips brush her forehead and murmurs of good night.
This felt right.
Why did it feel so right to lie here and watch her sleep? North wasn't sure, but he knew that he didn't want to move. There were a hundred things that he needed to do, but none of them seemed as important as watching over her.
Jared got up and used the bathroom, then climbed back into bed. “I’m here. You can go.”
North nodded. “Yeah, I will go soon.”
North opened his eyes, staring around in shock.
What the hell?
What was he doing? Why was he still in bed with Angie and Jared? And how was it close to five in the morning?
Understanding filled him.
He’d fallen asleep. With other people. And he’d slept for more than three hours at one time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that.
Jared leaned up on one elbow and raised his eyebrow at him. North just shook his head.
They didn’t say anything, not wanting to risk waking Angie, but he could see the surprise and happiness in Jared’s face.
Was North finally healing?
He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his life was changing.
And it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Emiliano? Is everything all right?” Jared answered his phone as he walked out of the living room.
Angie had been home for close to a week and was feeling much better. They’d kept her in bed for the first few days and other than a really bad headache one day, she’d been pretty good. Right now she was sitting on the couch with a book and a blanket over her.
North had gone to talk to the guards about security.
“Great news, Jared!” Emiliano said.
There was cheering in the background and Jared came to a stop. That seemed odd. Emiliano was usually very serious and so were his men.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“Beltran is dead!” Emiliano told him. “We found the safehouse that he and his top men were hiding in and we took them all out.”
“Are you . . . you didn’t tell me this,” he said as he took a seat in his office.
Could it really be true? Was he finally gone?
“It happened fast,” Emiliano told him.
“You’ve got proof?” Jared asked. “You know how sneaky he can be.”
“I will send you photos. It’s over. He’s finally gone, Jared. Now, we can all get on with living.”
“Did you hear anything about him hiring an assassin to kill me?” Jared asked.
“An assassin? No. I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him. But an assassin would cost a lot and it seems like he was living on the bones of his ass.”
They talked through a few more details and then ended the call. Jared flicked through the photos on his phone.
That was definitely Beltran.
And he was certainly dead.
North walked into the room, pausing as he saw Jared’s face. “What is it?”
“Beltran is dead.” He showed him the photos and then told him what Emiliano had said.
“This is good news, so why do you look concerned?”
“I don’t know. I shouldn’t be. He’s finally dead. I guess, in a way, it feels anticlimactic. I knew I probably wasn’t going to be the one to kill him, but I guessed I hoped I would be.”
North nodded. “I know what you mean. It would have been far more satisfactory.”
“Exactly. I’m going to go check on Angie and let her know the good news. Are you coming?”
“In a moment.”
North waited for the door to the office to close before pulling out his phone.
If Beltran had hired The Collective to kill Jared and Beltran was dead . . . surely his mission would be called off?
N: I need to meet with you urgently about the mission.
Nothing.
Fuck it.
Think about this. About what could be going on.
N: If Beltran is the one that hired my skills and he’s dead, do you still want me to take out the target?
It was a risky message. He wasn’t supposed to ask questions.
However, he had to know.
N: I’m not doing anything without a reply and confirmation about what is going on.
Fuck it.
Could he deflect without putting Jared and Angie at risk?
What would The Collective do?
Kill him and everyone he loved?
Christ. No matter which way he looked at it, he was fucking screwed.
Deciding he needed to be with Jared and Angie, he started searching through the cameras to find them.
He discovered them in her playroom and headed up that way. He paused at the open doorway.
“No, Daddy. You’ve forgotten what I taught you last time. The knives have to be on the other side. Yes, and Miss Melanie would like some vanilla cake.”
“I don’t think we have vanilla cake,” Jared replied.
She sighed long and loud. “That’s very disappointing, Daddy.”
“I hear you, baby girl. I’ve been disappointed about this fact for the last week. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make vanilla cake. So Miss Melanie might have to settle for a piece of apple.”
“A piece of apple! Daddy, you can’t have a tea party with apples. Everyone knows you have tea and cake. Not tea and apples. It’s a crime!”
“Pretty sure it’s not a crime,” Jared replied dryly.
“Well, it should be! And the punishment should be high. Like having to spend a hundred years in jail.”
“That is severe.”
North pushed the door open further. “Perhaps we can try and make a vanilla cake. How does that sound?”
It would be the perfect distraction while he was waiting on a reply.
Angie was seated in an armchair that they’d brought up here for her. She couldn’t sit on the floor with her stitches and bruising and the rocking chair wasn’t ideal either.
She clapped her hands in delight. “Northie always has the best ideas.”
“Does he?” Jared said suspiciously. “Does Northie know how to bake a cake?”
North just shrugged. “How hard can it be?”