Chapter Four
Harder than ever, Nick woke to sun streaming through the blinds, rays slanting across his half-empty king-size bed. The morning would have been a whole lot better if Sasha Porter had been naked, soft, and sated beside him.
With a sigh, he glanced at the clock. Shit. Twenty past eight in the morning.
Hopping into a pair of sweatpants he’d discarded at the foot of the bed, he rushed down the hall to the first of the spare bedrooms. Why the hell the Santiago brothers had rented him a huge house rather than just a crappy apartment near his old stomping grounds, he had no idea.
He’d bet their wife London had a hand in it.
He had a soft spot for the woman who had helped to save his friends from self-destruction.
He’d bet she had one for him for roughly the same reason.
The vague smile widened when he peeked into the guest room and found Sasha wrapped up with Harper in one twin bed, sound asleep.
A nearly empty bottle of children’s Tylenol rested on the nightstand.
Unfortunately, neither looked as if sleep had helped much.
Nick felt guilty that he hadn’t realized Sasha might need a hand with her daughter. Hell, he had no experience with kids.
Turning, he headed back to his room and walked into the enormous en suite shower. Warm water pelted him, unwinding muscles tense from aching for Sasha half the night.
He breathed in the steam, tried to clear his head.
But no. Despite being stupid and masochistic, he fantasized about touching Sasha under the spray, petting her until she clung to him, fucking her until she screamed his name in climax.
Since that wasn’t happening, he soaped up with a bar of Irish Spring, choosing not to punch his express ticket to self-pleasure.
He knew from experience that the orgasm would be hollow and the satisfaction short-lived.
His desire for Sasha would only come roaring back with a vengeance.
After a perfunctory washing, he cut the water, dried off, and donned a pair of faded jeans. His black T-shirt had a cartoon depicting terrified people fleeing a hulking figure pursuing from behind. The caption beneath read Zombies Hate Fast Food.
After fingercombing his hair, he headed for the kitchen. As he reached the end of the hall, the doorbell rang. A glance out the window at the sleek Infiniti SUV told him exactly who stood on the other side of the door.
With a wry shake of his head, he opened up to find a curvy blonde carrying a swaddled, sleeping infant flanked by two tall men in nearly identical suits.
“Where is she?” London asked before Nick could say a word, her sweet face curious as she tried to peek around him.
“You forgot to say hello, belleza.” Xander Santiago’s smile revealed how much he adored his wife.
His older brother, Javier, didn’t look any less smitten. “She’s been pacing since she took Dulce out of her crib at six. You’re lucky we got her to wait this long before we descended.”
Repressing a smile, Nick opened the door wide and directed everyone to the kitchen. “Sasha and Harper are still asleep. Coffee?”
London rushed in and gave him a loose hug around the neck. “Which I assume you want me to make?”
“Please,” Xander all but begged. “Nick makes terrible coffee.”
“It’s a single-cup brewer, asshole,” Nick shot back. “Foolproof.”
“And yet you fucked it up yesterday morning.”
Javier barked out a laugh as he carried in a couple of sacks of groceries. “You’re both helpless.” He plucked their seven-month-old out of London’s arms, kissed her downy little head, and turned to Xander. “Hold Dulce.”
He disappeared into the kitchen with London, tucking items into the refrigerator or pantry as London directed. Nick lingered with Xander in the adjoining dining room. Seeing the former manwhore holding a baby in a frilly dress was so jarring, it was almost comical.
“Bought a baseball bat to fight off the boys yet?” he asked Xander. With her daddies’ dark hair and her mother’s bright blue eyes, Dulce would be a beauty.
“Screw a stick of wood. I own half a company that makes the most high-tech military equipment in the world, and I’m not afraid to use any weapon at my disposal. None of those adolescent pricks will ever touch my daughter.”
Spoken like an overprotective father. “What about when her teenage hormones kick in? She might want—”
“If you’d like our help, shut your fucking mouth.”
Nick laughed. Yanking Xander’s chain had always been fun, but now it was a downright blast. “Shutting it now.”
“Good man.” Xander glanced across the kitchen to see Javier pulling London close before he dipped his head to cover their wife’s mouth.
Nick had seen them kiss before. Usually, they oozed passion; they still did.
Both brothers had always looked at her as if she was their moon, sun, and stars.
Their very happiness, in fact. But it was different now that they’d had a child.
More reverent. More devoted. More sacred. They were a family in every sense.
Nick tore his glance away. He’d never have what they had with any woman, especially not with Sasha. He shoved aside the unwelcome stab of envy.
“So what’s your plan?” Xander asked, bouncing his daughter in his arms and smiling when she giggled.
“Like I said last night on the phone, I think the little girl is too sick to be anything but a distraction to Sasha. We should be focused on keeping her and her daughter safe. And if we wait for Harper to recover first, I’m afraid the kid having a cold will be the least of our troubles.”
“Given the contacts and resources Clifford has, he’ll find you fast. You’re right; Harper is better off with us, away from the danger, so she can heal.”
Nick nodded. “Convincing Sasha will be the hard part.”
“If she’s half as attached to her daughter as London is to ours? Oh, yeah. She’ll fight you like hell.”
“I’m betting on it. But the solution to this shitstorm isn’t going to magically roll up to my door.
Sasha and I will have to search Mike’s old stomping grounds for whatever he left behind.
A sick girl is a liability. If Sasha and I find what we’re looking for, she and Harper will have a chance to live happy, healthy lives. ”
“And the bastard who put you in prison will go down.”
“That, too.” Nick nodded.
“Then what? Got any plans beyond that? You haven’t talked about reopening your business or taking on new cases.” Xander looked at him as if he saw too much.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” he hedged. Who the hell would hire him now?
Xander raised a dark brow. “We’ll make you head of security at S.I. Industries.”
And fire the guy already occupying that position to create a vacancy for their ex-con pal? They had already done too much for him.
“Thanks, but I’m not much of a corporate guy. This is fancy office attire for me.” He gestured to his T-shirt.
Xander rolled his eyes. “Bullshit. Swallow that fucking pride and say yes.”
Nick didn’t respond, just stared, blank-faced.
His buddy sighed. “Look, you’ve had some tough breaks, and I know you think I’m trying to hire you out of pity. But that’s not it. You’re genuinely good at what you do, or my brother would never have had you on retainer back in the day. Just…think about it.”
“Nick?”
Sasha’s startled whisper saved him from answering Xander. He pushed away from the table and approached her. She held Harper, who began coughing with red-cheeked abandon.
Worry tightened her face as she braced a hand on her daughter’s back and cut a glance at Xander, who closed in behind him. He heard London and Javier approach, too.
Nick didn’t follow Sasha’s gaze. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her clean hair looked rumpled and sexy in a pale cloud around her shoulders. Her hazel eyes were wide and wary as her stare fell on the Santiagos—strangers to her.
Instinctively, she looked to him for reassurance and safety. He felt a jolt of satisfaction—along with the rise of his cock.
As he reached her, he couldn’t stop himself from hooking his finger under her chin and lifting her gaze to his. “Don’t be afraid. These are my friends. They’re here to help.”
“You’re sure they can be trusted?” she whispered.
Nick wasn’t insulted. She’d probably stayed alive this long by questioning everything and everyone. “Positive.”
He tore his gaze off her long enough to perform introductions. London cradled Dulce and backed away, making sure the baby wasn’t exposed to Harper’s germs. But she smiled and waved at Sasha with a warm friendliness that had almost had Sasha smiling back.
“We brought groceries,” London said. “If one of my husbands will hold the baby…”
Javier plucked Dulce from her arms. “Go ahead. I’m sure Sasha and Harper would like a home-cooked breakfast. I know I would.”
“Maybe you’d talk to me while I get everything ready?” London asked Sasha. “We’ll send the men to the living room. I’m sure they can find some college football pregame to watch until the doctor comes.”
“Sure.” Sasha didn’t look as certain as her answer sounded, but she followed London into the kitchen, still carrying a limp, hot-cheeked Harper.
Reluctantly, Nick followed the Santiago brothers into the living room as the sounds of bowls clacking and the gas stove firing filled the air. Female chatter followed.
“Let London work her magic,” Javier murmured. “She’s a warm, comforting presence.”
Yeah, Nick had liked her immediately and known she’d be good for the overly driven executive. The fact that she’d also settled the younger Santiago, a notorious manwhore, had been nothing short of a miracle.
“Everyone loves London,” Xander assured.
“I don’t want Sasha to feel abandoned. She’s out of her element.” Or was the problem that he hated being apart from her?
“She’ll be fine.” Javier dragged him to the sofa.
The moment he sat, Xander plopped into a chair, leaned close, and leveled a direct gaze at him. “You, I’m not so sure about.”
“What do you mean?” Nick scowled.