12. Nick
NICK
Nick : Worst. Day. Ever.
Quinn : what happened?
Nick : I got fired
Quinn : what?
Nick : the café is closing
Nick : the landlords jacked up the rents again and Vicky cant afford to keep the place open
Quinn : I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?
I glanced up to make sure I hadn’t missed my stop.
Nick : no but thanks for asking
Nick : I still have the club and the money from you know what so I’ll be okay
Nick : I just feel so bad for Vicky and everyone else who works there
Nick : and I’m gonna miss it
Nick : i worked there for almost six years
Quinn : are you sure you’re okay?
Nick : yeah, just kinda numb right now
Nick : its so weird that today was my last day at my job. I got up, went in like it was a typical day, then bam. No more job
Quinn : that’s a lot to deal with
Quinn : is everything okay with the other thing you have going on?
I glanced up again to check how close we were to my stop. A few more minutes.
Nick : its fine
Nick : rich people live boring lives
Nick : its just fancy party after fancy party where everyone talks about fancy stuff and wears fancy stuff and eats fancy stuff
Quinn : they do like their fancy stuff
Quinn : is he treating you well?
My neck and face heated at the memories of all the times he’d treated me well in the car, in my room, on the kitchen counter, in his office…
Nick : yup
Nick : total gentleman
Quinn : how long have you been fucking him?
Nick : how did you know??????
Quinn : you just told me
Nick : DAMMIT QUINN
Nick : HOW DARE YOU REVERSE UNO ME!!!!!
He sent a line of laughing emojis.
Nick : about a month
Quinn : and you’re sure he didn’t coerce you at all?
Nick : not at all. Fucker made me wait to get the D! this thing has been going on for 2 months now and I’ve only been getting the good stuff for half the time
Quinn sent more laughing emojis.
Quinn : as long as you’re okay with everything
Nick : totally okay. We understand each other
Now were a block from my stop. Gathering up my stuff, I pulled the indicator cord. When I was off the bus, I opened my texts.
Quinn : I have to get ready for a meeting. Let me know if you need anything. Talk soon
Nick : talk soon
I added some hearts and kissy faces and sent the text off.
“Ugh,” I grumbled and slipped my phone away. “Worst day ever.”
All I wanted was some bestie cuddles and to eat my weight in carbs, but Aiden was working tonight, and Gray had to get up before dawn to get to work on time and it was already close to his bedtime.
The twins were on the same crew as Gray, so they got up just as early as he did, and Kai was busy with his upcoming move.
Evan had been away for the past week traveling between his offices and doing whatever businesspeople did on work trips.
I didn’t do well with idle time and being left to my own devices usually led to me doing stupid shit because boredom made my brain itchy.
Still moping about having to spend the evening being sad by myself, I took the long way home.
My usual route was a straight shot from the bus stop to my building, but the walk was boring and cut through some sketchy side streets.
This way took longer, but the streets were prettier and it wasn’t as creepy.
Not many people were out and about since it was early evening, but just seeing other people made me feel less alone as I made my way down a picturesque street with stately houses and well-manicured lawns.
Why did they always put rich neighborhoods next to poor ones? Was it to make the rich people feel better about their situation? Or was it to make poor people feel worse?
Movement caught my eye. I glanced over my shoulder as the hairs on the back of my neck lifted with goosebumps.
A giant of a man was walking about twenty feet behind me. I’d noticed him when I got off the bus. Had he followed me?
Or was he just a regular guy going about his evening?
I stole another look over my shoulder. My stomach exploded with butterflies. Not happy ones. Something about him was off.
For one, it was a nice night. Definitely T-shirt weather, but he was in a black hoodie and black jeans. That wasn’t exactly newsworthy, but the way he had his black ballcap pulled low over his eyes and kept his face down and hidden by his hood was right out of the how to spot a murderer handbook.
My chest tightened as my heart palpitated wildly.
Was this one of the guys who’d threatened Evan? Had they found me?
Was I about to die?
Gasping a breath, I pulled out my phone and quickened my steps.
Should I call the police? But what would I say? Was the possibility that I was being followed a good enough reason to call them? And what if this guy wasn’t a psycho killer and I got him shot by some trigger-happy cop because I didn’t like the way he dressed?
But what if he was a psycho killer? What if not calling the cops on him got me unalived?
Shit shit shit shit .
With shaking hands I video-called Gray. He’d know what to do.
“Please be home. Please be home,” I muttered as it rang.
Gray’s face filled the screen as he answered. “What’s up?”
“Hey.” I peeked over my shoulder. Wait, what? He wasn’t behind me anymore. Had I been wrong? I looked at Gray. “Can you talk for a few minutes?”
“Yeah, you okay?”
“Fine. Some guy’s been following me for a few blocks. Probably just going the same way as me, but I’m getting sketchy vibes from him.”
“Where are you? Want me to come pick you up?”
“I’m probably just being paranoid.” I looked over my shoulder again. “Shit,” I hissed as the guy stepped out from behind a group of women pushing strollers.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Not sure. Let me cross the street to see…” I looked both ways and hurried across the street. “Fuck. He crossed the street too.”
“Where are you?”
“Like, five minutes from home.”
“Where’s the nearest commercial street? Is there a store or anything close?”
“There’s a gas station a few blocks away.” I peered over my shoulder again. “Wait. Is that…” I stopped walking. The guy stopped too. He pulled a phone out of his hoodie pocket and fiddled with it, keeping his head down and his face out of view.
Something about him was familiar. The set of his shoulders, his big hands, even the way he was bent over his phone. His black hoodie was generic and had no identifying details on it, but I’d seen it before. I glanced at his feet. I knew those boots.
Vlado? Why the hell was he following me around and freaking me the fuck out?
“What?” Gray asked.
Dropping the phone to my side, I stalked back toward where the man stood. He froze but didn’t look up.
“The fuck, dude?” Please be Vlado and not some crazy guy who’ll kill me in broad daylight while I’m talking to my bestie .
“Nick?” came Gray’s muffled voice.
Vlado lifted his head and pushed his hood down, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Hey.”
“Nick? Are you okay? The fuck is happening?” Gray sounded panicked now.
I lifted the phone and gave him what I hoped was a carefree smile. “Sorry, all good. False alarm.”
“What do you mean? Were you being followed?” he demanded.
Dammit. I shouldn’t have bothered him with this.
Gray was like the big brother I’d always wanted, and I loved him to pieces, but he was insanely overprotective and I’d definitely tripped his Spidey sense.
I guessed that I had two weeks, tops, before he cornered me and demanded to know what I was hiding and why I’d been such a shitty friend to him for the past few months.
“Yeah, but it’s no big deal.” I shot daggers at Vlado. “Just someone being annoying.”
He spun his ballcap around so it was backwards and shrugged innocently.
“I’m okay,” I told Gray. “I just have to deal with this.”
“Deal with what?”
“Nothing.” I blew him a kiss before he could ask again. “Thanks, babes.”
I ended the call and whirled on Vlado. “What the fuck?”
The group of moms with strollers were just passing us. A few of them threw me scandalized looks. Oops.
“Sorry.” I tucked my phone back in my pocket.
When they were out of earshot, I put my hands on my hips and glared at Vlado. “What? The? Fuck?” I repeated.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“Don’t play dumb with me, mister.” I wagged my finger at him. “Why are you following me and making me think I’m about to be murdered!”
“Shhhh.” He did a quick scan around us. “Use your indoor voice. I really don’t need to get shot because someone thinks I’m threatening you.”
“You do realize that telling me to use my indoor voice is the same as telling me to calm down.” I narrowed my eyes. “And what happens when someone tells me to calm down?”
He winced. “You’re right. You have every right to be upset.”
I marched up to him and stood close enough our toes touched. He had a point about yelling accusations at him and using words like murdered in public, but he wasn’t about to get off without experiencing the full blast of my anger. “Talk.”
A black car I sort of recognized pulled up next to us.
“Get in.” Vlado waved to the car.
“What the hell is going on?”
“I promise I’ll explain everything when we’re in the car.”
I glared at him, half tempted to sit down on the sidewalk and have a full tantrum until he sang like a canary.
“Please,” he said softly.
“Fine.” I tapped my foot. “Well?”
“Well?” he echoed.
“Are you forgetting something?” I stared at the door handle to emphasize my point.
Vlado huffed out a laugh and peeled the door open. I slid inside and settled on the seat. A bald guy with a bushy beard and a huge and scarily realistic spider tattoo on his neck upnodded me from behind the wheel.
“Do I know you?” I asked him.
“That’s Myron. He’s one of my men.”
“Does Myron know how to answer for himself?” I asked Vlado.
“He does.” Vlado made some sort of motion with his hand and Myron pulled away from the curb.
“Talk. Now. Why are you following me?”
“Evan put me on your security detail.”
“My what?”
“Your security detail.”
“Why do I have security? Is this because of the letter?”
“Letters,” he said grimly.
“What?” I yelped. “Letters as in plural?”