Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
GABE
Nico was quiet the whole way back to Ocean Grove. I knew he felt bad about his panic attack. And I felt bad because I’d dropped him into a situation unprepared. I knew better than anyone that even the most innocuous situations could go sideways in the blink of an eye. This time, it was because the lead singer failed to tell us about his stalker. He’d thought it was no big deal. It turned out to be a big fucking deal.
When I pulled up in front of Zach and Miguel’s apartment, I stopped Nico before he got out of the car. “I want to apologize.”
“For what?” he asked in surprise.
“For putting you in a situation you weren’t prepared for.” I put a hand up to stop his protest. “I know you can handle yourself, but you’ve never done security, and I didn’t train you in de-escalation and takedown techniques. That’s on me. If you want, we could use the gym in my basement for your training.”
Nico’s brows rose. “You have a gym in your basement?”
I felt my face heat. “Okay, that sounded really bougie. It’s not all set up yet. I just moved in this week.”
“Where do you live?”
“In Asbury on 4th Avenue. A few blocks from the beach,” I replied.
He let out a low whistle. “Yeah. That’s bougie.”
I shoved him lightly. “Shut up. Are you free tomorrow?”
Nico shook his head. “Zach and Miguel have to work at the hotel, so I’ll have Cody.”
“I keep forgetting they work on Saturday. Bring Cody with you. We can have some fun with him and then do an intro to takedowns.”
Nico looked skeptical. “Sure, if you’re okay having a four-year-old around.”
“Are you kidding? Cody’s my buddy.”
He smiled. “He does talk about you a lot.”
“Will you need a ride?” I asked.
He looked away from me, embarrassed. “Yeah. I’d walk, but it’s too far for Cody. I haven’t gotten to the DMV yet to get my license reinstated. It expired while I was in prison.”
I rolled my eyes. “I hate going to the DMV.”
“Me too.” His face scrunched up in disgust. “And I’ll have to start over since it’s been more than three years.”
I blinked. “You mean with a permit and a driving test?”
“Yep.”
“That sucks.” I nudged him. “Need me to teach you how to drive?”
He rolled his eyes. “Ha ha.”
“But seriously,” I insisted. “If you need to go somewhere when Zach and Miguel are at work, you can call me. Most of our security gigs happen at night.”
His eyes slid away from mine. “That’s really nice of you. I’ll let you know if I need it.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure Marco will want me to come back after I had a panic attack on the job?”
I could understand his worry because he didn’t know Marco like I did. “I know for a fact that every person on that team tonight, including me, has had some kind of panic attack or flashback while on the job.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “I know Marco is a grumpy asshole most of the time. Well, he’s gotten better since he got together with Liam. But underneath all that, he’s one of the most generous people I know. He’s always willing to help people who need a hand. You’d have to fuck up pretty badly for him to boot you out.”
“No pressure or anything,” he murmured.
I nudged him. “You’ll be fine because you’ll be learning from the best.”
That made Nico chuckle, which pleased me more than it should have. “I’ll be here at eleven if that works for you. I’ll make us all lunch and we can spend time entertaining Cody. I have a big backyard, so we can throw a ball around until he’s worn out. Then we can settle him in front of the TV in my basement with a movie while we do some training. Sound good?”
“Yeah. That sounds good.” He opened the car door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I watched him walk up the stairs to the double doors of the apartment. I couldn’t explain the protectiveness I felt for him. I hardly knew the man, but I had taken responsibility for him without a second thought. I shook off the thought. I was just doing what was right.
Like he knew what I was thinking, Marco called my cell just as I pulled into my driveway. “What’s up?” I asked.
“How’s Nico doing?”
“He’s fine. He feels bad for having a panic attack on the job.” I switched the call from my Bluetooth so I could get out of my car. “I told him you wouldn’t fire him because of that.”
“Of course not,” he confirmed. “But I gotta ask, why all this interest in a guy you hardly know?”
Fuck. “I just want to help the man. He seems like he could use a friend.”
“Uh-huh,” he replied skeptically. “He’s also hot and bisexual.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Fuck you, Marco. You think I’m doing this for a piece of ass?”
“Settle down,” Marco growled. “No, I don’t think you’re consciously doing this to get him in bed. But he’s sweet and vulnerable under that hard-ass exterior. Just your type.”
Dammit. My friend knew me well. “I’m not trying for anything. I can’t after what happened with Benji.”
I heard Marco sigh, which was unusual for him. “Look, I’m not saying you’re going for any kind of relationship with Nico. But I’m telling you now that if you close yourself off from him or someone else because Benji died, you’ll regret it. Hell, you were the one who smacked me upside the head when I screwed up with Liam. I almost lost him because I stupidly thought I couldn’t get attached to anyone after Terry killed himself. Just keep that in mind. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Yeah. Okay. But I’m telling you, Nico isn’t interested in anything with me. Sometimes, it seems like he’s barely hanging on.”
“I got that impression too,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something bad happened to him while he was in prison.”
I knew what Marco was hinting at. The idea of someone hurting Nico like that sparked the same kind of rage that nearly got me a dishonorable discharge. “Jesus, I hope not. That’s a mind-fuck that’s hard to get over.”
“Yeah, it is.” He paused. “Look, I can see you like Nico, and I think he’s a good guy. Just be careful. Things with him could easily go south if you’re too heavy-handed.”
“I’ll be careful, Dad,” I snarked.
“Fuck off, Warner.”
I snorted a laugh. “See you tomorrow night.”
“See you then.”
That night, I dreamed of Nico in prison. They were not nice dreams.
I was at Zach and Miguel’s apartment at eleven a.m. on the dot. Nico and Cody were sitting on the porch step waiting for me, with Cody’s car seat on the floor beside them. Cody started jumping up and down when he saw me pull up. He went to run down the stairs, but Nico stopped him and spoke quietly to him. Cody nodded and took the stairs down carefully, which was fair because they were steep.
“Mr. Gabe!” Cody yelled when he got to the sidewalk.
I crouched and held out my arms. “Hey, buddy. It’s good to see you.” He threw his arms around my neck and squeezed. “Daddy said we’re going to your house.”
“That’s right. We just have to wait for your daddy to put the car seat in my car.”
Nico smiled at me. “Thanks for picking us up.” I opened the rear passenger door for him so he could install the seat. We got Cody loaded up and were on our way a few minutes later.
When we got to my house, they stood on the sidewalk and stared. “This whole house is yours?” Cody asked.
“Yep,” I replied. “Wanna see inside?”
“Yes!” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me forward. Nico followed behind with a laugh.
I brought them inside and showed them all the rooms downstairs and then the back patio. Cody wanted to go upstairs, but Nico said, “Not right now. Let’s have lunch first.”
“Okay,” Cody grumped. I scooped him up, flew him into the kitchen, and sat him on one of the barstools around the island while I got out all the ingredients for sandwiches.
Nico helped me, saying quietly, “Thanks for getting peanut butter and jelly. He seems to be on a PB&J kick right now.”
“No problem,” I replied. “I know how little kids are. I lived with my sister for a little while after I left the Navy, and she has two young children.”
“You’re really good with Cody. He likes you a lot.”
“He’s a good kid.”
We finished making the sandwiches and ate at the island. After we were done, we played with Cody in the backyard. Once he was tired out, I brought them down to my basement.
I had half of the basement set up as a small home gym with free-weights, a universal machine, a treadmill, and mats for martial arts training. The other half had two comfortable couches arranged around a big-screen TV mounted on the wall. Small tables on either side of the couches could hold drinks and snacks. We set Cody up on one of the couches with a bowl of popcorn and Encanto on the TV.
I led Nico to the mats, where we took off our shoes. “Today, I’m going to show you some basic techniques for de-escalating a situation and taking someone down without hurting them—much.”
Nico shifted and looked anxious. “My parole officer warned me about hurting anyone, even if I’m working security. He said I could go back to prison.”
Anger flared in me. “What the fuck?”
From the other side of the room, Cody said, “That’s a bad word, Mr. Gabe.”
“Sorry, buddy,” I called out.
I turned back to Nico and said quietly, “What the fuck? You weren’t supposed to be in prison in the first place.”
He shrugged. “That’s just what he told me.”
I pulled out my cell. “We need to get to the bottom of this.” I opened my message app.
Nico just told me his parole officer told him that if he hurts someone on the job, he could go back to prison.
What. The. Fuck. I’ll text Santino and ask him to look into it. This is getting ridiculous.
Agreed. Thanks.
I pocketed my phone. “Marco’s going to text Tino and ask him to look into it. You shouldn’t even be on parole, never mind being threatened with going back to prison.”
The relief in his expression was evident. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. I can’t let Cody down. I want to be a good father for him.”
“I know you do.” I stepped back onto the mats. “Okay. I’m going to show how you could have taken down that guy last night. It’s really easy, and it doesn’t matter that he outweighed you by thirty pounds.”
His brow furrowed, emphasizing his skepticism. “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.”
“You don’t have to take my word for it. I’ll show you.” I stepped closer to him. “Is it okay to put my hands on your chest?”
After a moment’s pause, he nodded. “Sure.”
I put my hands on his chest like I was going to push him. “When someone pushes you with both hands, they actually put themselves in a vulnerable position. Now, put your hands on my chest like you’re going to push me.”
“Okay.” He put both hands on my chest, and I was surprised by how good it felt. Focus, Warner . Jesus.
“Since you’re only wearing a T-shirt, there’s not a lot of material to grab. So instead of trying to grab you to throw you off balance, I’m going to step to the side and forward a bit so my leg is positioned behind yours.” I moved slowly so he could understand what I was doing. “Now I’m going to hook my leg around yours and give you a push. That will unbalance you enough to send you to the floor.” I demonstrated the move, supporting Nico as he fell to the mat.
He looked up at me from his position on the floor and nodded. “I get it. Let’s try it again.”
We worked together for an hour. Nico was a quick study. I only had to show him a technique a couple of times before he got it. By the time we were done, he felt more confident about handling aggressive troublemakers without bashing their heads in.
“This is a lot different from the way we handled things in prison,” he remarked. “There it was about causing the maximum amount of damage so they left you alone. Paul, the ex-Navy SEAL I mentioned, showed me some Krav Maga moves that were pretty devastating.”
I was impressed. “So you know some Krav Maga already? That’s good. We try not to use it unless the person pulls a weapon or starts throwing punches. But it’s good to know it so you can use it if you need it.”
He smiled at me, and my heart did a stupid flip. “Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.”
“Any time,” I replied. “I’m happy to help.”