Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Matt
Nick followed me home, literally. He explained that he’d parked several blocks from my building so that if I was being watched they wouldn’t see him. It was very dramatic, but I was also warmed by how protective he was being.
I wasn’t dumb. I knew that Nick would be putting cameras up outside the building and likely in the lobby, but I was playing ignorant. He told me he’d take the fire escape up and while I thought that was ridiculous, he’d explained that he wanted to see how noisy it was, if I could hear him approach, and how easy or hard it would be for someone. That made a lot of sense.
As I got out of my car, I was sure to be vigilant. When the person jumped me earlier, fear had frozen me in place. There’d been no fight or flight, nothing at all—just ice-cold terror. If they’d wanted to kidnap me or hurt me they’d have had no problem.
I’d always been the person who watched movies with judgment. I’d scream at the TV, wondering why they weren’t fighting their attacker and shouting all the things I’d do differently. Now, I got it. You didn’t always have control. Sometimes your brain decided for you, and it wasn’t always the optimal choice.
In the lobby, I gathered my mail and took the elevator up to my floor. James was just exiting his apartment with a smile.
“Good evening, Matt.”
“Hi, James. Did you and Nicole have a nice vacation?”
He grinned. “We did, thank you for asking. Anything going on here?”
I explained to James about being attacked in the garage and how I had police involved. I’d gone back and forth on whether I should, but Mendez had told me he might need to speak with the landlords at some point, and I figured it was time to tell him.
“Oh my God, Matt, that’s awful. Has this person been doing this for a while?”
“A few weeks.”
He shook his head. “And the police have no ideas?”
“I actually don’t know what they have. Officer Mendez takes all of my information, everything I get, statements. He’s working hard.”
“Well, I hope he catches whoever is doing this. Thank you for letting me know. I haven’t looked at the garage cameras in a while, but I will be sure to pay more attention to them.”
“Thanks, James. Well, I’m going to go make dinner now. Have a good night, and tell Nicole I said hi.”
“Will do. Be safe, Matt.”
I stepped inside my apartment and saw that Nick hadn’t arrived yet. I was glad since I’d taken longer than I’d thought I would talking to James. I turned on the lights and kicked off my shoes. I wasn’t sure what time Nick was going to arrive, but I figured I’d make dinner.
Nothing too fancy, pasta and meatballs. I’d made the sauce and frozen it days ago, so it wouldn’t take too much time.
I’d just put the sauce in a pan to heat when I heard the distinct sound of metal on metal. My gaze darted to the fire escape and I could see a slight wobble.
I waited and watched, and sure enough, a minute later Nick’s face popped up at my window. When I went to approach he held up a hand, halting me. He took out something and was playing with the window, and after a second he pulled the window up.
“You have shitty security,” he grunted, then crouched and entered my apartment.
I was wide-eyed and slack-jawed at how easy that was for him. “Holy shit.”
“Don’t panic.” He approached as one would a frightened kitten. “I can pretty much get into any place, but it is an issue that I can fix for you.”
I blinked. “How?”
“For one, cameras that will alert me if someone enters that way.”
“Nick, you’d never get here fast enough.”
He nodded. “I know, but I’m also going to give you this.” He took something out of his pocket.
It was a necklace, masculine and yet delicate. A dark metal chain, and at the center it looked to be onyx and silver maybe.
“That’s beautiful.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, but it’s more than pretty.” He flipped it over. “The back slides open, and there’s a button there. If you hit it, an alert will go out to not only me but the police department as well.”
“Like a life alert?”
He smirked. “Kind of. It also has a tracker so if God forbid someone tried to take you somewhere, I’d find you.”
Not too long ago I hadn’t wanted Nick’s help, but the more I saw what he and his family could do for me, the more I wanted to embrace it. If something were to happen, I’d likely stand a better chance of the Saint brothers finding me than the police.
“Thank you, Nick. Is it waterproof?”
“Somewhat. You can wear it in the rain, but maybe take it off in the shower. I’d be really happy if you would put it on now and never take it off.”
I laughed but did exactly that. “There. I’m not a jewelry guy, though. It’s gonna be hard to remember to wear it.”
“Looks perfect. Just try, at least.” He sniffed. “Are you cooking?”
“Yeah, hungry?”
“For a lot of things.” He grabbed me and started kissing my neck. I weakly pushed him away.
“I don’t want to burn the sauce; let’s eat food first.”
Surprisingly, he helped me in the kitchen. Followed my instructions and wasn’t a stranger to cooking at all. He set the table while I finished fixing a salad, and then we brought everything over.
“Wine?”
“You know,” Nick said as he took his seat, “I don’t actually like wine; I drank it for you.”
“Why would you do that?”
He shrugged. “You were so sweet about it, and I was happy you weren’t kicking me out at the time.”
Chuckling I moved to the fridge. “Well, what would you like?”
“I think I’ll just stick to water.”
I grabbed my pitcher and two glasses. “I’ll have the same.”
“You can have wine if you want it.”
I placed the pitcher in the refrigerator and brought the waters to the table. “I’m well aware, but I don’t need it. Now, eat your food. Tell me if you like it.”
He twirled his pasta around the fork and slipped it into his mouth. I wanted his reaction, so I waited until he swallowed.
“Amazing. Seriously, so good. How come you never cooked when you stayed at our house?”
That had me laughing. “One time, I went in there while Mason and JJ were making chicken enchiladas, and I asked them if I could make dinner the next night. Mason looked affronted, and JJ said absolutely not because I was a guest.”
He snorted. “Sounds about right.”
We enjoyed our dinner, keeping the conversation light. I wanted to ask Nick if he was interested in staying the night but was unsure if I should.
After we were done, he did the dishes just like last time and dragged me to the couch, where we made out like teenagers. I really didn’t want to come in my pants again, so I stood up and held out my hand for Nick to follow me to the bedroom. I was excited when he eagerly did.