Twelve #2
“Well, yeah,” Darwin chimed in, having returned to take a seat at the table beside his grandmother. “You’re old, and especially that lawyer, can’t he find someone his own age?”
“Yeah, that guy needs to give it a rest,” Griff assured me. “I mean, he’s a good lawyer, I guess, but I don’t like him touching you and stuff.”
“Nope, don’t like that,” Tatum agreed.
“At all,” Darwin concurred.
I turned to Luke, who grinned at me. “My kids don’t like you getting hit on in the house. I was not a fan either.”
“That doesn’t seem professional,” John rendered his verdict.
“It’s not,” Luke replied. “But I set him straight the last time he was here.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Griff stated, slipping around the table to me.
I got up, and he threw himself at me hard, wrapping his arms around me as I hugged him back, pressing his face under my chin.
“I was so scared that day, but you saved me, and I know it’s selfish to keep you here instead of helping other people because you’re a fixer and all,” he said, his voice cracking, shivering against me, “but I think you should stay here with us because…you know.”
“I know,” I whispered, clutching him to my heart.
When he pulled back, I let him go, and he leaned down and hugged his father.
“You can trust Nash, Dad. Everything’s gonna be great.”
Luke absorbed the warmth and closeness, and moments later, Griff took a seat beside his grandfather, who looked pleasantly surprised.
“Okay,” Tatum said, leaning forward to scrutinize me. “Can you tell us what happened now? Do you have enough soup in you?”
“Not really, but I’ll explain what I know so far.”
“Thank goodness,” she said petulantly.
When I elbowed her gently, she giggled, which was always good.
I skipped the part about injuring the guy and went right to the fact that he used to be an officer working for Wilson.
“The chief of police who beat Griffin?” John asked.
“The same.”
“So this had nothing to do with Caitlyn?”
“No, sir, it didn’t.”
“Why does Wilson want to hurt Griffin?” Viola asked me.
“I don’t know that he does because everything that could have happened to him, basically has,” I explained. “There’s no trial, there’s no smoking gun, and what he did to Griff was the same that he’s done to a lot of others.”
“But you’re the one who got Griffin out of that situation,” John pointed out. “So could this man have been after you?”
“Doubtful. People don’t normally target fixers because we’re seen as bodyguards. We’re here to do a job, we’re not members of the community.”
John nodded. “That makes sense. So then you’re thinking this has to do with Griffin after all?”
“Again, that’s unlikely. But the Newcastle deputy chief will let me know as soon as he questions Ward Firmin.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s in the hospital.”
“You put him in the hospital?” Griff asked me.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Tatum asked me.
“Because he was running away and I needed him to stop.”
“That’s good,” Darwin said, and we all turned to him. “I mean, if he was here to hurt Griff, I don’t want him to be able to do that.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s recovered by now, but until Deputy Chief Sampson gives us a report, we’re all gonna lie low and stay inside.”
“There’s a monsoon out there,” John grumbled. “What else are we gonna do? Thank God the electricity’s on so we can watch movies.”
Of course that was the moment the lights went out.
“Way to go, Grampy,” Tatum said, shaking her head.
Viola had to press her hand to her face to keep from laughing.
“Yeah, way to go, Dad,” Luke said sulkily.
That was it—Viola lost it, and as her mirth was contagious, everyone else joined in.
We had all played Uno in the dark for an hour and everyone wanted to keep going even when the power kicked back on. They even stopped complaining about my rules. Who didn’t stack Draw 2 and Draw 4 cards? That was madness.
Later that night, after Luke had carried Tatum to bed, I was sitting on the couch, listening to the rain, wrapped up in a blanket, wondering if I would ever be warm again.
It had been hours, and still, my hands and feet were icy, as was the pit of my stomach.
I’d started running through what-ifs , as I always did after an altercation, and Luke had been right.
Not taking my gun with me had been stupid.
Everyone, from my first training officer to Jared Colter, would have wondered how far up my ass my head was.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked, flipping off lights on his way to me. The only one still on was in the kitchen, over the stove.
“Sitting here thinking that you were right. I should have taken my gun.”
“Well, maybe stop berating yourself and focus on me instead.”
“I’m sorry?”
He held out his hand, and when I took it, he pulled me to my feet, peeling me out of the blanket and leaving it on the couch.
“But I’m still cold.”
“I will take care of that.”
I scoffed.
“What?”
“That was some cheesy crap right there.”
“Will you just come with me, please?”
I grunted but followed, thinking how good his hand felt in mine.
In his room, he locked the door behind him.
“Did you set the alarm?”
“I did.”
“You have to give me your phone so I can check all the cameras.”
“I put it right there on your nightstand.”
I had a weird thought, and he must have seen it on my face.
“No,” he rumbled.
“No what?”
“No, this is not the same bedroom set that was here when Caitlyn was.”
“How did you know?”
“Because if our roles were reversed, I’d wonder about that too.”
I nodded.
“But so you’re aware, I got rid of every bit of her in here. The nightstands are new, and I put the bay window in and the reading nook because I always wanted one.”
I did wonder, because his room was done in deep mahogany and cream, and the style was minimalist, masculine, from the platform bed to the armoires to the heavy rugs on the dark-stained wooden floors.
“The bed frame and mattress are new too,” he explained. “All this is mine and now yours as well. And if you have something at your place in Chicago that you love, then please bring it here.”
“I have a Tiffany lamp my father bought my mother when they got married, and some art I love.”
“I can’t wait to have it in the house.”
I studied his beautiful, chiseled features.
“Do you like the bedroom?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s very warm in here.”
“Good. I’m glad you like it. Now lie down.”
I squinted at him.
“What? Too direct?”
“I’m worried.”
“You’re always worried.”
“Really?”
“Sorry,” he said, crossing to the king-size bed and sitting down. “Come here and tell me what you’re worried about.” When I sat down beside him, he took my hand in his. “This is already better,” he said, turning to kiss the side of my neck.
“I need you to realize we promised your kids a lot of things despite not knowing if you even want to sleep with me.”
“Don’t be an idiot. Of course I want to sleep with you,” he said, lacing his fingers with mine. “But there’s a learning curve there, so you’ll need to be patient.”
“My middle name is patient,” I assured him.
“Lucky for me,” he whispered, then slipped his hand around the side of my neck and drew me close for a kiss that warmed me inside and out. “I’m gonna take a shower. Don’t leave this room.”
“You should say don’t fall asleep . That’s far more likely.”
“I don’t care if you fall asleep, just do it under the covers so I don’t have to wake you up.”
I smiled as he walked into his spacious bathroom.
I made myself get up, then went through my duffel until I found a T-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts to change into.
My gun case had been placed on the nightstand closest to the door, probably so I’d see it right away, and I stored it in the compartment underneath, then got under the covers.
I tried so hard to keep my eyes open, but his bed was warm and smelled like him, and that was a bit too much comfort.
At some point, his warm skin sliding over mine made me moan softly.
“That was a great sound,” he murmured, kissing my shoulder as he spooned me. “And you look really good in our bed.”
“You’re saying our again.”
“Why wouldn’t I? You promised you’d stay, so yeah, everything is ours now.”
Instead of agreeing, I said, “I can’t believe the kids.”
“Why? I knew it was going to go like that.”
“How?”
“They wanted you to stay from the moment they were all with you in the house. I wasn’t even here, but I know that’s how they felt because it was the same for me,” he explained gently, pressing his lips against the back of my neck.
“We had a home, and then we didn’t, and now we do again. No one is letting that go.”
“But that’s not all me.”
“You’re the catalyst for the change. Accept the gratitude and the love.”
I didn’t want to argue. I liked him thinking I was responsible for the happiness in his life, so I pushed back against him and let myself be held.
“Holding you is my new favorite thing.”
I was lost in the smoky, gravelly sound of his voice, in the feel of his callused hand stroking under my T-shirt, over my skin. Funny how quickly I was no longer sleepy.
“Nash…can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” I said, trying to concentrate on his words as my focus wandered to his hand running over my abdomen.
“Would you let me lie down on top of you?”
“Is that what you want?” I asked. “Want to feel me under you? Under your power?”
He clutched me tight like my words caused a physical reaction, a jolt of arousal that roiled through him.
“You liked the sound of that.”
“Would you… Could the first time be…” His breath caught.
“Could the first time be you inside me?” Easy to guess where his mind had gone.
“Oh my God,” he rasped, his body twitching like he’d been touched by a live wire.
“Before any of that, though, how about I put my mouth on you, take you down the back of my throat and suck you dry.”
“Oh please,” he moaned, bucking against me, then throwing off the covers and standing up beside the bed.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at him. “What’re you doing?”
“You’re exhausted. I should get out of here and let you sleep.”