21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter twenty-one
N ick woke up with four kids staring at him in the morning. He knew it was easier for his fellow agents to guard them like this, but it still would have been nice if Aria could have stayed with him. All he’d wanted last night was for her to crawl in the bed beside him, so he could hold her close and sleep knowing she was right there.
The kids hadn’t wanted to be separated from him since he found them. He understood they needed some sort of assurance that they were safe. He loved that they trusted him. It would make things easier when they had to question the kids about what they’d been through and with who. If they even knew any names to begin with.
He hated the idea of making them relive their worst nightmares.
All he could think about right now was that Aria was here, in Montana—not in his room where he wanted her at the moment, but close. He wondered how long she planned to stay.
And when she’d get back here.
“Someone looks really grumpy this morning.” His mom walked in with his dad.
Dad smirked at him. “There’s a blue-eyed brunette missing from his side.” His dad pulled his mom into the crook of his arm and kissed her on the head.
Nick wished Aria were here right now.
He certainly wasn’t jealous, but he did envy his parents’ close and long-lasting relationship. It’s what he wanted with Aria. He lost her because of the distance between them. Then he’d nearly been killed again the day before yesterday. Today, all he wanted was for her to be here with him.
Just when his heart rate started spiking on the machine beside him, the door opened again and Aria walked in ahead of her sister Lyric, both of them holding up backpacks in each hand. Their bright smiles saturated the room with their excitement.
The kids all perked up and smiled.
He couldn’t help the swell of love that went through him seeing Aria so joyously present a dark blue backpack to Toby and a deep purple one to Stacy, the quietest of the girls. Lyric handed a light green one to Nicole and a forest-green one to Emma.
Squeals and smiles and even a few tears from the girls as they opened their gifts filled the room. Each of them got two new outfits, including a pack of underwear and socks and a pair of tennis shoes. The girls each got a nail polish in a bright, happy color, a bottle of fruity-scented lotion, some candy, a bag of double-chocolate cookies, a word search book, a journal with a pen, and a travel-size game. Yahtzee, Uno, and Sorry!
Toby gaped at the new clothes and shoes. When he found the small dump truck and race car, he smiled so big his cheeks puffed out. He also got Go Fish and War cards, plus some crayons and two coloring books to go with his new stash of candy and cookies.
They all looked so happy as they showed off their stuff to each other.
Aria and Lyric stood back, watching them, smiles on their faces, their hearts on display for everyone to see.
“My boys got lucky with those Wilde girls.” Mom squeezed his shoulder and smiled down at him as Mason walked in the room.
“We did.” Nick choked up a bit because he was so damn proud to call Aria his, but also because he was still trying to figure out how to keep her. The job in Blackrock Falls would be less demanding, since he’d have fewer agents to oversee. The cases would be more local. He wouldn’t have to travel so much. Which meant he’d be home more, but still be helping people and taking criminals off the streets. And if he trusted his guys more, let loose the reins on them, allowed himself to not have to control everything, he wouldn’t have to be in the field so much.
He’d work on that, so he could spend more time with Aria.
And if he couldn’t let go enough to have a life, he’d talk to the FBI’s counseling team about it. Because the last thing he wanted to do was ever make Aria feel like he cared more about his job than her.
She turned to him and held up a shopping bag he hadn’t seen until now. “I hope you didn’t think I forgot about you.”
He didn’t need anything but her. “I have everything I need standing in front of me.”
She leaned in and kissed him. It was soft and tame and nowhere near enough, but he’d take it for now. “Don’t you want to see what I brought you?” She set the bag between his legs.
He peeked inside and grinned at a dozen of his favorite chocolate croissants from the bakery he loved beneath an oval metal key chain that held a picture of him and Aria kissing. A selfie she snapped when they were on their first official date.
“I have a matching one. We belong together. So when you finally move, we’ll have matching keys to our place.”
Their place. Finally she agreed to move in with him. Yes!
The joy he felt in that moment was quickly eclipsed by the threat Javier spewed at him in that kitchen before he left Nick bleeding all over the floor. I will fucking hunt you down and kill the one you love most, and then I’ll kill you.
Nick couldn’t take the chance that Javier went after Aria. More than likely he’d go after his brother, Mason. An eye for an eye and all that. His brother could protect himself and Lyric. But Nick was in no shape to protect Aria. The only way he could do that was to stay away from her until Javier was in custody. Dead would be better, because Javier had a far reach, people who owed him. People who would do anything for him to keep their secrets safe.
Fuck .
He couldn’t tell her he wasn’t coming home anytime soon.
“Nick?” Her worried gaze searched his.
He’d waited too long to say something and now he had her worried that moving in with her wasn’t what he wanted more than anything. He pulled out the key chain and held it in his fisted hand. “You have no idea what this means to me.”
“It means everything you want it to mean. Everything we talked about. You and me and a life together.” She bashfully glanced at his parents, then back to him. “Right?”
He held her gaze. “That’s exactly what I want.”
“Then that’s what we’ll have.” She pressed her lips tight and her gaze shied away from him.
“What is it?”
She turned back and shook her head. “I don’t want to spoil this.”
He wanted her to be able to tell him anything. “Aria, talk to me.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “I can’t stay.” She was needed at home. At the bar. “Mason wants to stay and help you with the case; Lyric is of course staying with him. They’ll discharge you in a couple of hours, and though you’re supposed to go home and rest, I know you’re going to take these kids to be reunited with their parents. As much as I’d like to stay and help you with that…”
His heart deflated. “I understand. You have to go.”
“I don’t want to.” The anguish in her eyes hurt his heart.
“I know you don’t. Just promise me you’ll be careful. Stay alert. If you’re tied to me, you could be a target.”
“I can take care of myself.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “I’ll be fine. You’re the one who needs to watch your back.”
“It’s just…if something happened to you…I couldn’t take it.”
She kissed him, her lips soft and warm against his. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
“How are you getting home?”
She pressed the back of his hand to her belly as she held it. “Hawk is flying me back.”
That made him feel better. She wouldn’t be traveling alone.
He squeezed her hand. “You know I’d rather go with you.”
“I know. But they need you.” She turned and smiled at the kids.
Nicole and Emma were painting their nails. Stacy was coloring with Toby. They were all relaxed. Happy.
All too soon, he’d take them to their parents and the reality of their past would come back to haunt them.
He squeezed her hand. “Thank you for doing this for them. For giving them a little piece of normal before they have to face their past.”
“They’re kids. They’re resilient. And we’ll keep in touch with them, make sure they’re safe and okay.”
He stared up at her, amazed by her big heart. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you saved them. And they deserve to have good people in their lives who stick. Mason told me on the plane, there are a lot of people you help that you’re still in touch with.”
He felt humbled. “What else did he tell you?”
“Nothing I didn’t already know. You love your job, because you help people. You care. And that’s why I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She brushed her fingers through his hair. “I know.”
“I hope you’ll still love me when my caring so much means I spend way too much time away from you.”
She leaned in, her gaze right on him. “Even then.” She kissed him again.
His mom sighed next to him.
Nick could feel his father’s pride and happiness that Nick had someone like Aria by his side. On his side. “I don’t deserve you.”
“I bet those kids would say you deserve everything good that comes your way.”
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I want to be.” She brushed her fingers through his hair. “Now, eat before you have to get ready to go. Can I get you a coffee?”
“No. Just stay right here. I don’t want to miss a minute before you leave again.”
She helped him hand out croissants to everyone in the room, then sat beside him while he ate two himself. Mom and Dad caught up with Mason and Lyric. They talked a lot about the baby Lyric was carrying and made plans for a baby shower and visiting them as soon as the baby was born.
Aria chimed in with ideas for the baby shower and made a list of things they’d need for the baby. She seemed really into it, but he saw the hint of envy in her eyes that it was her sister and not her.
He couldn’t wait to have a family with her. But first he’d like to get them under the same roof. And in the same bed every night.
Soon.
Well, as soon as he could get Javier Lopez locked up where he belonged.