Chapter Twenty-Three
NIKKI
Physical therapy was a drag, and it was frustrating as hell.
I knew how to walk, I knew how to pick up a cup and drink, so why wouldn’t my fucking body cooperate with me?
I’d be thinking something, demanding my subconscious mind relay the message to my legs, but it simply didn’t happen like that. Not straight away, anyway.
The nurses said they were happy with my progress, but I demanded faster. I wanted my reflexes back. I wanted to be able to fight, to look after myself, to shoot with accuracy, and drive like I was in the fucking Formula One.
Time, they kept telling me. It will take time.
Fucking hell.
Cade was there all day and every day until sometimes I’d kick him out and demand he go have a shower, get something to eat, and maybe grab a couple of hours of decent sleep. He fucking snarled at me at one point when I became too insistent and told him he stunk and needed a shower.
“How do I respond to that demon shit?” I asked. “Smack you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper?”
His curled lip turned into a smirk, but the rumble in his chest increased until it was an animalistic growl, somehow sexier, knowing that beneath his skin, he wasn’t human.
How messed up am I?
“No,” he growled out, placing his palms on the pillows on either side of my head and leaning in close, his lips hovering over mine as I pouted slightly, desperate for contact he was denying me.
He wouldn’t touch me more than a peck on the cheek and a handhold while I was recovering, and it was a matter of the mind being willing but the flesh being weak.
But damn, when he teased me like this, it drove me crazy.
“But maybe I could smack you on the ass a few times until you learn to speak to me with some respect.”
“Would that make you happy, sir?”
He groaned and brushed his lips against mine. “You are in so much trouble when you’re better.”
“Can’t I be in trouble now?”
“Fuck, Nikki, you’re killing me.”
He glanced around, tilting back to make sure the hallway was clear before he returned to his position, leaning over me and dominating the space around me.
He gently traced his fingers down my cheek and neck, then further down, brushing against my breasts through my hospital gown.
I gasped, and his eyes shot to mine, the lust broken by concern.
I think he expected me to still be afraid of him, at least in part, and while I’d admitted to him I wasn’t keen to see his demon form again any time soon, I hadn’t been able to look at him as anything other than the Cade I knew, and that was more than enough for now.
Because the most stable part of my life was a fucking demon.
Torturously slow, he dragged his palm down my body before finally sliding under the sheets at my hips and hitching up my gown, tracing teasing patterns along the fabric of my underwear.
When I gasped his name, he pressed his lips to mine, a chaste kiss as he shifted my panties to the side and ran his fingers between my pussy lips, already wet for him.
Cade growled again, and when I sighed as he pushed a finger into me, he clasped his other hand over my mouth. “Shh, angel. Keep quiet.”
He pinned me with his gaze, his forehead resting against mine as he pumped his finger in and out of me before adding another one.
I opened my legs to accommodate his touch, bucking my hips against him and desperate for more until his thumb found my clit.
I moaned against his hand, and his eyes flashed yellow, making me gasp.
He had explained to me his nature and that he needed release to keep his demon under control.
Circumstances had taught him more control than he had thought himself capable of, but I loved that the feeling of me clenching around his fingers as he beckoned me to my peak was enough to make his control slip, even just a little.
My breathing became ragged as he whispered, “Are you going to come for me?”
I nodded against his hand, and he growled again until he needed to press on my mouth so hard to silence me, I fell back against the pillows as I cried out against his palm, coming around his fingers as my orgasm shook me and made my leg tremble with the release.
An insistent beeping sound broke the moment, and a nurse rushed into the room, straightening a bobby pin in her hair as Cade hastily removed his hand from under the sheets.
Without a word, the nurse grabbed my wrist, feeling my pulse while pressing buttons on one of the machines that monitored me.
Slowly, her eyes came to mine, taking in my flushed cheeks and disheveled hair before her gaze settled on Cade with that smug fucking grin plastered on his face.
“She needs to rest,” the nurse berated, looking at Cade over her glasses as though he were an insolent child.
I’d had enough of resting, but I wasn’t about to argue with the stern woman as she turned her accusing glare to me.
I turned my lips down forcefully to hide the smirk that threatened to surface as Cade made obscene gestures with his tongue behind the nurse’s back.
“Go home,” she said to Cade, and with another visual sweep over him, added, “… and take a shower.”
He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets after blowing me a kiss, winking at me before he left, and leaving me wanting more.
Niles came to visit later that day, the only one from the precinct who had, which wasn’t entirely surprising.
I hadn’t worked particularly hard, if at all, at making friends there.
It was probably something I’d need to rectify, maybe even request a transfer and start afresh right after I caught up and made things right with my existing friends for my extended absence.
The precinct had sent me a humongous bunch of flowers, though.
However, I wondered if that was only Niles’ doing as well.
Flowers weren’t normally my thing, but I’ll admit the sunflowers brightened up the otherwise drab room, and since I was going to be here for a while, I’d take any comfort I could get.
I wouldn’t be able to return to work straightaway, even after I was fully recovered.
I’d been suspended for three months, and the three months started after my discharge from the hospital.
The force doesn’t look too kindly upon drunk driving.
I guess they have to maintain some illusion of integrity.
“Kline,” Niles said, pulling up the empty chair next to my bed.
“Hey, Lute.”
His stoic expression wavered for a moment as he looked at me, sweeping his gaze over the machines and lines before coming back to my eyes. “What happened?”
“I’m sure you already know.”
“Maybe, but I want to hear it from you.”
Sighing, I slid down on my pillows, taking a moment to curl and stretch my toes under the sheets.
With the physical therapy, I liked the reminder that I was ultimately still in control of my body, even if it wasn’t cooperating all the time.
“I was stupid… I drove while incredibly fucking drunk and crashed my car. I’m lucky I didn’t kill anyone or myself. ”
“I know that much. What I want to know is why?”
I searched his eyes, and when he went to take my hand, I slid it away. “Because I had just found out that my father and Murphy were the same person.”
Niles’s denial was immediate. “Nikki, no, that’s not possible.”
“Isn’t it? He was incredibly good at what he did, Niles. How do you know he didn’t have an entirely secret life under another name? Or several lives.”
“Can you prove this at all?”
The image of Cade in his demon form flooded my mind.
It was hard to argue when faced with the reality of an afterlife, and then a demon was telling you your father was in Hell and why.
I had drilled Cade with all these questions already, although sometimes he had to repeat some things over the days.
I now knew as much about my father’s underground operation as Cade did, and he was absolutely certain of his identity because when he had asked him about me, Mitch Murphy…
Garrett Porter… my dad had reacted to the mention of me.
“Not exactly,” I muttered, looking away as his face fell with sympathy. “But just take my word for it, okay? It’s been proven to me, but unfortunately, I can’t prove it to anyone else…” hitting him with a hard stare before looking away again, I stared out the window, “… yet.”
But proving it to others wasn’t important because this went too deep.
The complications had only increased when Emrick had taken over the business and assets but left my father alive.
Then there was Rueben Cole, the man I suspected was the asshole who had threatened me and was responsible for the deaths of Torres and Kim as well as my father.
He was cleaning house, tying up loose ends, but for what purpose?
If there were two opposing crime syndicates, Emrick and Cole, both with their hands in the police force, how deep did this go?
Were they in politics as well? Did they have the mayor under their thumbs?
With cash to throw around, it wouldn’t surprise me.
So, proving my father’s identity wasn’t the issue, but I was still determined to find the man responsible for his death and bring him to justice. Despite what Cade may feel, I wanted to avenge his murder. He was a lot of things, but he was still my family.
However, I was going to take a few steps back because given the kind of man he was, Murphy didn’t deserve my full attention and time. He could have some of me but not all. I had a life to live, and I wanted to get back to work, be with Cade, reconnect with my friends, and start to feel human again.
“Can I ask you a question, off the record?” I asked. Niles watched me for a moment. I’m certain he knew where this was going, but he nodded. “Were you instructed not to look into my father’s death? And if so, do you know by who?”
Niles drummed his fingers on my bed, the soft padding sound on the sheets joining with the beeps of the machines around me while he considered his words.
“The case was handled by detectives who had been in the force for many years. When they made their call, no one questioned it.” I nodded, and Niles added, “Whatever is going on, Nikki, I’m not a part of it. ”
I eyed him. “Not directly, no, but the entire force is under the control of those who run the crime around here.”
He didn’t argue because he already knew.
“And Officers Kim and Torres?” I pushed. If they were killed because Cole was cleaning house, they may have been weak links, young and inexperienced, maybe newly inducted into the corrupt bullshit they’d been lured into. What’s the saying? Last hired, first fired.
“Same deal. The cases were closed. No one asked questions… no one ever does.” Niles almost smirked, his eyes sparkling. “Except you.”
“Yeah, and look where that got me.”
Closing my eyes, I was suddenly tired. This went too deep, and even if I were to find Cole and kill him, another one would simply pop up in his place.
Cade had warned me to stay the fuck away from Emrick, and I’m certain there was something he wasn’t telling me.
Was Emrick a demon as well? Wouldn’t that be fucking something?
A fucking crime boss who wasn’t even human. We’d all be in serious trouble then.
So, if I couldn’t do anything to change the situation, what could I do?
I had no doubt I’d go back to being a cop.
When the doctors were satisfied I was physically okay, and once I’d completed the mandatory leave for recovery to monitor my condition and make sure the memory lapses were getting better and not worse, and once I completed my suspension, I would go back.
I couldn’t solve all the problems, but there were still many good people in this city who needed help and protection.
They needed people on the police force who were there for them.
On the side, I’d track down this Cole guy and see what I could find out about him. Eventually, he’d answer for the death of my father.
Other injustices I saw, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep my mouth shut about.
But it would be a balancing game because if I wanted to remain on the force to do what good work I could, I’d have to keep my head down.
But now I had Cade on my side, we’d find a way to help those that needed it, even if it meant skirting the system somewhat.
The lines of black and white had well and truly been blurred into worlds of gray, and now that my eyes were open to everything that was going on, I needed to work smart and not put so much blind faith in a system that was as corruptible as the people who worked for it.
Niles patted my hand, and I let him, opening one eye and watching as he stood. “You need to rest. I’ll come visit you again soon.”
Nodding, I allowed myself to fall back into the pillows and my thoughts, and eventually, my dreams were of a corrupt world and all the monsters that lived inside the people within the city.
And a demon, who saved me.