Page 39 of Seeking Vengeance
He leaned down and spoke quietly in her ear, “Calm down, hellcat.”
She stopped fighting him—thank God. Nick, however, looked more pissed off than ever. Sporting a nice rivulet of blood where he had split his lip, he staggered to his feet. Sean pushed Nicki out of the way when Nick charged him. The kid might be lean and wiry, but he was no match for a trained SEAL. With a smooth, practiced move, Sean easily caught and subdued him.
“If you ever speak to her like that again, I’ll beat you myself,” he growled into Nick’s face.
Nick’s body slumped as the fight drained out of him.
“Why, Nick?” Nicki demanded as her twin hung his head and tried to catch his breath—not an easy thing to do when Sean still had his arm around Nick’s throat.
“Ah fuck,” she murmured once again. “Let him go, Sean. He’s done.”
Sean wasn’t convinced, but then Nicki looked up into his eyes.
“Please.” It was a softly spoken request, one filled with more pain than he ever wanted to hear in her voice again.
Reluctantly, he released Nick, who crumpled and just barely caught himself before he hit the floor.
Nicki went to his side, attempting to help him up. “Come on, Nick. Let’s get you home.” The weariness and resignation in her voice led Sean to believe this wasn’t the first time she’d done this.
“I’ll come with you,” he said. “Just give me a minute to change.”
She looked as if she was going to argue with him, but she didn’t.
“Take your time,” she said, blowing out a breath. “Mind if I try to get some coffee into him?”
“Hell no. Help yourself.” With one last warning glance at Nick, who now looked like he didn’t have the strength to be a threat to anyone, Sean disappeared into his bedroom.
He finished dressing quickly, grabbing a shirt and some socks. He could hear them talking in the living room. They were speaking too quietly for him to make out exactly what they were saying, but by the tone of their voices, he knew it wasn’t good.
Satisfied that they both seemed to have calmed down and he wouldn’t be forced to intervene in the next minute or two, Sean moved toward the back of his walk-in closet and popped the latch to reveal the hidden exit. Pulling out his cell, he tapped Ian’s number.
“What?” Ian growled testily.
“I need you to run some shit for me. Nicholas and Nicole or Nicolette Milligan.” He cursed himself for not knowing her first name. It seemed like the kind of thing a man should know about the woman he had probably just impregnated and planned to marry. “Yeah. Thanks, man. I need it, like, yesterday, hear me? Yeah, it’s important. Right. Fuck you too. Later.”
Sean had no doubt that despite Ian’s grumblings, he would get on it right away. Ian had just been testy because doing so meant he had to crawl out of his nice, warm bed—and his nice, warm wife. Sean couldn’t blame him. Now that he knew how it felt to be inside his woman, he wanted to spend as much time there as possible.
Unfortunately, coaxing her back to his bed anytime soon wasn’t likely.
He’d like to blame Nick, but he couldn’t, not completely. Nicki had already tried to bolt before her brother showed up, although Sean was confident he could have calmed her down and gotten her back in bed. She was scared—he got that. From the little bit he had pieced together of her life so far, he wasn’t surprised. It didn’t take a psych degree to know she didn’t want to end up like her mom, pregnant and alone.
What she didn’t understand was that she wouldn’t be alone. He would never abandon her or their child, if they’d just created one. A chill went over him when he remembered her earlier question, asking about the nearest pharmacy after she’d realized what had happened. She couldn’t be thinking about the so-called morning-after pill, could she? Did they sell that shit over the counter now? He didn’t think so—at least, not in Pine Ridge—but it wasn’t worth taking the risk. No matter what, he’d have to make damn sure she didn’t get anywhere near a pharmacy.
Her brother, well, that was a bigger problem. He’d suspected that at one time, the kid had been into some bad shit, but he’d been clean for as long as he’d been working at the garage. Sean was sorry to see him slip. No matter how much Nick had claimed apathy, his mother’s death had probably pushed him over the edge, but that was no excuse. Sean could only hope it was a one-time relapse and he’d get back on track. He’d do whatever he could to help, but ultimately, the decision was no one’s but Nick’s. Nicki obviously cared a lot for her brother, but if the kid didn’t wise up, Sean would ensure that Nicki did not go down with him.
Sean tucked away his cell phone and reemerged into his bedroom. He could no longer hear their muted voices. It was quiet. Too quiet. A sudden, urgent fear gripped him. He pulled open the door, only to find them already gone.
Sean cursed and grabbed his jacket and keys.
The quasi-Ducati was still there in the lot, parked where she had left it. The beater Nick drove around town was gone though, and now that Sean was thinking more clearly, that made sense. Given Nick’s condition, it would have been stupid to trust him on her bike.
Sean took a deep breath and forced himself to calm. Nicki had control of the situation. She’d obviously been through this kind of thing before. Hopefully, she’d left for no other reason than to get her sorry-assed brother home and sobered up.
Compulsion made Sean cruise the local drugstore parking lots around Pine Ridge. He was relieved when he saw no sign of Nicki anywhere. He finally spotted the car parked in front of Nick’s apartment building. From the next block, Sean briefly caught sight of Nicki helping her brother up the steps to his apartment.
Sean pulled over and sighed.What the hell do I do now?
He knew what hewantedto do. He wanted to follow them into that apartment and do whatever he could to help his woman. Something warned him that she might not be too keen on that, given this morning’s events. Perhaps it was better for him to give her some space and let her do what she needed to do. She’d already proven she could take care of herself.
