Page 105 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
“You’re scaring me with all this. What don’t I know about Michael that makes you so concerned for my safety?”
There was a long, tense pause, until Nico sighed and smoothed a hand over my hair. He kissed me on the forehead. “Other than that he’s a drug dealer, and they’re not exactly known for their compassion and reliability?”
I sensed he was sidestepping the question, but I didn’t want to jeopardize our tenuous agreement, so I let it slide. I’d ask him about it later. Probably in bed.
I had no scruples whatsoever about using every tool available to me to get the information I wanted. And I had every confidence I’d get it.
“Good point. Okay, I promise. Now please don’t spend all morning worrying about me. You know Barney will take good care of me.”
“He better,” Nico muttered, taking my hand and leading me out of the bedroom. “Or I’ll have his fuckin’ head.”
It was a good thing I followed behind Nico, because if he’d seen the way I rolled my eyes, my ass would have, no doubt, been as red as a tomato.
Nico was tense the entire drive to the studio. He stared out the window of the Escalade, holding my hand tightly, his jaw muscle jumping. Beside him in the backseat, I squeezed his hand, trying to be reassuring, but he only glanced at me, smiling briefly, before turning back to the view, preoccupied by his thoughts.
I met Barney’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He gave me a slight upward tilt of his chin, which I took as recognition of Nico’s mood, and his attempt to relay that everything would be all right. He’d never been much of a talker.
Barney turned into the underground parking lot beneath the record company’s office building. We passed through a security gate, then stopped in front of a glassed elevator lobby.
“Here we go, boss.”
“Barney.” Nico’s voice was quiet.
Barney turned in the seat and looked at Nico over his shoulder. “Yeah, boss?”
“Don’t let her out of your sight.”
Something passed between them, and an unspoken understanding flickered in the depths of Barney’s eyes. Seeing it caused a flutter in my stomach. What was going on here? What was I missing?
Barney pressed a hand to his coat pocket. “I’ve got her covered, Nico. We’re good.”
There was a bulge beneath the coat of his black suit that I hadn’t noticed before. Holy crap, was he carrying a gun?
“Um, Barney? They do a pretty good search of bags and things when we go through security at the studio. I’m not sure you want to bring anything . . . extra . . . in with you. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”
Nico and Barney both smiled. They shared another loaded look.
“You let Barney worry about that, baby. He knows how to take care of himself.” He leaned over and kissed me softly. “And he’ll take care of you, too. Just be good, and don’t get a wild hair up your ass to go anywhere other than straight back here when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay.”
Nico studied my face. “That seemed too easy.”
I sighed. “Go, will you? I’ll be done by noon, and we’ll come back and pick you up, and then we’ll go home and I’ll make my world-famous chicken enchiladas.”
Nico raised an eyebrow. “You cook?”
“Just because we’ve been living on takeout recently doesn’t mean I can’t cook,” I scoffed. “I’ll have you know I’ve mastered at least four dishes.”
Nico’s brows climbed higher.
“The number could actually be as high as six. Let me see.” I started a count on my fingers. “There’s the aforementioned world-famous enchiladas, there’s the less famous, but no less fabulous, turkey burgers, there’s a chili casserole that is so spicy it will curl your hair, and there’s a grilled fish taco dish with mole sauce. All of which go very well with margaritas, in fact.”
When Nico grinned, I added, “Not that that has anything to do with anything.”
“Of course not.” He lifted my hand to his mouth for a kiss. “But that’s only four. What happened to the other two?”
Grateful his mood seemed to have been lifted by the shocking revelation that I could cook—limited though my skills were—I said, “I’m not giving away all my secrets at once, mister! You’ll just have to wait and find out.”
