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“Phone. T-shirt. Pants. Figured you needed to change.” He sounded as unsure as she felt.
The air was heavy and the room much smaller than she’d realized. His eyes pierced straight to her soul, squeezing the soft part she’d tried so hard to hide. Nicola nodded again. “Can I have the phone?”
“You can have the phone and the clothes.” He placed the items down on the dresser but didn’t move.
“All right. Thanks.” He took up half the room as he waited, expectedly, for something from her. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Nope. Not how it’s going to work. Our phone—I’ll stay for your call.”
“But—”
“You don’t have much in the way of options here, Nic. Your big brother is raging or grieving upstairs, going through mood swings like a mental patient, trying to get his head on straight. And I’m…” Pain shone in the deepest blue eyes she’d ever seen. He closed them and took a deep breath. When he finally opened them again, he cleared his throat. “I’m here to monitor your phone call.”
His voice carried bitterness and torment. She was an evil bitch. Her eyes tingled with tears wanting to burst free. Again. Instead, she scooted across the bed, self-conscious that her trashed silk gown clung to her body. “Fine. You can stay.”
“Like I said, you don’t have much option.”
She grabbed the items off the dresser and settled back on the bed. “Okay.”
She was the devil incarnate, evil’s bitchy step-sister. How could she have done this to the two of them? To her family? She wanted to call Mom and Dad more now than she had any other night. Mom would hate her. She should. But Nicola needed her mom, needed her hug. Un-spilled tears tried to escape again, and she breathed them away, focusing on Cash.
He leaned his hulking frame back, put one boot against the wall, and continued to watch. She turned around on the bed but kept an eye on his reflection in the mirror. Nicola punched the number into the phone, waited, and entered another series of numbers.
Beth answered on the first ring, as was her custom. “Hey, girl. Didn’t expect you again.”
“Gabriella was compromised. She avoided a hit. But not by much.”
“You’re hurt?”
“Minimal.” Nicola never offered signs of weakness when she didn’t know who listened. Her best friend would understand by the tone of her voice that minimal was bullshit, but nothing a bath in Bactine wouldn’t fix.
“Gotcha. And who are you with?”
“Friendlies.”I think.“The situation is… complicated.”
“Why can’t you give me more?”
“Because my friend—” She glared at Cash in the mirror. “—is too nosey for his own good. For now, I don’t need an extraction plan. I’ll make contact tomorrow.”
“Do I need to be worried?”
That was the best friend asking, not her handler. The two components were often at odds, and Beth knew Nic would never answer in the affirmative, even if it were the case.
“I’ll see you soon enough and explain in person. Night.”
Nicola clicked off the phone and slid it behind her, not wanting to make eye contact with Cash. He ambled from the wall, one heavy footstep slowly following the next. The noise wrapped around her. She dropped her eyes. Her hands went clammy. The thump, thump, thump of her heart could’ve vibrated the safe house.
Cash’s boots stopped, and she fought the need to look up.
A finger wiped away her resolve. It touched the bottom of her chin and lifted until he held her gaze.Have mercy.Sapphire eyes and a sad smile made her bleed on the inside.
“It’s nice to see you again.” His voice was hurt and husky.
“You hate me?”
“I might.” He smiled again, taking the bite out of their reality.
“I had reasons.” But with him standing in front of her and Roman upstairs ready for a riot, they didn’t seem worth a shit.