Page 34 of Nica (Texas Boudreau Brotherhood #17)

T he soft beep of monitors and the antiseptic smell of the hospital room had become Nica’s constant companions over the past two days.

She shifted carefully on the narrow bed, wincing as the movement pulled at the surgical site.

The surgeon had repaired her lung and the nicked artery, and assured her she would make a full recovery, though it would take time and patience, two things Nica sadly had in short supply.

The pain medication made everything fuzzy around the edges, which made her reluctant to take it, and it had been hours since her last dose of morphine, so she was lucid enough to feel restless.

Her momma had called earlier that morning, stating she and her daddy would be by to visit. Nica had expected her parents for the past hour. Instead, three familiar silhouettes filled her doorway—broad shoulders, serious expressions, and the unmistakable Boudreau stance that meant business.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Nica said, attempting to keep her voice light as Ridge, Shiloh, and Dane filed into her room. Ridge closed the door behind them with a soft click that somehow managed to sound ominous.

“Momma and Dad got held up at the ranch,” Ridge said, pulling a chair closer to her bed. His dark eyes held a weight she hadn’t seen since their grandfather’s funeral. “Figured it was time we had a conversation.”

Shiloh leaned against the wall beside the window, arms crossed, while Dane positioned himself near the door like a silent sentry.

The formation was subtle but unmistakable—they weren’t planning on letting her escape this conversation, even if she could manage more than a few steps without collapsing.

That wasn’t happening, since she could barely manage to sit up, much less try to run away.

“About?” she asked, though the knot forming in her stomach told her she already knew.

“Your secret wedding, for starters.” Ridge’s voice held that particular blend of hurt and frustration that only big brothers could master. “Three months, Nica? You kept it from us for three months?”

She’d rehearsed this conversation in her head dozens of times, but lying in a hospital bed with surgical drain tubes and an IV line wasn’t where she’d planned to talk to her big brothers about everything.

But reading the underlying concern about her health made it harder to summon her usual defiance.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a secret forever.

I worried about what people would think about the age difference between me and Gabe.

Knew it would cause gossip and that it might hurt his reputation with some of the folks in town.

Then the threats against Gabe started, and it was like everything snowballed like an avalanche rolling downhill.

And you better not blame Gabe about any of this, you hear me?

From the very beginning he wanted to tell the family everything.

It was completely and totally my idea to want to have a little time to ourselves before confessing to the family what we’d done. Was that too much to ask?”

“Baloney.” Shiloh’s voice was quiet, but it cut through the room like a blade. “You eloped because you were scared. What did you think we’d do, hang Gabe up by his thumbs? Torture him into leaving you alone?”

She shook her head vigorously, wincing at the pain it caused.

“Shiloh, it wasn’t like that. Gabe and I didn’t plan to fall in love.

He came up every couple of weeks to work in College Station, and we ended up spending a little time together.

I was a familiar face in a sea of strangers, and Gabe caught me up on everything happening in Shiloh Springs. But the more time we spent together—”

“We’re not complaining about you falling in love, Sis,” Dane said, never leaving his spot by the door, “It’s the fact you felt you had to hide it from us. Have we ever made you feel like you couldn’t tell us anything?”

Toying with the edge of the blanket laying across her chest, she felt about two inches tall.

Everything they said was true. Every one of her brothers had always been there for her.

Supported her. Held her when she’d scraped her knee or broken her arm.

Stood by her side when she graduated from high school, and waved goodbye with tears in their eyes when she’d left for college.

They’d kept her secrets when she’d confessed her school crushes and been her rocks when she’d needed their strength.

“I know it doesn’t help for me to say I’m sorry, but I am.

I was scared you’d think Gabe was too old for me, you’d say we didn’t know each other enough.

But I love him with all my heart. Then all the other stuff started happening, and Gabe started keeping secrets from me, and well, after us spilling everything at Sunday dinner and filling in all the blanks when Mike got here, you pretty much know the rest.”

“Were you hoping it would all just go away?” Dane asked the question quietly, though Nica could hear the underlying hurt in his voice.

Her heart rate picked up, and she could hear it reflected in the monitor’s increased beeping.

“Gabe told us everything, plus remember we were at the ranch when he got that one call from whoever this stinking jackass is whose been tormenting y’all,” Dane said.

His voice carried the same deadly calm he used when dealing with trouble on the ranch—the kind of quiet authority that came from running a business empire and protecting everything under his care.

“Filled in all the blanks about your stalker, the flowers, the phone calls. All of it.”

“When?” The word came out sharper than she intended.

“Yesterday, while you were still pretty out of things from the surgery.” Ridge leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

“He was torn up, thinking he might lose you. Got real honest real fast about why you both kept us in the dark. His friend, Mike, also filled in a few blanks about what they’ve been able to piece together. ”

Everything started clicking together in Nica’s mind, each thing making her pulse race a little faster. A little tingle of anger began to build inside. “What else did he tell you?”

The three brothers exchanged glances, one of those silent communications that came from years of working together, covering each other’s backs in situations where words could get you killed.

“That’s not the point right now,” Ridge said.

“The point is that Momma cried for two hours after you broke the news about your wedding at Sunday dinner. She held herself together until you and Gabe left, then she went into the house, upstairs into your old bedroom, and cried. Dad…well, Dad didn’t say a word for the rest of the day.

While you were there for dinner, they kept things together, but you broke their hearts, Nica. ”

The guilt hit her harder than the bullet had. “They said they understood. I never meant—”

“We know,” Dane said, his expression softening slightly.

“Remember, you’re talking to somebody else who eloped.

Did the whole Vegas wedding with Destiny.

We didn’t plan on getting married, but the difference is, we didn’t keep it a secret.

We told the whole family. Momma got to do the whole wedding thing with Rafe and Tessa, because they took forever to plan their shindig.

But you must realize it’s not the same as watching your only daughter walk down the aisle.

Momma and Dad love all us boys, we know that.

They’ve never once said or done anything to make us feel like we weren’t a part of the family.

But, Nica, you’re their baby girl. Their princess who should be wearing ribbons and bows and fancy dresses.

Instead, you snuck around after graduating, spending your time sneaking between two apartments, so nobody in town—nobody in the family—knew that you got married.

It took a threat from big brother Rafe before you and Gabe came clean.

Makes me wonder how much longer you’d have kept your secret, not only about the elopement, but the harassment Gabe was going through.

You came to dinner with a man your parents, your family, didn’t even know you were dating and announced you’d eloped.

Intent to do the right thing doesn’t undo the damage.

They missed their only daughter’s wedding.

Nica, you got married without them there. ”

Tears pricked at her eyes, and she blinked them back furiously. “I talked with Momma. Explained everything. She said she understood, and we’ve made peace. We are going to have a reception. A proper celebration with everyone.”

“When?” Shiloh asked. “After you caught whoever’s been terrorizing you? After you solved this mess that you should have brought to us from the beginning?”

There it was—the heart of their anger. Not just the secret wedding, but the fact that she’d faced danger alone. That she’d chosen to handle it without her family. How could I have been so blind?

“I was trying to protect you,” she whispered.

“You’ve got that backwards, sweetheart,” Ridge said firmly. “Protecting you is ou r job, and you took that away from us.”

The sound of beeping coming from the bedside monitor had everybody in the room glancing toward the sound.

Before she could say anything, a nurse shoved at the door Dane was standing in front of, pushing him aside.

The scowl she shot him would have had Nica chuckling under any other circumstances.

Not now, though. Too much had been said—still needed to be said—for levity.

“Everything okay in here?” The nurse’s gaze moved from brother to brother before finally landing on Nica.

“It’s fine—I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“Let’s keep it that way. You just had surgery, Mrs. Boudreau-Summers.

You need to remain calm and keep your blood pressure down.

If you can’t, we’ll have to ask your visitors to leave.

” She gave Nica a secretive wink, knowing the men couldn’t see her, and letting Nica know she wasn’t upset.

With a quick check of the monitors, she patted Nica’s hand and left.

The monitor’s beeping had steadied, but Nica’s mind was racing. Something in their posture, in the careful way they were phrasing things, set off alarm bells. “What did Gabe tell you, exactly?”

Another look passed between her brothers. This time, Ridge was the one who answered. “He told us about the patterns he and Mike found in the calls, and now the attack on you. This person is escalating. They’re getting bolder.”

“And?” she pressed.

“And that it’s time it ends once and for all,” Shiloh said.

The words hung in the air like a threat.

Nica studied their faces, noting the tension in Ridge’s jaw, the way Dane’s shoulders were set with the same implacable determination he showed when protecting the ranch from rustlers and corporate thieves, the controlled stillness that meant Shiloh was prepared for action.

“Where is Gabe?” she asked slowly.

“He’s safe,” Dane said too quickly.

“That’s not what I asked.” Her voice was getting stronger, fueled by a growing sense of dread. “Where. Is. My. Husband?”

Ridge sighed. “He’s doing what needs to be done.”

“Which is?”

“Drawing out the monster who ordered you shot.”

The words hit her like ice water tossed in her face. “He’s what?”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Shiloh said, pushing away from the window. “We’ve got it covered.”

“Covered?” Nica struggled with the bed’s controller, trying to sit up straighter, ignoring the sharp pain in her chest. “You’re using him as bait!”

“Whose idea do you think it was? Gabe came up with the plan to use himself as bait to draw out this monster. We’re ending this,” Ridge said. “Before it escalates any further. Before this person tries to finish what he started when he put that bullet in you.”

“Are you insane?” The heart monitor was beeping rapidly now. “What if—”

“He won’t be alone,” Dane interrupted. “Ever. One of us stays with him at all times. The whole sheriff’s department, Rafe’s got that covered. An entire FBI team out of the Austin office—Derrick, Antonio, and Mike—are all in on this. Gabe is never without protection.”

“But if something goes wrong—” Nica closed her eyes, not even wanting to think about the possibility.

“Nothing will go wrong,” Ridge said with the kind of certainty that came from years of tactical planning. “We know what we’re doing.”

“Then tell me who it is. It’s obvious you’ve figured out who it is if you’re willing to set a trap.” The demand came out stronger than she felt. “If you’re all so confident, tell me who’s behind this.”

The silence stretched too long. Her brothers were good at many things, but poker faces had never been their strongest suit, at least not with her.

“You know,” she said, the realization hitting her like another bullet. “You know who’s been terrorizing me, had me shot, and you won’t tell me.”

“Nica—” Ridge started.

“No.” She was fighting the IV line, still trying to sit up fully despite the pain tearing through her chest. “You don’t get to keep me in the dark anymore. Not about this. Not when it’s my life we’re talking about.”

“It’s because it’s your life that we’re keeping you out of it,” Shiloh said. “You’re safe here. There are guards outside your door around the clock who’ll keep you safe. Soon, this will all be over.”

“What if you’re wrong?” The question came out softer than she intended, fear creeping into her voice despite her anger. “What if something happens to Gabe because I’m stuck in this bed and can’t help?”

“Then we handle it,” Dane said simply. “That’s what family does.”

But as her brothers stood there—solid, capable, determined—Nica couldn’t shake the feeling that they were all walking into something bigger and more dangerous than any of them realized.

And the man she loved was at the center of it, playing the role of bait in a trap that might close in on him and get him killed.

And there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing.