Page 29

Nikki

“C aller, you’re on the air. Tell us about your unforgettable story on the road.” I smiled through my hurt and my anger, because despite everything, this was the one place I felt safe and happy. I wasn’t na?ve enough to think that I was actually safe. I wasn’t. There was no place that was safe for me as long as the Blood Fangs were still around, I knew that, but I had to live whatever life I had left.

“There once was a woman,” the caller began in a low, slightly raspy voice. The tone should have been soothing but it wasn’t. It felt menacing. “She didn’t know when to mind her own fucking business. So we snatched her off the street, drove down a long, abandoned road and buried her beside the highway.” The call disconnected, and nothing was left but a dial tone.

Dial tone? That meant he might’ve called from a landline or payphone. Not that I could do anything about that unless I went to the cops, who were probably friends with the councilman at best, or on his payroll at worst. “That wasn’t a nice story but we’re out of time which means we have to end there. Thanks for riding the Highway Pulse with me tonight. See you on the other side.”

“Holy shit, Nikki!” Mia’s eyes were wide. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I assured her with a smile I didn’t feel. “Don’t worry.”

“Yeah,” she snorted. “I’m not worried at all.” She rolled her eyes and came into the studio to wrap me in a hug. “We should go to the cops. The threats are coming more frequently.”

“I don’t know who I can trust, especially when it comes to people drawing a government paycheck.” Saying that felt odd, but it was the story of my life right now.

“How about I go as nothing more than a concerned producer?” Mia was asking, but not really, she would go no matter what I said.

“Sure, just be careful.”

“I always am,” she promised and wrapped an arm around me. “I have a meeting with management but I’ll walk you down.”

The moment the doors slid open, Logan appeared. He was frowning his arms were crossed, and his lips were tugged into a straight line. “Nikki,” he growled.

“I’m fine,” I insisted and waved off his attempt to offer physical comfort. “I’m used to it at this point.” I walked across the lobby and out into the night air.

“You don’t have to pretend,” he said once we were both inside the car.

“Neither do you,” I shot back. He might’ve calmed down after our argument, but I hadn’t. I was still as furious as I’d been last night.

“Dammit Nikki, I do care.” He turned to face me, but I kept my gaze aimed at the view just beyond the windshield. “Just because we’re arguing doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

“Whatever. Can we go? Please?”

He paused, sighed as if he wanted to say more, but then he gave up and started the engine. Logan stayed quiet as he drove.

“Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the clubhouse.” I sat up taller and finally turned to face him. “Logan.”

“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.” I shook my head. “Take me to the clubhouse. Now.”

“No.”

I shook the door handle in vain, the door was locked. “Dammit Logan, this isn’t funny. You can’t just kidnap me to get your way.”

“It’s not a kidnapping, we’re just taking a detour.”

“Bullshit. You’re a bully, no different than the Blood Fangs MC.” It was a low blow, but it wasn’t far from the truth.

“You know that’s not true.”

“I know that you want what you want when you want it, and it doesn’t actually matter what I want. So speak, Logan. Say whatever it is that’s so important.” I folded my arms and watched the world through the windshield.

“This is my house,” he explained when he stopped in a wide, paved driveway that sat beside a two-story home. “Come on.”

Silently, I exited the car and followed him inside. The house was tidy and sparsely decorated with a few photos of him and the other Steel Demons. I dropped down on the first sofa I spotted and turned to him. “We came here to talk, so talk.”

“You and Livvy can stay here.” He motioned to the place. “There’s an extra bedroom and a kitchen. You’ll be happy here. Happier,” he added.

Maybe. It would be better than the clubhouse but being here would only put me more at Logan’s mercy, and that was somewhere I couldn’t afford to be. “Thank you for the offer but we might as well stay where we are.”

“What? Why?”

“Because,” I sighed. “Livvy has friends at the clubhouse now and she won’t be isolated there.” I stood and looked around the house once more. “Like I said, thanks, but no thanks.”

“Why are you being so damn stubborn?” He raked a hand through his hair, a classic move that highlighted his frustration.

“I’m not doing what you want so I’m being stubborn?” This was just another reason I stayed single all these years. “Fine, I’m stubborn. Take me back to the clubhouse.”

“No. I’d like to clear the air so things aren’t so tense between us.”

“So I’ll be more compliant, you mean?” I folded my arms, even my inner voice reminded me that I was in fact being stubborn. “Don’t worry about me, worry about Livvy. She’s what matters.”

“She’s not the only one who matters.”

My heart squeezed at those words. “She is, and we both know it.” My eyes slid closed. “It’s better this way.”

“Is it?” He stepped closer.

“Yeah, it is.” I folded my arms, my chin tilted high in defiance.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” The pleading in his voice nearly unraveled my resolve.

I sighed and opted for the truth. “Because I don’t know you, Logan. I needed to make sure you could be trusted first. I told you about Livvy when I did, because I thought that maybe I did know you, I thought that maybe there was something more happening between us, and I knew keeping it from you was wrong—but the longer I waited, the more worried I got about how you’d react. I guess I was right to be worried, because look at us now.”

“I’m sorry, Nikki.”

“Don’t be. You have the information you need, and we both love Livvy. Let’s just focus on that. Neither of us are who the other thought, but the one thing we have in common is her best interest.”

“That’s not true,” he insisted.

“It is. You don’t trust me anymore and you certainly don’t like me. And I don’t trust anyone who can’t understand why I… never mind. It’s better how it is. We don’t have to be friends, or like each other, we just need to be civil towards one another for Livvy’s sake.”

“So you’re going to punish me forever?”

“I’m not the one who ignored you, Logan. I’m not the one who was so furious I couldn’t even look you in the face.” My anger bubbled up again. “No one is being punished, okay? Now, let’s get out of here.” I didn’t want to be in his space any longer than necessary.

“You are so fucking stubborn,” he growled as he invaded my personal space and gripped the back of my head. “I should hate it. I should hate you, but dammit I don’t. I can’t.” And then his mouth crashed down on mine in an intense kiss that shook my body from head to toe. His tongue swept across my lips before he dove in and laid claim. He kissed me like I mattered to him, like the past week hadn’t happened.

He kissed me like maybe, just maybe, he was sad to hear that I no longer thought we were on the cusp of something significant.

And I fell into that kiss, my traitorous body coming to life at the touch of his lips.