What she didn’t understand was that she would never 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 soon after she realized what had happened. She couldn’t possibly 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 had 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 claimed apathy, his mother’s death 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 the decision was ultimately 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 re-emerged 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, parked where she had left it. The beater Nick drove around town was gone, though, and now that he was thinking a bit 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 CVS parking lot anyway, then the Rite Aid, then the Walgreens. 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.
He pulled over and sighed. What the hell did he do now?
He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to follow them into that apartment and do whatever he could to help his woman. But something warned him that she might not be too keen on that, given this morning’s events. Maybe it was better for him to give her a little space, let her do what she needed to do. She’d already proven she could take care of herself.
Sean thought again of the lightning quick lunge and sequence of moves he’d seen her execute, and even then, he had the distinct impression she’d been holding back. She was poetry in motion, graceful, efficient, potentially deadly. Definitely not something you would expect from your standard Vegas showgirl or gifted grease monkey.
Given the shape Nick was in, he’d keep her busy for a good part of the afternoon, more than enough time for Sean to do a little digging on his own. He’d be back later with an offer of food and support and whatever else Nicki needed. And if she had any more ideas about going somewhere without him, he’d set her straight on that. His patience was at an end.
Chapter Twelve
“Hey, Sean,” Lexi said with a big smile when he appeared at the Pub a short while later. Judging by the empathy in her eyes, Taryn had already filled her in.
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Lex. Sorry about this morning.”
“Don’t sweat it, sweetie,” she said, handing Sean a cup of coffee. “He’s in there working on it now.”
“You really are a goddess, Lex,” he said affectionately.
She laughed, blushing. Lexi was the master chef at the Celtic Goddess restaurant, named for her unique menu of Celtic and Greek cuisine based on her mixed heritage. She made no secret of the fact that she was not comfortable with the name, so as their “sister”, they all teased her about it.
“Come on. He’s expecting you.”
Lexi led Sean into Ian’s “office”, then quietly closed the door behind her as she left. The cursory glance Ian spared him when he entered the room did not bode well. Neither did the sobriety in Ian’s expression or the distinct downturn of his mouth.
“What have you got?”
Ian’s fingers moved like lightning over the keyboard as his eyes processed screen after screen, moving through them so fast it was hard to believe he could absorb any of it. “It’s fucked up, Sean. Really fucked up. What did you get yourself into?”
Sean sank down heavily beside him, mentally preparing himself. “Give it to me.”
“Let’s start with the mother, Charlene Milligan. Died two days ago right here in Pine Ridge after being brought in to the hospital after a massive drug overdose several weeks ago. Bad shit, too. We’re not talking the usual recreational pharmaceuticals.” Sean nodded. He already knew about that part.
“History of indigence, drug use, prostitution, theft, domestic violence. Had two children – twins – Nicolette and Nicholas at age sixteen. Father unknown. The kids were taken away and put into the foster system when they were around five.”
Nicolette. Her name was Nicolette. “That young?”
“The first time. Apparently they didn’t fare much better in the system; they kept running away from their foster parents and returning home to Charlene. Each time it took months before the law could take them away again. No one wants to take kids away from a biological parent, even when the mom’s a real piece of work. Doesn’t look like the foster homes were much better, actually. Anyway, you get the basic idea. I’ve got all the details here for you to peruse later, but I can tell you, it’s not pretty.”
Sean nodded. He would go through all of it later, but he needed the highlights now. “Tell me about Nick.” He wanted to hear about Nicki last, sensing that whatever Ian had to say about her wouldn’t allow him to absorb much else.
“Classic troubled kid. Scored really high in aptitude tests, genius level or above, especially in science and math, but never applied himself. Had a couple of run-ins with the law – petty theft, mostly. There are a lot of hints that the kid was a user, maybe even a dealer, but he was never officially busted. If I had to guess, I’d say the kid had some friends in high places.”
“And Nicki?”
Ian’s face darkened. “How much do you know about her?”
Sean shrugged. “She’s very intelligent, very spirited. Great with engines like her brother. Worked in Vegas as a dancer six months before she came here.”
Ian’s frown deepened. That was never a good sign.
“Why?” Sean asked. “What did you find?”
Ian took a deep breath and exhaled. “I found a marriage license.”
Whatever Sean had been expecting, it wasn’t that. “She’s married?”
“Widowed.”
Something about the way Ian said it chilled Sean’s blood. “Just tell me, Ian.”
“Here. Check this out.” Ian pressed a few keys and sat back far enough so that Sean could clearly see the the two PDF documents Ian had brought up. One was a marriage license for Nicolette Milligan and Brian McMann. Sean looked at the date and did a quick mental calculation in his head. Nicki would have been just sixteen. The other was a death certificate for Brian McMann. Sean sucked in a breath when he saw the date. It was the same.
“What the fuck?” It was a miracle he managed to get even those words out.
“Official reports say McMann was shot execution style. General consensus was it had something to do with a local drug dealer, but no one could ever pin anything on him.”
“And Nicki?”
“Eye witness accounts say she left the scene in an ambulance that was subsequently involved in an accident. Nicki never made it to the hospital.”
“What happened to her?”
“Officially? She was never in the ambulance. She simply ceased to exist. No footprint anywh
ere in the system until she showed up in Vegas six months ago.”
People did not just fall off the grid for eight years and suddenly appear again, not without some help. Sean knew it. And so did Ian.
“What is she into, Ian?”
Ian shrugged. “That, I don’t know. Yet. But I will.”
* * *
Nicki sighed when she heard the knock at the door, the instant thrum in her body telling her exactly who it was. Frankly she was astonished it had taken him this long; she expected him hours ago. Quite honestly, she wouldn’t have been surprised to look behind her when she’d first brought Nick home and seen Sean standing right there, ready to follow them in. Sean Callaghan was big and strong and cocky, and his arrogance alone would have justified his presence, at least in his own mind.
He was also a good man who cared more than most, fought for the underdog, and had a definite bold streak of chivalry. The arrogance, the cockiness, she could handle easily. But this compassionate stuff was some dangerous shit.
She should never have allowed this morning to happen. The moment she woke up and found herself tucked into Sean’s bed – alone – she should have gotten herself the hell out of there. Things would have been so much simpler if he had just fucked her last night instead. Then she could blame the alcohol or the vulnerability that came with burying her mother while her twin was off getting high.
But no. He hadn’t taken advantage of her. He’d held her. Listened. Said comforting things. Cleaned her up and dressed her in one of those soft, worn shirts that smelled like him, the bastard, before putting her in his bed and leaving her there while he wrestled that fine, huge body onto the sofa.
Show no weakness.
Nicki took a deep breath to steel her nerves, then opened the door a few inches. Even though she was expecting those laser-like eyes, they still gave her pause. Now, at least, she understood how other people felt when they looked into her eyes.
“May I come in?”
Nicki stifled the shudder the sound of his voice sent through her. All her traitorous body could remember was how that voice had sounded when it was filled with desire and arousal and pressed against her skin.
Aloud she asked, “Do I have a choice?”
“No. I’m just being polite.”
“Well don’t,” she said, stepping back to allow him to enter. “I have no use for it.”
“Just like wishes, then,” he murmured softly. Nicki ignored the poignant look, the one that offered her peace and comfort and God knew what else, turning away and putting space between them. Sean stepped into the room, sucking up most of the available air. At least that was how she explained her sudden difficulty in drawing a full breath.
“How’s Nick?”
She exhaled heavily, too weary to conjure up any false pretense. Sean had already seen the shape he was in, and had undoubtedly put the pieces together. There was nothing to be gained by trying to pretty it up. “He finally crashed. He’s sleeping it off.”
“He’s done this before?” Sean asked.
Nicki didn’t answer, pointedly looking away when she saw the brief flash of hurt in his eyes. The temptation to tell him, to unload all of the anger and hurt and frustration onto his broad shoulders, was strong, but she fought it. If she had even the slightest hope of making it out of Pine Ridge intact, she had to be strong.
* * *
Her silence hurt more than it should have. Then again, he understood something she obviously didn’t – that they were meant to be together, and that meant trust and sharing. So far it looked like that was going to be a hard thing for her to accept.
He shouldn’t be surprised. None of his brothers had it easy when they’d found their women. Taryn had run away from Jake, risking her life instead of entrusting him with the knowledge that she was the daughter of a murdered US Senator, the only surviving member of a powerful political family, held captive and then stalked for ten long years.
And Ian almost lost Lexi and his firstborn when she decided not to share her life-threatening medical condition with him, believing he was in love with her step-sister – both of which could have been resolved if they had only talked about it.
Maggie nearly died because she withheld the seriousness of her injury from his doctor brother, then Michael almost bought it because the poor bastard couldn’t think straight when he’d thought he lost her and took risks he never would have otherwise.
That did not bode well for him, did it? When he looked at it from that angle, he saw a disturbing pattern emerging, all based on the women’s inability to grasp what the men seemed to realize fairly easily – that when a Callaghan man found his true soul mate, there could not be an alternate ending. They would end up together, and this whole deny-and-run thing just made things that much more difficult.
Sean ran his hand through his hair, not even caring anymore what it symbolized. He was past denial and ready to accept the truth, but Nicki was not. And if the pattern held true, Nicki would probably try to flee before he could ... his entire body tensed when he saw the small canvas pack sitting there beside the door, ready to go.
“Going somewhere?” he asked, completely abandoning all pretense.
* * *
His voice was a little too soft, a little too knowing. She followed his gaze, then cursed herself for not putting the pack in a less obvious place; she wasn’t usually that careless. Then a tiny voice deep inside her mind whispered a truly disturbing possibility: maybe she’d wanted Sean to see it, maybe some part of her wanted him to stop her.
She shook that thought off. It was beyond ridiculous. She did not want to stay here, and she had no further use for the very hot, very sexy alpha male currently making her wet simply by looking at her.
She tried to pull off a casual shrug. “It’s time.” Now that she had the last, final piece of the puzzle, there could be no more stalling. She only wished the information hadn’t come from her own brother. And how ironic was that? That weeks of discreetly sniffing around for information weren’t as effective as her brother’s sudden backslide?
Benny was using a different name now. And he’d changed his appearance, too. But nothing would save him.
“Is it?” His voice was softer, his body closer. She hurried to put some distance between them, then drew up her head and met his stare head on, drawing forth every rational reason why she had to get the hell out of Dodge.
One, her mother was gone, and Nicki’s obligation to her – real or imagined - was complete. Two, Nick had his own life now, a good job and people who would look out for him. If she stayed here, she would only hold him back. She was a constant reminder of what once was, and what he needed was to get beyond that and look ahead. Three, Sean Callaghan was beginning to look at her like he was interested in more than a quick tumble or two. There could be nothing more between them, not now, not ever. And four – by this time tomorrow, Nicki Milligan would once again cease to exist.
“I buried my mother. Got the added bonus of hauling my brother’s drugged-up ass home before he killed himself or someone else. Oh, yeah, and I got to fuck the big, bad hard-ass while I was here, too. I think I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I possibly could in this Mayberry town.” Except for killing the bastard that ruined all of our lives.
* * *
Sean’s jaw clenched right along with his fists. Son of a bitch, it was starting already. Something about her was different. Her face was harder, colder; her eyes were like polished steel. Even her voice was different. There were no traces of amusement or anger or desire, not even sadness. Just a cold indifference that chilled him to the bone.
And it was all bullshit, he realized suddenly, wondering why he hadn’t seen it earlier. This was nothing but another superbly played performance, one of what he suspected were several false personas she adopted as needed.
He had seen the real Nicki, the one who had nestled against him last night on the floor while they ate Chinese and talked. The one who could get lost in the mechanics of an engine.
The one who had made love to him this morning with her mouth and her body. Those were all the genuine article.
This Nicki was no more real than the sultry pole dancer or the bad-ass biker chick.
Taryn had done it. So had Lexi and Maggie. Because they all had some fucktarded idea that by leaving they would be doing the best possible thing for the people they cared about most. Sean’s heart stuttered in his chest, then stopped beating entirely for several long ticks of the clock. Was it possible that Nicki cared for him the way he did for her? Oh, he knew she would realize it eventually, but maybe she already had and that was why she was swinging so hard in the other direction now...
His blue eyes bored into hers, searching. There! The silver flickered, softened for just a fraction of a second before hardening again. It was all he needed. Fine. If she wanted to play that game, he was in. He could do big and bad, too. And she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Not quite,” he said, allowing a hungry look to seep into his features. It wasn’t difficult. Being anywhere in the vicinity of the woman made him hot and hard. Hell, physical proximity didn’t really matter at all. Just thinking about her did it for him.
“Yeah?” she asked, tilting her chin with arrogance even as she took a step back. “Like what?”
Sean crossed the room in two long strides. He cupped the back of her head with one hand and thrust the other between her legs while taking full and thorough possession of her mouth. She resisted, her nails like claws curling into his chest, drawing blood, but he persisted, his tongue insistently probing until she relented and opened for him. He dominated her, his grip like iron, demanding the very breath from her lungs and replacing it with his own.
“I haven’t finished with you yet,” he said huskily several minutes later when her eyes were sufficiently dazed and her body suitably pliant. Hell, he would never be finished with her.
Seeking Vengeance: Callaghan Brothers, Book 4 Page 12
