His To Keep

by Stephanie Julian

  “Sorry.” She shook her head, not wanting to shake off his spell but realizing Toni was watching their every move. “I lost my rhythm for a second.”

  Easing away, she noticed how Nic’s hand tightened on hers for just a second before he released her. With a deep breath, she motioned for Toni to trade places. And saw Nic’s expression transform with love.

  As they moved in a small circle, Annie watched as Toni finally loosened up enough to find her rhythm. The girl was a natural, and with some instruction, she could be great.

  “Have you ever considered taking classes, Toni? You definitely have talent. The studio where I study has all different types of classes.”

  Toni shrugged, but her eyes widened with interest. “Sure, I could look into it. I’d have to ask my mom.”

  Nic nudged her. “So you think you got this down, kid?”

  Toni nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I think so.” She flashed a quick look up at Annie. “Um, thanks for the dance lesson.”

  “No problem, Toni. It was very nice to meet but I should probably get back to work.”

  Nic watched Annie turn toward him, her expression hard to decipher. Then she smiled her patented “Everything’s fine” smile. Which meant she was hiding something.

  “I’ll walk you to the door.” He turned to Toni, who continued to watch them with the eyes of a baby hawk. “Hey, smart girl, see if you can get that nut off for me. Be right back.”

  He waved a hand toward the door where she’d entered and fell into step beside her. “Thanks for bringing that over. You didn’t have to make a special trip. Hope we didn’t make you late for something.”

  Annie shook her head. “No problem, but I’ve really got to get going.”

  Nic couldn’t help but think she was running and he didn’t like that she was running from him. But what was he supposed to think when she wouldn’t meet his gaze. What had happened between dancing in his arms and this second?

  They reached the door and Annie was ready to push through before he stopped her.

  “Annie—”

  His cell rang and pulled it out while still holding onto her with his other hand. The number was blocked.

  Shit.

  Annie’s gaze narrowed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t go.” He answered the phone. “DeMarco.”

  “She’s beautiful,” the electronically distorted voice said. “And she looks so lovely in blue, don’t you think? You don’t deserve her.”

  Sonuvabitch. The guy was watching him. Pulling Annie back into the garage, he shut the door. His expression must have scared her into silence because she didn’t say a word.

  “Who the hell is this?”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually, Dominic. But until then, it’ll be fun to watch you squirm. You can’t be with her 24/7, can you? So you’ll wonder every second of every day if she’s safe. Because I know what you don’t want anyone else to know. Just how much she means to you. When I hurt her, it’ll kill you.”

  The call ended and, for several seconds he stood there, burning hot with fury, biting back the foul words that wanted to spew from his mouth.

  He wouldn’t swear like a soldier in front of Toni. She’d never heard him say more than an occasional hell or damn.

  So he counted backwards from one hundred subtracting seven each time. Mal swore by the technique.

  “Nic, are you okay?” Annie asked before her eyes widened. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

  His jaw set. “Not in front of Toni.” He turned to call for the girl, somehow managing not to bark out orders. “Hey, kid. We gotta get going. Something’s come up.”

  Then he looked down into Annie’s worried eyes. “I’m gonna take Toni home then I’ll drive you home. No,” he cut her off before Annie could respond. “I’ll take you.”

  Annie shook her head. “I wasn’t going to object but I’m not going home.”

  His gaze sharpened on hers. “Why? Where are you going?”

  “I have a meeting, across town.”

  “Fine. I’ll take you. But I’ve got to talk to Mags first.”

  *

  Annie had met Magdalene DeMarco before but hadn’t seen her in years.

  Mags hadn’t changed much. She still reminded Annie of a gorgeous Italian painting with her long dark hair, high cheekbones and full mouth. She had curves Annie could only ever dream of having and Nic had loved her once. Maybe he still did.

  “Hey, Nic, you’re—” Mags stopped and her gaze narrowed on his face. “What happened? Is Toni okay? Are you okay?”

  Toni sauntered through the door, hands in her pockets, smirk in place. “I’m fine. Nic’s all charged up over some phone call he won’t talk about. I’m gonna get a drink. Anybody want one?”

  Annie smiled at the wealth of teenage disgust in Toni’s tone. Neither Nic nor she had told Toni about that call. The girl truly was a DeMarco.

  Mags pinned Nic with a look. “What’s going on?”

  Annie shut the door and leaned against it as Nic took Mags’ arm and led her to the couch.

  “You know I’d never intentionally put Toni in danger, right?”

  Mags nodded as they sat side by side. “I know that. But you’re lookin’ pretty scary right now, Nic. What the hell happened?”

  “Just a few phone calls from some asshole who wants to rattle me.”

  Mags just stared at him. “Jesus, who’d you piss off this time?”

  He shook his head, expression tightening. “I don’t know. But when I find the guy, I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t do it again. In the meantime, I can’t be around Toni for a while. I don’t want this guy getting any ideas about her. You gotta keep her close for a while.”

  Mags snorted. “She’s gonna love that. What about you?” She looked deep into Nic’s eyes and Annie’s heart tripped over the emotion there. “Are you okay?”

  Nic nodded and his gaze skipped to Annie’s for a brief second. “Yeah.”

  Mags followed Nic’s gaze then smiled at her. “I’m sorry. Please, come over and sit down. You’re Annie, right? Janey’s friend.”

  Annie nodded but remained where she was. “Yes.” She held out her hand to Mags, who took it for a firm shake. “But I really can’t stay. I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes I can’t miss. Nic, I’ll just get my car—”

  “No.” That one word held a wealth of anger and a hint of fear. It was the fear that made Annie bite back sharp words. “I’ll take you.” He turned back to Mags. “Keep her inside tonight. Just to be safe. I’ll call you later. And don’t say anything to my parents. I haven’t told them what’s going on yet.”

  Mags nodded, her gaze flipping between Nic and Annie. “Sure. Stay safe, Nic. I worry about you.”

  When she leaned on to kiss Nic on the cheek, Annie’s blood pressure threatened to give her a stroke. She refused to believe she was jealous but no other emotion fit.

  “I know, but I’m not going anywhere. Talk to you tonight.”

  He stood, walked to the door and took Annie’s arm, never looking at her face.

  “We’ll take your car.” Nic led her outside and headed straight for her car, which he’d obviously seen. His gaze never stopped moving. “I’ll pick mine up later. Give me the keys.”

  She gave them up without a fight, still trying to come to terms with the fact that she was jealous of Mags.

  When they reached her car, Nic finally released her but stayed by her side until she’d slid into the passenger seat.

  When he got into the driver’s seat and asked where they were going, she gave him the address in Manayunk but didn’t say anything else as they headed out of the city.

  Silence descended. She’d turned off the radio on the drive over and neither of them bothered to turn it on. He did turn on the air conditioning and that helped cool her off enough to loosen her tongue.

  “Are you going to tell me what he said this time?”

  He didn’t answer but his mouth tightened until he almost scowled.


  “It has something to do with me, doesn’t it? Come on, Nic. I think I deserve to know what’s going on.”

  With a harsh sigh, he slid her a quick look. “He was watching me and, yeah, he threatened me.”

  Which wouldn’t have made him so frantic. “He threatened me too, didn’t he?”

  When Nic didn’t answer, she tried another angle. “What was in the envelope?”

  “A report from Jimmy. He’s been trying to track down the calls but it’s tough going, even for him.”

  Stopping for a red light, he gave her a hard look. “I don’t want my parents to hear about this. Not yet. Don’t say anything to Janey or my parents until I’ve talked to them. Dad can’t cope with this kind of stress right now, and Mom and Janey don’t need to worry about this. Nothing’s going to happen. I’ll talk care of this.”

  She had no doubt he would. Nic was good at taking care of things. But he wasn’t Superman. If he got hurt, he’d bleed, just like a regular mortal. Her chest ached to think about it.

  So she switched topics.

  “You and Mags and Toni seem pretty close. You spend a lot of time with them, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I helped Mags with Toni after Nino died. It was the last thing he asked.”

  Annie heard a wealth of pain in those tightly controlled words and they pounded at her already tender heart. “So why haven’t you married her?”

  He shot her a scowl. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  She couldn’t help herself. “Mags. Why haven’t you married her? Isn’t that what Nino would have wanted? For you to take his place? To raise his daughter and love his wife. And Mags wants you. Hell, even I can see that.”

  Nic snorted. “She never wanted me. Not even when I pursued her. She only ever wanted Nino. And it’s my fault he’s dead.”

  “How can you say that?” She turned in the seat so she could see him. “You can’t blame yourself for that. There’s no way I’d ever believe that. And how can you deny you want her? You admitted you had a thing for her.”

  His hands curved around the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. “I was young and she was beautiful. But I never really loved her, not the way Nino did. You could see it in his face whenever he talked about her. She was his whole world. And Mags only ever wanted Nino. She hasn’t looked at another man since he died.”

  Nic flexed his fingers, as if trying to restore the blood flow. “He died in my arms and his last words were to take care of his wife and his kid. He was dragging me back to the truck when he got hit. I should have died, damn it. Not him.” The words had the ring of a familiar mantra, something he said over and over again. “My injuries killed my career, but here I am. And Nino’s in a coffin.”

  Annie wanted to put her hands over his, to wrap her arms around him, but he was driving and it looked like he needed all the concentration he had to keep going. Still, she couldn’t be quiet.

  “Nic…” if you had died that day, a piece of my heart would have gone with you, “when your parents came to get Janey at school, I wouldn’t let them leave without me. I came home with Janey. I told everyone it was for moral support. But I was being selfish. I had to see for myself that you were going to be okay. When they brought you back here from Germany, I would go to the hospital with Janey and wait in the hall. I told her not to tell you I was there.”

  With an abruptness that startled a gasp out of her, Nic pulled into a parking space with a jerk then turned to spear her with a white-hot gaze. “Why didn’t you come in to see me?”

  No turning back now. “Because I was afraid you’d send me away.”

  She didn’t know how long they sat there, staring at each other. His expression showed nothing but that intense gaze of his burned. Then he laughed, but there was no humor in the short sound.

  “I never thought of you as anything other than another sister when you were a kid, Annie. And then I come home one day and you’re eighteen and a beautiful young woman. You were the only person I could think about. The one person I couldn’t have, still too young and out of my league.”

  His gaze seemed to bore a hole straight through her. She couldn’t believe she’d heard him right. Then he turned away and swore, just once, but so viciously she flinched.

  Then he sighed. “Is this the right address? I made sure we weren’t followed so you don’t have to worry about that.”

  Annie blinked and looked out the front window. They’d arrived but it hadn’t registered with her brain.

  When she nodded, he got out of the car and walked around to open hers. He reached in to help her out of the car with a firm grip on her arm, as if he was afraid she’d try to get away. “What is this place?”

  Annie took a deep breath to clear her mind and shove his words to the back of her mind for examination later. Right now, she needed to focus. “Dawn House. Look,” she paused, trying to decide how to put this, “you can’t go in with me. You might scare the girls.”

  His brows raised. “Well, hell, Annie. Don’t hold back to spare my feelings.”

  Grimacing, she tugged at her arm until he released her then started toward the former apartment building in the middle of a side street. “Sorry, that didn’t come out right. Dawn House is a female-only shelter for abused teens and runaways. The girls are sent here by the police or from the homeless shelters in town. We take them in, get them counseling, medical attention, send them home, if that’s what they want.”

  Nic took another look at the building before returning his intent gaze to hers. “What do you do here?”

  “I run it.”

  Taking a closer look at the three-story brick building, Nic noticed it was nondescript in every way from the surrounding buildings. Which was probably the point.

  Manayunk had made a name for itself in recent years as an artists’ enclave, but it still had a blue-color feel to it. And it was large enough to hide a shelter like this.

  Which Annie apparently ran in all her spare time when she wasn’t working full-time for DeMarco Investigations.

  He followed her up the stairs to the front door where she turned.

  “I’m going to be here for at least four or five hours. If you need to take the car—”

  He shook his head. He was going nowhere. “Why don’t you take me in and show me around.”

  She frowned and he could tell she didn’t want him here. Tough. He wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t have a clue what this guy might do next and he wasn’t going to leave Annie as an open target.

  “The girls—”

  “I won’t do anything to scare your girls, Annie. But I’m not leaving. I’ll wait in your office. That’s private, right? I can make some calls and you can do whatever it is you do here.”

  After a few more seconds’ hesitation, she nodded sharply. “Fine. But don’t be surprised if some of the girls cower at the sight of you. You’re big and you’re grim. Some of them have been abused and you’re going to scare them.”

  Pushing open the door, she led him into an enclosed vestibule and entered a code on the keypad by the next set of doors. He wondered who had installed it and how good it was. He’d take a look at it before they left.

  It bugged the hell out of him that he’d never known about this place. He thought he knew everything about Annie, but somehow she’d concealed this part of her life.

  Of course, over the last several years, he’d kept his distance. Except for the incident a few years ago with that scum lawyer she’d been working for, he’d been careful not to ask too many question about what was going on in her life. It made him crazy to know he’d never be a part of it.

  Once through the second set of doors, they made their way down a short hallway then Annie turned left into a large living area. Couches defined several seating areas, three with small televisions. A baby grand piano occupied a far corner while an entertainment system with a wide-screen TV balanced the other end of the room.

  Five pairs of female eyes latched onto him from different areas. Fe
ar radiated from two, anger from another two and one stared right through him.

  The last girl had painfully thin arms wrapped around legs drawn tightly to her chest. She had bruises on her arms and a shiner that made her blue eyes seem to pop out of her thin face. Her dark hair reminded him of Toni and he could feel the bile start to rise.

  Annie told him to hang on a second then she approached each girl individually, speaking to them softly, touching their shoulders.

  She asked them all how they were doing, smiling and asking questions. Annie apparently knew them all.

  When she reached the girl with the shiner, Annie sat across from her and waited until the girl looked at her. She spoke but the girl didn’t answer. At least, Nic didn’t think she did. He could barely hear Annie.

  Before she rose, Annie reached over to touch the girl’s hand for a second.

  Then Annie rose and walked back to him. She gestured for him to follow. “Come on, up here.”

  She led him to the stairs at the back of the room, which led to another hallway filled with closed doors.

  “My office is back here.”

  She waved him through a door in the middle of the hallway with “Annie” stenciled across it and stopped in the doorway.

  “You can stay here until I’m done.” She barely met his gaze before she turned.

  He caught her arm just before she could make her escape.

  “When you said you run this place, what did you mean?”

  She glanced at his hand on his arm, and he knew she expected him to release her. Not until he had some answers. She was messing with his head, even if it was unintentional, and he needed information.

  Sighing, she shrugged. “I’m sure you can figure that out for yourself. I fund it. From a trust my grandparents set up. My grandparents were great philanthropists. Before my grandmother died three years ago, she set up the trust to fund this shelter and made me the executive director.

  “There are five, full-time staff members. Two psychologists, one medical doctor and two trained therapists and social workers. We have thirty beds but we’re trying to get city council to approve another ten and to allow us to be a group home. Some of these girls don’t have anywhere to go. We try to help them get clean, or sober, try to get them to call home. Some don’t have a home to go to and those are the ones that need us most of all.”