“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“No problem,” said the other officer. He was shorter, but no less broad in the chest, or intimidating, than his associate. “First time dealing with the paps can be scary, we know.”
Grace pounced on that like a cat on a mouse. “How do you know it’s the first time?”
Blond Cop provided the answer, smiling knowingly. “Your friend gave us a call.”
Nico had the cops on speed dial? In my mind, he was beginning to take on the stature of Superman. Chloe, Grace, and I shared a dazed look.
“If you don’t do anything interesting, they’ll leave on their own after a while. In the meantime, we’ll make sure they stay off the lawn and on the other side of the street. We know most of these guys. The TMZ crew is pretty harmless; it’s the independents you have to watch out for. They can get a little aggressive.”
I knew they were aggressive, but hearing a policeman describe them that way was on a different level, considering cops dealt with the worst of the worst of humanity in their jobs. I felt more and more sick. “They can just stand across the street, watching me? For how long?”
The officer didn’t answer directly. Most likely he could sense my pending mental breakdown.
“There are loitering laws, but honestly it’s best just to ignore them. Like I said, unless you do something interesting, they’ll be on to the next thing pretty quick.” He handed me a business card. “If you feel threatened, this is the number to the station. Officer Cox and I,” he nodded at Blond Cop, “patrol this area and can usually be here within fifteen minutes.”
“What if you’re not on duty?” Chloe was wringing her hands in worry. Officer Cox looked at her as if he’d like to give her a hug. Or something stronger.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.”
I felt a little better. Then I wondered if I needed to have Chloe move in with me so Officer Cox would respond just as quickly to my next distress call. Because I assumed there would be a next distress call; it wasn’t as if I was going to stop seeing Nico because of those paparazzi fuckers.
I realized he’d be arriving soon . . . and I probably looked like something the cat had coughed up.
“Thank you, guys. So much. Just having you here makes me feel better.” Now please leave so I can take a shower and scrape the moss off my teeth before Superman flies in and mistakes me for a cave troll.
Officer Cox and his friend nodded at me and turned to go. After a few steps, Officer Cox turned back. He held out his own card to Chloe. “Just in case.”
Biting her lip, she took the card. They stared at one another a beat. “Right. You never know. Emergencies and all.”
He nodded. So did Chloe. It seemed as if something had been decided. He walked away, black baton swinging phallically at his hip, his swagger that of a man who’d just bagged an elephant.
Chloe couldn’t take her eyes from him.
Well, I thought cheerfully, so long, Miles! Silver linings, etcetera. The three of us retreated inside, and I closed the door. Now seemed a good time to finish my drink.
“Did that just happen?” Chloe seemed a bit stunned.
“What? Your love connection with the LAPD?” Grace chuckled. “Yes, sweetie, I think it did.”
“He was hot, right? And did you see the size of his gun?”
I wasn’t going to touch that one.
Grace said, “I’m sure you two will make beautiful blond babies and live happily ever after as Mr. and Mrs. Cox, a name designed solely to amuse people like me. Now can we please discuss how we’re going to get out of here without those vultures outside following us home?”
Oh. I hadn’t considered that. At some point, Grace and Chloe had to leave.
“I need a shower in order to think. Just give me—”
From outside came the unmistakable screech of a vehicle braking hard. When we looked out the window, I corrected myself: two vehicles. With no regard for the fact that it was a two-way street, a pair of black Escalades with limo tint had parked opposite the police cars, blocking traffic. Their driver doors flew open. Out popped Barney and Nico, both of them looking like they were about to commit murder.
At the sight of Nico, the paparazzi went into a feeding frenzy that would have made a school of piranha proud.
“Uh-oh.”
“Bit of an understatement, Chloe, but accurate, nonetheless.” Grace sent me a sympathetic look. “This should be fun.”
“Oh, God. What’s he doing?” Turning away to pace in the living room because I couldn’t bear to watch, I began to chew my thumbnail.
“Well . . . it looks like he’s about to get into a fight with . . . ” Grace began counting. “Eight guys. The rest are taking pictures. Who’s the thug with him in the black Armani?”
Only Grace could spot a designer suit at three hundred paces.
“Barney. He’s Nico’s . . . ” I thought of him driving Avery home, and returning to me with a briefcase of cash the day of the shoot. “Assistant, I guess? He’s not a thug. He’s really sweet.”
Was I hyperventilating? I couldn’t look out the window. I had no experience with fights, and didn’t trust myself not to scream. I felt as if I might be having an out-of-body experience.
Grace winced, watching the action outside. “I think Barney just tasered someone.”
I was horrified. “What? With a taser?”
She answered drily, “No, with his cell phone. It’s a new Android app.”
“Dude! I thought people only twitched like that for effect in the movies!”
“Chloe!”
Unimpressed with my outburst, Chloe drew in a low, thrilled breath. “Oh! Look at Officer Cox!” A moment later, louder, “DUDE!”
OK, now I had to look. I crossed to the window just in time to see Officer Nordic God Cox shove a man to the ground, toss him on his stomach, and wrap a pair of handcuffs around his wrists, faster than I could blink. Not that I was blinking, because my central nervous system was suffering from sudden-onset paralysis.
The scene outside had quickly devolved into chaos.
I spotted Nico again. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. He was shouting at a man with a video camera while the police officer who had come to the door with Officer Cox pushed him back, one hand flattened on Nico’s chest, the other wrapped around the weapon at his waist. His face contorted in anger, Nico looked completely unhinged, like he might at any moment tear off the policeman’s arm and beat the other man to death with it.
Nico broke away from the officer and headed toward my door. I had it open before he was halfway up the path. He brushed past me into the house, slammed shut the door, locked it, and turned to grip my upper arms. He pulled me against his chest.
“Are you all right?”
Though his voice was controlled, his expression, energy, and posture were thermonuclear with rage. His nostrils were flared, his breathing was ragged, every muscle in his body was clenched.
I’d never stood this close to someone so furious. I could almost smell the violence in him. It frightened me so much I stuttered when I answered.
“W—we’re okay. Th—they didn’t do anything.”
Nico stared at me in silence, examining my face. I don’t think he believed me.
“Grace.”
She stood near the front windows, watching us. “Yes?”
Not releasing me, Nico cut his gaze to her. He jerked his chin. My guess was correct: he was looking to Grace for confirmation.
She answered in a quiet monotone. It was her professional lion-tamer voice, designed to soothe and support, yet without any shred of emotion.
“She’s fine, Nico. We all are. We had a scare, but no damage has been done. The police arrived very quickly. Thank you for calling them. And thank you for coming so quickly as well. I know Kat feels much better now that you’re here.”
Her tone revealed nothing. Her expression revealed nothing. Her unflinching gray eyes revealed nothing. But I’d known Grace Stanton a long time. The moments sh
e revealed nothing were the most revealing moments of all.
If she’d been withholding final judgment on Nico before, if she’d been inclined to dislike him for his womanizing and his lifestyle and his past, but was giving him the slightest benefit of the doubt for my sake, this situation had brought her to her ultimate, irrevocable conclusion.
I had zero hope it was positive.
Not privy to this information, Nico nodded, seeming grateful for her words. Seeming, if not calmed, at least slightly less explosive from hearing them. He looked back at me.
“Okay. We’re outta here. You pack your bag?”
I was almost afraid to say “no.” “Um . . . ”
He didn’t wait for more. “Do it. We leave in five.” He looked at Grace, then at Chloe. “You girls get ready, too. Barney will drive you home.”
“But my car—”
Nico cut Chloe off. “We’ll get it to you later today. Just give Barney your keys, and he’ll handle it. You don’t want those guys outside following you home, trust me. Once they know where you live, you’ll never get rid of them.”
Never? Appropriately, Chloe paled. As did I.
“Why do I need a bag? Where are we going?” I asked Nico.
“My place.”
He correctly interpreted my stunned look, but wasn’t taking “no” for an answer.
“You’re staying with me until this dies down.” He jerked his head toward the closed door. “And we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do to get this place more secure. I know a guy who does great security systems. Gates, surveillance, the whole—”
“I’m not installing gates around my house, Nico. I don’t want to live like a prisoner!”
And why had he just assumed I’d stay with him? He hadn’t even asked! I’d stay at a hotel. This was too weird to be believed.
“Kat,” said Grace, still with that quiet, unnerving voice, “he’s right.”
That was the last thing I expected to hear her say. I turned to stare at her.
“If you and Nico are going to be together, you need to be realistic about what that entails. What’s happening outside today is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you’re up against. You have to start thinking about protecting your privacy, and your safety. Now that they know who you are, you’ll be hunted.”
Hunted? Chills coursed down my spine.
“They’ll start going through your trash. They’ll follow you to your car, the grocery store, the movies, the doctor’s office. They’ll climb the trees to get a better view into your yard, to see if they can get private pictures of you and Nico . . . ” her face slightly reddened, “together. And if they do, they won’t hesitate to publish those pictures. Or, God forbid, video.”
Lurid and horrible, snippets of celebrity sex tape scandals flashed through my mind’s eye. Was I about to join the ranks of such women as Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, and Kim Kardashian?
“This isn’t making me feel better, Grace.”
“Sorry, sweetie. But you’ve been through worse. I’m sure you can handle this. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just . . . a major adjustment.”
Nico’s fingers tightened around my arms. He was looking back and forth between me and Grace. I knew he was wondering what she’d meant by “been through worse.”
The story I’d told him about why I hated my birthday wasn’t the worst of my little Pandora’s box of sordid stories. Not by a long shot.
“All right. I’ll get my stuff.” I didn’t add that I’d be staying at a hotel. I didn’t want to have that particular discussion with Nico in front of the girls. I knew how he was about getting his way.
“C’mon.” Grace moved toward the bedroom. “I’ll help you pack. Chloe?”
Still looking dazed, Chloe nodded, following Grace into the bedroom. Nico and I were left alone.
The first thing he did was pull me into a hard hug. He smelled like cigarettes again, and leather, and some kind of spicy cologne. He put his mouth to my ear, his unshaven cheek scratching my skin. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah. Thanks for that, but it is.”
My head tucked against his chest, I sighed. Then, realizing I hadn’t yet brushed my teeth, I mashed my lips together in horror. And my hair. And my face!
I gently pulled myself from Nico’s arms, noting as I did that he was still wound tight as a bowstring.
“Okay. Five minutes. Be right back.”
Before he could answer, I dashed after Chloe and Grace, closing the bedroom door behind me.
I found Chloe sitting on the edge of my bed, looking lost. Grace had pulled my oversized duffel bag out from the closet, and was calmly putting a pair of folded jeans into it. I watched her cross to my dresser, pull out several pairs of panties, socks, and T-shirts, and add them to the duffel.
“Grace.”
She didn’t stop packing. “I already know what you’re going to say, Kat. But you’re wrong. I don’t hate him.”
“You don’t?” I couldn’t keep the surprise from my voice.
“No.”
“Even after what just happened? What you just warned me that’s going to keep happening if I keep seeing him?”
She glanced at me. Her hands fell still. I waited impatiently for her to speak. Even Chloe sat a little straighter.
“He’s not what I would’ve wanted for you. It’s too complicated, too risky, too . . . much. I still don’t trust him. And I still think it’s going to end in disaster, I’ve made that pretty clear. But—and this is a big, extenuating but—when a man acts as protective as Nico just did, it means he cares. A lot. He wasn’t at all concerned about how he was going to look to the press, or with how the police might react to his crazy chest-thumping Tarzan routine; he was only concerned with you. So, if nothing else, I’m convinced at least that he doesn’t see you as just another notch in his bedpost.” She resumed packing the duffel. “Obviously I still think this relationship will be about as stable as the Titanic, but after watching him go ballistic because you were upset, I’m keeping my mouth shut from here on out. Well, except for this small public service announcement: no glove, no love.”
I was touched. It wasn’t like Grace to cut men slack. Especially men of the galactic-ego variety. “Gee, Grandma, I think you’re getting soft in your old age.”
“Shut up,” she said mildly, “and go brush your teeth. That breath of yours is about to ignite something.”
So, after giving Grace a hug, I followed her advice. I hurriedly washed my face, brushed my teeth, stuck my hair in a ponytail, and changed my clothes. Then Grace and Chloe helped me put together the rest of what I’d need for a few days away.
A few days away . . . with Nico.
Titanic, here I come. Hope there’s room in the lifeboats.
Getting from my front door to the Escalades waiting on the street was like something out of a Schwarzenegger movie.
In the few minutes that had elapsed since Nico had shown up, more police vehicles had arrived, two news vans with satellite dishes had set up shop across the street, and what seemed like every neighbor within a fifty-mile radius had gathered, sensing blood. The scene was so bizarre, I wouldn’t have been surprised if psychotic assassin robots from the future leapt from the crowd, laser guns pointed at my head.
Not that I would have been able to see them. Grace, Chloe, and I all had jackets draped over our heads like burkas.
Or shrouds.
The jackets were Nico’s idea, one with which Grace wholeheartedly agreed. Talk about doing a one-eighty.
“I won’t be able to see where I’m going!”
My protest had been trounced by Grace’s logic, which, in typical fashion, trounced everything. “We’ll hold hands. Nico can lead. But the paparazzi won’t be able to see our faces, which is what they want. So, we win.”
Chloe said mournfully, “I see the headlines already. ‘Nico Nyx leads hidden harem from love den to limousines.’ I can only imagine what Miles will h
ave to say about this.”
“I thought you and Officer Cox were going to be making beautiful blond babies,” I reminded her.
She’d visibly brightened at the mention of his name. But it was short-lived. As soon as Nico opened the front door, all hell broke loose.
Then we ran the gauntlet.
Nico’s grip on my hand was so tight it hurt. I could only see my feet, his feet, and the pavement. Oh—and a lot of other feet all around, from everyone crowding in so close.
Apparently the police had failed miserably at keeping the paparazzi contained across the street.
Worse than the feet was the shouting, which rose to a roar as we progressed from the yard to the Escalades. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Why are there so many of them?” Chloe screamed.
Good question. She was behind me, gripping my right hand as tightly as Nico held my left. Grace, ever stalwart, brought up the rear. The four of us stumbled through the crowd to the cars, getting bumped, shouted at, harassed. Camera shutters sounded like gunfire. I held my breath, heart pounding wildly, adrenaline pumping through my veins, until finally we made it to the car.
Barney had apparently had enough of tasering people, because he helped Chloe and Grace into one Escalade, and me into the other. The minute he slammed the door shut, I sank low into the seat and clicked the Lock button. Then I tried to remember how to breathe.
A moment later—it could have been seconds or minutes, I was so terrified I couldn’t tell—the driver door opened with a chirp of a remote, and Nico got in.
“Seat belt.”
His voice was so rough he might have been swallowing rocks. He shut the door and revved the engine. A siren barked three times, and we began to move. We crept along for a while, until the sound of the crowd faded and we picked up speed. We kept picking up speed, until we were moving so fast I got even more scared than I was before. I stayed quiet as long as I could, until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Are we being chased?”
Silence. The sound of Nico’s ragged breathing. Then, curtly, “No. Had an escort from the cops, but they dropped off a few blocks back.”
“So can I take this jacket off my head now?”
Sweet as Sin Page 11