She smirked. "Well, yeah, that's why I chose them. But I mean the heels."
"Is this a trick question? They work on making your ass look great?"
"I mean are they thin enough to stab a bitch with? I’m asking for a friend."
"Oh, okay. Well…uh, sure. You'd have to put a little extra oomph to get them through but yeah, you could stab a bitch with them, especially if you go for the eyes. I wouldn't recommend them for kicking, though. Why, do you plan to use them to stab someone?"
Niki shrugged as the Maître D' indicated that their table was ready. "Maybe. They're a pain to wear anyway."
"I'd hold off on that until after dinner at least. Not only do I not want to get kicked out, but I do want to see you in them for a little while longer."
She laughed. "You're looking scrumptious yourself if you don't mind me saying so."
Taylor grinned and held her chair out for her to sit. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous and I guess that comes with me sounding like a creep."
"A little. But all things considered, I'm nervous too. We might as well get in a couple of mentions about how good we both look. It’s better than inane and useless small talk."
"Amen to that."
Another waiter appeared and poured them a glass of French white wine each. He advised them that their first course would be out shortly before he retreated to the kitchen.
"So, I have to ask," Niki started and took a moment to sip her drink before she continued. "Well, I guess this counts as small talk, but it also means we need to get to know each other a little more. So is your family as crazy as you are or are you a black sheep?"
He almost snorted his wine. "Well, that's a little rich coming from a family that incorporates you, Jennie, Vickie, and two versions of Desk."
"It simply means I know crazy when I see it."
"Ah. Good point." He took a moment to dab his lips with the napkin before he responded. "No, I don't think they are as crazy as I am, although it has been a while since I've seen them."
"But you returned from the Zoo…well, relatively recently."
"It's a long story, but I was…uh, okay. Let’s say cut off from the rest of my family. It wasn't pleasant and I joined the military immediately after that."
Niki leaned a little closer. "What happened?"
"My dad and I had words about certain things he's done in the past and has no regrets over. My mom took his side. Things got heated, and he pushed me. I broke his jaw and was kicked out of the house and told in no uncertain terms that I wasn't welcome there. I found the nearest signup office in the area and I never went back. My mom sent me a couple of letters while I was stationed in the Zoo but I never opened them. I think I left them behind when I came to the US, but I'm not sure."
She nodded. "Well, I guess that answers my question."
"How so?"
"Well, for them to cut ties with someone like you, they'd have to be crazy, right?"
Taylor smirked as the waiter approached with two plates, placed them on the table, and retreated quickly. "You know, that sounded suspiciously like a compliment."
"It was meant as one." She smiled her most dazzling smile as she nudged the food on her plate with a fork. "Changing the subject somewhat, I hope there are more courses to this. When you order Maine lobster, you expect there to be more…you know, lobster to it."
She couldn't help a smile when she realized that compared to Taylor's massive frame, the food seemed much smaller—and comedically so.
He nudged the plate and nodded. "There are four courses and a dessert, so I think we’re set for that. Unless all the portions are this small, in which case I might need to stop at a burger joint on my way home. Seriously, how the hell do they get away with charging so much for so little food?"
Niki shrugged and took a mouthful, and her eyebrows raised almost of their own volition. "Okay, it might be that they charge for the quality instead of the quantity."
A slight scowl was his only response before he took a mouthful. "They damn fucking better. I ordered steak for the fourth course and it had better not be this small."
She couldn't help a small laugh as she had already finished the tiny portion and dabbed her mouth before the waiter came to clear their plates. "Do you mind if I ask you another personal question?"
Taylor looked like he had expected this part of the evening but hadn't looked forward to it. He wore a similar expression when he was steeling himself for a fight against a horde of Zoo monsters. "Of course. What do you want to know? Although I assume Desk has already looked into my life thoroughly and shared all that information with you."
"Fair, but there's information that even Desk isn't privy to."
"Don't tell her that."
"Right…but… Okay, I don't know how to ask this right, but here goes. You've explained to me in the past why you slept around so much. I don't think I would ever understand that myself, but you did apply some logic to it, which is more than most guys are willing to do." She wiped her hands on her napkin when she realized they were suddenly sweaty. "I guess my question is why are you so willing to stop now?"
This wouldn’t be easy.
Rod stared at the list of contacts Stephanie had compiled for him. Most were the pit bosses he used in the casino and he wasn't sure they were the kind of people who would get the job done properly. And while he didn't want to have to spell it out to anyone, the chances were that they would end up on Taylor's shit list as well.
Of course, he was looking to make money on the last two idiots who had interacted with the man but he didn't need it to happen more than once. If people were going to get killed, they should not be members of his crew.
He leaned back in his seat and scratched his cheek for a few long seconds before the solution struck him. It wasn't the best idea he'd ever had but he was on something of a timeline.
Galvanized by this new possibility, he pressed the button on his landline to connect to the outer office. "Stephanie, would you mind coming in here for a second?"
"Of course, Mr. Marino."
Moments later, she stepped inside. There wasn’t much difference between her and the other secretaries he'd had in the past. Her long, blonde hair was held in a rigid ponytail, and her dark-green eyes were covered by a pair of full-framed glasses. She was a little taller than most, though, and her heels added only a couple of inches to a lean, delicate frame that was perfectly and professionally complemented by the gray skirt suit she wore.
"I have a job for you," he explained and motioned for her to take a seat. It was late but the woman made no indication that she wanted to leave soon and simply sat across the desk from him. "There are three men who I will do business with, and I'd like you to meet them and take down some relevant details about them."
"Details, sir?"
"Background, height, weight, arm reach, that kind of thing."
"It sounds like a tale of the tape for a fight."
"Something like that."
"But for three men."
"That is correct."
She had a notepad and made notes quickly. "Is there anything I should know about these men beforehand? Should I expect any trouble or resistance to these questions?"
"Well, not the first two on the list. They are employees of mine, and if you tell them I sent you, they'll be willing to provide you with anything you need. The third might be a little more problematic, which is why I'll send you—someone he won't…well, expect to cause any trouble. The last two guys I sent to talk with him left some bad blood, and I hope you'll be a little more diplomatic."
The woman added a few more notes. "I should then collect all the details relevant to fighting that they would be willing to give me, yes? As for this third man…Taylor McFadden, how diplomatic should I be?"
"Okay, don't offer it up, but I'm sure he'll require it. But negotiate first and get as much as you can out of it."
She didn't even blink. "I'll let you know what I've learned on Monday, is that acceptable?"
Marino's eyebrows raised. "I…yes, very acceptable. Let me know if McFadden gives you any trouble."
"Of course. Will there be anything else, sir?"
He shook his head. "You can head home for the night. I'll do the same in a little while myself."
Chapter Five
Taylor didn't answer immediately. Instead, he toyed with his wine glass and even waited until the waiter arrived with the next course. The pepper-crusted beef tenderloin looked and smelled divine, and Niki felt bad for making him choose between answering her and digging in.
"You can go ahead and eat if you want," she said finally as he took a sip from his wine. "It's not an easy question so I don't expect there to be any easy answers to it."
He looked at her and smirked. "No, no, it's fine. You're perfectly entitled to ask it. Honestly, I expected you to ask it a while ago before you agreed to go out on a date with me. I've already told you that the long and the short of it is that the Zoo is a love the one you're with type of place. You be with whoever you can since tomorrow, you might be going through some monster's digestive tract."
She tilted her head with a small frown and he hurried to apologize.
"Sorry, that wasn't the most appetizing metaphor. But the fact of the matter is that you take comfort in the arms of almost any willing human partner you can find. The first few times it was merely about the sex for me, but after that, it became a little more. It’s about knowing that the people you have a beer with today might be gone tomorrow, so you crave a human connection, however small and fleeting."
Niki nodded slowly. "That was a surprisingly eloquent answer. I'm impressed."
"It was something a therapist told me. It didn't make much sense to me at the time, but over the past few months, I guess I've warmed to it. Maybe the hack knew what she was talking about."
Her expression thoughtful, she cut her pepper-crusted beef tenderloin that had remained untouched. "Was there ever anyone a little more special than simply getting your…only the human connection aspect to it?"
He scratched his chin and she knew she wasn't imagining the way he avoided her gaze. She also knew he was trying to be honest—maybe a little too honest—and he wasn't sure of the consequences of answering every question the way he was.
Still, he had to know she wasn't the kind of girl who would ask something she didn't want the answer to. And even if that wasn't quite true, she wouldn’t create a scene or make him regret telling her everything she wanted to know. That wasn't the way to reward his good behavior.
"Well…there was someone," he admitted finally. He took a mouthful of the filet mignon and chewed slowly as if to give himself time to think about what he would say. "I met her during my first couple of months in the Zoo. Of course, on my first run in there, I was one of the only survivors and things had spiraled a little. She was a sergeant and almost stereotypically hard-assed. We were both stuck there while our tours lasted and made a couple of runs together and overall, it was fun. More than that, we trusted each other and both had the…addiction to the adrenaline high that came from heading into the Zoo."
He paused for a few seconds as he focused on his steak.
Niki wasn't great at simply waiting for the end of a story. "What happened to her?"
"We went into the jungle one day and she didn't make it out," he answered simply and took a sip of his wine. "I managed to get her dog tags out, though. We had a small get-together at the bar that night, everyone raised a glass, and that was kind of it. I guess I told myself never again after that. When you get used to the life, you start to feel like a junkie. You hate heading back in but after a while, you start to miss it. And that makes it feel worse, until eventually, you…slip and then, that's the end."
Taylor still didn’t meet her gaze and she almost didn't want him to. The guy had put up such a huge wall between himself and the rest of the world, and this rare peek into what he was protecting was more than fascinating. She didn't want to do anything that would make him retract into that shell of his.
After a short silence, he shrugged. "And then you get Stateside and it's not the same. That kind of mentality has no place in the civilized world, and you need time to adapt to it. Even then, even looking down the barrel of what might be your last chance to live in the world again, you still feel that…something. Like you've adapted to live in an alien world and you're no longer fit to be among humans."
She placed her hand on his arm and squeezed gently. He seemed to not notice it for a couple of seconds before his gaze locked on her fingers. In silence, he stared at her hand while she simply waited, and he finally shook his head and looked at her.
"Huh, I…said that all aloud, didn't I?"
Niki smiled. "You did but I didn't mind. You're in your head so much that it's nice to see you willing to talk and shit."
He smirked and nodded, then glanced at her hand before he covered it with his.
"Is that what you're afraid of, though?" she asked as the waiter came to take their plates. "Slipping back into old habits? Old mentalities?"
Again, he took a moment to think. "Well, the jobs you provided helped to avoid the rebound and eased me back into civilized society. I guess you could say I got onto a recovery plan before I ever had to worry about it. I didn't want to go back, and the easy battles you brought me into were more than enough to keep the adrenaline junkie in me sated."
"So dropping a helicopter on yourself…that was easy?"
"An easy decision to make, if nothing else. It was the recovery that was long and difficult. A recovery I wouldn't have had to make if I died on that mission, which would have been an acceptable result if you'll remember."
She waited until the waiter had placed their dessert plates in front of them—chocolate sable and coffee Chantilly cream topped with a helping of coffee ice cream.
"I do remember. I guess that was the first time I saw you as more than simply a useful Cro-Magnon tool to be thrown at the monsters whenever they cropped up and made a mess of things. You were an ass, though."
"So are you saying that was the first time you checked my ass out?"
Niki didn't want to answer that, but the man had been surprisingly frank all night and it didn't feel right to not return the favor. "No. Not by a long shot."
He grinned and took a bite of one of the cookies. As with the rest, the portions were way too small and the dessert was finished almost before she had a chance to properly enjoy it. The waiter was on the ball, cleared the plates immediately, and nodded when Taylor gestured for him to bring the check.
"Well, in fairness, that appreciation went both ways," he noted as the young man returned with the leather folder containing the check. "I was merely too much of a gentleman to let you see it, is all."
"If you think you were in any way subtle about it, you are woefully mistaken." She made a move to intercept the bill before he could to see exactly how much the whole four-course-plus-dessert meal had cost them. He was quicker and snatched it out of the young waiter’s hands before she could stretch far enough.
"Don't even think about it," he warned, peeked inside quickly, and slipped his credit card in before he handed it back. "I happen to know that being on a government employee salary is no fucking picnic. I was in the army for a while, so I know a thing or two. Like that it's much worse than being a government contractor."
Niki grinned as the waiter returned with the card. Taylor was already on his feet and circled to where she began to stand. She still had a little trouble with her heels as they moved to the entrance, where the limo was already waiting.
"You know, Taylor, a girl might hypothetically be very flattered by what you did," she noted as they reached the door and she waited for him to pull it open for her.
"Really? Well, was this…hypothetical girl flattered?"
She tilted her head and allowed herself a smile as she ran her fingers down his arm. "You could say this hypothetical girl was very flattered. Hypothetically."
They stepped out to where the limo w
aited and he cut in front of the driver to open the car door for her. The man in uniform didn't look very happy about it but remained silent.
But she wasn't ready to leave yet. It was clear that Taylor didn’t expect to get straight to it on their first official date and she was happy about it herself, but it felt a little off to simply leave him the way he was.
With a hint of hesitation, she leaned closer. Even with her heels on, she managed to stretch the extra few inches she needed to place a light kiss on his lips. He didn't seem surprised—or, at least, he didn’t pull away from her as she ran her fingers down the hard planes of his chest that were barely contained by the casual suit he wore.
A few seconds ticked past and Niki finally drew back and paused to straighten the delicate fabric of her red dress. She cleared her throat as, exactly as it had with the meal, everything in her wanted so much more.
He sucked in a deep breath and his tense shoulders relaxed as she raised her hand to wipe a hint of lipstick that had smudged onto his lips.
"You know, it usually takes a whole fucking lot—almost an act of God—to get me to open up like this, Taylor, and you've pried at those walls with a crowbar," she whispered breathlessly, unable to resist trailing her hand down his neck and chest. "But don't…don't screw around with it, okay?"
"Will do." His voice was thicker and raspy like it came from the throat as he nodded and stroked her hair tenderly. "Thomas will take you to the hotel now."
He seemed as uncomfortable with the situation as she did, but as they both made to part ways, the hint of a pause showed that neither of them wanted this to end yet. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but something animalistic in her wanted to drag him into the limo with her.
Instead, she slid into the vehicle and he closed the door behind her. Niki exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Like she was unconsciously aware that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back from him if she had to breathe his scent for any longer.
The sound of conversation from the front of the car brought her attention to the here and the now. Taylor had circled and slipped the driver something before he retreated and let them drive off.
Monster In Me (Cryptid Assassin Book 8) Page 4