by Lisa Childs
Her hands gripped his shoulders. But she didn’t push him away. She grasped and tugged him closer. And her legs wrapped around his waist. His erection swelled and pulsed against the heat of her core.
He had never wanted—never needed—anyone the way he needed Nikki Payne. Maybe it was because of the rawness of his anguish, because of his loss. Maybe he was only using her to assuage his pain.
Before his knees could fold, he carried her toward her desk. He settled her onto the edge of it and intended to follow her down onto the surface but a phone rang then vibrated near her hip.
The call was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on him, so he jerked back from her. His body was tense and aching for her.
And she uttered a shaky sigh and reached for her cell. “It’s Cooper.”
Lars stepped back farther and glanced around the small office. Did her brother have a camera inside? Had he known what they were doing?
Her finger trembling slightly, she pressed the speaker button on her cell screen and said, “Hey, what’s up?”
“Where are you?” Cooper asked.
The pressure on Lars’s chest eased slightly. At least there wasn’t a camera. But maybe Coop possessed that same eerie knowledge Nikki had claimed her mom and other brother had. Maybe he’d just known that Lars was doing something he shouldn’t be doing with his sister.
“I’m at the office,” Nikki said.
“This late?” Coop asked. “What are you doing?”
“I’m reviewing that surveillance footage again.”
Lars sucked in a breath. He hadn’t realized what she’d been doing.
“I thought you said you couldn’t learn anything from it.” Coop spoke Lars’s thought aloud.
“I’m not just checking that night,” Nikki said. “I’m reviewing the couple of weeks before it. These guys obviously cased the place or they wouldn’t have known where the cameras were and where the guards would be. They wouldn’t have been able to break in like they had without doing some recon.”
Lars had done all the recon before he’d even admitted to Dane what was going on. He had disguised himself, but he worried now that he hadn’t done it well enough, that Nikki would recognize him.
“That’s a great idea,” Cooper said.
“So is my posing as the nanny,” Nikki said.
Coop’s sigh rattled the phone. “Yes, it is.”
She glanced up at Lars, her chocolate-brown eyes wide with hope. “You think it is?”
“Yes,” her brother replied albeit with obvious reluctance.
“You’re going to let me do it?”
There was such a long pause that she glanced down at the screen of her cell phone as if checking to make sure the call hadn’t disconnected.
But then finally Cooper replied, “Yes…”
And Nikki let out a whoop.
“We’ll talk more in the morning,” Cooper said. “Get some rest.”
Unbeknownst to him, his friend had bought Lars some time. She wouldn’t look at any more video surveillance tonight. She was too excited, so excited that she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
But Lars didn’t let himself hug her back. He couldn’t let the attraction between them go beyond that—because she would never forgive him when she learned how he’d used her.
And he might never forgive himself for using her.
But hurting Nikki wouldn’t be the worst thing on his conscience. It was already weighted down with the worst thing he’d done, which was failing Emilia. He hadn’t protected her like he’d promised. But he would protect her son.
Even if he had to hurt Nikki to do it…
Chapter 6
Emilia ached all over from the cold, from the stiffness of not moving much within the small confines of her makeshift prison. Even after all these weeks, she still had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was being in the lawyer’s office, of telling him she was sorry for wasting his time. There was no way she would give up her baby.
But she’d slurred those words instead of speaking them with the conviction she’d felt. Then everything had gone black, and it had remained that way ever since as no light ever shone inside her cell.
That was what it felt like. It could have been a small room in a warehouse or a shipping container on a boat. She had no idea, no way of knowing where she was. But she had to figure out how to escape.
She couldn’t count on Lars to rescue her anymore. He must have died during that last deployment. Her heart ached with that new loss. It already ached over losing her baby.
Where was the child? Was he or she safe? Healthy?
Every time the door opened she asked, she pleaded, for answers. But there was never a reply to any of her questions. Her captors barely looked at her. Maybe it was guilt that made them unable to meet her gaze.
Or maybe it was disgust.
She was filthy, so filthy that she feared she was getting sick. She wanted to be brave, wanted to fight. But she felt so damn weak, so listless.
If Lars was dead, maybe he could come to her in spirit. Maybe he could loan her some of his indomitable strength. The door rattled as a padlock slid free of a chain.
She was locked up like an animal. And she felt like an animal, an abused one, as she cringed in fear of that door opening. One of these times she knew they wouldn’t bring her food or water.
They wouldn’t need her anymore.
And they would get rid of her. Permanently.
And her child would never know her, would never know how much Emilia would have loved him or her and that she never would have willingly given away her baby. She never should have considered it. But she’d had a year left of college. And the father had wanted nothing to do with her anymore.
She wasn’t sure she could raise a child alone. And she hadn’t wanted to put any more responsibility on Lars. Their mother had already asked too much of him.
The door opened slowly, falling back against the outside wall of her prison. Instead of cringing, she should have been recoiled, ready to strike out and run for freedom. But she could barely roll over on that mattress, barely find the strength to turn toward the door.
When she glanced at the opening, she saw only more darkness, and a huge shadow filled the space. Hope flitted through her heart.
“Lars…” She tried to speak, but her voice came out on an inaudible whisper. Her throat was too dry, too sore.
The man stepped forward, and she could see that he wasn’t as big as her brother. Lars had been larger than life. Apparently that had become literal.
She wasn’t larger than life, but she had no doubt that it was about to prove too much for her, too. She didn’t have time to work on becoming the stronger person she wanted to be, the smarter person. Not if that man was about to take the only thing she had left: her life.
*
Nikki felt like a girl, and she hated it. But she stared down at all the clothes she’d tossed onto her bed, trying to figure out what to wear. She’d almost emptied the walk-in closet off her bedroom, but she still didn’t have much to choose from. Her wardrobe was limited while her computer collection and guns and workout equipment filled the other bedroom of her two-bedroom apartment.
“You called me over to help you choose an outfit?” Candace asked. She sounded as horrified as Nikki was. “We don’t do this.”
“I know,” Nikki miserably agreed. She couldn’t even look at the brunette who stood next to her.
“You call me up to go to the shooting range,” Candace said. “You never ask me what to wear there. Or when we go to the ring to spar.”
“I know,” Nikki said. “But this is different.”
“Then you should have called Megan,” Candace said, referring to Gage’s wife and the woman who was about to become Nikki’s stepsister.
“Megan is a librarian.” She was also a badass under pressure, like when her wedding had been taken hostage by armed gunmen.
“She’s not a bodyguard,” Nikki said. �
��You are. And I need you to tell me what to wear on my first real assignment as a bodyguard.”
Candace grabbed Nikki’s shoulders and spun her away from the bed. “You what? You have a real job?”
She nodded. But she wasn’t as eager as she’d originally been. Maybe because of how Lars had reacted to her reaction to the news. Instead of kissing her again, he’d pulled her arms away from his neck and he’d stepped back.
She hadn’t been sure if he’d regretted their earlier kiss or if he’d regretted recommending her for the bodyguard position. She hadn’t had time to find out either before he’d run off.
Maybe he was as scared as she was. Not of the job. But of whatever was starting between them. She’d never felt anything like it before.
“Why aren’t you happier about this?” Candace asked, her blue eyes warm with concern.
“I should be,” Nikki agreed. “I would be…”
If it wasn’t for Lars Ecklund messing with her mind or worse yet, her feelings.
She had felt so bad over his losing his sister. She wasn’t sure how long ago it had happened, but it was obvious the pain was still fresh for him. Still devastating…
She’d only wanted to comfort him. But then he’d kissed her.
And then she’d just wanted him.
If Cooper hadn’t called…
She might have done something stupid. She might have done Lars. Not that she thought he was stupid.
He trusted her to protect the baby. So he was actually smarter than she would have guessed.
“So why aren’t you?” Candace persisted. “What’s bothering you?”
“A man,” a soft voice murmured.
Candace startled and reached automatically for her gun. Nikki hoped she would have reached for hers, had she been wearing her holster. But it was sitting on her bed along with nearly the entire contents of her closet.
She couldn’t even see the quilt her mother had given her for the bed, which wasn’t so bad. The teal and white bedspread was—predictably for her mother—a wedding ring design. But since it had been a gift, Nikki had felt obliged to use it.
“Mom!” Nikki exclaimed.
She wasn’t just embarrassed over her mother sneaking up on her. She was embarrassed that she’d been able to do that because Nikki had been distracted by thoughts of a man. Just as her mother had said. Why the hell did the woman always have to know everything?
Penny Payne—soon to be Lynch—smiled like she’d won the lottery. “You’re not denying it.”
Nikki sighed. There was no fooling her mother, but maybe she could mislead her. “I wouldn’t call him a man,” she said.
Candace gasped. “I hope you haven’t said that to him!” She was probably imagining her husband’s reaction.
But then again, knowing Garek, he’d just laugh. Nikki doubted Lars Ecklund would do the same. He was the macho type who would probably be offended if someone questioned his manhood. That was another reason Nikki avoided men like him.
“The male in question is only a few weeks old,” Nikki explained. “I’m going to be his bodyguard nanny.”
Candace and Penny exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter. “You’re going to be a nanny?” Candace asked.
“A bodyguard,” she insisted. “I’m just posing as a nanny to flush out would-be kidnappers.”
Penny’s smile slipped away. “And your brother is allowing that?”
Nikki gritted her teeth to hold back a sharp retort. After mentally counting to ten, she finally managed a curt reply of, “Yes.”
Penny shook her head, tousling auburn curls around her face. She looked beautiful—as she always did—and hardly old enough to be Nikki’s mother let alone the twins’. “I don’t think this is a good idea at all, Nikki.”
Of course she wouldn’t.
Penny turned toward Candace. “You have more experience and would be better equipped to deal with this sort of assignment.”
Nikki flinched, but she couldn’t argue that Candace was the more experienced and better bodyguard. “Candace works for Logan, not Cooper,” Nikki reminded her mom. “And this is Cooper’s job.”
His first one for his own agency. Maybe that was what was bothering Nikki; she was afraid of messing it up for him. It would be his friend Lars’s fault if she did, though. He was the one distracting her.
She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to focus. “I can handle this.”
Penny looked like she wanted to argue yet. But she turned back toward Candace and studied the statuesque brunette. Her face brightened with a smile again. “Congratulations, honey!” she exclaimed and she pulled Candace into a tight embrace.
Over her head the female bodyguards exchanged a glance, Candace’s brow furrowed with confusion. She gently eased back and asked, “Why are you congratulating me?”
Penny waved a hand dismissively. “I didn’t figure you’d be superstitious like other first-time mothers. You don’t need to wait until the second trimester to make the announcement. You and Garek will have a healthy, beautiful baby.”
Candace gasped and pressed her palm over her stomach. “I didn’t—I’m only a couple of days late…”
“You didn’t know,” Penny said. “I’m sorry.”
“But how did you know?” Candace asked, her blue eyes wide with shock and wonder.
“You’re glowing,” Penny said.
Nikki studied her friend’s flawless complexion and glistening eyes. She was glowing and beyond thrilled. Nikki hugged her now but felt compelled to tease, “Don’t expect me to throw you a baby shower.”
Candace giggled. “Could be fun. I’m sure you’d hold it at a shooting range.”
Penny grimaced. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it for you.”
“Or Stacy will,” Nikki said. Stacy had once been Candace’s rival for Logan. But now she was Candace’s sister-in-law and very good friend. Nikki often shook her head in wonder over her crazy family.
And no one was crazier than her mother. She probably wasn’t clairvoyant—just really observant—but still…
“I have to tell Garek,” Candace said. But she paused before rushing off, pointed toward a tan sweater and black pants lying on the bed and said, “That outfit. And good luck.”
“I’m going to need it,” Nikki muttered after the brunette bodyguard departed.
Penny began, “If you’re uncertain—”
“I need the luck with you,” Nikki said. “So you won’t go behind my back to Cooper and convince him to pull me off the assignment.”
Penny’s face flushed, probably because she’d considered doing just that. But she denied it. “I’m sure Cooper knows what he’s doing. And I know that he hired some former Marine buddies to back you up.”
Nikki gritted her teeth again to hold in the hot declaration that she didn’t need backup that was burning the back of her throat.
Penny narrowed her eyes. “What do you think of your new coworkers?” the notorious matchmaker asked. “Anyone in particular catch your eye?”
Lars had caught more than her eye, especially when he’d lifted her up in his arms and kissed her so passionately the night before. Nikki’s body hummed yet, frustration vibrating through it. If only Cooper hadn’t called.
She would have made a horrible mistake. She needed to keep everything professional between them. She couldn’t blow her first real assignment.
“Oh…” Penny said as if she’d looked inside Nikki’s mind and watched the images replaying there. “It’s one of them.”
“No.” But she couldn’t meet her mother’s gaze when she said it. Instead she plucked the clothes from the bed that Candace had indicated she should wear. And now she could see that damn quilt again. Wedding rings…
Like she had warned her mother when she’d given her the present, that was the closest Nikki would ever come to wearing wedding rings.
“There’s a small child waiting for me to protect him,” Nikki said. “I need to get going, Mom.”
&nb
sp; Penny chuckled. “He’s already making you more maternal. You can’t wait to hold that baby.”
Numbers escaped Nikki. She wouldn’t have been able to count high enough to control her temper anyway. It bubbled over and she could only sputter, “I am not maternal—at all! I can’t wait to protect that baby.”
Penny stepped forward, and all the teasing was gone now. She cupped Nikki’s cheek in her palm. “Protect yourself, sweetheart.”
For once Nikki didn’t shrug off her mom’s advice. She knew she would be smart to take it to heart, not just for her assignment but for that man she couldn’t get off her mind. She needed to protect herself from Lars Ecklund.
*
Tension gripped Lars. He hadn’t slept at all last night. But then he hadn’t slept much since he hadn’t been able to find Emilia upon his return from Afghanistan. Now he knew that he would never be able to find her—alive. She was gone, and images of her had kept playing through his head.
But there hadn’t been just images of his sister. Nikki had kept him awake, too. He glanced again around the conference table, but she wasn’t there.
Had she changed her mind about the assignment Cooper had given her? Had she decided she didn’t want it?
Cooper had called this early morning meeting to assign everyone else their positions on the estate. But she hadn’t shown up. Maybe it was just because she’d already been given hers. Or maybe it was because she no longer wanted it.
But that was the least of his concerns. While Lars had been given the position he’d wanted—the one he needed to have to carry out his plan—it wouldn’t be as easy as he’d thought it would be. He waited until the others left and it was just him and Cooper alone in the conference room before he remarked, “I thought Webber was canning his staff.”
Cooper was tense, too, a muscle twitching along his jaw. “That was my recommendation.”
“And he didn’t follow it?”
“He doesn’t think the four of you—”
“Five,” Lars corrected him.