by CR Robertson
My attacker stormed forward, his hand grasping my throat as he pointed the gun in my face. His hand was shaking, and anger vibrated from him in waves. “I should just fuck you now on his car and leave your body for him to discover.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Nicklas’ voice was a scary calm that I’d never heard before. It was devoid of emotion. His head came up and his hand was steady, his focus fixed. “I would advise you to release the girl before this gets nasty.”
“Fuck you! Maceo was my brother, and you killed him as if he was nothing.”
“He was nothing. He was less than that since he raped an innocent woman and stole from me.” He motioned toward me with the gun. “I won’t ask again. Release her and you can run off to Darius and tell him you’re the reason that he won’t be getting my help.”
I counted to ten in my head, as Jordan had trained me to do. The guy turned away from me, concentrating on Nicklas, his grip on me relaxing. Holding my breath, I dropped my full weight to the ground to escape his hold. By the time he looked at me to see what had happened, Nicklas had launched himself forward. Sam moved to the other man with Benita.
Nicklas smashed his fist into his face repeatedly, pinning him to the ground with a knee on his chest. He radiated fury in terrifying waves. The guy tried a few times to defend himself, but his gun clattered across the ground, landing at my feet. I lifted it and put the safety on before releasing the magazine.
Never again would Papa criticise Xavier and Jordan for their training.
Sam had restrained the other unarmed man, dragging him around the side of the damaged car.
Nicklas’ arm went around the neck of the man, and the crack that sounded made nausea burn up from my stomach. He collapsed like a rag doll, his mouth hanging open. His eyes were already swollen and closed from Nicklas’ fists.
“Put them in the car and help me push it off the cliff,” Nicklas snapped.
The second man put his hands up and spoke rapidly.
“Do you think I give a fuck?” Nicklas demanded. “Maceo was marked. When the brotherhood accepts a mark, nothing stops the hit. So, what do you and this asshole do? Decide to kidnap more innocent women. Get in the fucking car.”
When he threw himself on the ground and started wailing, Nicklas glared at the sky for several seconds before storming toward him, dragging him to the cliff’s edge, and pushed him over.
“I don’t have fucking time for this.”
My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open.
Sam grabbed the dead man and trailed him to the edge by his feet. “A little help here!” he called.
Nicklas lifted his arms and together they tossed him over. They put the purple car into drive and pushed until it slowly moved forward and disappeared down the steep incline.
“In the car,” Nicklas snapped.
I moved toward the car we were driving, but his hand gripped my arm and spun me to walk back toward the green car. Sam crouched beside Benita, talking low to her.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Nicklas hissed.
“Going to the car.”
He stopped and glared at me. “Do you think you’re fucking funny?”
“No.”
He returned to dragging me toward the green car. My feet could barely keep up with his pace and the events were starting to catch up with me. My teeth started to chatter, and my feet stumbled over themselves. His arm came around me and he practically carried me the remainder of the way.
Nicklas sat behind the steering wheel for several seconds before he slammed his fists into the centre of it. I refused to flinch and shy back from him. Instead, I sat there quietly, my insides feeling like they were a milkshake.
“I told you not to leave your room,” he finally said.
“You did, but you also made it clear that I don’t matter to you.”
The noise he made sounded like a growl. “I’m not used to having my orders disobeyed.”
“I’m tired of men telling me to stay in my room. You are not my Papa, Nicklas, nor are you my husband. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
The muscles of his jaw bunched. “Sofia, if you keep testing me, I will show you exactly what I can do.”
I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes, suddenly tired. “If you’re through threatening me, can we just go home?”
The engine started, and he slammed the car in reverse, spinning the wheels as we lurched back. I didn’t care. My head pounded and my fingers discovered a huge egg at my temple where I had hit the side of the car. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and curl into a ball.
Pandemonium erupted when we reached the house, Maria ran at us from the kitchen, babbling too fast for me to understand. Benita and I were ushered into the kitchen where Nicklas stood with his arms folded, demanding to hear the story from the beginning. By the sounds of it, those men had belonged to Darius and had been waiting for Benita to take her in revenge for Maceo being killed. He must have been the dead man I saw carried out a few nights ago.
Benita told the entire story, including how I stood up to her would be kidnapper and how we escaped.
“You saved my baby,” Maria said, engulfing me in a hug.
I could barely open my eyes, never mind speak. My head was so sore, I felt sick and dizzy.
“Sarah, Sarah.” Maria shook me, but everything sounded too far away and the effort of opening my eyes felt too much.
Strong hands gripped my face. All I needed was to sleep.
“Get Alvaro. Now!” For a moment I was weightless as I was swung up in powerful arms. “Bring him to her room.”
We were moving, and it made my sickness worse. “Don’t you dare leave me, Princess.” I swear I felt his lips brushing my forehead.
I was aware of voices around me and bright lights being shined in my eyes. Fragmented pieces of conversation permeated the fog that settled around my head.
“Concussion… hit the car hard… swelling… hospital…”
Finally, the noise stopped and there was blissful silence. The bed dipped beside me and heat permeated around me.
“You are driving me fucking insane, Princess. I can’t be mad at you since you saved Benita, but I want to scream at you for putting yourself in danger.” Nicklas settled himself on the bed and pulled me to lie on top of him.
If I wasn’t in this strange in between world, I would have enjoyed being allowed to spend time with him. My mouth was stuck together. I tried to open and close it.
“Thirsty,” I managed to croak out, even though I still couldn’t control my eyes.
He lifted me gently and a glass of cool water was pressed to my lips.
I lost track of time, but Nicklas never once left my side, giving me sips of water and talking in the background. Most of the words meant nothing to me, but sometimes, when the fog lifted, I heard him.
Even when I shivered uncontrollably, he held me tighter and wrapped a blanket around me. There were two sides to this complicated man. One half of him was uncontrollable rage that had killed a man in cold blood. The other half held me as if I was the most precious thing in the world while he pressed kisses to my forehead and made me feel safe.
I wanted to curl up in his arms and never leave. Terror curled deep in my chest, because I knew that once I opened my eyes, he would leave me again. I finally understood what Mama meant when she talked about falling for Papa. Nicklas should terrify me, but for the first time in forever, I felt safe.
***
Chapter Eighteen
Nicklas
It had been a long time since I lost control the way I had today. Sam had been driving when his phone rang, and we heard a terrified Benita screaming into the receiver. When we caught up with them, he was trying to run them off the road.
All-encompassing red rage had taken over my body.
The fucker deserved to die. His death warrant was signed the moment that I saw my Sofia injured and his gun in her face.
For three long days, I stayed awa
y from her, hoping that she’d lose those hearts in her eyes when she looked at me. It nearly killed me knowing she was sleeping under the same roof as me, but not in my bed.
Not anymore.
I was sick of playing the hero and trying to do what was right. She’d sleep in my bed under my protection. At least then, I would know where the tiny minx was. The side of her head was still swollen, and the bruise emerging was spectacular.
She stood up to that little shit. Listening to Benita, pride had bloomed in my chest. She was a fighter, a survivor, and now she was mine. To avoid her being hurt, I’d been noble.
Fuck that.
Since she got into trouble when I left her, the best way to protect her was to keep her impaled on my dick and in my bed. Few people would dare to seek her out there.
“Nicklas?” Her voice was small and shaky.
“What’s up, Princess?”
“I need the bathroom.”
She tried to open her eyes, but she was struggling.
“Hold on,” I said, lifting her gently as the doc said she’d be sore.
“Just leave me in the bathroom.” Her breath fanned my throat as she spoke.
“No can do. Doc says you need someone to stay with you in case you faint.”
Her hand gripped my shirt. “You’re not watching me pee.”
“Guys watch each other pee all the time.”
“I’m not a guy.”
“I get that considering you have big, beautiful breasts.”
She sighed. “You aren’t interested in my breasts.”
She had no fucking clue because the image of them haunted my dreams. The mental photograph of her naked and spread wide for me on her bed had tormented me since that morning, when my resolve to keep my hands off her evaporated.
I set her on the toilet and damped a cloth to wipe the sweat off her face, avoiding the massive egg on the side of her head. She slumped to the side, falling asleep again without using the toilet.
“Hey, baby.” I pushed her hair back. “Sofia.”
She blinked a few times. “What happened?”
“You fell asleep on the toilet. I’m going to give you a few minutes to go and then carry you back to bed. Okay?”
She nodded, then groaned, her hand moving to the side of her head.
I took the opportunity to step onto her balcony and smoke a cigarette. The rage that constantly simmered under the surface threatened to explode. The need to kill him all over again burned through me. He fucking hit her, and put his grimy, filthy hands on what didn’t belong to him. My heart had leapt into my throat when I saw them hit their car several times.
My hand shook as I took another drag from the cigarette.
“Nicklas?” She clung to the doorframe of the bathroom.
“Fuck,” I stubbed out my cigarette and moved to steady her. “I told you I’d be back.”
“Everything aches.” Her head pressed into my chest, her hands landing on my hips. She touched me with the confidence that her hands belonged on me. They did. All my reservations died when she collapsed in the kitchen.
Sofia wanted me, now she had me. The only problem was that I didn’t return what belonged to me.
“I know, baby. Doc says it’ll take a few days for you to feel better.”
When I tucked her into bed, she instinctively curled herself against me like a tiny kitten. “Stay with me,” she said in a low, husky voice.
I had no intention of leaving her bed ever again. Instead of answering, I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Thoughts of revenge invaded my head as I envisaged us eliminating Darius’ crew forever. He had the audacity to ask for my help, and at the same time he allowed his men to kidnap the women under my protection. The man had a death wish.
“Boss?” A rap sounded on the door.
“Yeah?”
I wasn’t leaving Sofia, so they’d just have to deal with me here until she was fit to get out of bed.
Sam wandered in, his gaze moving to her sleeping on top of me. “How’s she doing?”
“Not good. Any news on Darius?”
“Nope. I was scanning through the flight manifests from yesterday. Three men arrived from the UK on false passports. I was wondering if there was any connection to Sleeping Beauty?”
I didn’t need any fucking more problems right now, especially none concerning Sofia. “Monitor them. They may be connected with the visitors we currently have eyes on.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We don’t fucking need this right now.”
“Yeah, yesterday could have ended differently. They were intending on taking one of Maria’s daughters in retaliation. They know what days they go to the market.” Sam leaned against the wall and sighed. “When did it get so twisted that they would use innocent women?”
“Thank God she can fight,” I said, combing Sofia’s hair back from her face.
“And drive. Benita’s a slow, steady driver. She would never have been able to keep those guys behind her. Who the hell taught her those avoidance manoeuvres?”
“Sam, you don’t want to know who her father is. He makes me look like a fucking saint.”
His eyes moved to her again, and he groaned. “Please don’t tell me that you are currently in bed with one of Lucas Black’s precious daughters? He’d cut your dick off for even looking at her twice. I thought she looked familiar.” He trailed his hands down his face. “She’s the one with the injured ankle, isn’t she?”
I neither confirmed nor denied his question.
“Fuck!”
Sofia frowned at his shout, her hand tightening on me.
“Keep it down.,” I hissed. “She’s only just getting back to sleep.”
His eyebrows flew up into his hairline. I never gave a fuck about anyone who was injured and here I was lying in her bed, stroking her hair. Sam pointed at me. “You’re playing with fire.”
Sofia Black was fire, but she was an exquisite burn that made me feel alive again.
I shrugged, a grin turning up the corner of my lips. “I haven’t laid a finger on her.”
“Strange how I don’t believe you since she’s spread over you in her bed. Last time I was shot, you didn’t nurse me.”
“Need me to tuck you in, Sam?”
“Fuck off! I’m leaving so that when he asks, I can honestly say I knew nothing about any of this.” He gave a dark chuckle. “I would kiss goodbye to your balls because their days are numbered.”
I threw him a one-fingered salute before he left.
For the next two days, I made this bedroom my office, my laptop and phone stayed on the dresser. Sofia became less groggy and more grumpy. She didn’t like to be trapped inside. Tough, because I preferred her alive.
“I’m bored,” she said, staring at the ceiling.
I glared at her from my makeshift desk. “Doc says you need to stay in bed.”
“Did the doctor say you had to stay here with me?”
“Yep. He said you weren’t to be left alone.”
If she rolled her eyes at me one more time, she was going over my knee for the spanking she deserved a few days ago.
“Benita could look after me,” she suggested.
“Maria and her daughters are on lockdown.”
“Someone’s cooking the food.”
I shut the lid of my laptop with a thump. “You’re being a brat. Only you were injured, you deserve to be punished for disobeying me the other day.”
Sofia rolled onto her tummy, her legs crossed and sticking up at a right angle from her knees. “What would be my punishment? Would you ground me and not allow me to go outside? Give me extra homework?”
I sat back in my seat and regarded her. “You’re not a schoolgirl anymore, Sofia. Adult punishments include whips and restraints.”
Her mouth fell open in a delectable ‘O’ and her eyes widened. That obviously hadn’t occurred to her innocent mind. Her tongue flicked along the seam of her lips. “Are you trying to sugge
st that you will spank me?”
“I didn’t suggest anything, but I have no issue putting you over my knee.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I arched one eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to bet against me, Princess?”
Her cheeks burned red and she bit into her bottom lip. “Why are you doing this, Nicklas? You didn’t want me and now you’re living in my room and sleeping in my bed.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want you. I told you I wasn’t good enough for you.”
She finally looked at me. “So, what’s happening here?”
I opened my laptop again and returned to what I was working on. “I decided that since you were going to be reckless with your life that there was little point in denying myself.”
Sofia sat up on her knees to stare at me. “What exactly do you mean by, not deny yourself?”
I deliberately sighed in exasperation to fluster her. “It means you need to hurry up and get better, because I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk.”
If I had slapped her, Sofia wouldn’t have looked more shocked.
“You need to close your mouth, or I’ll find something to put in it.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
I was going to enjoy training my innocent little princess. Sofia intrigued me more than any woman I’d ever met, and since she liked to deliberately poke the beast, she was going to learn how to tame him.
***
Chapter Nineteen
Sofia
He couldn’t be serious.
Nicklas sat at the desk he’d made himself in my room and stared at me. His eyebrow cocked in challenge.
“Sorry, but you had your chance and blew it.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not interested anymore.”
His smile became predatory, and I knew I was in trouble when he pushed himself to his feet. My heart beat double time and my mouth was drier than a desert. I held my hand up as if that would be enough to hold Nicklas back. His knee hit the side of the bed and he crawled across it.
The expression on his face was pure seduction because I found myself leaning back as he moved over me.