His To Keep

by Stephanie Julian

  Now here was something Annie was passionate about. Her eyes sparkled and her expression was animated. Then she seemed to remember who she was talking to and dropped her gaze.

  “Look, I’ve got some things I need to do. I’ll be back a little later.”

  Nic dropped her arm and watched her walk away from him.

  Dropping into the chair behind the desk, he let his gaze roam. A denim couch that looked to be a sleeper, a file cabinet and a wall of bookshelves were the only other furniture. Several orderly piles of paper sat on the desktop, while books ranging from romance and science fiction to texts on psychology and stress-related eating disorders filled the shelves.

  It bugged him that he’d never known. Hell, it almost bugged him more than getting shot at this morning. Almost.

  Rationally, he knew she had a life. But on a purely irrational level, it made him crazy to want to know her secrets. And that wasn’t going to happen, especially now.

  He’d spilled his guts in the car and she’d looked horrified. He’d told her just enough to make him look like a lovesick fool. For years, he’d kept all the emotional turmoil wrapped inside, away from her. She’d moved on with her life. Why the hell didn’t he?

  But now someone had threatened her. And it was his fault.

  Sighing, he let his gaze wander again, coming to rest on the two photographs on her desk. One was Annie and her dad, her dad laughing as he held her in his arms on the back of a camel. She couldn’t have been more than five. In the background, he saw a pyramid.

  In the second photo, a teenage Annie was surrounded by a couple he assumed were her grandparents. She smiled into the camera, dressed in a strapless white gown that would have made him drop to his knees and beg her to put him out of his misery if he’d ever actually seen her wear it.

  She never smiled at him like she was in the picture.

  “Screw this.” He felt ready to rip out his hair. It was time to do some work.

  He pulled out his cell phone.

  “Hey. I got another call.”

  Jimmy didn’t hesitate. “Gimme an hour. I’ll try and trace it.”

  “Jimmy… He was watching me. And he threatened Annie again.”

  “Oh, hell.”

  “Yeah. Find something for me, Jim.”

  “Shit, Nic. I sent her there with that damn stupid report.”

  “Hey, this isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I’ll handle it. Just get me something I can work with.”

  “Alright.” Jimmy’s frustration came through loud and clear. “Nic—”

  “Hey, let’s just figure out who this bastard is and shut him down.”

  His brother snorted in disgust. “Guess I can handle that. Talk to you later.”

  Nic clicked off the phone. Thank God for Jimmy. Nic would go crazy if he didn’t have anyone to talk to about this, but his parents weren’t an option. His dad—

  Someone knocked at the door, breaking his concentration. He was up and had the door open before he’d thought about it.

  The girl from downstairs, the one with the shiner, stood there. If she was surprised to see him, it didn’t show. Her face held no expression at all.

  “Annie’s not here,” he said.

  The girl shrugged and Nic realized she was younger than he’d thought. Probably only thirteen or fourteen. Her long limbs made her appear older if you only looked superficially. But her eyes told a different story. Especially the bruised one.

  “She said I could borrow a book whenever. I finished the ones I had.” She held out two paperback mysteries. “I need something new to read.”

  Nic nodded and moved away from the door, back behind the desk. The girl barely paid him any attention. Moving to the bookshelves, she just stood there, looking at the spines.

  The bruises on her arms and face infuriated him. But as heartbreaking as it might be, he’d rather have her show some emotion than none at all. With the other girls downstairs, at least he’d been able to ease their suffering by leaving the room. This one didn’t seem to care about anything.

  When he couldn’t stand the silence anymore, he asked, “How’d you get the bruises?”

  She didn’t flinch, didn’t turn. “Pimp. Didn’t like that I wouldn’t work for him.”

  Nic’s hands curled into fists and he had to work hard to keep his tone calm. “Want me to make sure he doesn’t do it again to anyone else?”

  There, that got her attention.

  She turned from the books to stare at him, her expression still eerily blank. “Why?”

  “Why what?

  Suspicion flared in her eyes, the first emotion she’d shown. “Why would you do that?”

  Oh, hell, this girl might very well break his heart. He’d always had a soft spot for the hard cases. “Character flaw.”

  Her lips quirked into what he figured was as good a smile as he was going to get from her. “How do you know Annie?”

  “She’s my sister’s best friend.”

  The girl turned back to the books. “She’s a good person. Not too many of those around. Kinda naïve, though.”

  “How so?”

  “She thinks this matters, that we’re all gonna live happily ever after when we leave here.”

  “And you don’t?”

  She tossed him a cynical glance over her shoulder. “Who does?”

  He nodded. “Good point.”

  *

  Annie stopped outside her office, hand on the knob. She heard voices inside. One was Nic’s. The other … well, she couldn’t be sure but she thought it might be Karen. If it was, the man was a miracle worker.

  Karen had shown up three days ago, looking pretty scary just out the hospital. Some pimp who hadn’t liked her answer to his “business” proposal had beaten her and sent her to the emergency room.

  She’d left before social services could get to her and walked from Temple University Hospital to here. She hadn’t said more than a few words to anyone since she’d arrived. Annie had been worried she was going to lose this one. And Annie didn’t like to lose.

  But here was Karen, holding a conversation with Nic.

  With no guilt, she leaned against the wall and continued to eavesdrop. Apparently, she’d picked up a bad habit.

  “So, you got a home somewhere?” Nic asked.

  “No. Parents are dead or gone. Don’t know which. Had a foster family but they had a kid and he got grabby. So, I left.”

  “Been on the street long?”

  Karen paused, and Annie was sure he’d lost her.

  “Few months.”

  “Where’re you headed when you leave?”

  Another pause. “Don’t know yet. Figure I’ll stick around for a while until Annie kicks me to the agencies.”

  Annie snorted silently. Like that would ever happen. She would find a way to keep the girl here, even if the council denied the shelter’s request to be zoned a group home.

  “Think she will?” Nic asked.

  “They always do.”

  “Hmm. Well, if you want a job to make some money before you move on again, ask Annie to put you in touch with my parents. They’re always looking for help with their business.”

  No, they weren’t. But she knew Nic would make good on the offer if Karen ever decided to take him up on it. “What do they do?”

  “They’re private investigators.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m in security.”

  “What? Like you’re a bouncer for a club or something?”

  Nic chuckled, and the sound made Annie shiver. God, why did everything about this man affect her this way? “No, I provide protection for people who need it.”

  “So what are you doing here? Is Annie in trouble?”

  Nic paused and Annie remembered what had brought them here. Was she in trouble?

  “Truthfully, I’m not sure. But I don’t take chances. Annie will have to deal with me for a while.”

  Like she hadn’t been trying. Seriously, that man—

&
nbsp; “So you’re going to be hanging around for awhile?”

  Was that a hint of hopefulness in Karen’s voice? Apparently Nic had won over another female.

  “Yeah, I will.”

  After a short pause, Karen asked, “I guess you know a lot about self-defense, huh?”

  “Yep. Used to be an Army Ranger. What do you want to know?”

  Part of what the center offered was self-defense courses. Taught by a woman, of course. But Annie would do whatever it took to get Karen back to the land of the living. She’d offer up Nic on a silver platter and he’d deliver because she would lay the guilt on as thick as she needed to.

  But she’d be damned if she’d let him interfere in her life just because some nutcase had a grudge against him.

  “They offer some lame-ass course here. Martial arts crap. Nothing you could use in a street fight. Can you teach me that?”

  “Yeah, I think I can manage. But we better ask Annie, just to make sure.”

  “Huh. She’ll probably say no. She has this thing against fighting.”

  Well, of course she had a thing against fighting. But that didn’t mean you shouldn’t know how to defend yourself. She knew that firsthand.

  All right, as much as she wanted to let Nic continue to draw out Karen, she really couldn’t keep Teague waiting downstairs for the release forms any longer.

  Clearing her throat loud enough to make sure Nic and Karen heard her, she made a production out of grabbing the knob and pushing open the door.

  “Nic. I see you’ve met Karen. Everything okay?”

  Karen’s arms crossed over her chest and her expression closed like she’d pulled down a shade as she stood by the bookshelves.

  Nic sprawled in her desk chair, looking completely relaxed but his intense gaze told a different story. “Karen asked if I could teach her a few self-defense moves. That’s not a problem, is it?”

  Reaching for the file, she shrugged. “No problem. Just let me know when you want to schedule something. Karen, do me a favor and take this down to Teague.”

  She held out the file. Karen sidled over and took it without saying a word. When she’d left the room, Annie flopped onto the couch.

  “Well, that probably just proved your theory that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, didn’t it?”

  Nic crossed his arms over his chest. “So now you can read minds?”

  Annie ignored him. “I was completely wrong about that girl. I really thought she’d be terrified of men. But it’s women she’s uncomfortable with.”

  Nic shook his head. “I think she’s just uncomfortable in her own skin. Did you ever think maybe you’re a little scary in your business suits with your perfect hair?”

  Scowling at him, Annie crossed to the file cabinet to search for…something. Anything. “I am not a complete idiot. I don’t typically come here dressed like this. I was going to go home after I dropped off that report…”

  Nic’s expression darkened the second she uttered that last word and she remembered what had happened to bring Nic here.

  And that he’d finally admitted to wanting her.

  Did he still want her? Did it matter?

  “Nic—”

  He stood and stalked to the window.

  Annie took a deep breath and kept going.

  “Are we going to talk about what happened, or are you just going to ignore what you said?”

  He shook his head but didn’t turn. “The calls I got, the guy threatened you in particular. He wants to torture me and he wants to use you to do it.”

  Her heart began to thud. “You think he’s going to hurt me?”

  “I won’t let him. I think he’s just trying to make a point. That he can get to you whenever he wants. So we have to take you out of the equation.”

  “And how do you plan on doing that?”

  “You get as far away from here as possible. Take a vacation until I get this guy.”

  She shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “Annie—”

  She slashed a hand in front of her. “No, Dominic. I refuse to allow some nutcase to drive me away from my life.”

  “Damn it, Annie. I need to make sure you’re safe and I can’t have you messing with my head.”

  Heat—and not the heat of anger—engulfed her. “Damn you, Dominic. I’m not a complete idiot. I know how to take care of myself.”

  “And I’m telling you, if you don’t agree to get the hell out of here for a little while, I will tie you up and stash you somewhere until I catch this guy!”

  Chapter Eight

  Annie gaped at him in total shock.

  Couldn’t say he blamed her. He was being unreasonable and he knew it. But when it came to her, there was no reason.

  “Have you gone completely off the deep end, Dominic? I’m not going anywhere. I have responsibilities. I have a job. Hell, I have two jobs. I refuse to leave either of them in the lurch.”

  Frustration ate away at his control. As did the way her lips moved when she spoke. And the way the blue of her eyes deepened in anger.

  “Are you gonna be finished here soon? We can swing by your house so you can pack a bag—”

  She stepped right up to him and stuck her index finger in his chest. “I am not going anywhere. You cannot make me go anywhere because I will tell your parents that you’ve kidnapped me.”

  He snorted and watched those cat-green eyes flare with heat. Every nerve ending in his body shot to full attention. If he wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t be able to stop the raging erection pressing against his zipper.

  But damn, it felt good to fight with her. “No, you won’t. You won’t tell my parents because you won’t want to upset them. You’re not going to win this one, Princess. Let’s go.”

  He headed for the door and had his hand on the knob when a book whizzed by his head. “You overgrown, self-important, bullying ape!”

  He turned, prepared to fend off another book to the head but he froze when he saw how pale she was, how utterly exhausted she looked.

  Damn it. He’d pushed her too far.

  Get a grip.

  Taking a deep breath, he reached for a calm he wasn’t feeling. “Annie. I just… I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t think I could handle it.”

  Okay, maybe that had been a little too honest because her mouth dropped open in surprise and she stared at him like he’d just morphed into a giant insect.

  After a few seconds, she blinked and sucked in a quick breath. Then she turned to grab her purse, avoiding his gaze.

  “I’m leaving, Dominic. I will give you a ride back to your car or wherever you want to go but I’m done discussing this with you now.”

  And there went his blood pressure again. But this time, he didn’t let his temper get away from him.

  “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Surprise widened her eyes at his apparent consent. Then suspicion narrowed them.

  That’s right, sweetheart. You should be worried.

  In the car, Annie turned on the radio and subjected him to Broadway tunes for the drive back to the garage. He didn’t push a conversation. She looked ready to bite his head off if he so much as opened his mouth and he was running strategy.

  When she pulled to a stop behind his truck, she gave him one quick glance. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow.”

  He didn’t bother to contradict her, just nodded and got out of her Audi.

  Then he let her pull away and get a few blocks’ lead on him before he followed her.

  *

  Jimmy sat at the table in the middle of the room, doing his best impression of a mad scientist with goggles, plastic gloves to the elbows and a white coat.

  “Hey, Jim—”

  “Don’t move.” Jimmy’s voice was quiet but deadly serious and Nic froze. “This stuff isn’t as stable as I’d like it to be. Didn’t think you’d be back for awhile.”

  “Didn’t expect to be back. I need a few things. I’m gonna be on a stakeout for a
while.”

  “Oh yeah. Do you have a lead?”

  “No. I’ll be staking out Annie’s place.”

  Jimmy’s mouth dropped open and his gaze shot to Nic’s, though his hands never wavered. “Okay.” He drew the word out to at least three syllables. “And why the hell are you doing that?”

  If Jimmy hadn’t had an explosive substance in his hands, Nic wouldn’t have thought twice about punching his brother in the shoulder. “Because she wouldn’t leave. The bastard specifically mentioned Annie. I’m not taking any chances. I’m gonna be sitting on her house until we catch the guy.”

  Jimmy frowned. “That’s gonna be interesting. Jesus, Nic—”

  “I didn’t spend all those years in the military for nothing. Janey’ll never notice and—”

  “And Annie’s okay with this?”

  Nic snorted. “Yeah, right. Like I told her.”

  Jimmy grinned. “Damn, big brother. You really do love living life on the edge, don’t you? She’s gonna ream you but good when she finds out.”

  “That’s why she’s not going to find out.”

  Jimmy paused long enough to set the glass container on the tabletop then stripped off his gloves and looked at Nic. “This is totally gonna suck for you.”

  His brother knew him way too well, knew that being forced to watch her every move was gonna be hell.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Have you considered the fact that she’s not eighteen anymore, Nic? That it wouldn’t be a crime to ask her out?”

  “Yeah, I’ve considered it. Obviously even a nutcase can see I’m too wrapped up in her and now she’s in danger because of me. She won’t want me within twenty miles of her.”

  “And I think you’re deluding yourself.”

  Nic just shook his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  *

  At six-thirty, Nic watched Annie lock her front door and head toward her car.

  She’d parked on the street after she’d gotten home from dropping him off. Obviously she had somewhere to be tonight or she would’ve parked her car in the garage she and Janey shared up the street.

  Since he’d been sitting in his car up the street for more than two hours, he hadn’t seen anyone or anything suspicious. And since no one had called the cops on him, he figured no one had noticed him. No one except Mal.