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True. But that wasn't the case with Nikki. She didn't want him close, didn't want anyone close. She might concede to physical attraction, but would definitely allow nothing more. “I don't think that'll be a problem here."
"Until the last few days, I would've agreed with you. But you've cracked her shell, and no matter what either of you might say, I have eyes. I can see what you're both denying."
"I'm not denying I'm attracted to her, just saying that I've been honest with her.” Honest where it counted. Up to a point, anyway. “Believe me, I have no desire to hurt her." Jake nodded. “I just needed to know she's in safe hands. Let's enjoy our drinks, my friend." Michael picked up his beer and made no comment.
* * * *
Nikki blinked the sleep from her eyes, then flipped the sheets away from her face. Bright sunshine caressed her skin, filling her with warmth. She felt contented and lazy and, for the first time in ages, happy. Like a big, fat cat rolling in the sun.
And this is one fat cat who's not had enough, she thought with a grin, and reached across the bed. Only Michael wasn't there.
Fear leaped through her. The hotel room was silent, empty. She clenched her fists against the sheets. They'd left without her.
"Damn you both,” she muttered and flung the blankets aside, climbing out of bed. If they thought they had her beaten, they were wrong. She'd just have to go after Monica alone. The thought sent a chill down her spine. She ignored it and quickly dressed. Jake and Michael had forgotten one major point—she was still the only person who could accurately pinpoint Monica's whereabouts.>"What sort of things?"
She wouldn't look at him. He placed a finger under her chin and gently tilted her face upwards. “What did you do, Nikki?” he said, closing his heart to the pain in her eyes and her thoughts.
"Tommy pulled a bank robbery, but it went wrong.” She jerked away from his touch and dashed the tears from her eyes. “I'd refused to take part, and for some reason, Tommy hadn't been able to make me. Instead, I waited a block away with a getaway car. But the police had received a tip and were waiting."
Which didn't explain the pain he could almost taste. “What happened, Nikki?"
"Tommy escaped, and the police and security guards chased him. He came straight back to me. He used my gifts to ... to..."
She hesitated again, and more tears glimmered on her cheeks. He made no move, though he ached to hold her.
She took a deep breath. “He used my kinetic abilities to destroy several police cars. One of the security guards he threw through a store window. The falling glass cut the guard's throat. Another was thrown into a wall and now lives in a wheelchair. I couldn't stop him, Michael. I fought so hard, but I just couldn't stop him."
That was why she'd made him vow never to make her do anything against her will. A sob escaped her control, and he drew her into his arms and let her cry. At least she was finally letting go of the pain she'd held in check for so long. But it wasn't over yet. “How did you escape the police?" She laughed, a bitter, brittle sound that made him wince. “I didn't. Tommy escaped. They told me later that I'd been lucky he hadn't grabbed me as a hostage. They never knew it was me who killed that guard..."
"If one man uses a gun to kill another, you blame the man who pulled the trigger, not the weapon, Nikki.” And that's all she'd been, a weapon. She sniffed, but wasn't ready to let go of the past just yet.
“How did he die?"
"The streets caught up with him. His violence had made him a lot of enemies, and in the end, it came back to him."
Then why did she feel so guilty about his death?
She shifted in his arms, resting her cheek against his shoulder. The warmth of her skin burned into him. He fleetingly wished they could just stay here, on this bed, and forget about everything but each other.
"Because I dreamed it was going to happen,” she whispered. “And I didn't tell him." She was reading his thoughts as clearly as he was reading hers. Link or not, she shouldn't have been able to. “Why not?” he asked, knowing that in the same situation, he would have wished the fiend to hell and laughed as he died.
But Nikki didn't have three hundred years of weariness behind her.
" Oh God ... ” She hesitated, and her hand clenched against his. “I told him that I hated him. I told him he could burn in hell for all I cared. Ten hours later he was dead. I felt his soul leave his body, Michael. I felt it encased in the fires of Hell. I could have stopped it, but I didn't. Just as I didn't stop my parents” death. They all died because of me."
If she'd seen her parents’ death, why hadn't she warned them? Surely not out of hate—she had loved them, that much was clear. “His soul was cursed long before you came along, Nikki. You did nothing more than trust the wrong man."
"But he was good to me. He cared for me."
He was pretty sure the only person Tommy had cared about was himself. But she wasn't ready yet to face that. “He only wanted to make you trust him, make you need him. Where Jasper has tried force and drugs to subvert your will, Tommy used your emotions."
"But I loved him."
Yet even as she whispered the words, there was doubt in her thoughts. For the first time in years, she was looking past her fear and truly seeing the man Tommy had been.
"But he didn't die because of that love, Nikki.” He hesitated, the added, “He was a vicious thug who got what he deserved."
"Maybe. But there's still my parents."
