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“It wouldn’t be a problem if you’d let me move us to that suite at the Four Seasons. They have excellent room service,” he said.
“This is fine.” A suite at the Four Seasons was over a thousand dollars a night. She knew because she’d checked when he’d first suggested it. She couldn’t stop him from paying for the suite at the Residence Inn, but at least it didn't cost a small fortune. “Chinese? Or pizza?”
“Pizza,” he said.
She smiled. “Knew it.”
Life in the hotel with Nick had a kind of predictability, and she’d grown to love their routines, however abnormal they would seem to anyone else. She’d been surprised how quickly she’d gotten used to not working, how easy it had been to wake up with Nick, read the news while they had coffee in their room, walk to breakfast at one of the little restaurants nearby.
Sometimes they went to the office to analyze new information about the Walkers. Sometimes they met with Ronan and Declan to talk about their strategy for undermining Leland’s campaign. Then she and Nick would come back to the hotel, make love, maybe take a nap, and do more research on the Walkers before arguing good-naturedly over what to order for dinner.
But her favorite part of all was bedtime, when they would brush their teeth together side by side in the suite’s big bathroom, his breath a minty match to her own when they crawled into bed. Sometimes they started out just cuddling, but they always ended up naked, Nick’s muscled body sliding against hers as he moved inside her, his hands and tongue exploring her body like it was the very first time, his lips leaving tender kisses over every scar.
She didn’t know what their life would be like post-Leland Walker, but she hoped it looked something like this. Something normal and boring, something she could count on.
She felt bad about the hotel, knew Nick was only there because of her, but she wasn't ready to get her own place yet. Not until she had a better idea what the future held. Nick had offered to move her into the Murphy house, but Alexa had a feeling they weren't quite there yet. Ronan was beginning to warm up to her, but she still felt like it would be awhile before he really trusted her.
Besides, she didn’t know if she was ready to live in such close proximity to so many people she didn’t know well. Their dynamic was baked-in. She would be the outsider, for a while at least, and she worried that it would be too much while she was also dealing with Leland Walker and what to do next now that it seemed their plan to harness the press had failed.
And then there was the matter of her parents. They’d tried to be supportive when she told them about leaving her job at the AG’s office, but she’d seen the worry in their eyes, the strain on their faces as they’d reassured her that they would be there for her no matter what.
She hadn’t given them details about Nick, but no parent who’d watched their child struggle through law school wanted to see that child get involved with a client implicated in a criminal case. Officially moving in with Nick would require more details and a meeting between her parents and Nick.
It was too much, for now at least.
“Want me to call?” Nick asked without looking up from his computer.
“I got it,” she said, reaching for her phone.
She was picking it up when Nick’s phone, next to hers on the coffee table, flashed with a text.
She looked quickly away, not wanting to invade Nick’s privacy. “You’re getting a text from Ronan. Want me to bring you your phone?”
His hands were still tapping on the keys of his laptop. “Just tell me what it says.”
She reached for his phone and the text reappeared on the lock screen.
Her breath caught in her throat. “Nick…”
He looked up. “What?”
“Something’s happening,” she said. “At the house.”
He jumped up, crossed the room in three strides, and took the phone from her hand.
He headed for the bedroom. “Stay here.”
She followed him into the suite’s bedroom and watched as he pulled on jeans and strapped a weapon to his side before slipping on a jacket. Her heart was hammering in her chest, the blood rushing so fast through her veins she thought she could hear it.
She saw the text as it had appeared on Nick’s screen.
fire at house. looks like molotov.
It was Frederick Walker. She knew it.
She thought of Julia, of the innocent baby boy nestled at her breast, of Elise with her sweet smile and Declan with his easy laugh and Ronan with his steely resolve to protect his family at all costs.
“I’ll come with you,” she said, slipping her feet into her sneakers.
