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Since she was definitively awake, he decided to get rid of the latex and its liquid load. By the time he came back to the bedroom, he’d come to a decision, as final as it was outrageous.
And he was prepared to enforce it. By any means necessary.
“Get up and get dressed,” he said. “You’re coming with me now.”
She sat up, looking bewildered. “Nick? What on earth?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If I can’t persuade you to get out of town and go into hiding, the safest thing for you is to come with me now,” he explained grimly. “I know of a safe place you could stay.”
She shook her head, in helpless confusion. “And all that carrying on you did about how Zhoglo’s gunning for you, and therefore I’m safer far away from you? Blah blah blah?”
He widened his stance, clenched his fists. “I can’t stay away from you,” he admitted. “Particularly not now. So I’m not going to try. The next best thing is to stick to you like glue. Any butthead mobster comes within fifty yards of you, I’ll blow his ass off.”
“Ah, thank you, I think,” she said faintly. “Is this some sort of courtship ritual on the planet that you’re from, Nick? How very romantic. I appreciate the depth of feeling behind it.”
“Cut the sarcasm,” he said harshly. “I’m dead serious.”
She hesitated, doubt plain on her face. He sensed that she was trying to choose her words carefully, so as not to push his wacko paranoid buttons. Which bugged the shit out of him still more.
“Nick, I don’t think that Zhoglo will have any way of finding me—”
“I know some people,” he went on, his voice roughening from pure desperation, “who can keep you safe. Even if I get wasted. And they could help you get a new identity, too. If it came to that.”
Becca recoiled at his words and wrapped her arms around her chest, as if she were suddenly cold. “Nick,” she whispered. “It’s not so simple. I’ve got family. They count on me. I can’t just disappear.”
He said something filthy in Ukrainian in a savage undertone.
“I cannot come with you now,” she said, her voice quietly stubborn. “I have to go to work. I have responsibilities. I’m in real danger of losing my main job already, and I can’t afford to. I’m helping my brother and sister out with college costs.”
Nick scowled. “Mind if I point out the obvious? They can get their own fucking jobs.”
“Excuse me?”
“They can’t count on you if you’re dead. You’re coming with me,” he repeated, but he could tell from the look on her face that he’d lost this round. She wasn’t going to play along. Damn the stubborn woman. He fought the impulse to put his fist through her wall. He did not do shit like that. Ever. That was the kind of thing his father had done.
She cleared her throat. “Nick, try to be reasonable,” she coaxed. “I’m going to be at the Cardinal Creek Country Club all day long. Do you really think I’m likely to run into the Ukrainian mob there? It is, let us say, not a multicultural institution. They would do a background check on the Queen of England before they served her a cup of tea. It’s actually embarrassing, how snooty and exclusive the place is.”
But I want you with me, I want you safe, I want iron and steel and concrete and electronic walls around you, layers of them. He wanted to scream it, but his own knee-jerk macho pride was reasserting itself.
He’d be damned if he’d grovel and beg.
“Who are these friends of yours, anyhow?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Never mind,” he said sourly. “If you’re not going to take me up on my offer, then why the fuck do you care?”
She made an irritated sound. “Don’t get all pissy and offended on me, Nick. I don’t deserve that.”
“Think about it,” he said roughly. “Just think about taking a vacation from your life and disappearing for a while. Please, Becca.”
After a moment, she inclined her head. “I’ll think about it,” she said quietly. “But I’m going to work today. We’ll see how things go. OK?”
He rubbed his eyes, and squinted at the clock. He’d been here for about three hours. No calls from Raine in the control room so far, but he should get back there soon to spell her, or Seth would rip both his legs off. He looked at Becca’s naked body curled in the bed.
Well, hell. Maybe Raine could cope for a little while longer.
“I want to see you again,” he told her. “Tonight.”
A naughty smile curved her lips. “I would like that.”
