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“You were right,” she said at last, her eyes taking on a faraway look. “When you questioned my mental state up there on top of the bluff. I didn’t want to admit it. I just wanted to get on with the job.” She gave him a wan smile, and he lifted a finger and traced the line of her jaw, cupping the side of her face in his hand. “I think hauling Teresa back up that cliff face was a baptism of fire for me,” she went on. “When I first saw the cliff and the rope running over the edge, I didn’t think I’d be able to face it, I wanted to turn around and run. But I couldn’t just leave her there to die. So I did what I had to do, I fought with the images until I got them under control and then I helped her.” She gave a small shrug.
“You make it sound easy, Lace. But don’t undersell yourself. You did an amazing thing. You’re the strongest person I know.” He caressed her cheek with his palm, staring deep into her eyes.
“You sound like Imran,” she quipped.
“And he’s a very intelligent man,” Nico shot back. “But I mean it, Lace. I’m so glad it was you up on top of that mountain with me. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side. I love you so much.” He tipped his head and took her lips in a delicious, slow-burning kiss. It set off a deep thrum low in his belly. Just the smell of her, the closeness of her, turned him on something wicked. Even while he was in pain and straight out of the hospital.
“Oh God,” he sighed. “I cannot wait until my bloody side heals. Because I want to do things to you. Hot, sweaty, naked things.” The thought of getting Lacey into bed had him wanting to pick her up and carry her straight to their room right now. She brought out something urgent and fiery in him. It was pure, primal instinct. The kind that made tomcats howl in alleys. The kind that made him so possessive he wanted to keep her chained to his bed forever. He was hard in seconds as he thought about how much he wanted to make love to her. Gunshot wound be damned, he needed to feel her beside him now. He tensed, wrapped his arms around her tighter and made ready to stand and carry her down the hallway.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she snapped. At the same time as his injury strained painfully, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “You’ll pull out all your stitches.” Lacey moved away, glowering down at him.
He frowned and tried not to pout. There was no way he was letting on that she might be right. “I only wanted—”
“I know what you wanted.” She spoke more gently now. “I want it too, Nico. But you just got out of hospital today, give yourself a few more days to heal.”
“If you were really gentle with me, perhaps…” He looked up with imploring eyes, not ready to give in completely, his erection still demanding action, despite the pain in his side.
She leaned down and put her hands on his knees, effectively stopping him from getting up. “I know you think you’re invincible. But I’m in charge for the next few days. And you’ll just have to put up with it.” Then she tilted her head to the side and regarded him for a few moments. His gaze followed the movement of her throat as she swallowed. So elegant and vulnerable.
“Well, you know how much I love it when you take charge,” he said, teasing but also relenting. He knew when he’d been beaten. But the stretch of her throat beckoned to him, and he couldn’t help his mouth tracing soft kisses down to her collarbone.
She sighed and tilted her head slightly to give him better access. “Maybe a kiss now and then might be okay,” she said, conceding just a little. Her lips landed on his, gentle at first, but soon with increased urgency, as if she too could hardly wait until he was better. God, this was going to kill him if he had to wait more than a few days.
He couldn’t see a life without Lacey in it. And now that Marietta was truly out of the way, it was time. Time to ask Lacey to marry him. Even after everything Marietta had put him through, Lacey’s love had cured him of the wounds his ex-wife had inflicted. She’d shown him how true love was supposed to feel between a man and a woman. Equals in everything. Nico had tossed the idea of marrying Lacey around before, and there was no better time than right now. The idea thrilled him. His heart was thumping in his chest at the thought, but it was pounding with joy, not fear or indecision. Because he knew she’d say yes.
Nico’s phone trilled on the table next to him, and Lacey broke away, both of them slightly out of breath. It took a second for his brain to catch up.
“Do you want to answer it?” Lacey asked, standing up and straightening her T-shirt, which he’d tugged out of her waistband with needy fingers.
Damn, talk about bad timing. He had half a mind to refuse. To pull her back down into his lap and devour her mouth a little more before he popped the question. But it was probably one of his team, calling about one of the loose ends on the case. And the moment was ruined now anyway. “I guess so,” Nico grumbled. Lacey handed him his phone and then bent to clear the table of his empty glass and cold coffee.
Caller ID came up as unknown. Nico held the phone to his ear. “Hello?” If this was some cold caller trying to sell him insurance for his cat, he was going to be mighty pissed.
“You look more like your mother every day. Which I always thought was a shame. I hoped you’d turn out more like me. Perhaps it’s a good thing you didn’t, though.”
Nico’s heart stopped beating. That voice. So familiar. So menacing. He was sent spiraling back to a time when he was ten years old, his father glaring at him, eyes as cold as steel, berating Nico for some minor infraction. Nico remembered his feeling of rising anger. But also impotence. A weakness flooded his veins, and he grabbed for the arm of the chair to steady himself.
It was one thing being told your dead father wasn’t really dead, but another thing completely to be confronted with the absolute truth of the matter. His father was unquestionably alive. He’d recognize that voice anywhere. Lacey stalled in picking up the mug, seeing that his face had drained of all color.
“Who is it?” she mouthed.
But he had no ability to reply, all his focus was turned inward, on that voice down the other end of the phone. “What do you want?” he managed to croak out of a throat that was suddenly constricted.
His father. He was actually talking to his father. It was more than just surreal. It was almost as if he were in someone else’s body.
“I just wanted to congratulate you on finding such a good woman. She’s a strong one. And beautiful too. You need to take care of that one.” Nico’s hackles suddenly rose. Was his father threatening him? Threatening Lacey?
“What do you want?” he repeated, but this time with more authority.
Lacey was staring down at him, the concern turning to fear in her eyes. He stood, suddenly unable to sit still.
“I saw you came home from the hospital today. I hope you recover soon,” the voice intoned. A chill ran down Nico’s spine. Was his father tracking him? Watching him? Nico went over to the window and stared out into the back garden. Smudge followed him, and got up on his hind legs, putting his paws on the windowsill. A low growl emanated from the dog’s throat. Holy fuck. Was his father out there somewhere? Nico’s property backed onto a large acreage of native bushland. Could his father be standing in the shadows at the back of his yard, watching him?
Lacey came to stand at Nico’s shoulder, also looking out into the yard. It was a bright, summer’s day, but Nico felt unexpectedly cold. Chilled to the bone.
Then it was like a blinding light went on in his mind, and everything suddenly made awful sense. It was his father who’d broken into their house the other day. Looking for what, Nico had no idea. Information on his son perhaps. Or information on Lacey? But why? What did he want with them?
Nico put a protective arm around Lacey, and she leaned into his shoulder, perhaps guessing by his side of the conversation who was on the other end of the phone.
