Page 74 of Too Guarded to Love

Olivia yanked open the door to her room. They’d gotten word a few hours ago that the team was back from their two-day mission that had turned into five. And minutes ago, while she’d been about to grab a post-dinner snack after a follow-up X-ray on her shoulder, she’d learned Nic was done with his debrief and waiting for her.

Her breath stopped when she spotted him on the bed, shirt off, his head to the side and his eyes closed. As she changed out of her jeans and boots and slipped on the silky blue robe she’d found in the bottom of her bag, her body warmed at the sight of his bare chest rising and falling. Shutting off the light, she slid in next to him, snuggled into the crook of his arm, and placed her hand over his VIPER tattoo.

His heart beat a steady rhythm as he instinctively pulled her tight against him. Lightly, so she didn’t wake him, she ran her fingers over the hard dips and valleys of his chest and down to his abs. The man was a masterpiece, and she was all his. For now, she’d let him sleep. But when he woke up, she’d finally get to experience Nic at her own pace, not at the frantic VIPER-verse speed.

Even though it had been a long five days of worrying about him and trying to contact Harlee to no avail, the time seemed to go at double speed down here—except when Ryan had called her into the conference room. The universe stilled when she’d seen the half-apologetic, half-angry look on his face.

“What’s happened? Is Nic okay? My brother?”

“Both are fine.”

She breathed again. “Thank God.”

Ryan glanced at his computer bank. “We analyzed the data on Jonathan’s second phone. The conversations are coded, but we were able to make some solid assumptions. One, Jonathan’s been tracking your whereabouts since you started dating and reporting into the Diablos at regular intervals. How he’s tracking you, we’re not sure.”

She dropped her head in her hands, wishing Nic were by her side. “I still don’t get why the Diablos care about me.”

“We’re trying to figure that out. Someone named Ray is mentioned frequently. We believe he’s calling the shots. Does the name mean anything to you?”

“No, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Olivia. None of this is your fault.”

She knew that, yet it hadn’t stopped her from gathering the girl gang to conjure more ways to torture Jonathan.

Although the news had made her feel even more violated, and she missed her patients and itched to get back to practicing medicine, the rest of the week had been kind of great.

Shopping online with the girls for gowns to wear to President Bradley’s birthday party had been a blast. Playing video games with the demolition twins had worn her out, and rocking Tessa’s son to sleep had made her yearn for a child of her own. But the best part of the week had been when she’d been reinstated at the hospital and then told her director off for not believing in her. When he asked when she’d return to work, she’d promised to get back to him with a date.

Harlee needed her in Atlanta.

With a sigh, she pulled away from the man she’d thought about making babies with so she could pull the blanket up farther.

Nic wrapped both arms around her and held her tighter. “Stay.”

She tried to squirm out of his embrace, but he rolled on top of her and pinned her to the bed. “I told you to stay put.”

Pain shot through her injured arm. “Nic, you’re hurting me.” The glow from the night-light lit up the room just enough to see his tight expression. “Nic, are you with me?”

“Stay down.”

He was not with her. His mind wasn’t even in this room.

“It’s me, Olivia. You’re having a nightmare.”

“Stay. The. Fuck. Down.”

She willed herself to remain calm, so he would too. “Okay. I’ll stay down. Whatever you want. Nobody is going to hurt us.”

He let her go and jumped to his knees like he’d been surprised by the enemy. She reached out her hand. “Nic?”

In a move too quick to be human, he gathered her in his arms and pulled her to the headboard. Twisting, he sprang to a crouch. “Stay put.”

“Nic.” She spoke in a firm voice, like her mother used to do when her father had a nightmare. “I’m safe. You’re safe. We’re in my bedroom at VIPER headquarters. Come back to bed with me.”

She didn’t know how long she tried to coax him out of his nightmare with her voice. It could have been one minute or sixty. Her heart pounded harder and broke a little more with each word, but she kept going.

He rasped out a harsh breath. “Rachel.”