Page 84 of Too Guarded to Love

Shit. That message hadn’t been from Joe. Nic knew that thinking and acting slow and controlled meant things would go smoothly, but he’d let his doubts make him frantic and rash. “What do you want, Natalie?”

He initiated a mind comms to headquarters and the team.

“Status?”

“In the stairwell on the third floor at the north end of the hospital with Natalie Durham. Listen for intel.”

She wouldn’t have chanced arrest if she hadn’t had something of importance to say. The cameras embedded in his steel would capture the conversation.

“Hello, Nic. We really have to stop meeting in hospitals like this.”

“Unless you’re in the morgue, I agree.”

Man, did she look like she’d risen from six feet under. Smeared black makeup rimmed her bloodshot eyes. Bits of grass clung to her bruised forehead and scratches bloodied her cheek. The ripped neckline of her black sweatshirt revealed purplish fingerprints on her pale skin.

She laughed. “You were always so funny. Is that how you got off when you were caught red-handed? By turning on the charm? You always got the benefit of the doubt and didn’t face any consequences, while I got sent to juvie for a first offense.”

“You have no idea about the consequences I faced.” Getting locked up obviously hadn’t been enough of a consequence for her. She seemed as strung out as his mother had been the morning he’d left for school and found her dead when he got home.

“Yeah, I heard about the end of your baseball career.” She mimicked swinging a bat. “How bad did the old man beat you?”

A biofeedback alert vibrated in his comms unit. He ignored it as a raw, primal craving to pinch-hit her foul smile into next week pounded in his veins.

“Calm down, brother,” Chris said. “Her blood isn’t worthy enough to touch your steel. Keep her talking. We’ll stand down until we know what her endgame is.”

Fuck, Chris was right. He’d given the same advice not too long ago when Chris had faced off with Richardson. “I’m only going to ask you this once, Natalie. Why are you here?”

“How come every time we bump into each other, you run?” She held up a hand. “Not this time. You’re going to hear all about Rachel, who wasn’t a sister by blood, but by choice. You weren’t the only one who found a family, you know.”

Yeah, he knew, and he’d never doubt any of them again.

Natalie rubbed a bloody cut on her chin. “You owe me for taking away the only person who ever loved me. Rachel supported my dreams and hooked me up with the best hackers in the world. She helped me start my little business, and I helped with hers.”

Nic wanted to shove her little business—and the dirty shit Rachel was into—down her throat.

Natalie smiled. “Imagine my surprise when I found out the man responsible for my sister’s death was the one who ruined my life. It’s only fair that I ruin yours.”

She stepped closer to him. The smell of sweat and the lingering scent of marijuana assaulted his nostrils. God knew what other drugs were in her system.

“Since Rachel died…” Natalie wiped her nose with her with the back of her hand. “I’ve spent all her cash hiring the best to carry out my revenge. I started with your buddies who were supposed to keep her safe and saved you for last.”

The faces of three women in their coffins circled in Nic’s mind like a morbid carousel.

“My plan was to amplify Stella’s kill with attacks on your VIPER family the night of her funeral. The grandmother and your teammate’s significant others were the best I could do since you didn’t have a woman in your life to target.”

And now he did. “Kane, check on Olivia.”

“I just got an update from the nurse. All is fine.”

The buzzing in Nic’s neck didn’t ease as he fought for control. “Why did you target someone I’d just met?”

Natalie smirked. “Because she was there. I had a sniper watching you after Stella’s funeral because I couldn’t decide if you deserved emotional and physical pain. I mean, I’d already enjoyed seeing you beaten down, but a part of me wanted to let you live. I guess I still have a thing for catchers with sexy accents. When my sniper said some chick was giving you a blow job, I told him to take the shot.”

Kane coughed like he’d drank something sour. “I did not need to hear the blow job part.”

“You can punch me later if you want.”

Linc snickered. “Was this chick always this psycho?”