Page 70 of Owning Nicci

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SAVIO

Every part of me wants to stay in bed with Nicci as she drifts off to sleep in my arms, my cock still buried inside of her.

It’s been years since I’ve fallen asleep with a woman like this. Years since I’ve felt this warmth, this intimacy. I would never have guessed that I would find it—or want it—with her…but things have changed immeasurably in the past few days.

I reach up, brushing a bit of hair away from her face as I feel her breathing even out. My body is exhausted—drained after hours of sex and three orgasms—but my mind is still awake and alert, spinning through the possibilities ahead of us.

The Crows are finished. Nicci is hurt, but she’ll recover. And now I have the last part of my promise to her to keep—to make sure her father and brother see justice for what they’ve done to her.

And then what?

She lets out a small sigh in her sleep, and my chest tightens. I’ve never seen her this vulnerable before. Tonight, in the shower—she let me closer to her than I’d ever expected her to. And now that I’ve had her like this, I don’t want to let her go.

The sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand next to us jerks me out of my thoughts. The last thing I want to do is pull away from Nicci, but I force myself to roll to one side, letting out a sharp hiss of breath between my teeth as my oversensitive cock slides free. It twitches as I roll over, protesting leaving the warm, silky depths of her body.

I’d fucking stay there forever, if I could.

I grab my phone and look at the screen. It’s one of the men I hired to guard the penthouse—Jonas—who I’ve put on a different job along with the others, since Nicci and I hit the restaurant and finished off the Crows.

Jonas:Both targets at home tonight. Looks like the aftermath of a dinner party. Drunk, security is lower. Good time to hit.

I let out a sharp breath.The last thing I want to do is leave Nicci tonight. After what we just shared, I want to fall asleep with her in my arms and have her wake up next to me. I want to continue what we started in the morning, and I don’t want to give her any reason to think that this was a mistake. I don’t want her to wake up alone and start overthinking things.

But I know what she wants, too, more than anything. And it sounds like I’m in a position to give it to her tonight.

Sitting up slowly, careful not to wake her, I text Jonas back to grab the other men and meet me at the point we arranged before. And then I get out of bed, giving her one last glance as I quietly go to get dressed.

—

Jonasand the four other men I’ve hired are waiting for me at the meeting point. It’s chop shop that one of them owns, just on the outskirts of the city. Two of the men are sitting on idling bikes, the others are waiting next to a blacked-out SUV, and Jonas is leaning against the hood. I step out of the car, and he straightens, motioning to the others to wait as he walks over to me.

“You’re sure this is a good night to move on the targets?” I ask him, shrugging into my black leather jacket.

He nods. “Mr. Armand had some kind of dinner party tonight. Some of his associates stayed after and spent the evening in his study, getting drunk on high-end whiskey. Security is lower tonight, too. It’s never easy breaking into a place like that, but a couple of the guys did a scan of the entryways and exits. My guy Jake has tech that can get the alarm codes and disable them. If we’re quick, we can pull it off.” Jonas raises an eyebrow. “I imagine the pay for this is high enough to warrant the danger?”

“Yes, and then some,” I assure him. “With a bonus if you don’t ask any questions.”

Jonas chuckles. “We can all manage that.” He glances back at the blacked-out SUV. “Space enough for you to come with us, give us a little extra stealth.”

I shake my head. “I’ll go with my driver. You’ll need the space in the SUV. We’re not killing Mr. Armand and his son.” I narrow my eyes. “We’re taking them with us.”

Jonas gives a sharp nod. “Understood. Let’s roll out, boys,” he calls out, and I retreat to my waiting car, adrenaline already pumping through my veins.

As much as I’d wanted to spend all night with Nicci and wake up next to her in the morning, she’s going to be much more excited to wake up to what I’ll have for her now.

We leave the vehicles at a spot near the back of the Armand estate, an area that Jonas scouted that has a blind spot. There are no cameras angled at it. For the couple of days that he’s been watching, security seems to mostly miss it in their rounds. It’s a tree-lined area off to one side of the fence, and my guess is that they think it’s too far off of the main entrances and roads to be much of a problem. There’s also an alarm on the nearest gate to the fence, but it doesn’t take long for Jonas’ tech guy to break the code and deactivate the box. Jonas has a hand-held blow torch that burns through the lock, and the gate swings open, revealing the backyard of Mr. Armand’s mansion.

My jaw tightens. There’s no room for fucking this up. We get one shot at it, and I have no intention of leaving here without my quarry. “There’s no ‘dead or alive’ in this,” I remind Jonas. “Both Mr. Armand and his son need to be takenalive. No alternative. Am I understood?”

Jonas nods sharply. “Understood.” He motions to the maze of carefully trimmed hedges that are dotted across the landscaping. “We’ll use those for cover. Let’s go.”

The six of us start to move through the darkened backyard. Jonas has it mapped out, all of the points to avoid that might set off motion-sensored lights or cameras memorized, and we follow him—me right behind him, and the other four bringing up the rear, weapons at the ready in case we run into unexpected problems. Halfway through the yard, Jonas holds up a hand, and we all freeze behind one of the hedges as two of the security guards walk past.

My pulse is beating hard in my throat, my muscles wound tight with anticipation and adrenaline. This isn’t something I’ve ever done before. Breaking and entering, kidnapping—hell, I paid Mr. Armand for Nicci before I took her from the club. This kind of thing isn’t what I do. But for her?—

I’d do it again if I had to.

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