Page 30 of Covert
Maddox
My phone rings, and a picture of Nikki laughing with Axel flashes on my screen. I smile. Alright, so maybe I'm softening to the idea of her already.
"What's up, baby? Miss me already?" I tease sarcastically. She made her stand at the rally the other night, but we haven't talked about it since. I've been letting the idea roll around in the back of my brain to see how palatable I find it. She's a sexy little thing, and kinkier and tougher than I thought she was when Leana first brought her in. But sleeping with her? Sharing her? I don't know how I feel about that. I'm not the type to be vulnerable in front of a partner, let alone the guys. And I wouldn't want to just fuck her. We work together, I'm starting to respect her, begrudgingly, and don't want to put us all in an awkward position.
"I need you."
My blood instantly runs cold. Nikki's voice is small, breathless, and shaking. She sounds terrified. Something's very wrong.
"Nik? Where are you?" I say, standing and grabbing my keys. Axel and Beckett's heads both shoot up. They pick up on the stress in my voice, my phone call, and that something's wrong with Nikki.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know who else to call," she continues, almost rambling.
I head out the door. Axel was in the middle of a piece but told the customer to clean and wrap it up, and that they would finish it anotherday. Nikki’s been working with us for weeks now and has become a kind of mascot for the shop. She’s ours.
"Are you safe?"
"I... I don't know."
"Go to your car, get inside, and lock the door."
"O-okay, Mad." Her voice wavers, and it kills me. If they've found her...
"I'm going to stay on the phone with you. Okay, doll?"
"Okay."
"Are you in your car now?"
"Ye... yes."
"Where are you?"
"Uh... do you know the apartments off of Madison?" Yes, I know those apartments. They're shitty and run down and full of crack heads. I kick myself internally. Please don't tell me she's been living there. Why don't I know where she lives?
"Yes."
I throw a leg over my motorcycle and turn it on while I wait for the Bluetooth headset to connect inside my helmet. Out of the side of my eye, I see Axel and Beckett turning on their bikes and kicking up their stands.
I keep her talking, asking about what appointments we have coming up, what she had for breakfast, anything I can think of to keep her calm and distracted.
I speed the eight blocks to Nikki's apartment complex before I pull up next to her paint-chipped Honda. Axel parks in front of her car, and Beckett parks behind, surrounding her. When she sees me, she opens her driver's door, almost falling out of it, before leaping into my armsand pulling me tight. She's fucking shaking. I've never imagined our cool and confident Nikki could look so rattled. It throws me. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight against my chest. She's safe. She's here. She's not going anywhere.
I grab her by the arms and hunch down so I can look her in the eyes.
"What happened?"
"I think someone broke into my apartment," she whispers, looking at her feet, and wrapping her arms around her midsection.
"Get back in your car and lock the door," I say, holding open her driver's side door for her. She nods, but her entire body is visibly shaking. It takes her a few tries before she presses the lock on her door, looking up at me with large, wide, fear-filled eyes. It breaks my heart a little.
The need to understand who is after her burns in my stomach, even if we promised to leave it alone. We need to know who she's running from and who would break into her apartment and do this. We need to know so we can eliminate them and make sure she never has to look over her shoulder another day of her life.
I pull my gun from the back of my jeans and approach the apartment building. I had no idea she was living in such a crappy part of town. I should have pressed her harder about her life.
I just assumed she had her life handled. She never complained about anything, never asked for more money to get herself out of this shithole. We would have given it to her.
Axel and Beckett follow me up the cement stairs.
