Page 24 of Slash
NICOLE
Nicole woke up, alone and momentarily disoriented. For a terrifying second, she couldn't remember where she was, the panic of waking in an unfamiliar place flooding through her before reality settled in. Safe. She was safe. The Spartan Watchmen clubhouse. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in his arms, finally feeling safe enough to let her guard down completely.
He must have carried her to her bed. The thought sent warmth spreading through her chest and lower, pooling between her thighs. Such a simple gesture, but it spoke to the care he'd been showing her from the beginning. Always making sure she was comfortable, protected, looked after. He knew she would want to be close to Kayleigh if she woke up or needed her. Even when she fought him on it, tested his boundaries, pushed to see when he'd snap and become like Brock.
But he never did. His control never cracked into cruelty. Where Brock's control had been about making her smaller, Slash's was about making her feel secure. It was a distinction she was still learning to trust, but every day made it clearer.
The smell of bacon drifted from the kitchen, along with Kayleigh's excited chatter and giggles. Nicole smiled, picturingher daughter "helping" Slash with breakfast the way she did every chance she could get. In just a week, they'd fallen into routines that felt natural, domestic, right.
Like a family.
The thought should have scared her. A week ago, it would have sent her into a panic spiral about getting too attached, about letting Kayleigh bond with a man who might not stick around. But something had shifted last night when she'd finally let herself trust Slash completely. When she'd admitted what she wanted, what she craved.
She'd called him Daddy. Not in the heat of the moment, not as a joke, but as a confession. And instead of mocking her or using it against her like Brock would have, Slash had accepted it like a gift. Like something he'd been waiting to hear.
She wasn't just surviving anymore. She was living. And maybe, just maybe, falling in love with a scarred biker who made her feel safer than she'd ever felt in her life.
Nicole was pulling on clothes, another one of Slash's t-shirts and her own jeans that were getting loose from stress, when her phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number. Her stomach dropped before she even looked at it. She knew. Somehow, she just knew. Her blood went cold as she read it.
Brock: Miss me yet, Nicky? Don't worry. We'll be together again soon. You, me, and MY daughter. One big happy family. I know where you are. I know who you're spreading your legs for. Did you really think some scarred up biker trash could keep you from me?
The words blurred as her hands began to shake. That possessive "MY daughter" made bile rise in her throat. Brock had never wanted Kayleigh when they were together. She'd beenan inconvenience, a crying thing that took Nicole's attention away from him. But now she was a tool, a way to hurt Nicole, to maintain control even from a distance.
Her hands shook as she screenshot the message, her mind immediately racing through possibilities. How had he gotten her number? How did he know about Slash? She wondered again how he found them?
Had someone at the club betrayed them? No. Slash trusted these men with his life. Was Brock having them watched? The thought made her skin crawl, imagining eyes on them every time they'd left the compound this week.
"Mommy!" Kayleigh's voice called from the kitchen. "Slash made pancakes with chocolate chips today! He said I was extra brave yesterday so I get a special breakfast!" She’d realized pretty quickly that Slash really only knew how to make a couple dishes. But those he could cook? He cooked well.
Nicole forced herself to breathe, to think clearly. Yesterday. Right. Kayleigh had handled a stranger approaching them at the store with remarkable composure, remembering to stay close to Slash.The man had just been asking for directions, but Kayleigh had immediately moved behind Slash's leg, her small hand gripping his jeans while staying calm. She was learning the difference between caution and panic, a lesson Nicole wished she'd learned years ago. Her baby was learning to be careful without being afraid.
Slash needed to see this message, but she wasn't going to panic Kayleigh by rushing into the kitchen looking terrified. She was learning, slowly but surely, to let someone else handle the crisis management. To trust that she didn't have to face the monsters alone anymore. She took several deep breaths in and out. In through the nose, out through the mouth, just like the therapist she'd seen secretly before leaving Brock had taughther.Center yourself. You're not in immediate danger. You have support now.
By the time she made it to the kitchen, she'd managed to school her expression into something approaching calm. But Slash took one look at her and immediately set down his spatula. His ability to read her was unnerving and comforting in equal measure. With Brock, she'd become an expert at hiding her emotions. With Slash, she couldn't hide anything, and more surprisingly, she didn't want to.
"What's wrong?" he asked, already moving toward her.
His body language had shifted instantly from relaxed to alert, and she saw Tater straighten in her peripheral vision, responding to some silent signal. These men were always ready for danger, always watching. It should have been intimidating. Instead, it made her feel protected.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Nicole asked, glancing meaningfully at Kayleigh, who was busy arranging chocolate chips in smiley faces on her pancakes.
"Kayleigh, finish your breakfast," Slash instructed, his voice gentle but firm. He nodded to Tater who immediately got up and moved to her side. "Tell Tater about your drawing from yesterday. I bet he'd love to hear about the dragon family."
"Oh! It's so cool!" Kayleigh immediately launched into her story, distracted.
"We'll be right back. And no extra chocolate chips while we're gone," she told her, heading into the hallway.
"Aww, you always know!" Kayleigh pouted, but she was grinning.
He followed Nicole into the hallway, and the moment they were out of Kayleigh's sight, his expression hardened into something dangerous. The shift was complete, from gentle caretaker to lethal protector in seconds."Show me."
Nicole handed him her phone without a word. She watched his face go cold as he read the message, the scar on his cheek standing out white against skin that had gone pale with rage. His jaw clenched so tight she could hear his teeth grinding. The hand not holding her phone had curled into a fist, knuckles white with restraint.
"When did this come in?" he asked, his voice carefully controlled, but she could hear the violence underneath.
"Just now. While I was getting dressed." Her voice cracked. "He knows where we are. He knows about you."
Slash was already dialing, presumably calling Detective Allard. "Yeah, it's Slash. We've got a problem." He rattled off the details while Nicole tried to calm her racing heart, her fingernails digging into her palms hard enough to leave marks.
