Page 108 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
He yanked open the passenger door. Nostrils flared, chest heaving, he stared at me in silence. He cut a burning glare to Barney.
“It wasn’t his fault,” I said. “I made him. He didn’t want to go. If you’re going to be angry, be angry with me, not him.”
Nico’s gaze sliced back to me, sweeping quickly over my body. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” I didn’t dare add anything else.
Leaning across my body, he unsnapped the buckle on my seat belt. I smelled the cigarette smoke in his hair. He removed me from the car as if I were a wild animal that might bolt at any moment. With his hand wrapped firmly around my upper arm, he strode toward the house, taking me with him.
“Shouldn’t we talk to the police?” I ventured, hurrying to keep up with him in my heels.
Nico didn’t answer. I looked over my shoulder and saw Barney talking with the two officers, one of whom I recognized as Eric Cox, Chloe’s new guy. He shot me a sympathetic look, right before Nico opened the front door, then slammed it shut behind us.
He whirled on me. I was so surprised I jumped. I retreated until I could go no farther, my back flattened against the door.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he snapped.
“I’m not.”
“I can see it on your face, Kat!”
I wondered how it was possible for him to speak without moving his jaw. I moistened my lips, trying to breathe steadily so my heartbeat would slow down. “Well, I know you’d never hurt me, but honestly, you’re being scary.”
He whispered, “I’m fuckin’ scary? I am?” His blue eyes blazed. He towered over me, bristling, his voice growing louder with every word. “I’m the man who would lay down his life to keep you safe, Kat! I’m the man who would do anything to ensure no harm ever comes to you! I’m the man you promised to come right back to after work!”
Looking up at him, I bit my lower lip.
I didn’t want to fight with him. And I knew anything I said would only make the situation worse. I didn’t have Grace’s talent of gently speaking to someone in an agitated state, so I just had to let him get his anger out of his system.
If I’d learned anything about Nico, it was that his temper flared fast, but it burned out faster.
He paced away from me, looking around the entryway as if he’d like to find something to smash, then just as abruptly turned back. “Do you have any idea what I went through when I got that call from Barney? Do you have any idea how worried I was? What if Michael was still there, in your house? Barney told me the fuckin’ place was trashed! What do you think it would have done to me if you’d been hurt?”
I swallowed, chest tight, aching to reach out for him, wanting desperately to reassure him. I knew it was futile. I’d fucked up.
“Jesus, I got a room full of record executives who think I’m a fuckin’ madman, Kat! I must’ve shoved ten guys to the ground on my way outta that meeting! I didn’t even have a car—I had to take a cab, almost got thrown out when I kept screamin’ at the guy to go faster!”
With a guttural snarl, Nico spun away again, hands clenched in his hair. He stood with his back to me for a long moment, breathing hard, the muscles in his arms clenched tight, his posture rigid.
I went to him. It was pure instinct. I needed to hold him, and he needed to hold me.
He could yell at me later. Right now, I really just needed a hug.
Wrapping my arms around his waist from behind, I rested my cheek against his broad back. “I’m sorry, Nico,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I made you worry. I’m sorry I talked Barney into taking me there. I promise I won’t do anything like that again. I didn’t really think I was in danger. I thought you were overreacting, but now I get it. I get how crazy Michael is.”
A tremor shivered his body. He dropped his hands to his sides, and bowed his head. “No. You don’t. And I hope to God you never do.”
Hearing that, my skin crawled. Whatever made him tremble, whatever his brother had done that made Nico’s voice sound so hollow and hopeless, I needed to know.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
Nico turned and faced me. His beautiful blue eyes were so fraught with pain, I wanted to kiss his entire face just to make that awful look go away.
“You don’t need to hear every ugly detail, Kat. I don’t want you carryin’ that shit around in your head like I do. Just trust me when I say you have to stay away from him. Understand?”
I wound my arms around his waist again,
slipping my hands beneath his shirt so I could feel the warmth of his skin, needing the contact. “If you thought he was so bad, why did you let him come to the funeral?”
