Niko managed to change her son into his pyjamas without jostling him awake, and as she lowered him into the makeshift crib, he mumbled something to himself and chuckled.
Niko smiled.
The sound of Roman’s laughter and the sight of him wearing one of his big grins lifted her spirits like nothing else could. It told her that no matter what else was going on in her fucked-up existence, she was at least managing to shield her son from the worst of it.
She reached for her bag and pulled out an old football shirt she usually wore to sleep in. It had once belonged to her father, and was an extra-large men’s shirt, so even as tall as she was, it still reached almost to her knees.
Knowing that Hollywood was sitting in the front, she shrugged off her jacket and shirt, and tugged the sleep-shirt over her head and shoulders as quickly as she could. Once it was in place, she unfastened her jeans and quickly slid them off, rolling them up and stuffing them into her bag.
The tapping sound made her jump back.
“Niko? Can I come in?” Hollywood’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “We need to talk.”
Niko pushed her shirt and Roman’s dirty clothes into a clear laundry bag and shoved them in a side pocket in her pack. When she was done, she pulled the curtain back.
“What do we need to talk about?” She looked at him suspiciously.
Niko edged back on the bed as Hollywood filled the gap, and when he sat opposite her on the mattress she suddenly felt the cab become quite claustrophobic. She tried to grab the hem of her shirt and pull it down to cover her legs without being too obvious about it.
“There are a few things we need to talk about, but before we start, I wanted to check that you were Ok.” He looked at her face in the dim light and she could tell he was looking for something. She just didn’t know what.
“Are you kidding me?” She hissed. “Of course, I’m not Ok. Why would I be?”
Hollywood nodded in response, and she wondered what he thought she meant.
“What would you say if I said I thought you weren’t cut out for all this shit?” Hollywood began. “If I thought that you hated this life with a passion?”
Niko looked at him in surprise.
“Firstly, I’d point out that you’d changed your tune.” She scowled at him. “Last time we talked about this, you thought I was some evil bitch who enjoyed trafficking women.”
Hollywood nodded.
“I may have been under the wrong impression.” He conceded, still staring at her. “But what if I had changed my tune, as you suggested, and I now thought you were totally opposed to it? What would you say then?”
Niko wondered whether this was some sort of test.
“I’d want to know why it was so important to you to know one way or another.” Niko shrugged. “Are you asking to satisfy your own curiosity, or are you asking on behalf of your employers, to see whether I can be trusted?”
“Niko, I already know you can be trusted.” Hollywood smiled. “And the only two people involved in this conversation are you and me. Nobody else is around, and nobody else will ever know we spoke about this.”
Niko wanted to trust him, she really did. How easy it would be to just come right out and tell him that she had her own plans for how to help the women and herself. But she had to keep reminding herself that doing so could be a fatal mistake. The price was too high.
“Of course, I hate what Ilya does. I hate the trafficking worse than the drugs and the guns. If I could persuade him to stop that part of his business, don’t you think I would have by now?” Her shoulders fell, as though the weight of keeping the words inside had kept them tense, and now the words were out, she was free from the pressure. “But there’s nothing I can do except try and keep those women safe while they’re in transit.”
“I’ve seen you do what you can for them.” Hollywood nodded. “But what if, hypothetically, you could do more? What if you could disrupt Ilya’s business somehow.”
Niko stared at Hollywood in shock.
“Do you have any idea what my brother would do to anyone who tried to let those women go?” She shook her head. “He’d kill them. It’s his simple and effective way of keeping everyone in line. Even me.”
“You seriously think your brother would kill you.” Hollywood sounded doubtful.
“I don’t just think it, I’m sure of it.” She insisted. “And then what would happen to Roman? Ilya wouldn’t want to keep a kid around, even one that was related to him, and he’s too young to be good for anything for a long time. I wouldn’t put it past Ilya to sell him at one of your auctions.”
Niko watched Hollywood’s face cloud over, and she was sure she heard a growl somewhere deep in his chest.
“Besides, it’s not even worth considering hypothetically. Your employers wouldn’t be very happy if you ruined their deal, would they? They can only hold an auction if there’s stock to auction.” Niko pointed out. “Between Ilya and your employers, any attempt to free the women would be disastrous. Not to mention that all of Ilya’s men and your colleagues might have a thing or two to say about it.”
“There are always things you can do if you’ve a mind to.” Hollywood took her hand and held it in both of his. “If you’re strong enough.”
Niko stared at their hands, knowing she should pull away, but not wanting to. When she glanced up into his face, Hollywood’s gaze was fixed on her.
“If it was just me, I’d have done something a long time ago.” She admitted. “But I’ve had to be so careful not to do anything to put Roman at risk. It kills me to see what those women go through, but at the end of the day, he’s my son, little more than a baby, and I’m all he’s got.”
“I’ve watched you when you’ve been standing guard over those women.” Hollywood obviously wasn’t giving up. “You stand up to Ilya’s men, and make sure they’re protected. If only they knew the danger you’re putting yourself in, they’d realise that you’ve actually been their guardian angel all along.”
Niko pulled her hands back.
“Are you out of your mind?” She hissed, as though his words had caused her actual pain. “I’m nobody’s angel, and definitely not theirs. Those women look at me like I’m the most heinous person on the planet. If they had the chance, I’m pretty sure they’d kill me first, just because I’m a woman.”
Hollywood leaned forward and cupped her cheek in his large hand and leaned forward to stare into her eyes.
“They’d be dead wrong.” He said quietly. “You look like an angel to me.”
Niko could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest at the feel of a man’s touch, even if it was just a gentle caress of her cheek.
Her eyes were locked onto his, and she could feel herself almost drowning in their warmth.
She watched, mesmerized, as he leaned forward, and as his face grew closer, she tipped her head back slightly in anticipation.
When his mouth finally found hers, Niko’s eyelids dropped shut as the exquisite sensation of kissing the softest lips in the world washed over her.
She opened her mouth a little, wanting to taste his lips, wanting to know what it was like to be kissed by possibly the most gorgeous man she’d ever set eyes on.
Taking her slight movement as an invitation, Hollywood moved forward until he could slide his hands up around her neck and slip his fingers into her hair.
Once he could hold her in place, Hollywood seemed to take control of the kiss, and Niko found herself being pulled into his strong broad chest, even as his tongue invaded her mouth.
When her sensitised breasts rubbed up against him through the thin material of her t-shirt, Niko couldn’t help the groan that escaped her. His kiss was stoking her to heights of pleasure she couldn’t even remember experiencing before.
Hollywood responded instantly, pulling her closer, kissing her harder and deeper, and loosening his grip on her hair so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders and crush her to him.
It took a few seconds of increasing dizziness before Niko remembered she needed to breathe, and even then, she wasn’t willing to pull away to gulp in the amount of oxygen she actually needed.
When Hollywood pulled his head back for a split-second to change the angle of the kiss, Niko gasped a deep breath before going back in for more.
As the kiss became more passionate, Niko could feel herself start to lose her balance, but before she realised she was falling, she felt Hollywood lowering her to the mattress, bringing his upper body down over her to maintain the contact.
Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, there was a nagging thought that what they were doing was… well, if not wrong exactly, then certainly pointless. Nothing could come of it except a few kisses, so what was the point?
As she tried to run her hand up Hollywood’s chest above his shirt, she felt his hand slide up her leg, her bare leg, and realised that her t-shirt must have ridden up, baring her at least partially to him.
Hollywood’s hand rose as high as her bottom, which he squeezed gently, before running his hand back down, pulling her shirt back into place.
As though he could sense Niko’s confusion in her lips, Hollywood broke the kiss slowly, and lifted his head to look at her.
“Sorry about the wandering hand.” He smiled down at her. “It was too much temptation to resist, but I’d like it noted for the record that I moved it to somewhere respectable, at least a nanosecond before you had to tell me to move it.”
Niko blinked as she gazed up at him. If she was being honest, she’d had no intention of asking him to move his hand at all. She was enjoying the feel of his touch way too much to stop him.
“Maybe two nanoseconds.” She conceded, lying through her teeth. “You get credit for that at least.”
“I probably shouldn’t have kissed you at all.” Hollywood sounded regretful, but he hadn’t moved away from her. “It wasn’t exactly professional, and it probably wouldn’t be good for either of us if anyone found out about it.”
“Probably not.” Niko agreed, her breathing starting to return to normal.
“I should probably go back up front, and we should both try and get some sleep.” Hollywood frowned. “God knows what’s going to happen when Ilya’s men get back.”
Niko bit her lip to try and control her nerves.
“It’s likely to be very cramped on the seats up front.” She said quietly. “You could try and sleep here if you liked, lying on top of the bedding. As long as you don’t try any funny business, that is.”
She saw the corners of Hollywood’s eyes crinkle up as he smiled.
“I think I can manage to avoid starting any ‘funny business’.” He confirmed. “I can be quite the gentleman when the occasion calls for it.”
Niko scrambled to tuck her feet beneath the blanket and slide down the mattress.
Before her head could hit the pillow, she felt Hollywood lay back on the bed, and his arm slid around her shoulders pulling her back against his front.
Hollywood’s lips found the curve of her neck, and he placed a soft kiss there before settling down.
“Still need to hold you.” His voice rumbled in her ear. “After all, I said I was a gentleman, not a saint.”
“Good to know.” Niko’s smile was wide, and she was glad that she had her back to him.
“Sleep well, Niko.” He whispered softly.
Yeah, she was wrapped in a man’s arms for the first time in three and a half years, and was being pressed into the hard, hot muscles of his chest.
Exactly where you needed to be to ensure a relaxing night’s sleep!