Chapter Twenty
Nick used his key card to enter the top secret laboratory and offices underground at Fort Detrick. He slid the tag back in his pocket as he limped through the sliding doors. The locking mechanism clicked behind him.
He hurried as fast as his cane would allow. He wasn’t leaning as heavily on it as he had been a few weeks ago, and he was moving faster every day. His physical therapist hoped he’d be able to drop the cane completely by summer.
That couldn’t come fast enough.
The first month of PT had been hell. He’d been lucky to walk, they’d told him. The gunshot had ripped through tendons in his thigh, done more damage than they’d even expected. It had been a hard road.
But Nick had never been one to let anyone tell him he couldn’t do something. He’d put in long hours at the gym, suffered through the worst night cramps of his life.
It had been worth it.
Now he cursed the cane because it slowed him down, and he wanted to get to Kitty. Today was a hard day for her, and the sooner he saw her and knew she was all right, the better.
When he turned the corner to the main room, he found her at one of the desks. Probably skimming the internet. They all took turns watching the news, waiting for any indication that someone was testing Solvimine. So far, they’d found nothing, but she worried.
Seeing her loosened something in his chest.
Across the room, Luke Kincaid argued with the head of their department, Dr. Elizabeth Jenkins. From the beginning, Luke and Beth had rubbed each other the wrong way. Now, they were arguing over some chemistry thing Nick didn’t understand. Or maybe he didn’t care much. Right now, he only had eyes for Kitty.
She looked up as soon as he came in the room, had probably been listening for his thoughts. Anxiety lined her face. Standing, she wrapped her arms around her stomach. When there were only a few steps between them, she asked, “How did it go?”
Without a word, he swept forward and wrapped her with his arm. He still had to lean on the cane, but he did the best he could. Dropping his head, he planted a full-scale, five-alarm kiss on her mouth. When they finally pulled away, the lines around her eyes and mouth were less pronounced, and her eyes had softened.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much.” She smiled up at him. “Tell me.”
“He got ten years in Leavenworth.” Nick had spent the morning at Jeremy’s court martial. Jeremy hadn’t been discharged from the military when he went to work for Goldstone. JAG had levied a variety of crimes against him. Absence without leave, conspiracy, unlawful separation…the list went on. The compound of the maximum punishments would have put him behind bars for nearly twenty years, but the judge had taken pity on him.
Still, a decade behind bars at Leavenworth was no joke.
Kitty’s head sagged. Her eyes closed. “I’m glad it’s over.”
He could understand that. She’d waffled, during the pre-trial phase, between feeling bad for Jeremy and thinking he should get what he deserved. In the end, she hadn’t wanted to be at the trial, hadn’t believed she could listen to his thoughts while he was tried for his crimes.
Nick was glad it was over, too. She needed closure.
He wrapped her into his arms again. They stood together, allowing the chaos of the staging area for their task force to float around them.
What had been an empty room two months ago now boasted an arsenal of computers. Next door, a lab devoted to studying Solvimine bustled with three other researchers—Beth’s team.
When Nick had joined the Army, he had expected to be a Ranger, to work in special ops. But the work that he and the rest of them were doing here went beyond classified, clear up to top secret. He couldn’t think of anything more important.
Between his recovery and setting up this base they were stretched pretty thin. Especially Kitty. Nick knew how hard it was for her to be in enclosed spaces with a group of people.
She needed a break. He hoped to give her some time to relax tonight.
“I thought you might want to get out of here for the evening,” he offered. “I already cleared it with Martins. We’ve got the night off.”
She frowned, uncertain. “Are you sure? Blue and Seth aren’t back yet, and I don’t want to leave Luke here alone…” They’d agreed that they needed to have a few people who were enhanced at the base at any one time. If a threat came, they wanted to be able to respond immediately.
“Luke isn’t alone. Kenny and Brian are here…somewhere.” Kenny and Brian had also come to work with the task force Martins had created to detect possible threats from Solvimine. A few of Fields’s other soldiers were still being cleared to work with them. Nick suspected Martins didn’t trust their motivations. They’d worked for Goldstone, after all. They’d taken orders from Fields.
Nick suspected Martins was trying to figure out what to do with them.
Or maybe Martins was waiting to see if the drug Beth was developing might work. She thought she could neutralize the effects of Solvimine. Martins would love that. The major had gotten a promotion when he was appointed to run their crazy team. But even being a lieutenant colonel didn’t sooth his anxiety.
Nick bet that Martins had never wanted to add, “wrangling a team of super-powered punks,” to his resume.
“I don’t know, Nick. I’m a bit tired…” She hadn’t been sleeping well. Even more reason they should get out of here.
“Come on, Kitty. Let me take you out.” He thought of the Italian restaurant where he’d made reservations for that night. When he’d dropped in on his way back to base, the place had smelled like garlic and sizzling meat. Two of his favorite scents.
She smiled. “Italian food, huh? Talk about playing hardball.” It was her favorite. Since discovering her pasta weakness, he’d cooked for her a few times a week, dishes his mom had taught him.
“I may have noticed your affinity for the food of my people.” He offered her the phoniest Italian accent he could muster, and she laughed.
“Should I change?” She glanced down at her jeans, white blouse, and pink flats. “Is it fancy?”
“You look perfect.” His words rang with sincerity. Because it was true. It had been two months since they took down Fields, since he’d been shot. He’d worried, while they’d been in that cell together, that maybe their attraction had been amplified by their situation. He’d been afraid maybe their relationship wouldn’t hold up.
He hadn’t needed to worry. If anything, he found her sexier and sweeter than before.
Kitty? She’d blossomed. They still trained every day. She’d gotten faster than ever, anticipating his blows, and the workouts had given her confidence.
But she was still Kitty. Still an introvert, still blushed easily. He still enjoyed making her blush, doing outlandish things to make her smile.
Which brought him to the point of this dinner.
“My parents are here. From Brooklyn.” He pulled her hands into his. “I was hoping that maybe we could have dinner with them. Together.”
Since Wyoming, they’d been on lockdown, unable to see family and friends outside of their group. They’d all needed to be cleared by medical doctors, then by the military administrators. Their unique gifts made them wild cards, outsiders. Their classified nature, the top secret status of Solvimine and their task force…it meant that no one was allowed to know where they were or what they were doing.
Nick had gotten the all clear last week, and his parents had insisted on driving right down.
“You want me to meet your parents?” She looked shocked.
He scowled at her. “I love you. I want to be with you for a long time. It makes sense that you meet my family, Kit.”
“Of course. I mean, right.” She glared back. “Of course I want to meet them. That’s not what I meant. I mean, we’re together, you and me. At a place where I would meet your parents.”
This wasn’t going how he’d expected. In fact, he had no idea what she was talking about. “If you don’t want to go, it’s okay. I’ll tell them you were upset…”
“No, no.” She sighed. “That isn’t what I meant. I want to go. Actually, I’ve wanted to meet them since we were in the cell, at the compound.” She worried her lip with her teeth. “But, I mean. I’ve never…I mean, I don’t know. I don’t meet people well…” Color flooded her cheeks. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m not good at meeting people, Nick. What if they don’t like me?”
He squeezed her hand. Of course. That made perfect sense. “They aren’t going to like you. They’re going to love you.”
She nodded, but he could tell she wasn’t convinced. Still, she took his hand, and he led her out, leaving Beth and Luke to their argument. Nick wasn’t even sure they realized anyone else was there.
They stopped in Kitty’s room to grab her wool coat. Outside, he led her to the military-issue car he’d taken to DC this morning.
He drove them into downtown Frederick and pulled in to a parking spot in front of il Porto. “Here we are.” As he put the car in park, he gathered her hands in his. She looked pale. “Trust me. I love you. They’re going to love you just as much.”
“Your family is different than mine.”
“You have to trust me.”
She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. “I do.”
“Then let’s go.”
He pocketed the keys, snagged his cane from the backseat, and walked around the car to meet her. She laced her arm through his, and they picked their way through the salted, snow-covered sidewalk.
His parents and his five sisters waited at the door of the restaurant. He experienced a moment of doubt. From an outsider’s view, he imagined they looked intimidating. They hadn’t noticed him yet, so they were talking together as they usually did: loudly and on top of one another.
His mother turned, though, and he didn’t have time to worry any more. When she saw him, the lines of stress smoothed off of her face. He had known she would be worried, but he hated how much.
She hurried forward and folded him into her arms. He hugged her back, his slight, fierce mother.
“You are limping. Why are you limping?” She scowled at him, kissing both of his cheeks, holding his face as she studied him.
“Ma, I’m fine. I’ll tell you about it over dinner.” He smiled at her, so happy to see them that he couldn’t even work up a proper defense.
“Is that a cane? You hurt yourself and need a cane and you didn’t call your mother?” She glanced behind him, then, and caught sight of Kitty. Her eyebrows shot up. “Hello, I’m Linda Degrassi, Nicholas’s mom.”
Kitty squared her shoulders and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Kitty Laughton. Your son has told me so much about you.”
But his Mom wasn’t having any of that. She swept forward, arms wide, and swept her into a hug.
When Kitty’s wide eyes met his over his mother’s shoulder, he shrugged. What could he say? His mom was a hugger. Kitty’s lips twitched as his mother started in on him. “Nicholas, this is the girl you love, and yet she is so thin? You don’t feed her?”
“Ma, I’ve told you, other people don’t think food is a sport. And Kitty’s perfect. Leave her be.” He leaned over and kissed his mother’s soft cheek. “It’s good to see you, too, Mom. I’ve missed you all.”
Moisture glistened in her eyes, and she patted his face. “Come. We should eat.” She looked behind him at his sisters, and started barking orders, telling the girls to leave his girlfriend alone, they were scaring her. For their part, the girls ignored their mother, barraging Kitty with talk. Or rather, they were talking while Kitty was nearby. Kitty was pretty much just standing, taking it in. But she had a smile on her face.
His mother managed to wrangle the girls and corral them inside, still talking. His father lagged behind. Nick took his hand, and they clapped each other on the back in the traditional man hug. “Good to see you, son.”
“You, too, Dad.”
And that was it. His father trailed the female contingent in the family, leaving Nick and Kitty together in the foyer.
“My goodness,” Kitty breathed.
Nick laughed, rubbing his hand over his head. “Yeah. They can be a lot. You okay?”
“They’re wonderful,” she said, her eyes shining. “They love you so much.” She tucked her arm through his again. “I love them already.”
He felt the smile slide off his face. His chest felt full, and he didn’t know what to say. “And I love you.”
“I love you, too. Come on.” She nudged her head toward the dining room. “I bet she doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” She laughed, dragging him by the arm.
He lingered for one more moment, pressing a soft kiss to her mouth before they joined his family. Together.
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