Patrick

I was so fucked.

I couldn’t help but think that as I went to the office, found the second phone I kept there.

Declan was my first call, then Michael, then Sean. They’d be here in less than half an hour, and by then I’d have to get myself together.

It would be a difficult task.

I was beyond pissed at what was happening, but even more, Nya was affecting me. I didn’t like it one bit.

She’d also thrown me off balance when she’d asked how I was. Something no one outside of my brothers had ever done. And she’d seemed sincere.

I had pretty much wrecked her comfort, brought my own problems to her doorstep, had accused her of being a part of them, and yet she had still been concerned for my well-being.

That said so many good things about her, reminded me I needed to stay away from her, but I knew that wasn’t a possibility. There was no way I would ever be able to do that.

That scared me too.

I wanted her, halfway suspected that I needed her, and that was something I had no idea what to do about.

“More excitement?” Sean said as he sauntered in about twenty minutes later.

“You see the others?” I asked.

“On their way,” he said as he leaned back, looking comfortable.

“You seem very relaxed,” I said.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?” he asked.

“Well, in three days someone has tried to kill me twice,” I said through clenched teeth, trying, failing to bite back my anger.

“Sounds like a personal problem,” he said.

“Is it now?” I said.

“Yeah, I try to tell you guys, but you never listen to me. We’ll find out who did this and handle it, but acting uptight won’t fix anything,” he said.

I glared at him, knowing that he was right but not wanting to admit it to him, and also shocked that I was getting a lecture from Sean of all people.

“It’s okay,” he said, seeming to read my thoughts, “I know it’s hard to believe your little brother might be smarter than he looks. But I’m smarter than I look.”

Sean shrugged and then pushed the chair that he was sitting in onto its back legs.

“The chair costs six thousand dollars,” I said.

“You got robbed,” he replied, leaning back a little farther, the chair teetering with his weight.

“Yeah, probably,” I said.

Deciding to change while I waited for the others, I started to leave the office. “Don’t touch anything,” I told Sean.

I ran upstairs quickly, opened my bedroom door and saw Nya nestled under the covers, my breath was taken away by how right she looked there. A powerful, almost overwhelming instinct to go to her had me changing directions, but I swallowed past it, focused on the closet.

She was probably just exhausted, the adventure of the last couple of days making her seek any solace she might be able to find. Still, I would be a fool to pretend I could imagine a different circumstance, one where Nya was a part of my life and stayed that way.

But someone seemed intent on making sure that wasn’t the case, and that sobering thought made me pause. I was doing it again, allowing myself to think about something that wasn’t the one thing that mattered right now. And that one thing was the person who wanted to see me dead, seemed to be going out of his way to do so.

It wasn’t fair to Nya to think that anyway. I knew how she felt about people like me, knew that she despised me. There was no question of that. She looked at me as nothing more than a criminal, a lowlife, hated everything she thought I represented. The awesome physical connection we shared wouldn’t be enough to overcome that.

The way I felt about her confused me. I never wanted anything from anyone, never needed anything from anyone, but I feared I was quickly growing to want her, need her, and I didn’t know how to handle that.

I walked back through the bedroom, pausing to look at her as she still slept peacefully.

I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t allow myself to. I had business to handle. I’d just have to hope this thing with Nya worked itself out.

* * *

Patrick

“I knew I should’ve stayed,” Declan said.

He stood stock-still, his expression as stormy as a thundercloud.

“I told you to go,” I said. I’d been certain I had everything under control and was pissed at myself for being so wrong. I couldn’t change that, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“Yeah, and you were wrong.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it now,” I said.

“No, but from here on out I’m listening to my gut, no matter what you say.”

“Okay. But let’s not talk about the past now, Declan, we have a bigger problem.”

“Yeah we do.”

This time it was Michael who spoke.

“Don’t get pissed,” he said.

“Just spit it out, Michael,” I said.

“So you’re absolutely positive…”

I shook my head, but then let out a frustrated sigh. I knew that Michael, all of them, looked out for my best interests.

“I’m sure,” Sean said. “I dug up everything I could, and your friend Nya didn’t have anything to do with it. She’s a good, old-fashioned taxpaying citizen. Has an interesting family, but we certainly wouldn’t hold something like that against her,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Declan asked.

“Seems that Nya’s father is very familiar with the State Department of Corrections,” Sean said.

“What for?” Michael asked.

“Apparently he likes to steal and is no damn good at it,” Sean said. “But he’s been out for almost fifteen years.”

“Okay so now that we’ve discussed Nya’s past, can we get back to the issue at hand?”

“Yeah, someone is definitely after you. Does this have something to do with the indictment, you think?”

“There was no indictment,” I said, clarifying.

“Yeah. Right,” Michael said.

He knew full well that I had gone to great lengths to make sure that pesky indictment never saw the light of day, and I didn’t think that that was the issue.

“I don’t think so. Too many other people have way too much to lose if the truth comes out about that.”

“So what?” Sean said.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. We are going to the streets. Someone is paying these guys, or they are experienced enough to do this themselves. Not too many people are capable of that, so we’re going to find out.”

“And then?” Sean said.

Instead of answering, I smiled.