Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3) (15 page)

Monday rolled by with far too many meetings keeping me out of the office all day. I found myself missing Nicole, rushing to get back to her.

Instead of a beaming smile to greet me when I got to the office, I sure as hell didn’t expect the sight of a pair of wide shoulders leaning over my woman.

Dean.

The man had his hands holding onto her arms, forcing her into him.

Too busy snickering at the inappropriate display before them, the men and women that were viewing the spectacle hadn’t even paid enough attention to notice Nicole’s panicked demeanor.  The fact that no one had budged to stop the bastard,
when it was so evident that Nicole wasn’t interested, set me off.

My feet moved, as if a puppet manned by some unseen force, taking me in their direction.  I ripped the man away from Nicole by his shirt collar, the fabric tearing as seams were forced.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”  I growled.

A large fist came at me in a flash.  One minute I was a seething ball of anger and the next, I was a complete puddle of dazed mush on the floor and the side of my face was throbbing.

Nicole took the opportunity to move toward me and crouched down.  I accepted her help to get back to my feet.

“Leave now or I’ll have security throw you out.  And don’t ever let me catch you with your hands on Nicole again,” I said, filled with venom.

“She wanted it.”

“Dean!” Nicole started.

“Did you?”  I looked at her, already knowing the answer.

“What?  No!”  She looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.  “He forced himself on me!”

“That’s what I thought I saw.” My eyes never left Dean.  “Nic, call security and have this man escorted out.  He’ll be lucky if I don’t press charges.”

“You threw the first punch.  Remember that.”  The man was referring to our scene at the bistro as he proceeded toward the elevators.  “I’ll be seeing you, Nikki.”

Nicole didn’t deign him with an answer to that last statement as he left without another word.

As soon as he was no longer within sight, she turned toward me and tried to grab my face, but I pulled back and her hands froze mid-air.  She looked torn, and I was past mad.

“What the fuck was he doing here?”

“I don’t
know.  I was on the phone with a client and when I turned around to drop a file on your desk, he was right there.”

“Are you okay?” I asked and this time, when her hands came up to frame my face, I let her touch me.

She nodded with a sad smile on her face.  “I’m fine.”

“Hey, boss?” I heard from someone on the floor and I grabbed her hands to lower them.

“Yeah!” I called out to Randy, one of our finance executives and turned to him.

“I’ve got something for you to take a look at before I send it out,” he said.

Squeezing Nicole’s hands in mine briefly, I said, “I’ll be right back, and then we’re going home.”

“Don’t you mean you’re driving me home?”

“No!” My tone brokered no argument.  I turned to the man that had asked for my attention.  “Randy, in my office.”  He acted fast and I turned to Nicole again.  “I don’t care where I sleep, but I’m not letting that asshole get near you again.”

She sighed.  “We’ll talk about this later.”

“Wait for me.”

“I can’t do much except pay a small fortune to get home by cab, so yeah, I’ll be right here,” she said with ample sarcasm and muttered something about a rental.

From the time Randy left my office to when we walked into her house, Nicole hadn’t said much but answer my questions with a quiet yes or no.  She was in the kitchen, fetching us a drink and slamming every cabinet door she opened in the process.

Something wasn’t right.

“Nic?”  She
jumped, but kept her back to me as she poured our drinks and handed me my glass before walking past me.  “Nic?” I followed her to the den.

She took a generous sip from her glass before setting it down and picked up her guitar.

“Nicole!” This ignoring bit of hers was getting on my last nerve.  “Will you at least look at me?  What the fuck is going on?”

“Mike, just go home.”

“Go home?”

“That’s what I
said!” she said over her shoulder, strumming the guitar strings.  “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“It’s exactly what you’re doing, Michael.”  She turned to pierce me with her emerald eyes.  “What else would you call it?  I’m a grown-ass woman!  I can take care of myself.”

“I’m well aware of that,” I said and set my drink down, crossing my arms at my chest.

“Just because my car was bashed in, and my ex shows up at the office, doesn’t mean that I’m in any imminent danger.  I have a security alarm.  I have pepper spray.  I know not to let strangers in.”

I burst out laughing.

She looked vexed at my reaction.

I moved to a crouch in front of her.

“I don’t find any of this funny, Michael.”

“Neither do I.”  I cupped her face in my hands.  “I know you’re fine and fit to be on your own, honey.  It still doesn’t make me worry about you any less.”  She looked down, to her feet.  “Look, if you want me to go, I will.”

She never answered, but I took it as a yes.

I rose to my feet, massaging the bridge of my nose with my index and thumb.  My headache from that asshole’s punch had intensified due to my frustration.

Her hand covered mine when it landed on the front door’s knob.  “Don’t go like this.”

“It’s okay, I get it.  I’ll go home, take a few painkillers and take it easy.  I’ll call you later.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“You’re not leaving.”  She closed the distance between us and pushed me against the door.

“Nic,” I sighed, “I’m not in the mood to hash this out.  You want to be home and I plan on letting you enjoy what you want, which is peace.”

“Who said I wanted that?”  She smirked up at me.  Was this woman sending me mixed signals, or had Dean’s punch affected me more than I’d originally thought?  My brows furrowed.  “I might have not wanted a babysitter, but I never said anything about not wanting my man with me.  After all, I have to take care of him, since my ex was the one to give him that nasty bruise on his cheek.”

“Are you sure?”

Her hand came up to lightly finger the swelling on my face and I flinched.  “Mike, let me take care of you.  I haven’t seen you much today.  I could use a bit of alone-time with you.  Plus,” she winked at me, “I need to forget about what that bastard tried to do.”

Without another word, she guided me to the couch and made me sit.  Leaving me there for a moment, she came back with a glass of water and a couple of ibuprofen.

“So, about forgetting that bastard?” I asked, pulling her down to me after setting the glass of water down.  She straddled my lap as I gazed up at her face while my head rested on the back of the couch.  “There are a few things you need to do first.”

“And those are?”

“I haven’t had a kiss from you all day.  I-”

Her lips crushed mine.

Well, something has to be said about asking and receiving…

I wish I could say that the rest of the week had gone well, but it seemed that at every turn, something new popped up, and shit was hitting the proverbial fan on the work front.  Spending my evenings with Nicole at my side seemed to be the one thing keeping me sane.

I missed having Danica around the office.  With her being home, I was assuming a lot of her duties, and combined with my very own, it left me very thin energy-wise.

“Are you sure about this?” Nicole asked.  “I can always tell Dani that we’ll go some other time.”

“Go.”  I pressed my mouth to hers. “I’ve got a lot to look after tonight.  I’d like to be out of here by nine.”

“It would go quicker if I stayed.”

“No, it wouldn’t.”  My lips pressed against the side of her neck.  “You’re a distraction here when no one else is around.  Besides, if you skip out on Dani, she’ll be in here before you know it, dragging you off, kicking and screaming.”

She laughed.  “True, but I bet we could get her to go away screaming herself with some of the things that you’ve been coming up with these last few days.”  She pressed her front into my chest suggestively.

I groaned.  “Honey, you have to go.”

“I should, shouldn’t I?”  She pulled away with a pout.  “Will you be coming over tonight?”

“You know I will.”
I smiled.  “Now move that sweet ass of yours so I can get on with it, and get back to you at a respectable time, if you can call nine-ish that.”

“Okay.”  She backed away from me.  “I know when I’m not needed.”  She turned and walked to my office door.

It didn’t take me long to reach her and press her against the wall next to it.  “Forget something?”

“Not to my recollection.” The light dancing in her eyes told me that she was in a mood to tease.

“I need my kiss, Nic!” I wrapped a hand behind her neck and crashed my lips to hers.  Before long, our bodies were pressed against each other’s.  Much to my disappointment, I pulled back.  “In case you didn’t know this, I always need you, honey.  More than you’ll ever know.”

“I think I’ve figured that out.”  She rubbed her pelvis against mine, my dick quickly running out of room.

“Devil woman!”  I grumbled.  “I didn’t mean it in that way.”

“I know, handsome.  Hurry home.”  She kissed me one last time.

“I will.  Have fun.”

“Only because you asked me to.”

Nicole winked and left my office.

I was on my way to my car when my cell rang.  I looked at the caller ID and slid my thumb across the screen to answer.  “Dani, what’s up?”

“Get your ass over here now!”

She hung up before I had the chance to ask her why.  The woman sounded none too pleased for whatever reason, and it seemed like I was going to be cursed with the brunt of her temper.

I redialed her number.  “You better tell me what the fuck is going on.  I have a woman to get back to, and after the night I’ve had, I’m not feeling your tone.”

She snorted.  “Yeah, well, I’m sure Tracey can wait.”

“What?”

“Come out with it.  The bitch told us everything!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m just glad that Nikki held herself together long enough to leave without anything physical happening.”

“Dani, what happened?  I haven’t seen or spoken to Tracey since the weekend when she showed up on my doorstep.”

“Sure!”

She didn’t believe me?  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Do you take us for fools, Michael? Get your ass here now.  I can’t believe I helped you land my best friend.  How could you!”

“I didn’t do anything!” I yelled into my phone.  “I’ll be home soon.  Where’s Nicole?”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.  Where is she, Dani?”

“Forget about Nicole right now, Mike.  I’m not going to tell you a damn thing until you explain yourself.”

She hung up.

Danica launched herself off my front steps and toward my car as I pulled into my driveway.

“You have a lot of nerve!” she said when I stepped out of my ride.  Why were my house lights on?

“Hold on a minute.”  I held my hand up to halt her words.  “Don’t you go and attack me when I have no fucking clue as to what the hell’s going on!”

“You let her move in!”

“Who?”

“Who else?  That fucking ex of yours, you lying, two-timing bastard!”  She pushed me in the chest and slammed me into the side of my car.

“Excuse me?”

A car door slammed behind me.

“Danica!” Jake came running out toward us, grabbed his wife and held her away from me. “Calm down.”

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!”  Her eyes shot daggers at her husband.  “My brother is behaving like a jackass and I’m calling him on it!”  She turned her glacier gaze back to me.  “I told you not to hurt her, and what do you do?  You let your ex move in!”

“I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully,” I said.  “Tracey has not moved in, nor will she ever.  What the fuck gave you that idea?”

“Have you not been home?” she asked.

“Not until now.  I’ve been staying over at Nicole’s for the past few days,”
I told her.  “Planned on staying there again tonight.  Nicole can tell you that.  Where is she?”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t need you to believe me.  Now tell me where Nicole is.”
I was losing what thin thread I had left on my patience.

“Baby, I think he’s telling the truth,” Jake said.

“I am.”  No one said anything.  “Fuck this!  I’ll find her myself.”  I wanted to jump in my car and go, but I remembered the lights I had seen illuminating my home and headed toward the house.  I paused to turn and look at my sister with my hand on the doorknob.  “When I broke it off with Tracey, it was the end.  I love knowing that my own family thinks so little of me.  Tell me this, Danica.  Why the fuck did you even help me win your best friend over if you thought I’d fuck around?  Why worry about me getting hurt if I’m such a bad guy?  I don’t need this bullshit.  I need my fucking girlfriend, dammit!”

I shoved my keys in the tumbler only to find the door unlocked.

What the fuck?

“Baby!” I heard as I slammed my front door, leaving my sister and brother-in-law out in the proverbial cold.

This must be the twilight zone.

“Oh, hell no!” I stopped her in her tracks.  “What the fuck is going on?”

“I told you that we’d be together.”  She tried to throw herself at me again.

I held her back.  “And I told you, there wasn’t a chance in hell.  You broke into my house!”

“I found the hide-a-key.” She shrugged her shoulders, as if she hadn’t committed an offense.  “You keep it under the flower pot on the front step,
just like you did in Austin.”

If that wasn’t a sign to avoid a hide-a-key, I don’t know what was.

“I’m not your baby!” I said.  “Get the fuck out of my house before I call the cops.”  I moved to open the door, but it opened before I’d reached it and in came a livid Nicole.

The woman
ignored me completely and stomped to Tracey, grabbing my ex’s arm, and pulled her toward the front of the house.

“Let go of me you bitch!” Tracey screamed.

“Not on your life, slut!” Nicole retorted.

I slid my hand down my face, stopping to pinch the bridge of my nose. 
Christ, this is like some bad episode of Maury Povich.

“You have two choices.  Either you leave on your
own, or I make you.”

“I’d like to see you try!” the woman said.

“Gladly!”  Nicole proceeded toward the woman.  “If I ever see you near me or Michael again, I’ll slap you with a restraining order so damn fast, it’ll make your head spin.”

Tracey was the first one to lash out, slapping Nicole across the face.  The contents of my stomach began to churn, but before I could move to separate the two, Nicole’s claws came out.

She reared and slammed her fist into the woman’s cheek, flooring her literally onto her ass.

“You have no clue how much you’ll regret that!” Tracey said as she attempted to get to her feet, unsteady in her movements.

“Try and bring me up on charges for assault and I’ll guarantee you that you’ll lose. Mike saw you and look around, lady,
there’s no guessing whose side he’s on.  I’ll claim self-defense.”

“She’s right.”  I crossed my arms, taking a stand beside Nicole.  “Go back to Austin, Tracey.  The next time I see you, I’m filing an injunction.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“As a heart attack,”
I said.

“But what about my stuff?”

“Grab what you left in the entrance and the rest is in the
mail.”  Damn, if kicking her out like this didn’t feel better than when I first left her ass.

The woman huffed before letting out a loud growling shriek.  “You two deserve each other! You can both go to hell!”

“On the first point, you’re right.  On the last, I’ve been there already, with you, and I don’t care to revisit.”

Nicole snorted a laugh at my statement.

Tracey started for the door and I hoped that it would be the last we ever saw of her.

“Hell might have been an understatement; Lucifer’s lair would be better matched to her.”  The front door slammed shut.

Nicole’s words made me snicker.  She had no clue how right she was.

I turned to the fierce woman beside me and cupped her chin to take a look at her face. “By the way, that’s quite the right hook you have, honey.”

Nicole pulled her chin out of my grasp and backed away.  There was a discernible hand print on her cheek, but what worried me more was the cold distance she was putting between us.

Her brows were pulled together.  “I’m going to need some time, Mike.”

“What?”

She kept backing up until she’d reached the door.  “I know that you had nothing to do with what happened tonight, but this is too much. I need time to process.”

“But, Nic-”

“I have to go,” she said and made her escape.

The shock of her behavior had me frozen in place long enough to register a car revving as it left the front drive.

One thing was for sure, it felt like the beginning of the end for us, and I had no clue how to rectify the situation. 

The one thing I did know, though, was that I needed to find Nicole and fast.  And when I got a hold of her, she wasn’t running from me.

Sitting in my car, I dialed Nicole’s number.  No answer, as anticipated.  I figured I’d start with the most obvious of places and headed toward her house.  When I arrived, her home was plunged in darkness and her rental car wasn’t in the drive.

Where are you, Nic?

I drove around for hours, checking out a few of her favorite haunts, including the commercial space she used to rent.

Nothing.

Knowing that she’d have to come back home at some point or another, I settled on heading back there to wait.

But first, parked at the curb outside the location that used to be her old music shop, I sent her a text, thinking that at least she’d be forced to read it.

Nic,

I don’t know why you think you need space.  We need to talk, honey.  Call me as soon as you get this.  I’m worried.

I love you.

M

I never got a response.