“What’s wrong? What happened?” He was instantly awake and alert.
I gave him a quick rundown of the events until we were back in my driveway. We sat in the truck until we’d relayed all the information.
“And the dead guy?” I said. “It’s the nurse lady’s husband.”
“Shit. I was afraid this might happen. Once she didn’t complete the murder, Javi’s crew would have had to kill him. No way you can let something like that slide. If you don’t instill fear, you can’t force anyone to do anything.”
“I don’t think I’m going to tell Maddy about this. There’s only so much she can handle. She’s already so shaken up, I can’t put something else on her plate.”
“Makes sense,” Felipe said. “What’s our next move?”
“I’m sending Javi a message,” I said.
“What message?” Luis asked.
“I’m going to make sure Javi knows that Maddy is mine. He needs to know that any direct threats toward her or her life means he’s declaring war on the pack. He may be doing the bidding of some shadow organization, but the Lorenzo pack is right here, not a thousand miles across the ocean.”
“I guess we’ll see if that gets him off our back,” Luis said.
“I’m gonna try and get some sleep, guys.” With that, I got out of the car.
“Good night…er…good morning, I guess,” Felipe said.
“Talk to you tomorrow,” Luis said.
I hung up and walked up the steps to the front door. Sebastian was sitting on the armchair, reading a book by a lamp. The rest of the lights were off and Maddy was curled up asleep on the couch with a blanket draped over her. Sebastian glanced up and put his book aside.
“How was she?” I asked.
He let out a sigh. “Not great. As soon as you left, I think it all hit her. She puked her guts out, then passed out. She didn’t faint, I think it was mental exhaustion or something. I had to carry her in from the car.”
“Thanks for taking care of her. Go on home and get some rest.”
Sebastian left, and I scooped Maddy up in my arms and carried her up to her bedroom. Her eyes fluttered open and she woke up enough to give me an incoherent mumbled greeting. She was still wearing her work clothes. There was no way that attire would be comfortable to sleep in.
“Do you want to change?” I whispered.
Maddy nodded. “Mmhmm.”
I got her in her bedroom and set her on the bed. I found a set of pajamas and handed the clothing to her. Her eyes still only half-open, she took them from me.
“Can you get my shoes and pants?” she mumbled.
“Sure.”
I pulled her sneakers off and averted my eyes as I slid her pants down. At least, I tried to avert my eyes. Even in the dim light from the hallway ceiling fixture, I could see the muscular curve of her legs. Maddy was still half asleep and murmuring words I couldn’t make out. She peeled her shirt off, the movement causing my gaze to slip across her body and up beyond her flat stomach to the mounds of her breasts. Maddy unclasped her bra and tossed it away. My breath caught in my throat, and I swung my head back toward her feet, but not before I’d gotten a glimpse of the dark brown nipples atop her perfect breasts.
I felt like a pervert, and she was still barely coherent and had no idea what I’d seen. She slipped the shirt I’d given her over her head and lay down, falling back asleep almost immediately. My heart was thudding in my chest. I quickly covered her with a blanket and left the room.
After latching her door, I leaned against it. My dick was throbbing in my pants, straining at the material.
Pushing the thoughts aside, I went to my own room, stripped off my clothes, and pulled on a pair of pajama pants. I brushed my teeth and set the alarm on my phone, hoping to get three or four hours of sleep.
Right as I was pulling my own covers back, Maddy called out to me. “Nico?”
Without hesitation, I was out my door and into her room again. She was sitting up, clutching her covers to her chest. Iglanced around the room seeing if anything was wrong, then looked back at her. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Her head bounced in a sleep-drunk nod. “Nightmare. Could…can you stay with me?”
