Two things hit him: first, she never once said Brie’s name. Second, she’d been there that night—with Brie. She and Brie were the reason he was alive today.
Twenty minutes later, he whipped the vehicle into a snug parallel space right in front of a fire hydrant.
Kiki arched an eyebrow. “Really?”
“It’s raining. It’s after midnight. We’ll risk it,” he said flatly, already opening his door.
Kiki followed, blinking against the fine drizzle falling from the sky. Her boots hit the slick pavement, cold seeping through the soles. Markos rounded the car just as she shut the door and reached for her elbow.
She flinched. Not from fear, but from the emotional storm radiating off him like static. Questions. Confusion. Protective instinct sharpened like a blade. It hit her like a migraine behind her eyes.
“It’s best if you don’t touch me,” she said quickly, stepping out of reach.
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t press. He just followed silently as she climbed the stoop and punched in the code on the door panel. Her other hand brushed the glass, her senses fanning outward like radar, searching for danger.
Nothing.
Still… her pulse drummed hard in her throat.
Inside, the familiar scent of musty carpet and food lingered in the air. She led him up the narrow staircase, each creak underfoot echoing her anxiety.
She veered to the left when they reached the fourth floor and walked over to Harvey and Jim’s door. She paused and looked at him with a wry smile before she knocked. Her mind swirled as she waited for one of the guys to open the door.
The faint murmur of voices and approaching footsteps echoed behind the door. Jim stood there in pajama pants and a T-shirt that readI Run on Coffee and Sarcasm. Her lips twitched and she gave him a rueful smile when he raised an inquiring eyebrow at her before his eyes flicked from her to Markos, then back again.
“Hey,” she mumbled.
Jim stepped aside. “Come in.”
Kiki stepped into the warm glow of the apartment. The living room was cozy and cluttered—books, plants, and a familiar calico cat curled in Harvey’s lap.
Ms. Peabody blinked at her.
Harvey looked up from his recliner, a hand absently stroking the purring feline. “What’s going on? You didn’t piss off some gang today, did you?”
Kiki shook her head, pulling her gaze away from Harvey. The moment her eyes met Nikos’s, the world slammedto a halt.
He stood near the window, his hands buried in his front pockets. His dark hair was mussed, like he’d been dragging his hands through it. His eyes met hers.
The bolt hit her straight in the chest.
God, why does he have to look at me like that?
Fury and relief warred behind those rich-chocolate brown eyes. He was angry. Confused. Dangerous. And still the most magnetic man she’d ever met.
Her heart thudded as she returned his gaze, a slight plea for understanding in her eyes. She curled her fingers into fists at her side when her eyes instinctively moved to his lips. The memory of their earlier kiss momentarily erased everything else.
Jim cleared his throat. “Drink? Tea? Whiskey?”
Both she and Markos shook their heads silently.
Kiki opened her mouth before she closed it again. Words tangled like vines in her throat. She shifted, rubbing her palms on her jeans. Five pairs of eyes—belonging to four men and one feline—watched her like she was about to detonate.
Say something. Anything.
She groaned, her fingers twisting in the hem of her hoodie. Her teeth worried her bottom lip as she tried to figure out what to say without revealing everything.
She started when tender fingers gently tipped her chin up. Her breath caught as she reluctantly looked up into Nikos’s face.
