“Let London work her magic,” Javier murmured. “She’s a warm, comforting presence.”
Yeah, Nick had liked her immediately and known she’d be good for the overly driven executive. The fact that she’d also settled the younger Santiago, a notorious manwhore, had been nothing short of a miracle.
“Everyone loves London,” Xander assured.
“I don’t want Sasha to feel abandoned. She’s out of her element.” Or was the problem that he hated being apart from her?
“She’ll be fine.” Javier dragged him to the sofa.
The moment he sat, Xander plopped into a chair, leaned close, and leveled a direct gaze at him. “You, I’m not so sure about.”
“What do you mean?” Nick scowled.
“Why didn’t you level with us? This isn’t just about revenge, and don’t try to bullshit us otherwise.”
Javier nodded. “This is also about Sasha. That’s obvious.”
Fuck. They knew him too well. “Mike and I grew up together. If the shoe was on the other foot, he would have helped my wife out of trouble, too. I owe him. Before he died, he asked me to look into Clifford. I didn’t get the goods; I just got set up. That bastard found the perfect means to get me out of the way so he could off Mike.”
And if Nick hadn’t failed, maybe the kid who had single-handedly pulled him out of the gutter would still be alive and raising the daughter he’d had with the wife he loved. Neither of them had imagined Clifford would have the balls to use his own niece to fabricate rape charges against Nick. They’d underestimated the bastard—and paid a terrible price.
He wouldn’t fail Mike again.
“Right, but this is about more than helping your late buddy’s widow,” Javier pointed out. “You want her.”
“You look at her the way my brother looks at our wife,” Xander added. “The way I look at London, too.”
Desperate. Smitten. Hungry.
Fuck, what did he have to offer a woman? A bankrupt business? A prison record? Zero experience in making a monogamous relationship work? Life had already dealt her a tough hand. She deserved better, especially since Mike had been taken from her for good.
“Leave it,” he told the brothers. “She doesn’t want me and never will. I’ve made sure of it.”
Javier clenched his jaw, a sure sign his legendary temper was brewing. “What did you do, you stupid bastard? Now isn’t the time to be noble.”
That’s the last thing Sasha would ever call him. “I don’t need romantic advice. I just need to keep her alive and solve her problem.”
“We figured you’d say that.” Xander sighed. “So we left a new SUV registered to S.I. Industries in our parking garage for you.” He tossed the keys, and Nick caught them in his fist. “It should be clean. The gas tank is full. There’s five grand in cash in the glove box.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Shut up.” Xander rolled his eyes.
“Know where you’re going yet?” Javier asked.
“No. Sasha was too tired and worried about Harper last night for me to interrogate her.”
Today, Nick knew he couldn’t afford to be so polite.
Javier pulled a device from his suit coat and slapped it in Nick’s palm. “Here’s a burner phone. Keep us posted. And we’re serious about that job offer. When this is over… That’s how you can pay us back.”
“I appreciate it, man.” He tried not to let gratitude choke him up. “I do, but…”
Xander cursed. “If you change your mind, the door is always open.”
With a tense nod, Nick reached for the remote and flipped on the TV to see a group of suits reliving their former football glory days by drawing Xs and Os on a whiteboard and blustering at one another about the college squads scheduled to compete.
A few minutes later, London poked her head into the family room. “Food’s on, boys.”
