Page 14 of Lethal Salvation

Chapter 5

Monday morning wasn’t going as she expected. Her head hung over the toilet bowl as she exhausted the contents of her empty stomach until it felt like her insides were falling out, wasn’t her idea of fun.

She’d woken in the middle of the night feeling achy and hot after a day spent watching surveillance footage of Carter from Saturday night in the club. Watchdog had already reviewed it, but she wanted to go over it herself and see if she picked up any nuances that perhaps someone not so close to the case might not.

She’d made it to the bathroom just in time as her stomach revolted, and she’d thrown up. After the third trip from her bed, she’d given up and curled into a ball on the bathroom floor and rested there.

Nadia never got sick, she always seemed to avoid bugs, but this fucker had got her good. Her lids heavy, she let them fall shut as she considered how she’d get herself up and dressed for work.

Her phone ringing woke her with a start and, as she moved too quickly, her entire body shivered, her stomach cramping. Trying to decide if she should run for the phone or puke, the decision was taken out of her hands as she sagged back against the toilet. She must have fallen asleep with her head on her arms, resting on the toilet lid, because she was woken again by a banging on her front door.

“Duchess, open up.”

Hurricane.

Sitting up slowly this time, she managed to get to her feet and crawl as far as the couch.

“Duchess, are you okay?”

“I’m sick,” she called out. “I have the stomach flu.”

Silence greeted her and she almost smiled.

“Oh, uh. You need anything?”

It was widely known Hurricane wasn’t great with sick people and was the worst when he himself got sick.

“No, unless you want to shoot me and put me out of my misery.”

“Uh, yeah, no. I’m gonna go let Bás know you’re alive.”

“Fine, tell him I’ll call him tomorrow.”

“Yeah, will do.”

She heard him walk away and curled up on her couch, her body shivering until her teeth rattled. The clock on the wall said it was ten am and she knew Gideon would be furious he’d had to get his own coffee and most likely call in a temp. She should call in really, but she didn’t have the strength to get up from her couch and get her phone from her nightstand.

Thirty minutes later she was dozing, thinking how death would be preferable to this hell when there was a thunderous knock on her door.

“For fuck’s sake, can’t a girl die in peace without the entire world banging on her door?”

Rousing the tiny bit of energy she had, she stumbled to the door and yanked it open ready to tell Hurricane to get lost, but it wasn’t her friend, it was Gideon. “Gideon?”

He looked gorgeous in a navy blue tailored suit with a white shirt and silver-grey tie. His hair was slightly mussed, but his electric blue eyes took her in and she knew she looked like hell.

“You look like the living dead.”

She didn’t have the energy to fight him today. “Urgh, just go, let me die in peace.” She moved to shut the door on his pretty face but was hit by a wave of dizziness that had the floor pitching toward her.

“Woah.” Strong arms caught her descent and then she was weightless, burrowed into a warm, hard chest as she shivered from head to toe. He sat with her in his lap on her old couch and held her tight. He was so warm she wanted to crawl inside him until her teeth stopped chattering.

A hand touched her forehead and then her neck. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”

“I’m gross, you need to go.”

His chuckle rumbled beneath her. “You are gross, but I’m not leaving you like this.”

He stood and hesitated a second before carrying her to her bedroom. Gideon was in her space, taking over, commanding, and she didn’t have it in her to fight him. He laid her down on the cool sheets in her bed and covered her with the quilt, tucking it to her chin.