Red. (Den of Mercenaries #1)(51)

“You—”

“Why are you here, Niklaus? And more importantly, how do you know where I live?”

He studied her for a moment, as though he wasn’t ready to move on from Liam, but ultimately relented. “You shouldn’t walk home alone, especially late at night.”

“So you followed me to make sure I got home safe?” she asked, wishing that information didn’t make her feel warm inside. It was supposed to be creepy, odd even, that he trailed her without saying a word—but she couldn’t bring herself to think that about him. “I was fine—I’ve been doing this for a while now, Niklaus.”

Niklaus leaned against the wall, folding his arms across his chest, but he didn’t look relaxed when he did. When he glanced behind him at the street that was packed with cars, a shadow seemed to cross his face. “Shit happens. Even to good people.”

Reagan was tempted, very tempted to ask him more about that, to learn of the memory that had suddenly clouded his eyes, but she remembered all too well how he was able to duck questions, and she was in no mood to play that game with him.

“I have things to do today,” she said after a moment, “so if we’re done here …”

Apparently, he wasn’t.

“What are you doing after work?”

Her gaze shot to his, that soft almost boyish smile of his making her scowl—whatever dark place he had nearly slipped into was forgotten. This wasn’t the first time he had asked her that question, but at least this time her answer would be what she should have said years ago.

“Going home alone. And before you ask, you can’t come with me.”

Her answer didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest. “Right then, so you won’t decline a ride?”

“Sorry?”

Stepping closer, he gestured around them. “Did you miss everything I just said? You don’t need to walk home alone, and since you’re coming back here, I’m offering to drive you.”

Her gaze flickered to the street, honing in on the matte black machine that was parked at the curb—she didn’t have to ask to know that it was his.

Looking back to him, she asked, “And if I say no?”

He laughed, seriously laughed, as though that was the funniest thing she had ever said. “You want to tell me what time you’ll be done, or should I just show up?”

Definitely not. “I should be done by two.”

He nodded, but as she waited for him to turn and leave, he came towards her instead. “If he’s an issue for you, tell me. I’ll handle it.”

If only it were that easy, but Reagan wouldn’t pretend like it could be. Whether or not she was still angry with Niklaus for his disappearing act years ago, she didn’t want him hurt if he thought to go up against Liam for her.

She already had Jimmy to worry about.

She didn’t want to add Niklaus to that list.



* * *



“You’re obviously serious about annoying the hell out of me,” Reagan said as she exited the pub, spotting Niklaus sitting on the hood of his car—and f*cking hell, did he have to look so good doing it?

She turned away from him, reaching to pull the metal gate down, but Niklaus was there in an instant, doing it for her.

“This can’t be easy to do by yourself,” he commented as she stuck the key in and locked it.

“Like I said,”—she stood, brushing strands of hair out of her face—“I’m—”

“Capable of taking care of yourself—yeah, I got that babe. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need help.”

Of course her mind had to seize on the fact that he called her ‘babe’. It wasn’t that he’d even said it in a particularly romantic way, casual actually, but she still liked the sound of it anyway. Liam called her a number of pet names, but when he did, they mostly made her skin crawl.

“My brother is normally around,” she found herself saying, “but he’s busy at the moment.”

Jimmy had finally sent her a text when she was working behind the bar, but it hadn’t said much of anything, only that he would call her later and not to worry. That only managed to make her worry more, though she was happy to at least have heard from him at all.

“You have a brother?” He asked casually.

“Jimmy,” she said in return, “he’s one of my four brothers actually.”

“You don’t talk to the others often.” Again, not a question. Whether he was good at reading people, or just her, he was definitely grasping things she hadn’t realized she was giving away.

“Not really.”

“Why not?”

When she looked at him after he asked the question, he merely returned the stare, waiting for her to answer. He wasn’t apologetic about wanting to know more about her it seemed.

Maybe…just maybe.

“I’ll just say that my brothers and I don’t see eye to eye on certain things.”

Most of which came down to the choice they had made between family…and well, another sort of family.

“Mine would say the same thing about me, but,”—Niklaus shrugged, heading back to his car. “—Who gives a shit?” Pulling the handle of the passenger door, he opened it, gesturing for her to get in with a tilt of his head. “Let’s go for a ride.”