“How’s work been?” Trevor asks. He always asks me the same thing, and I know they all want me to go back to working with them, but I can’t; I love what I do.
“Good. Busy.” I give him the same vague answer I always do.
“Guess there’s never a short supply of criminals. At least you have job security,” Asher says, laughing.
I look at my brothers and chuckle. I’m blessed to have such an awesome family, and I can’t wait for everyone to meet Sophie.
I pull up in front of Sophie’s house a little after ten; all of her lights are out, but that’s not going to stop me from seeing her right now. I’m about to get out of the car when I see movement. It’s dark out, but I can see someone in all black walking around the side of her house. I reach over and open my glove box, grabbing my Glock. I get out of my car and put the gun in the waistband of my jeans at my back. I pull my hoodie down over it before heading towards her house.
I stay in the shadows, watching as the guy walks around to her backyard. I follow but then stop long enough to send a quick text to Kenton with the address, along with a code telling him that I need backup.
I watch the person as they walk from window to window, and I can tell that whoever it is is trying to find a way inside. He tries the last window at the back of the house, and when I see this one open, I pull out my gun and walk up behind the person. Just as they are getting ready to climb inside, I put my hand to the back of their sweatshirt and yank them back.
“What the f**k?” a male’s voice cries as I place my gun to his head.
Rage like I have never felt in my life consumes me. I feel out of control and know I could kill this guy without a second thought.
“I was just going to ask you the same question, motherfucker,” I say near his ear. I start to pull his hoodie off, but he turns slightly and I feel a sharp pain in my side.
In sudden shock, I drop to my knees and watch as the guy takes off running. I fight to take back control of the muscles in my body that have been seized by the voltage from the Taser.
“Nico?” I hear Sophie’s voice behind me. I look over my shoulder and our gazes meet before she looks down at my side, her eyes going wide. “What happened?”
“Sophie, go back inside,” I tell her through gritted teeth. I don’t want her out here if the guy is still around.
“But—”
“Sophie, go back inside. Now,” I say, watching as she does what she’s told before I pull out my phone to call Kenton to let him know what just happened.
After I finally get control back, I check around the house to see if I can catch the guy’s trail, but there is no sign of him. I’ve circled the house three times when Kenton pulls up and parks behind my car.
“Cops are on the way,” he says as soon as he gets out.
“Good.” I run my hands down my face.
“How the hell did he get the drop on you?” he asks.
“I wasn’t expecting him to have a Taser,” I admit.
“You know the rules, man. Expect the unexpected.”
“You don’t need to tell me that shit,” I growl, already completely pissed off at myself. Thinking that something could’ve happened to Sophie when I was right here because I wasn’t on my game has me mad as f**k.
“Is that her?” Kenton asks, looking over at the house.
I turn to see Sophie standing just inside her open front door. “It is.” I take a deep breath as I look at her.
“Where the f**k did you find her?”
My head turns to him, and I can see the appreciation on his face. “Cousin or not, I will f**k you up,” I tell him.
“Just a question,” he says, smiling.
I shake my head, not in the mood for bullshit right now.
It takes a few minutes for the cops to show. Luckily for us, we’re in good with the local precinct and know most of the men who show up. As soon as I’ve told them what went down, I head up to the house where Sophie is standing on the front porch, her face free of makeup, her hair down around her shoulders, her legs covered in pajama bottoms with cupcakes all over them. She has a sweatshirt pulled tight around her middle.
“What happened?”
“When I pulled up, I saw someone walking around the back of your house. I followed him and watched as he tried to open a few windows until he got to the last one—”
She cuts me off. “Oh my God! What was he going to do?”
“I don’t know, but you’re safe, baby,” I tell her, closing the distance between us. I pull her into my chest, not giving her a choice but to take comfort from me. “You’re going to have to make a statement to the police about what happened.”
“I don’t even understand what happened,” she whispers, and I can hear the fear in her voice, which only serves to make me angrier. I squeeze her a little tighter, reminding myself that she is here and safe, but my mind knows what could have happened. “How did you know to come?” she asks into my chest.
“I didn’t. I just wasn’t going to let you push me away,” I tell her.
Her body goes tight, and then I hear the faint whisper of her words spoken against my T-shirt as her body relaxes against mine. “Thank you.”
I don’t reply; I don’t need to. She couldn’t have kept me away if she’d tried.
It’s almost midnight by the time the police leave. Sophie is a mess after learning that the person who tried to break into her house had gotten away without anyone having a clue about who he was. I close the door behind the cops and turn to see Sophie biting her lip and looking around her living room.