What Happens in Vegas: A BWWM Alpha Male Romance (10 page)

Every time she felt herself drifting off to sleep, she would violently shake her head to wake up. It was not the time for a nap; there was still a threat to her life lurking around her house or somewhere in the vicinity. These people may have even moved to any place she may have been hiding, any place they found she might feel safe. At this moment, she was thankful for the first time ever that her family lived so far from her. She rubbed her face as the concern of her friends hit and she hoped they would not be subjected to any horrors because of her. That is when she felt so sick she could not hold it in; she vomited in the corner of the little space, thinking of what danger she might put all her friends in because of this relationship. That is when her phone buzzed with an address. The text from Nick said nothing more but she knew what it meant. He had made sure it was safe for her to travel and found a place for her to stay. A second text came in that read:
Protection only. Green sedan.
She gulped and pushed the door open, climbed over the boxes, and shut the door before piling everything up against it. She did not want to expose this spot should she need it at a later point in time.

She checked to make sure she had her phone, flashlight, gun, and knife before crawling out to grab her keys and making her way to the front door. She stood up slowly and pressed against the wall carefully as possible so she could look through the door’s peephole in an effort to check out the outside before leaving. She seemed to be in the clear and considering Nick had told her it was time to go, she thought it should be relatively safe. She opened the door slowly and peered out before stepping out and closing it shut behind her, immediately locating the green sedan and darting to it. There was a driver she vaguely recognized as being part of the Verraud group and she stepped into the back seat. He drove off without a word, not speeding so as to not draw any attention. They did not say a word to each other and he did not so much as glance at her through the rearview mirror. About twenty minutes into the car ride, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out. There was a new message from Nick that read:
Can’t talk now. You’re going for a long ride so just nap through it. Love.

She smiled for the first time since the ordeal started at the way he signed the message off. She absolutely adored that he signed it off with just the word “love” rather than the standard “I love you.” She knew what he meant and she appreciated that he chose to do it in his own way. “It makes it so personal so that gives it a whole different meaning,” she had told him after the first time he did it as she curled up on his lap and tenderly laid kisses along his jawline. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, the memory still playing in her mind, she clutched on her phone not letting up. Though she was afraid and could not stop from worrying, she knew she had to get some rest. She had no idea what kind of day was ahead of her and after everything she had just experienced, her body desperately needed a break. With the thought of Nick in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 9: Choking

She had no idea what the time was when the knock on the car window startled her and made her jump out of her seat, suddenly wide-awake. She looked out and saw it was the driver who was letting her know they had arrived at their destination. She looked through the windows at the surroundings and was relieved to find it was just a regular neighborhood and they were parked in the entryway of an upscale apartment building. She glanced down at her phone only to realize the drive had taken over two hours, causing her to wonder exactly where she was. But she knew better than to ask or try to look it up, it was not worth risking giving away her location.

The driver opened the car door for her and helped her out, holding her by the arm as she regained her balance. Her entire body felt sore and she had a headache. He then said, “1402” before going back into the car and driving away. She stood there staring at the car drive away until it rounded the corner, wondering what that was about. Given her disoriented state it took a couple minutes for her to piece everything together and come to the conclusion the driver had just told her an apartment number. She checked her pockets to make sure she had the few belongings she had brought with her and to be sure the weapons were not visible before she strolled into the lobby of the apartment building. There was a security desk and her heart sunk. How was she supposed to get past him without any problems? She had no way to prove she belonged here. Just as she was debating on whether to come up with a plan or just call Nick straight away, one of the elevators across her dinged and the doors slid open. Nick only partly stepped out and motioned for her to step on quickly as he waved at the security guard.

She rushed into the elevator and he hastily pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. He did not say a word the entire elevator ride nor did he get close to her. As soon as the elevator stopped at their floor, his hand darted out and grabbed hers and she was being pulled down the hallway. He slid a key card and he pulled her inside somewhat roughly in his haste, looking down the hallway in both directions before shutting and bolting the door behind him. It was then that he pulled her into a tight hug and let out a long, deep breath. “I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice cracking with guilt and concern. “I’m so sorry you went through that. You have no idea how thankful I am you’re safe. You
are
safe here, at least for now.” He said this as he loosened his grip on her and pulled back to look into her eyes. She fought the urge to break down and comfort him because she had never seen him look so broken.
I’m the one who needs comforting now
, she reminded herself. As much as it hurt him to put her through this, it was not the same as actually living it. She was not a Verraud and she had nothing to do with the feud other than her connection to Nick. There was no reason she should have to go through this at all.

She pulled back until he let go of her and she turned around, walking toward the kitchen and away from him. She pulled open the cabinet doors until she found the glasses and took one to pour herself some water. The dehydration she felt suddenly hit her at once and she felt she could not even talk from how dry her mouth was. Nick beat her to it and pulled out a pitcher of water from the refrigerator, carefully pouring it into her glass. She gulped it all down at once and he kindly refilled it before putting away the pitcher. She took a couple sips and set the glass down on the counter, licking her lips and savoring the way the cold water felt on her tongue. As if he could sense her body was about to give out, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. As he gently laid her out on the bed she noticed he was being careful to avoid meeting her gaze but was working to not make it obvious.

She rubbed her hands over her face and let out a groan of frustration because she had no idea what to say or do. This was all too surreal. Everything involving Nick, both the good and the bad, had been unusual from the very beginning. Even the start of their relationship was very dreamlike in reality and in her memories. What was it that he possessed to make her life like this? She fought with the thoughts floating around her mind and invading the space she desperately wanted to allow some rest. She had this nagging feeling she needed to come to a decision about this relationship, a feeling that intensified to making her feel nauseous because her gut told her to get out. All logic pointed at the exit sign but she wanted to ignore it
because
everything with Nick, both the good and the bad, had always been so unreal and fantastic. She knew everything with anyone else would always fall short and she did not want to live a life in which she settled. She had
never
wanted that kind of life.

She looked up at Nick and saw him sitting tensely at the very edge of the bed, staring hard at the wall directly in front of him. She could tell he had no idea what to do or say either. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes with a small hope that sleep would take her away to dreamland as a temporary solution. Maybe when she woke up they would both somehow know how to talk to each other. It was a vain and feeble hope, perhaps even a cowardly one, but she had no energy left for anything more. That was when she felt his hand press her arm and her eyes shot open, searching his face but failing to meet his gaze because he insisted on avoiding eye contact. He began to rub circles softly on her arm with the palm of his hand, slowly increasing the pressure as if he were giving her a massage. “I’m working to do everything and anything I can to make sure you will never be a target again,” he said somberly. “If you decide to stay with me,” he added so quietly she was unsure if he had actually said it or not. Finally, after a long minute of silence, he turned his head to look at her. “I completely understand if-“

She weakly held up her other arm and pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up. “We don’t need to talk about this now,” she said quietly. She needed to rest. The exhaustion hit her harder than before and had completely taken over her body and mind now that she was lying on a comfortable bed. Even though his identity had gotten her into this trouble to begin with, she felt more at ease now that she was with Nick in a hideaway. It registered with her that even in a time like this he brought her comfort and that was not something to overlook. She closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep, feeling his warm hand still on her arm and listening to his soft breathing.

The light filtering in through the crack in the curtains was enough to wake Shauna from sleep. She covered her eyes and rubbed them before allowing them to slowly adjust. It was now 6am, she saw on the alarm clock on the nightstand, and Nick was asleep next to her. He was curled up in the corner of the bed, his back to her, trying to keep his distance. She debated on whether or not she should wake him up and decided against it. She stood up and walked out into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator to see if there was anything for her to have. She settled on a small glass of orange juice and sat at the dining table because she was too afraid to sit near a window even though the curtains were drawn. She sat on the chair and sipped her orange juice as she went over the events from last night. Though she had lived it, and she was sure it had actually all happened, it felt more like she had been watching a movie rather than actually experiencing it. It was the type of thing one would never quite be able to grasp the reality of and, for a second, she had the fleeting thought that was something to be grateful for.

About thirty minutes later, Nick finally wandered out of the room and stopped when he saw her sitting at the dining table. His eyes darted over to the closed curtains before returning to meet her gaze. “Are you hungry?” She shook her head and held up her empty glass of orange juice as if that had been an entire and fulfilling meal. Truth be told, she did not have much of an appetite at the moment. He took the seat across from her and just looked at her for a couple minutes. “How long are we going to be silent?” She did not mean for it to come off so cold but it had and she did not want to bother with fixing it. That was the least of their worries at this moment in time. “I’m sorry,” he muttered again as he looked down at his hands. “We can stay here for some time, it should be safe.”

“Should be…” she said more to herself than to him, but he had heard it.

“I’m working on-“

“I know,” she cut him off. She reached out and placed her hand on top of his. She sighed and said, “I’m not mad at you. And I’m not planning on leaving you either.” She shut her mouth and looked away because it had not hit her that she had never had a choice to begin with. The entire time she was going back and forth with herself, she had no idea her heart had already made the choice and she was not going to be able to change that. Despite the dangers, what she had with Nick was not something she ever wanted to give up. She wanted so desperately, more than anything in the world at this moment, to believe he would be successful in keeping her safe. But the reality of the situation was that there was no way to be sure. Being with Nick automatically put her in harm’s way no matter how much he tried to keep her safe. She pushed all her thoughts away and focused on how she felt.
It may not be the smartest choice
, she thought,
but it feels like the only right one at this moment
. She could not fight how she felt and now was the time to fully admit she had fallen in love with him. There was no other reason she would be willing to ignore every logical reason to leave him and focus solely on her feelings in order to justify staying by his side. It had all happened so fast and it all was very intense from the moment they met so it was not a surprise she had reached this place already. If her gut was not betraying her, there was a high likelihood he felt the same way toward her too.

She knew deep down inside these feelings were not entirely knew. This was not the first time she had been faced with the dilemma of staying in the relationship or ending it. Even from the early days she had chosen this path so there was really no reason to expect anything different now. For the amount that the danger had intensified, so had her feelings. And, just like before, she felt like a complete fool for following her heart rather than being sensible and running to safety. But then she would always run away from the great things in life for safety and that sounded dreadfully boring. She was never one to do the boring thing or even the conventional thing.