Nickolas-1 (9 page)

Nick looked at his brother and thought he was insane. Not about taking her with them, that was the only option they did have, but if he thought she was going to be happy, or thankful, then he’d eat her ugly pink bag.

“There’s something else you two need to see,” Byron said as he returned to the kitchen I, hummm...I went to her bedroom to get her something less...well more and...come on.” He led them through the bedroom and into the bathroom.

Nick laid her down on the bed. She had to have clean clothes and she was not wearing what she had on in public, although if she wanted to wear it to the office for him sometime, he wouldn’t...
Whoa! Stop right there, bucko!

Nick looked down at her clothes. The shirt was a black sleeveless half shirt that had
Mick’s
written across her breasts in sparkly script. She had on a bra; he’d seen it several times when she’d tried to slap him away. He was intrigued with the little ladybugs that danced along the cups of it. Her belly was bare from the bottom of the skimpy shirt to the top of her micro skirt. Her skirt was also black, and very, very short. She had on thigh-high stockings that were a good inch below the skirt itself and left the creamy inch of skin exposed. He found himself wanting to lick the area and wanting to cover it up. Licking it was winning, hands down. He reluctantly left her laying there and went into the bathroom. But not before he pulled a sheet from the bottom of the bed and gently covered her up.

“Ah, hell. She never left prison at all, did she?” he said as he entered the room behind Damon.

They were driving home and Nick was thinking about the woman in his arms. She was a quandary to him. She could speak several languages, run his office with an iron fist, and work two jobs without missing a beat. She also inspired loyalty in others toward her that amazed him beyond words. His mother, for one, and then her other boss, Mick Sugar. He grinned when he thought about that conversation.

Nick had to call Mick’s and tell them that she’d wouldn’t be in tonight, or probably for the rest of the week. The man, while surly at first, nearly took Nick’s head off when he told him she was injured and that was why she couldn’t come in. He had demanded that he be kept up to date on her progress and told that her job was safe as long as she wanted it.

“Yes, sir. My brothers and I are taking her to our family home to care for her there. My brother Damon is a doctor and he’ll be keeping a close eye on her.” He felt as if he was explaining why he’d taken the last cookie to his father rather than calling someone off for work.

“You got a chaperone up there? You ain’t taking her up there for any illicit activities, are you? I want you to know that I was a Green Beret in my time, and I’ll kill you so slowly and painfully you’ll wish for death.” Nick believed him. In that moment, he believed he would actually do it.

“No, sir! My...our mother and step-father are there too. No sir, we all are going to care for her like she’s our own flesh and blood. I swear.” Nick had turned around when he heard Byron snort. Glaring at him had only made him laugh so he’d turned his back on him. He’d hung up after giving the man his mom’s phone number so that he could call for himself when he wanted to check on her.

Nick glanced up at his brothers, who were deep in conversation, and then leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. They were as soft as he thought they’d be. As much as he didn’t want to, he’d fallen for the girl. He wasn’t in love with her, but definitely in lust for her.

The clothes she’d had on earlier notwithstanding, it was everything about her. The color of her hair all the way down to those sexy little feet she had. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about her now that he’d notice her either.

When they pulled in the long drive to the family estate, he was resigned to the fact that he had fucked up royally with her. He wondered, not for the first time, how he was planning to fix it. Maybe, just maybe, he thought, she wasn’t at all like his wife had been.

~~~

Morgan opened her eyes and looked around carefully. It was always a good idea to get the lay of the land, so to speak, before others knew you were awake.

She’d learned this lesson the hard way.

The room she was in was beautiful, what she could see of it. There was a small lamp lit across the room so she rolled over toward it and froze.

Standing just next to the bed was a little girl. She was dressed in Pooh jammies and was holding a doll in one hand and sucking the thumb of the other.

Morgan blinked several times to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. While the room wasn’t one she’d ever been in before, this child was way scarier in that she didn’t know any kids.

“Hello. Who are you?” Morgan tried to sit up, but moaned when the pain from her foot shot up her leg and made her remember what had happened.

Morgan watched as the little girl set her doll gently on the floor and, taking her thumb out of its safe haven, she began moving her hands in sign language.

“Ah, Meggie. Hello, Meggie, I’m Morgan Becky. I’m glad to meet you.” Morgan answered her in the same way. She had learned ASL while in prison.

One of the inmates had taught it to her one week. She watched her closely. She was a pretty little thing, she thought, and wondered again where she was.

“Yes, I have to go to the bathroom. Can you tell me where I am? I went to sleep at Mr. Grant’s apartment and I don’t remember getting here.” She watched Meggie walk across the room and pick up a pair of crutches and bring them back to her. Then she pointed to a note on the bed stand.

Ms. Becky,

Don’t get up without calling one of us to help you. You are to stay off that foot or
else. I am just down the hall and Damon and the others are close as well. Just dial four to
reach me.

Nickolas Grant

Arrogant bastard
, she thought, but did not say it out loud. She asked Meggie if she knew who Nick was, and was told he was her uncle. Her father was Spencer Grant, a school teacher.

“Where’s your mother?” she asked as she worked her way to the side of the bed. And was surprised to hear that the little girl was visiting her dad for the holidays. Her mom was on another honeymoon. Her fourth. Meggie told her that she was five and got to go to school next fall.

Morgan made it to the bathroom and peed. Then finding her things on the counter, decided she probably had just enough energy to brush her teeth and wash her face. She was exhausted by the time she made it back to the bed.

“Well, kid, I’m worn out. Why don’t you go to bed and I’ll see you before I leave in the morning, okay?” She watched in astonishment as Meggie went to the other side of the bed and crawled in with her doll and thumb. Morgan was too tired to argue. Besides, what harm could it do? She got in with her.

The house was in a tizzy. Meggie was gone. The nursemaid had come tearing out of the little girl’s room about an hour ago screaming that she’d been kidnapped, stolen by aliens, and had run away all in one breath. It had taken Spencer ten minutes to calm her down.

“What happened to her, do you think? I’ve searched everywhere I can think of. Christ!” Spencer was pacing and, frankly, driving the household crazy.

“She ever run away before? I mean, with you?” She’d taken off a couple times from her mother over the past few weeks, and everyone was concerned about the reason for that. Nick thought it was because her mother was a bitch, but he kept that opinion to himself.

“No, especially not here. She loves coming here with Mom and Dan. I’m going to take a walk around the grounds again, maybe look in the...” Nick turned to see what had stopped him. Coming down the stairs was Meggie and Morgan. Meggie was clutching her dolly while she waited for Morgan to move slowly down the steps. The progress was made slower because she would stop to move the crutches out of the way and “talk” with her at every step.

Spencer ran to his daughter and scooped her up in his arms. He was raining kisses all over her face and holding her to him as he turned to Morgan.

“How did you find her?” Even from across the room, Nick could see the look of confusion on her face. Evidently, so did Spence. “She’s been missing, and I thought she’d . never mind. Where did you find her?” Spencer asked Morgan.

“I didn’t, she found me. She came into the bedroom around two I guess. She was just there when I opened my eyes. She’s been very helpful to me already, haven’t you?” Nick watched her answer his brother in both voice and sign language so that Meggie could keep up. “I’m all packed, so I’d really like to go back to the Grant building now.”

“Hello, Morgan, welcome to my home. You’re staying for Thanksgiving dinner, honey. Didn’t these idiots tell you?” Ms. Parker came out of the kitchen just as Morgan got to the bottom of the stairs.

“No, they didn’t. But I’m not staying. I...if I could use your phone, I’ll call someone to come and get me. I didn’t realize it was Thanksgiving.” She turned to glare at Nick then she moved to follow his mom in the kitchen. He followed as well.

“You are not going back home. It’s home, not the Grant building, not Byron’s apartment, home. Why do you have such a problem with that? Home, four letters. Shouldn’t be too hard to remember for someone with your obvious intellect.”

“Well, I can think of another four letters that go very nicely with ‘off’ that I’m betting you’re very familiar with too. Would you like to know what they are?

Ms. Parker, I really need to use the phone, please.” When she turned her back on him, he saw red. Damn it, he’d had about enough of her.

“You are not going home. You are going to stay and have an enjoyable dinner with us. Then on Sunday night, if I don’t murder you between now and then, I’ll take you back to your apartment. Sit down before you fall.” She was swaying slightly. Didn’t the stupid woman know when to take it easy?

Morgan sat down and, before he could feel any sort of satisfaction for it, she swung at him with her crutch, knocking both is feet out from under him. He landed hard on his ass and hands.

“Fuck! That hurt. What the hell do...?”

“Listen to me, you arrogant jackass. I do not take orders from you. I am going back to the fucking Grant building and staying in the fucking apartment that you ordered me into. Then, on Monday morning, if I haven’t killed
you
before then, I will collect my last check and quit.
I hate you!”
And before he could say a single word, she burst into tears.

Morgan watched the two young boys play the video game on the big television. Friggin’ huge would be a better description, she thought with a smile.

They were trying to be quiet, they really were, but they were having fun.

“I did not lure you in there. You went on your own. Do you see me having a string around your neck? I don’t think so. You’re dead because you’re stupid.” The bigger boy was still alive, much to the consternation of the little guy.

“I’m not stupid, and I’m telling Dad. You ain’t supposed to call people stupid anymore. It makes you sound illi...ilit ...stupid.”

“I think you mean illiterate. And he’s correct; you aren’t stupid. The true definition of stupid is lacking normal intelligence or understanding, or slow-witted. You don’t seem to be either of those. I think the word you’re looking for is ignorant. It implies a lack of knowledge, either generally, or on some particular subject, such as this game for instance.” She flushed. She hadn’t meant to speak out loud, but now she had their full attention. “Sorry. Ignore me.”

“Gee, lady, you sound like a dictionary or something.” The younger one set down his controller on the table and walked back to where she was lying on the couch.

Damon had made her come in here earlier this morning so that he could change the bandage and have a look at her foot. He said that it was swelling quite a bit, and wanted her to sit with it elevated. He’d also given her something for the pain, which had knocked her out again. She didn’t know what time it was, but she thought she’d been asleep for some time.

“My name is Jacob Parker. That’s my brother James. Dan Parker is our grandda. Uncle Damon said your name was Morgan Becky and that we were to leave you be and try and keep it down to a dull roar if we could.” He grinned at her and, just like that, she fell in love with him.

Jacob was a handsome little guy. He told her he was seven and his brother, nine, almost ten. They were both blond and blue-eyed and loved to fight with each other.

“Wanna play with us? We have lots of controllers and I can show you how if you wanna.” James had obviously died or given up and had come over to join them on the couch. “I can help you over to the television with your sore foot and all.”

“I don’t know how to play at all. I mean, I’ve never played video games before. So why don’t I just watch you two play? But I would like to sit closer.” She was amazed at the size of the set and wanted to see if the picture looked as good up close as it did from halfway across the room.

It took them twenty minutes to get her set up and her foot properly propped up before they were huddled around her and the controller. James was surprisingly patient with her, but she caught on fast, so that could have been some of it. Jacob suggested that she could just play on easy with them. They wouldn’t kill her too much and she could learn faster that way. She agreed only because he was jumping around so much she feared he’d fall on her.

“If you push the red button, you’ll reload your weapon, but you have to hurry, ‘cause your dying. Again.”

Morgan grinned at him and looked down at the thingy in her hand. The buttons didn’t move around, so why did she have to look every time? She didn’t know, but she was having the time of her life. When she looked up again, Nick was standing in front of the television.
Well, fuck!

“Hey, Uncle Nick, we can’t see. Move it or lose it, will ya? That’s it, Aunt Morgan, kill the sucker! Die, pond scum, die!” She froze up and would have sat there for much longer if Nick hadn’t nudged her a little. Jacob had just called her

“aunt.”