Manhunt (30 page)

Nikki turned to look at him, shocked by his question. She shook her head hesitantly.

“Good,” he replied with a smirk. “Don’t. I have no doubt you would royally suck at it.” Finally getting the gist of his teasing, she rolled her eyes at him.

“I’m fine. Better than fine. Great, actually! Michael’s out of jail, they’re not pressing charges against me, I closed on the bakery yesterday, I have all my memories... back.” Her voice hitched a little with the last two lines and her cover was officially blown.

“Ummhmmm,” Christian replied knowingly. He kissed her cheek and thankfully left it at that.

Nikki renewed her efforts, to the point of feeling foolish, certain her overt cheerfulness was even more obvious than her more subtle attempts had been. Michael sure seemed to notice.

When they got back to Christian and Sophie’s, Nikki headed straight for the stairs, not wanting to deal with Christian any more tonight and fearing he would corner her if she didn’t bolt. She hadn’t counted on Sophie following her up.

“Okay, Nikki, what’s going on?”

Nikki tried to ignore her as she started throwing clothes into her duffel bag. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The hell you don’t! You should be on cloud nine right now, woman. What am I missing?”

Nikki sighed exasperatedly at her. “Sophie, drop it, okay?” Nikki moved to the dresser and began tossing her make-up and toiletries in.

“No, I will not!” The pregnant woman petulantly stomped her foot, her arms crossed. Nikki grabbed a mirrored tray filled with perfume bottles and knick knacks off the dresser and pitched it across the room, surprised at the volume of sound it made as the bottles and tray shattered, raining glass shards onto the floor.

“I’m a fucking murderer, Sophie! It might not be wise to start ordering me around. I might accidentally-on-purpose, oh I don’t know, KILL YOU, and then conveniently get amnesia so no one will blame poor, little-oh-me for it. So BACK OFF!”

Sophie eyed her friend cautiously. Nikki watched as the realization dawned on her. Thankfully, Sophie was quick on her feet and yelled to the boys to reassure them their inevitable interference was unnecessary.

“Nikki,” Sophie asked quietly after a moment, “you don’t really believe you should be punished for Sebastian’s death, do you?”

“Yes! No. I don’t know.” Nikki huffed and flopped onto the bed, hiding her face behind her hands.

“You saved my best friend that night.” Sophie’s voice was barely above a whisper, but was still vehement. “You saved the woman that my husband loves more than a sister. You saved the love of Michael’s life. So don’t you dare sit there and act like you deserved to be punished for that.”

Did she say vehement? She meant venomous.

“I should have found a way to get away. Tried harder to reason with him.” Nikki’s voice lacked conviction. She could hear it with her own ears, and it made her feel more guilty still.

“Nikki, he was going to kill you. Scratch that. He was going to brutally rape and torture you, and then he was going to kill you. And after you were dead, he probably would have gone after Michael anyway. Or worse, have become obsessed with another innocent woman and done the same thing to her. There is no reasoning with someone like that. It was either kill or be killed. I, for one, am glad you chose to live.”

Nikki nodded through her tears and stood to hug Sophie, leaning forward to compensate for her growing belly.

“Better,” her friend said. “Don’t you forget it. Now get your man the heck out of here and go christen Sweet Beginnings together.” Nikki couldn’t deny the way her core twitched and came to life at the very thought. “Don’t forget to disinfect the countertops when you’re done!”

“Eww, Soph. Just... eww.”

Still, the countertops could be fun... Just the right height.

A quick farewell to Christian, where she silently acknowledged that she knew that he knew she was dodging his conversation, and he knew that she knew he would understand no matter what, she took Michael’s hand and headed for the car.

Nikki noticed the police cruiser parked inconspicuously across the street from the brick building as she pulled into the side parking lot. She made a mental note to bring him some breakfast and coffee tomorrow morning.

Michael hadn’t said a word as Nikki parked the car, which surprised her. He just grabbed her bag from the backseat and followed her to the front door. It was only when he looked up and saw the sign hanging over their heads as she unlocked the front door that he spoke.

“Sweet Beginnings?”

Nikki shrugged. “It was Sophie’s idea. She liked the double meaning.”

“So do I,” Michael replied rather huskily. He followed her in, dropped her bag on the dusty countertop and pulled her into his arms. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear before leaving a trail of tiny kisses from her ear to the corner of her mouth. He squeezed her to him and she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. She liked it there. She felt safe and protected and loved. She whimpered in protest when he let her go.

“Wow, Nikki. This place has so much potential!” Michael turned his body around slowly to take in the entire storefront area. “I love it, it’s perfect.”

“There’s a separate entrance for the apartment upstairs in the back, but I thought you might like to come in this way and see the bakery first.”

“You’re right, I do. Thank you for sharing this with me.”

“Of course. It’s your home too, after all,” Nikki replied, a little confused as to why he seemed to think showing him the bakery was a big deal.

Michael took her hands in his and waited for her to look him in the eye. “That’s what I mean. Thank you. For sharing your life with me, for wanting me to be a part of it, for wanting a home and a future together.”

“I should be the one thanking you. I can’t understand why you weren’t running for the hills after today,” Nikki confessed, her eyes dropping down and focusing intently on a crack in the tile floor.

“Nikki, I know this is new for you, all these memories that I really would have rather stayed locked inside your head somewhere. It’s got to be overwhelming for you, I know. But keep in mind that I knew all along. I knew the moment I walked into your house what had happened. It didn’t make me think less of you, or want you any less. If anything, it made me want you more. It snapped me into taking my head out of my own ass and focusing on where I belonged—with you. Always.”

“You knew I was a murderer? And you let me... berate you, think you were kidnapping me when, in truth, you were trying to keep me out of jail? You let me and everyone else assume it was you who killed him? Why?”

“First of all, don’t ever call yourself that in front of me again. Ever. And to answer your question, it’s simple. Because I love you. Because you are the strongest woman I know and you didn’t deserve for anything else bad to happen to you, ever. I wanted to protect you. I failed to protect you from Sebastian, but I wasn’t about to fail to protect you from the aftermath of that night.”

“I don’t know what to say to that. I’m not sure I deserve your protection.”

Michael sighed and released her hands, pushing himself up to hop on the counter. They both coughed a little at the clouds of dust that came up around him when he did. It reminded Nikki of Pigpen from Peanuts.

“I guess we have some work ahead of us, huh?” Michael asked, surveying the property.

“We?” Nikki asked. She just assumed he was going to go back to the hospital, or hopefully transfer to one near the bakery.

“Yes, we. I’m not even sure I’m allowed to practice medicine anymore, and even if I can, I’m not sure I want to. My place is with you.”

“You can’t bake worth a lick,” she teased.

“No, but you can. And I’m good with my hands.” Michael wagged her eyebrows at her and she couldn’t stop the blush which spread from her face and down her neck. “We’re going to have a lot of fixing up to do before we can open. And after we open, I have strong business management skills, too; I can do paperwork and run the register and all the other stuff while you are creating your masterpieces in the back.”

Nikki smiled a little. “I do like the sound of that. It’s like a dream, too good to be true.”

“But it is true, Sunshine. That’s the best part,” Michael said seriously. “As for the rest, I think it would be a good idea for you and I to meet with a therapist, both together and separately, for a while. You have some things you need to work out, and as often as the rest of us tell you it’s not your fault, you need to believe it for yourself. It’s not something I or anyone else can prove to you.”

Nikki thought about that for a few minutes. She wasn’t sure she wanted to open up to a complete stranger, air her dirty laundry and subject herself up to such vulnerability. On the other hand, she could see where it might be a good idea to have an unbiased person to talk about this with, someone she didn’t mind burdening with her drama.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe Aaron can suggest someone?”

“I’m sure he can. I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.” Michael smiled and hopped off the counter. “Now how about you show me the rest of our new home?”

Nikki took his hand, squealing in genuine excitement as she dragged him through the door to the kitchen, telling him how she envisioned it, pointing out where everything would be. Michael seemed impressed.

Afterwards, she led him upstairs. She was a little— okay, a lot more nervous about this part. She crossed her fingers he would like it as she opened the door and let him inside.

“Oh my God, Nikki, it’s beautiful!”

“Do you really like it?”

“Yes! I can’t wait to fill it, decorate it, make it a home. Our home. I can picture us here, with a couple of kids and possibly, a little white cat.”

Nikki started laughing, thrilled with the realization Michael was serious about wanting a future with her, despite everything. He wanted kids! But... “Seriously, a white cat?!”

“Well, yeah,” he replied. “We can’t have a dog; it’d try to steal all the food. We can’t have a black cat. He would constantly be covered in flour. He’d look silly. A white cat, you wouldn’t be able to tell. Plus, I think we’ve had enough bad luck for one lifetime. Yup,” he said, nodding his head as if he had re-convinced himself. “Gotta be a white cat.”

Nikki just laughed even harder. “All right, then. A white cat. But keep him out of the bakery,” she warned.

“Deal. Where should I drop this?” he lifted the duffel bag to eyelevel.

“Oh, yeah, right. The bedroom,” Nikki said. “Oh no! You don’t have anything here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll just re-wear these clothes tomorrow. We’ll head over to my apartment in the morning and get some of my things. We’ll need to decide what of my stuff is coming here and what we’re getting rid of so I can call the movers, anyway. Guess that just means I’ll have to sleep naked,” Michael said loftily.

This time Nikki wagged her eyebrows at him. “I like the sound of that!”

Michael chased her down the hall. She threw open the bedroom door, intending to make a beeline for the empty closet when she stopped dead in her tracks.

Inside the bedroom was a huge air mattress. Nikki figured it had to be a king size, and just as tall as a real bed. It already been made up with luxurious cream-colored sheets, blankets and pillows. Over the makeshift bed was the picture of Michael and Nikki as children which had been over his couch at his apartment. Nikki looked around and realized the closet was no longer empty. One side was filled with clothes, her clothes to be exact, which must have been taken from the house. The other side was filled with men’s clothes, most of which appeared to have been worn at some point. On the ground were several pairs of shoes and portable storage containers with underwear, sleepwear and socks.

“Who did all this?” Michael asked from where he’d stopped dead in his tracks behind her.

“It had to be Christian and Sophie. Seeing that Christian is a private partner in the bakery, I gave him a key. They already had a key to your apartment. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Michael dropped the duffel to the ground with a thud. Nikki turned to look at him and was frozen by the hunger in his eyes, the atmosphere in the room shifting drastically.

“Nikki,” he whispered before grabbing her arm and pulling her forcefully against him so their bodies were flush as he captured her in a passionate kiss. Nikki only hesitated a moment before she gave in to the warmth spreading across her body from every point where Michael touched her.