“Sinclair?” I called, hoping to God he wasn’t trying to test me by breaking into my house again. I guessed he technically hadn’t broken in the first time, but he had come in uninvited. I grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my body. Pushing open the bathroom door, I called again. “Sinclair, is that you?”
Still nothing, but I knew I’d heard something. I padded lightly, immediately heading toward the bedroom. I had my phone charging in there, but in my frantic escape across the hall, I clipped one of the moving boxes.
Pain shot though my toe almost instantly, and losing my footing, I tumbled toward the ground the same time a set of strong hands grabbed me.
Niko frowned above my head, freaking Niko, and after slapping my way out of his arms, he let go of me.
“What the hell, Niko?” I growled, hobbling on the floor. I stubbed my toe pretty damn good, the thing pulsing.
A wide chuckle and Niko shrugged an arm against one of my boxes. This hall was wide enough, but he was so big he filled nearly all of it. His eyebrows jumped. “Nice to see you, Your Majesty,” he said, his gaze raking over my half-naked body. “Nice look. That just for me?”
Groaning, I threw my loofah at him, making him chuckle again. I stomped down the hallway and into my bedroom, getting on a shirt, sports bra, and a pair of bed shorts before returning to the living room. When I came in, Niko had made himself at home, now filling half my couch with his entire frame.
He frowned. “Why were you calling for that douche canoe before? He still bothering you?”
No, but he was. I hugged my arms. “Why are you here? How are you here? How’d you get in my—”
He held up a key, his dark eyebrows wiggling. “Jay said you had one under the mailbox. Though I did knock first. You didn’t answer.”
Yeah, totally needed to find a new place for that. Leaning forward, Niko placed that key on the table, but when he sat back, he grabbed his side. Discomfort etched deeply into his face when he leaned back, and I frowned. “What’s your deal?”
“Eh, uh nothing,” he said, but it didn’t look like nothing. He even had to breathe out when he relaxed. “Just a little accident I had last week.”
“What kind of accident?”
He passed it off with a grin. “Seriously, nothing. It only hurts when I breathe.”
My eyes twitching wide, I started to prod again when his attention fell on some of my moving boxes. His smiled faded. “So you really are moving?”
Obviously, LJ had told him, and really, I hadn’t seen either of them coming or going since that day I’d seen LJ. At least, for the last week anyway. Honestly, I’d been so relieved by the fact I hadn’t thought much about it.
“What’s going on? Why did you sneak into my house?”
He moved slowly to angle his body in my direction, and each shift flashed a clear sign of discomfort across his face. Again, he had to breathe just to move, and I eased in. “Niko… are you okay? Can I get you something—”
“No.” His bite shot me back, and seeing that, he sighed. He lifted a hand. “I mean, I’m good. But yeah, I’m here for something. I need a favor.”
“What kind?” I took up the seat beside him, being slow and more than careful. Obviously, he was in some kind of pain here, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
Another sigh and he was moving that silky dark hair around. “It’s for Jay,” he stated, my breath instantly stalled in my throat. “He’s about to walk into some trouble, trouble for me, and I need your help getting him out of it.”
That breath didn’t do anything to move, the lack thereof racing my heart. “Trouble?”
“Yeah, the major kind. The life-threatening kind, and it’s all my fault.”
“What do you mean? What—”
“He’s going to a crime family called the Marvellis for me,” he stated, making my brow jump high. He shook his head. “I owe these guys a lot of money, and Jay’s going over there tonight to settle the debt. The thing is, they won’t let him walk out of that bitch. That’s not how this works.”
“Wait. Back up.” I was still trying to get over the fact he was asking me for help about LJ. That we were even talking about LJ. And then this? “You’re saying you owe these people money.”
“Yes, a lot. I fucked up.” He was breathing into his hands now, worry etched all over his face. “I took out a loan from the Marvellis. Remember how I told you my mom was sick?”
“Yeah, she has cancer.”
“Well, I’ve never been good with money. Not like Jay. I didn’t have all my ducks in a row, so when those bills starting getting bigger, I didn’t have the cash. But my mom got so sick… she had to keep doing those clinical trials or she’d die, Billie.”
“Okay, so you took out a loan.”