‘What the …?’ he muttered as he turned her head to the side so that he could see the scar more clearly. ‘What happened?’
Goodie shrugged. ‘It could have been worse; could have been my carotid he sliced. It was a lesson for me: never turn your back on your enemy.’ Nick’s eyes darkened and his jaw clenched. His hand continued down her neck to her clavicle and then across to her shoulder, pushing her top to the side. Goodie sighed as he encountered more scar tissue.
‘Fucking hell,’ he muttered, peering down at the circular scar, his face strangely pale. ‘You were shot.’
Goodie rolled her eyes, then reached up and cupped his face with her hand, putting pressure on his cheek so that he looked away from her scar and into her eyes. ‘I have many scars, Nick,’ she told him, and his jaw clenched even tighter. ‘You must understand. For someone like me it is different. It is what I am trained for … all I am good for. Yes, I have many scars, but for every scar on my body there are many, many more that I have inflicted on others. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget who I am.’
‘You’re wrong; Pain and violence are not all you’re good for,’ Nick said, his voice rising in anger. He pushed away from her abruptly to the other side of the sofa and ran both hands through his hair. Goodie blinked at the ceiling for a minute, then sat herself up and curled her legs beneath her, body language defensive again. Okay, so he didn’t like scars; he wouldn’t be the first and he certainly would not be the last. Her throat felt tight as she swallowed; she chalked it up to the after-effects of her illness. She heard Nick take a deep breath, and could feel the tension rolling off him even with the distance separating them.
‘Right,’ he said into the silence, jumping to his feet. Goodie turned away towards Salem and stroked his head absently, expecting to hear the door slam after Nick. A shadow blocked out the light from the lamp and she turned in surprise to see him looming over her. He seemed calmer, but she could still see a muscle ticking in his jaw. He squatted down in front of her and reached out to take both of her hands in his. ‘I’m sorry you were hurt,’ he said softly, leaning in slowly to kiss the scar behind her ear, and then pulling her shirt back to kiss the one on her shoulder.
‘Life is pain,’ Goodie muttered, and felt his tension fill the room again. He leaned back to look her in the eyes, his face hovering close to hers.
‘It doesn’t have to be, baby,’ he said, his voice still soft.
‘Maybe not for you.’ His jaw clenched again and his hands tightened their grip on hers for a moment, before he closed the gap between them and kissed her swiftly on the mouth, then on her nose. It was the kind of casual, sweet affection that Goodie had never really experienced. The vice around her throat tightened and she swallowed.
‘I’ll just have to convince you otherwise,’ he said, his total and utter confidence oozing from every word. He pulled her up to stand with him and led her over to her door. She was frowning when he turned back to her, which for some reason made him smile, dimple and all. He brushed her mouth with his once more before pulling open her door. ‘Tomorrow, then, bright and early.’
Goodie stood staring at the door after Nick had closed it. Her hand went to her mouth and her fingers touched her lips almost reverently before she shook her head and turned away.
Chapter20
He’s up to something
Goodie glancedat her watch and tucked her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she walked to the wardrobe. ‘Is there any security around the house?’ She grabbed a pair of faded jeans and started pulling them on.
‘Well, it’s in St John’s Wood so there’s a patrol anyway in the area,’ Sam told her. ‘The house itself has an alarm system but I doubt it will be activated.’ Goodie frowned.
‘We can negotiate that. Once the guests are all there, and they’re inside and we’re out, they could activate the system. They’d just have to tell everyone not to open any windows or leave the house without deactivating.’
‘Nick wants you inside.’
Goodie snorted. ‘Tough.’
‘He says it’s non negotiable. He says he’s worried about a threatinthe house.’
‘He’s not fucking worried about a threat in the house. He’sneverworried about any threats full stop.’
‘Well,’ Sam said carefully. ‘Wework forhim, Goodie. We probably should do as he asks for a change.’
‘He’s up to something.’
Sam sighed. ‘I expect so.’
‘Well, I’m not changing.’
‘He said it’s casual anyway. He specifically told me you didn’t have to dress up. It was important to him that you knew that.’ Goodie rubbed her chest absently against the sudden constriction she was feeling.
Nick noticed things. He knew she didn’t like wearing that stuff.
She pushed her hair back with the hand not holding the phone and stared up at the ceiling. It was this kind of thing that was getting to her, that was burrowing underneath her reserve. The small stuff he did to make her that bit more comfortable; that bit … happier. She knew he phoned ahead about Salem everywhere they went. She wasn’t stupid, dogs would not be allowed in most executive buildings in the city; somehow he could tell she needed Salem in the lifts. How he knew about her claustrophobia she wasn’t sure, but she suspected he had read her body language. This in itself was impressive; Goodie knew that she didn’t give much away.
She pushed open the door of her flat, coming face to face with Sam and shoving her mobile into the pocket of her jeans. Sam watched as she sighed and pulled on her leather jacket, zipping it up to her chin. She swept her blonde fringe out of her eyes before putting her hands on her hips. ‘Right then, you coming?’ There was annoyance threaded through her voice, but also just a hint of what may have been excitement. Her blue eyes caught his, and she raised her eyebrows. Sam had always known Goodie was beautiful, but over the last few weeks her features had become more animated, her eyes held more sparkle, he had even caught a couple of half smiles. As a result her beauty was more pronounced than he’d ever seen. It was almost blinding. He cared about Goodie; he just hoped Nick knew what he was doing … and who he was dealing with.
* * *
Goodie stayedtwo steps behind Nick as they approached the house. There had been some battles about this way of doing things over the last two weeks: she rarely walked at his side; depending on where the far guard was she was either a few steps behind or in front. Nick had gone through a stage of slowing down to try and fall in step with her or power-walking to catch her up. Only the threat of her switching with Sam had made him back off. She scanned the drive and her mouth hitched up at the side when she saw a Porsche parked up next to an Aston Martin and blocked in by a large Range Rover. Rich, entitled and arrogant was not her brand of vodka. When she looked back towards the front door she nearly ran into Nick, who had stopped and was watching her, smiling enough for the dimple to make an appearance.
