Until Nico (Until 4)

“Please stop,” she says quietly, her arms squeezing a little tighter.

“I’m gonna let the EMT finish checking you out. I’ll be right outside talking to Leo.” She nods, and I put a finger under her chin, lifting her face up so I can look in her eyes. “You’re safe. I love you.”

“I know.” She rests her head against my shoulder, and my hand goes to her stomach, where my child’s growing.

“All right, baby. I’ll be right back.” I kiss her forehead then her lips. I give the EMT a chin lift, letting him know he can get back to checking her over as I hop out the back of the ambulance. “Talk to me,” I say to Leo, handing him his phone back. He starts to take a step away from the ambulance, but I shake my head no. I need to have an eye on Sophie.

“All right, man. I heard what she told you.”

“Yeah?” I prompt.

“The neighbor who pounded on the door told us they were walking their dog when they heard her scream. At first, they were just going to ignore it, not wanting to get involved in a domestic dispute. When they heard the second scream though, they decided to act.”

Fuck me. I know many times people ignore a scream or yell thinking it’s nothing or not wanting to get involved. Who knows what would have happened to Sophie if someone hadn’t knocked on her door and scared the person away? I shake my head, not allowing myself to think like that. I look into the back of the ambulance at Sophie, who’s talking with the EMT. She’s a little roughed up but safe, and that is all that matters.

“The neighbor said he banged on the door before trying the handle, which he was surprised when it opened. He found Sophie in the living room. She was out of it but talking. He said he helped her to the couch then called the cops.” He shakes his head, running his fingers through his blond hair. “When we got on the scene, she asked us to call you first. I thought she was a client or something, so I had one of the guys call Kenton. That’s when I found out she’s yours.” I watch as he looks in on Sophie, his eyes going soft. “How did you find this chick?” he asks quietly.

I know we don’t look like we match—she’s the soft to my hard, the light to my dark, the blatant innocence to my roughness—but I couldn’t give a fuck if people look at us and wonder why we’re together. I don’t like the softness in his eyes when he looks at her. Leo is a good ol’ boy. He grew up on his family’s farm, comes from old money, played high school and college football, and could have gone pro if he wanted to, but he always dreamed of being a cop. He’s about six foot two and two hundred and eighty pounds of pure muscle. He’s the kind of guy a sweet girl like Sophie could take home to her parents, or vice versa. Too bad for him she’s mine and will be until God sees fit to take her from Earth.

“Do I seriously need to tell you not to check out my girl right now?” I glare at him.

“Sorry. It’s not that. She’s just so not your type.”

“Really?” I raise a brow at him, ready to put my fist in his face. “I’m pretty sure my kid growing inside of her tells you just how much of my type she is,” I say through my teeth. “Besides, you have your own woman,” I tell him, missing the way his jaw ticked.

“Leo, shut the fuck up. Don’t dig yourself any deeper. My cousin’s a little sensitive where Sophie is concerned,” Kenton says, walking up on our conversation. “You good man?” I lift my chin before looking in on Sophie again. “What do we know?” Kenton asks, looking at Leo.

I half-listen as he retells what happened and what Sophie told me. “How’d they get into the house?” I ask, focusing back on the conversation.

“There was no forced entry, so at this time, we’re unsure. Sophie said she locked the door when she entered her residence, but she never checked the back door to make sure it was secure as well.”

“Did anyone see anything or anyone?” Kenton asks.

“No one saw anything. The person who stopped the assault when he entered the residence didn’t see anyone but Sophie,” Leo says.

“So basically, we got nothing?”

“Afraid so. Unless you have someone you suspect, then we got nothing to go on,” Leo says.

I’m frustrated as fuck. This is not what we need right now. “Jesus, this is so fucked,” I growl. “This isn’t the first time someone has tried to break into her house, so this isn’t some random act,” I tell Leo.

“Yeah, I saw the previous report. She got any enemies?” Leo asks.

“No. No one.”

“Maybe an ex?”

“No, man. Nothing. There is no one in her past. She hasn’t even been in Tennessee long.”

“You sure she doesn’t have an ex? That’s normally the first person we suspect.”

“No one,” I repeat, starting to see red. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about this shit, but no one stuck out to me. The only person who kept popping into my head was Sophie’s dad. “I need to make a call,” I say, looking between Kenton and Leo.

“Sure, man,” Kenton, says.

“Keep an eye on Sophie for me.”

He lifts his chin as I make my way to the side of the ambulance. I pull out my phone, find the number, and hit dial.

“Yello,” Justin answers, and I shake my head; this kid is a fucking mess.

“Justin.”

“You got me, daddio. Congrats on that, by the way,” he says cheerfully.

“Jesus, you guys really do love to fucking gossip.”

“We’re friends. Friends share happy news.”

“Can you stop yappin’ like a forty-year-old housewife for a second?” I run a hand over my head, my eyes dropping to my boots.

“What’s up, man? Talk to me.”

“Someone broke into Sophie’s old place while she was inside. I need you to do a background on her dad. I want everything.”

“Shit, man. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. A little shook up, has a scratch and a couple bumps, but for the most part, she’s okay.”

“Jesus, dude. Give me the name you want me to run,” he says seriously, a tone I rarely hear out of him.

“His name is William Grates, and his last known place of residence was Seattle, Washington. He’s Sophie’s dad, so maybe you can trace him that way.”

“I got this. I’ll call you later with what I find out. Just go be with your girl.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Later,” he says, hanging up.

I walk back to where Kenton and Leo are still talking and look inside the ambulance. When Sophie’s eyes meet mine, she gives me a small smile before turning back to talk to the EMT. Something about that smile lets me know that everything will be okay. I look back at Kenton and he nods. My cousin is crazy as fuck, and as long as he’s in my corner, I know Sophie will be safe.

*~*~*