Quadruplets Make Six

I stared blankly at him for a few seconds before I could respond. I was already used to them watching me, so I wasn’t sure what the difference would be. Except they obviously seemed more worried about it than before. But what had changed?

“O—okay…um, why? I mean why do you not want to have records of it? Why do you need to watch me more? If it’s about that guy from yesterday, he was probably just some creep. There are a lot of them in my neighborhood,” I rambled, standing up and pacing.

Nate touched my shoulder gently and looked right into my eyes. “We don’t think it was just a neighborhood creep, Rose.”

The severity of his voice seeped into me and I let it settle in. It was worse than I was thinking, and if they were worried about it, I knew I should be too.

“Oh,” I whispered. I turned and looked at Max and Alex, who stared me down with concern.

“We want to keep you safe. And we don’t want to put it on paper officially because there are some moles in the precinct. Not much can be done about that. But just trust us, we can protect you.” Max said.

I sighed and nodded. “Okay, but…why do care about that? Isn’t this more isolated? It isn’t like I was the one who was shot.” I almost laughed, but their faces were too grim.

Max circled around me, and Nate rubbed my shoulder gently. Alex finished, “We think the Irish mob has a hit on you, Rose. That’s why we need to watch you, and keep you out of the system.”

My eyes widened in shock and I stared back at them as my breath hitched. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. Of course, I trusted them, but how could I ever sleep okay again knowing I wasn’t safe? Knowing they were putting themselves on the line for me…I couldn’t ever fathom one of them getting hurt.

And that thought was even more scary than the possibility of getting killed.

Chapter Eighteen: Max

A few years back I tried the whole dating scene, but I was never good at it. It wasn’t that I was not interested or couldn’t be faithful, but more that work was time consuming and no one understood I wasn’t intentionally cancelling plans all the time.

Needless to say, hanging out with Rose with the premise of watching her kind of eased me into the whole thing. Even when I was just outside her building and not inside her apartment, I felt like I was spending time with her, and having her around was just nice. I enjoyed her personality, even though the whole case had put a little bit of a damper on things.

We kept on with our usual watch shifts, keeping a closer eye on not only her but her surroundings. Everyone in that building turned into a suspect to me, and I didn’t like seeing everyone that way, but it was just the way things went.

It had been a few days since the gunshot victim gave us his full statement. The guy was a massive prick, but that was beside the point. He was loaded, some kind of investment manager with his own firm. Actually, five across the continental US. I didn’t know what he could have done to be attacked in a parking garage, and apparently, he didn’t know either. Or he wasn’t being honest. My gut told me he was doing something on the down low that got him in trouble. We all thought that, but we had to be careful because he screamed lawsuit against the city if we rubbed him the wrong way. We left him with a blanket statement and hadn’t talked about it since.

There had been no other updates since then. Only the increasing worry that someone was coming after Rose. I wished it could be otherwise, but it was the truth.

I always watched her after her work shift, since I sleep most of the day away for my night patrol. I loved and hated it the most because it was so damned frustrating. I would sit in the living room while she showered, and I pictured her naked and on that day, I highly considered getting rid of my hard-on while I imagined her wet, sexy body in the shower. Not even the close football game could distract me.

“I can make you something to eat.” I jumped up from the couch, taken by sur

prise, to find Rose wide eyed and shocked from my outburst.

“You uh, startled me.” I tugged on my sweatshirt. “If it isn’t too much trouble, I would love some food.” I grinned.

She let out the cutest little giggle and shuffled over to the kitchen, looking like a fucking strawberry drop. She was wearing bright red leggings and a matching, fluffy sweatshirt that still didn’t even hide her delicious curves. I followed her into the kitchen and sat on her bench. She had a bright kitchen that reminded me exactly of her. Blue cabinets, white countertops; it was all so innocent, like her.

“How was your day today?” I asked her.

“The same as always. What about yours?” she asked over her shoulder. I wasn’t sure what she had thrown in to the pan already, but it smelled amazing.

Maybe it was over said, but a woman in the kitchen was a beautiful thing.

“Uh, pretty annoying. The Lieutenant has been up my ass about some old cases.”

“Why?” She stopped and handed me a glass of orange juice, which she squeezed freshly herself. It tasted like sunshine.

“I don’t know. He has pretty strict rules with paperwork. It can bring units down if it isn’t done right, and the seventy-eighth makes everyone else our bitch. So, we have to keep up that image.” I chuckle.

She smiled at me and shook her head in mock disappointment.

“Hmm. Well, ER nurses are known for how badass we are, I guess,” she laughed.

“I think you are pretty bad ass, Rose.” I bit my lip and winked at her when she looked at me. I noticed her cheeks flushed before she turned away.