Reaching for her phone, she found Nik’s number. He picked it up on the second ring.

“Lily Bells?”

“Okay, Kincaid, you’ve got a deal.”

Chapter Nine

“What’s wrong?” Nik sat up in his chair and pushed the blonde off his lap. Lily sounded like she was crying. “What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she whispered, her voice a little broken. “Do you want the deal or not?”

“Hell, yes, I want the deal,” he said. Why was she crying?

“Call me tomorrow and we’ll set up the details.” Click.

Nik pulled the phone from his ear and stared down at it, shocked. She’d hung up on him. No one ever hung up on him. Why the fuck was she crying? The blonde tried to crawl back in his lap, and he stood up. “Luther!”

Luther emerged from the direction of the pool tables. “Yeah?”

“Find your own way home,” he told him. “I need to go take care of something.”

Luther nodded and wandered back the way he’d come. Nik waved his waitress over and paid his bill, tipping the girl a fifty. She’d been a good server, actually doing her job instead of flirting. Plus he knew she had three kids at home she was supporting off her tips. He’d overheard her discussing it with one of the other waitresses last year. Since then, he always tried to tip her well when she was his waitress. She appreciated it, and he got great service.

“We’re leaving already?” the blonde asked, her eyes lighting up.

“I’m leaving. You can do whatever you want.” With that, he grabbed his keys and walked out of the bar, the blonde glaring at his retreating back. He couldn’t get Lily’s voice out of his head. She’d sounded devastated. He was thrilled she’d agreed, but the thought of this making her cry unsettled him.

It only took him about twenty minutes to get to her dorm. He nodded to Jamie, the security officer, as he strolled in. “Jamie, how’s it going?”

“Not too bad,” the young guard said with a yawn. “I just got here, so I’ll let you know in a few hours.”

“I’m supposed to meet Lily Holmes, but I forgot what floor she said she’s on,” he continued, not missing the look Jamie gave him. “She called earlier and left a voicemail.”

“Lily called you?” Jamie asked suspiciously.

Nikoli sighed and pulled out his phone, showing Jamie the last call with Lily’s name on it. “What room?”

Jamie’s green eyes narrowed further, and his red hair only served to make his face look redder when he glared at Nik. “She’s in room 432, but I swear if you upset her, I won’t let you back in this dorm for any reason.”

Nikoli frowned. He was getting tired of the threats. “Trust me.” He forced himself to curb his irritation. “The last thing I want is to hurt her. She’s upset, and I just need to check on her.” With that, he boarded an elevator and tapped his foot impatiently as he rode up to the fourth floor. When he stepped off the elevator, two freshmen stared at him, but he ignored them as he started searching room numbers.

Lily’s door was dead center of the hall, and as he was about to knock, he heard something. Listening, he realized she was crying, and it made his gut wrench. Not letting himself think about why it bothered him, he knocked. He heard shuffling, and then the door opened. Her face was a puffy red mess. “You don’t cry well,” was the first thing out of his mouth. She tried to slam the door in his face, but he caught it and pushed his way in, closing the door behind him.

“I said we’d meet tomorrow.”

“Milaya, what happened?” he asked softly. “Why are you crying?”

She just stared at him, tears leaking out of her big blue eyes, and it nearly did him in. It was a feeling he’d never experienced, and it unsettled him. He reached out to touch her, and she shrank away from him, her whole body trembling. He could see the fear in her eyes. This was the first time he’d ever really wanted to comfort someone, to help them, and he couldn’t. Her phobia prevented him from even trying to soothe her. Frustration burned inside, both at himself for wanting to comfort her, and his inability to do just that.

“If our arrangement is upsetting you this much, Lily, we won’t do it.” Nikoli couldn’t believe the words escaped his lips, but he wouldn’t be the cause of this. People were right in that Lily was special, and maybe that was why he was determined to have her, but he would never delibrately do anything to cause her this much pain.

She shook her head. “No…no, this isn’t your fault. Adam…”

When he heard her voice break, he wanted to smash Adam’s face. What the hell had the little fucker done? “Adam what?”

She shook her head again and hiccuped. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me, Milaya.” His voice was deceptively calm. When he got his hands on Boy Wonder, he was going to do some damage. “I…” He broke off when someone started pounding on the door. With a growl, he swung around and nearly ripped it off its hinges, hoping Adam would be standing there so he could hurt him as badly as Lily was hurting now. Instead, he saw the same girl he’d seen Lily with earlier tonight.

She stared up at him, surprised. “Where’s Lily?”

“She’s not seeing anyone right now.” Nikoli tried to shut the door, but she slid around him. When she saw Lily in tears and shaking, she turned on him like a rabid dog. “What the hell did you do?”

“Nikoli didn’t do anything,” Lily defended him. “What are you doing here, Janet?”

“Adam said you were upset and…” Her eyes widened. “Adam did this? Honey, what happened?”

Lily’s gaze shot to Nikoli, and he cursed. Janet did the same.

“Come on, Milaya,” Nikoli said. “We’re getting out of here for a little while.”

“I don’t know.” Lily backed further away. “I…”

“I promise, I’ll be on my best behavior,” he assured her. “You need to get out of here, away from everyone for a little while.”

“I don’t know, Lily,” Janet frowned at him, which caused him to snarl in return.

“I’m not the one who hurt her,” he said, the bite in his own voice shocking him.

“Not yet,” Janet said hotly. “She’s not a one night stand, and she’s not one of your girls who spread their…”

“Enough!” Lily shouted. She’d had it. Everyone needed to shut up. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she’d been dragged over a pit of hot coals. She hurt. Everywhere. She couldn’t deal with any of this right now.

“I’m sorry,” Janet apologized. “I just…”

“I know, Jan.” Lily closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “You care and you’re concerned, but Nikoli isn’t anyone’s business but mine. Leave it alone.”

Janet’s eyes went round, but she nodded. “Do you need to come stay at the House tonight?”

Lily shook her head. She couldn’t face anyone until after she calmed down. No way in hell did she want Janet pitying her all night either. “No, I’ll be fine. Go home, Janet.”

“But…”

“No buts,” she said firmly. “I’m going out with Nikoli anyway, so no need to stay here. I’ll be fine.” Lily couldn’t believe she’d just agreed to that, but the thought of all those girls in the hall whispering and talking about all the fighting…it was too much. Plus if she stayed here another minute remembering everything that happened with Adam, she’d go a little nuts.

Nikoli held the door open for Janet. Lily expected to see a self-satisfied smirk on his face when he closed it behind her, but instead, he still looked angry. Lily had been surprised to see Nikoli at her door to begin with, but was even more suprised he seemed to be pissed on her behalf. It confused her a bit. She hadn’t expected him to rush over here after her phone call.

“Why are you here?” she asked him, more curious than anything.

“I honestly don’t know.” He grimaced. Lily had the distinct feeling he was as confused by his own actions as she was. Nikoli Kincaid was not a man who checked on women, let alone women he’d just met.