“Look on the bright side, you’ll have extra help keeping her safe,” Neil pointed out.
Jake nodded. That would be good, he supposed. Once their flight landed, he’d have his parents and Neil there as well as Dante and Tomasso to help keep Nicole safe and they obviously needed the help. Her soon to be ex would be desperate when he knew this latest attempt had failed.
Thoughts halting, Jake glanced at Neil. “Dante told you about Nicole’s ex?”
“Marguerite did. I’ve been in Toronto for almost a week. I was there when the hot tub incident happened. I was going to drop everything and come out here then, but she cautioned against it. She thought it would be better if Dante and Tomasso came alone.”
Jake smiled crookedly. “She was probably right. I wasn’t really ready to be pulled back into the fold yet, but those two are . . .” He shook his head helplessly. The twins were not generally the talkative sorts to start with, so hadn’t bombarded him with arguments for why he was being an ass. They’d just stood by, strong, silent support while he’d figured it out for himself. Neil would have tried to talk him around and Jake hadn’t been ready for that.
Marguerite was apparently a brilliant strategist, Jake thought, and then glanced to the door as Dante and Tomasso entered.
“We brought you a coffee,” Dante announced, crossing the room and moving around the bed to offer Jake a cup of Tim Horton’s coffee, even as he glanced over to take note of Neil’s presence.
“Sorry, Neil. We didn’t bring you one,” Tomasso said. “Didn’t know you were here.”
“That’s all right. I don’t drink coffee,” Neil said.
“Caffeine makes him bounce off the walls,” Jake told them. Some immortals simply couldn’t handle coffee. Neil was one of those and that was why Jake had avoided coffee since being turned. He’d been afraid he might react the same way. They were half brothers after all. However, it seemed that sensitivity to caffeine came from Neil’s father, because Jake had been drinking coffee since meeting Nicole and hadn’t noticed it affecting him much at all.
Dante nodded and then glanced to Nicole. “How’s she doing? Any change?”
Jake opened the tab of his coffee lid and shook his head. “She hasn’t stirred at all.”
“It’s probably for the best. She’s going to have one hell of a headache when she wakes up. Better to sleep through it,” Dante said.
Jake grunted as he sipped at his coffee. He didn’t mind her sleeping through the headache . . . so long as she woke up. He was very aware that Nicole was a fragile mortal, and mortals had been known to die from head wounds. That thought had him peering at her worriedly. “Maybe I should turn her.”
“She’s fine,” Neil said quietly.
“You can’t turn her,” Tomasso rumbled. “She needs to give permission.”
“What if she doesn’t wake up to give that permission?” Jake asked grimly.
The twins exchanged a glance and it was Neil who said, “Why don’t we just wait and see what happens? You remember how you reacted to being turned without giving permission. You don’t want that with Nicole.”
Jake grimaced as he realized he was thinking of doing exactly what Vincent had done and which he’d resented so much. He was just so worried that she wasn’t waking up . . . that she might never wake up.
“We’ll wait and see what the doctors say. If it doesn’t look like she’s going to come around, then we’ll consider turning her,” Neil said patiently.
“Do I smell coffee?”
Jake stilled at that weak question, and then turned his head sharply to Nicole. This time her eyes were open. Her nose was also working, sniffing the air with interest, but then she frowned and asked, “Why does my head hurt so much?”
Fifteen
Nicole yawned sleepily and opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling. It took one glance to recall that she was in the hospital. The slightly antiseptic smell helped.
“How is your head, dear?”
Nicole turned to peer blankly at the woman at her bedside. She was young, with short blond hair, and a nice smile. From the way she’d addressed her, Nicole had expected an older woman, but they were about the same age.
“Er . . .” she murmured, uncertainly, wondering where Jake was. He’d been sitting where the woman presently was when Nicole had finally fallen asleep. That was after the doctor had been informed she was awake and had come to see her. He’d quickly examined her and then announced she seemed fine, but he wanted to keep her overnight for observation. Since it was three in the morning by the time he announced that, it hadn’t seemed worth arguing over.
Nicole had managed to stay awake for a bit, long enough to learn what had happened after she’d passed out, and that she had Dante’s using mind control to thank for the private hospital room she’d woken up in. Those mind-control skills of theirs were really very impressive, she thought. But then there was a lot to be impressed by with these immortals, or at least with Jake. Well, she supposed Dante and Tomasso were impressive too, but Jake was special. The man was smart, which she wasn’t sure could be attributed to the nanos, but they probably didn’t hurt. Aside from that, though, he was strong and funny and the most amazing lover ever. All the man had to do was kiss her and her toes curled. As for the sex itself, that was mind-blowing . . . and he had a cute ass too. Jake had thought her tendency to slow down and lag behind at the end of their shopping trip was because she was tiring, but the truth was Nicole had just enjoyed looking at his butt in his tight jeans as they walked.
A choked chuckle came from the blond. The unexpected and unwarranted sound made Nicole peer at her warily, suddenly worried that she was a patient who had wandered down from the psychiatric department. Was that possible? They wouldn’t just let psychiatric patients wander the hospital, would they?
A startled laugh slipped from the woman now, and she shook her head, “Oh dear, I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself.”
When the woman then held out her hand, Nicole eyed it with trepidation.
“My name is Elaine Colton Notte. I’m Stephano’s mother.”
“You’re Jake’s mother?” Nicole gasped, sitting up and gaping at her. She also finally took note of the woman’s silver-teal eyes. Oh yeah, this was Jake’s mom. It was like his eyes were looking back at her out of the woman’s face. Good Lord, Jake’s mom, she thought. It wasn’t the fact that Elaine Notte looked so young that stunned Nicole. It was her being there at all that had her staring at her, tongue-tied and amazed.
“Yes, dear.” Elaine reached out and patted her hand reassuringly. She might not look older, but she definitely acted like a mother who could be a grandmother if only her children would cooperate. “We headed out as soon as we heard about the car accident. We would have come after the hot-tub incident had anyone bothered to tell us,” she added grimly.
“I’m sorry,” Nicole said at once. “I called Marguerite because Jake made me, but I didn’t know your number, or I would have—”
“Oh, my dear, please, I wasn’t blaming you,” Mrs. Notte interrupted quickly, patting her hand again. “I meant my son Neil. He knew and should have called, but didn’t.”
“And I shall be in the dog house for at least a century for that,” a voice said from the door and Nicole glanced over to see two men entering. Both had short jet-black hair, and very Italian features. Both also looked to be in their mid- to late twenties, wore what she guessed were designer suits, and had amazing silver-black eyes. She was guessing the one who had spoken was Neil, but hadn’t a clue who the other man was. Jake’s stepfather maybe?