"I was sucker punched," Dani said as she poured her glass of wine.
"What else did he say," Nico asked. He couldn't believe this.
"He threatened me with supenas, mints, jail time. Look, you promised me. You gave me your word," Dani said upset.
"I wasn't informed they were bringing you in," Nico told her calmly.
"Ugh...every time, I get near you, my whole life explodes," Dani said frustrated.
Nico had had enough, "I tried to keep you out of it, Dani or did you forget that part if the story?"
As Dani set her glass down Nico added, "LAY LOW, I'LL HANDLE THIS."
Dani snapped back, "no you won't. NO..NO..We're not going by your rules anymore. All bets are off. Dani goin rouge. I'm not playing nice anymore."
"You and me both,"Nico said as he stormed out the door. He was pissed. He would definitely be having a word with Agent Bennett.
As he slammed his head against the door and put his thum in his neck, Nico said angerly, "what did I say? I said don't bother Dr. Santino. I said you don't want me as an enemy."
"Mr. Careles if you don't want an added charge of assaulting a federal agent, then I suggest you back down." Bennett said.
"Assault? We're just two friends discussing an agreement we had," Nico said with sarcastic smile
. "I'm warning you," Bennett threatened.
"You know everything about me. What I've done, where I've been, what I'm capable of. You think I give a damn about your warnings?" Nico said as he released him.
"We can't raid the clinic on a hunch. Get me witnesses and I don't need Dr. Santino," Bennett said.
Nico was angry, "you keep raising the bar. When's it enough?"
"Get me evidence on the clinic. Enough for a search warrant. Then, you're home free and we'll release you to Dallas and Marc Cubban," Bennett told Nico.
"And Alex," Nico added.
"Yea..we'll release Alex from ICE and you'll be on your way. JUST GET ME WHAT I NEED"
"Then I'm outta here," Nico said and as he stepped on Bennett's sandwich, he added, "enjoy your lunch."
Bennett wasn't really shocked per say that Nico approached him. He knew Nico wasn't scared of nothing. Bennett knew one thing was for certain, the man loved Dr. Santino because he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her.
Dani layed in bed later that night thinking about Blake Bridges. She wanted to text Nico so badly and tell him. She really just wanted to talk to him and see him, especially after their heated discussion about Agent Bennett, but she knew Nico just wanted to protect her.
Dani decided to text Nico, "Hey." She just wanted to hear from him.
Nico was sitting in his recliner reading when his phone buzzed. When he picked up his phone, he smiled as he read it. He hadn't heard from her since yesterday. The taste if Dani's lips came back and the way she moved her body against his when they kissed. He wanted her so badly.
Nico decided to text her back and play around with it. "Well, hello, Dr. Santino. What cha doing!" Nico couldn't wait for her response.
Dani laughed when she read the text. She thought it was sweet. She texted him back, "rough day. Can't sleep. I just need..." The sound of breaking glass downstairs made her jump and hit send before she meant too.
When Nico saw the message, he wondered if she meant to send the unfinished message, so he waited to see if she would send the rest or if she wanted him to fill in the blank.
Meanwhile, someone had broken in downstairs at Dani's and she said to herself, "okay, Santino, what do I do?" Dani went and locked her bedroom door and then went into her bathroom and locked that door. She was scared. Dani had grabbed her phone before she went into the bathroom. This time she called Nico.
Nico smiled when he seen her name flash across the caller ID. He said, "so you finally decided that talking would be better than texting." What he was about to hear, he wasn't prepared for.
"Nico, someone has broken in my house. They are downstairs. I'm scared," Dani whispered. Nico jumped out of his chair and put on some clothes. His stomach felt like it feel to his feet, which for him, didn't happen often.
"Dani, just stay calm. Where are you?"
"Im locked in my bathroom. I locked my bedroom door as well. I hear footsteps coming up the steps," Dani said panicky.
"Dani, baby, stay calm. I'm on my way right now, but it's going to take me about 30 minutes to get there. Look, I want you to put you're phone somewhere that they can't see it. Leave it on, so that I can hear everything that happens. Listen, they are more than likely going to take you. I want you to put up a fight and NO MATTER WHAT, punch back," Nico said. He knew Dani was scared.
"Okay, hurry Nico," Dani whispered. She was to the point of tears because she heard them trying kick her bedroom door in.
"I will get to you, I PROMISE," Nico said. Dani knew the power behind those words.
"There in the bedroom now. I'm going to set the phone down now," Dani said.
Before she did, she heard Nico say, "Dani, I love you."
"I love you too, Nico, very much," Dani said as she set the phone behind her basket that had towels in it.
Nico was still at least 15 minutes away. He was doing 90 and he felt like he couldn't get there quick enough. He heard the door to the bathroom being kicked in. He heard a voice talking, but couldn't pick up who it was.
Dani saw the masked man come in and try and get her, but Dani put up a fight. She grabbed everything she could and hit the guy with it as she was thrown all over the place.
Nico heard everything. He knew Dani was giving a hell of a fight. He was proud.
Dani managed to get free for a brief moment and headed for the stairs, but the guy jumped her and they fell down the stairs together. Dani couldn't move. She was dizzy and saw the man standing over her. He had a needle and stuck Dani with it. Nico's words rang through Dani's head, "NO MATTER WHAT, PUNCH BACK." Dani kicked the guy as hard as she could in the balls. When she tried to run past him, he grabbed her ankle and tripped her. He then picked her up and threw her through the window.
"You bitch," she heard the man say. She recognized the voice as she hit her head hard on the pavement. Before she blacked out, Dani thought she heard gun shots.
Nico had texted Agent Bennett while he was on the phone with Dani. He knew Agent Bennett could get there faster since he was closer.
Agent Bennett shot Bridges in the shoulder. He needed him to be able to talk about who hired him to do this. While his men arrested Bridges, Agent Bennett went over to check on Santino. She was knocked out, but he felt her pulse.
"Dr. Santino, I don't know if you can here me, but Nico is on his way and so is the ambulance. We are going to get you taken care off," Agent Bennett told her and that's when he noticed the needle in her arm. He knew that wasn't good because if that had any kind of Date Rape Drug in it, Dani could lose her memory of everything that happened tonight. He thought maybe he could bring the medics and doctors here. Hopefully, to keep the reporters away.
Nico pulled in the driveway and was out of the car in no time. Agent Bennett had carried Dani into the family room and layed her on the couch. The nurses were hooking her up to an IV and trying to get fluids in her when Nico walked into the house. He thought his heart was going to stop.
"Nico, do you have a safe place you can take her, so she can get the proper care she needs. I also have a doctor on his way to check her out, but I can give him an address to send him to. I just want to make sure Dr. Santino stays hid for a while until we get to bottom of this." Agent Bennett said.
While Agent Bennett was talking, Dani stirred a little and mumbled Nico's name. He walked over to her and grabbed her hand.
"Hey, Dani, I'm here. The nurses are going to take you to my house, okay. I promise, we are going to take care of you," Nico said as he moved her hair out of her face. Dani was going in and out, but she couldn't understand why she didn't remember what just happened.
"Thank you Bennett for taking care of her and for getting here in time to stop him from hurting her worse than she already is," Nico said.
"Nico, I found this in her arm. The nurse took some blood. I'm going to drop it off at the lab. I will call you as soon as I know what it is." Bennett said.
"Is that a date rape drug?" Nico asked very concerned.
"I think it is. Which means, she may lose her memory of tonight or the past couple of days for awhile." Bennett said.
"Yea that's what I'm concerned about," Nico said as he looked over at Dani who was still knocked out. He hoped Dani wouldn't forget that they had recently kissed and had told each other earlier that they love one another. No matter what though he knew he would do whatever it took to get her memory back.
to be continued... let me know what you think...