Читать книгу Courting Suspicion - Kimberly Dean - Страница 7

A phone call awakened Nina from one of the most erotic dreams she’d ever had. She jerked awake to find the covers kicked off and sweat coating her skin. She was breathing as if she’d just run a hundred-yard dash, but the ache deep between her legs told her she hadn’t won the prize.

‘Ohhh,’ she groaned as she pressed her hands to her face.

So close. She’d been so close.

Heat flared inside her, and she pulled her knees up towards her chest. Then again, these dreams never ended happily, did they? In them she usually did something stupid like roll off the detective or push him away.

Her ringtone went off again, this time waking her fully. Her scrambled thoughts coalesced, and she pounced on her phone on the nightstand. Her sweat-drenched body cooled. It was never good when one of her escorts called her in the middle of the night.

She swiped her finger across the screen and sat up. ‘Genieve, what’s wrong? Are you all right?’

‘I’m fine,’ the woman rushed to assure her. ‘I’m sorry to wake you, but something went down tonight. You need to know.’

Nina clicked on the light by her bed and tucked her pillow behind her. As long as everyone was all right, that was what was important. She could figure out how to handle the rest. ‘What happened?’

‘The senator and I were … inconveniently interrupted.’

Nina blew out a breath. Her heart was still pounding loud enough that she could hear it.

The senator. Gunderson. She pinched the bridge of her nose. He wasn’t one of her favourite people. All show and no substance. He spent more time working on his appearance than on his platforms, but the three-hundred-dollar haircut and hours in the gym had gotten him elected now, hadn’t they?

But wait … He was up for election again, she remembered and winced silently. A scandal involving a candidate and one of her escorts was not good. His money spent just as well as anyone’s, but in her business politicians came with more risk.

‘Where were you caught, and by whom?’ she asked.

‘At the hotel by paparazzi.’

The press was involved. A bit more worry started to niggle at her. ‘You two have been seen together at events. He’s single.’

How bad could it be? They’d been very careful with the story they’d created for the pair.

‘I’m not talking in the lobby, Nina. They broke into our hotel room with cameras running. Again, at a very inconvenient time.’

Nina went still. Not much surprised her any more, but that did. ‘My God. That’s horrible. What were they thinking?’

An uncomfortable shudder went through her. Overheated or not, she pulled the covers over her legs and looked from her clinging negligée to the door. It made her want to check her security system. Genieve must have been terrified … and horrified. She couldn’t imagine Josh letting anyone do that and get away standing.

If she didn’t get to his gun first …

The blue glass butterfly on her bedstand almost seemed to flutter, and Nina closed her eyes. What was she thinking? The man wasn’t her lover and never would be. She was still too close to that steamy dream.

She shook it off and tried to concentrate.

‘I can’t believe this happened at the Emissary.’ She was surprised Henri hadn’t called her already to beg her forgiveness. He knew his four-star rating would be in jeopardy now.

She’d make sure of it.

‘Samuel went after them. He managed to push them out of the room, but not before they got video of the two of us.’

‘How bad was it?’

‘Nothing kinky, but bad.’

Nina rubbed her temple. The magnitude of the situation was starting to press down upon her. ‘Why would they do that?’ she asked. ‘What led them to you? Why be so brazen?’

‘They’re from a website. I don’t think they knew the press’s limitations or the law.’

That was one of the first things Nina trained her new employees on.

‘Nina, they knew I was an escort.’

Nina went still. ‘What? How?’

‘Somebody called in a tip. They were trying to get the scoop.’

As tired as she was, Nina’s thoughts finally became razor-sharp. She’d known the risks she was taking when she’d entered this field. She’d planned for this contingency since Day One, and she had precautions in place. Whatever the press had, it couldn’t be solid evidence. Only those escorts under exclusive contracts knew just how far Luxxor went to please its clients.

‘What’s the name of this news organisation?’ she asked, her words clipped. She had contacts. She had influence. She might be able to plug this leak, whatever it was. ‘Where is that video now?’

Genieve let out a puff of air. ‘Well … the good news and the bad news are the same on that. The police have it.’

The police?

Oh, good Lord. Was Genieve calling from the police station? Did she need bail money? Nina threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

‘Were you arrested?’ What could the police possibly have on her other than some thugs’ purported intel?

‘No, but the reporters were. The senator and I just gave statements.’

Nina stopped and dragged a hand through her hair. It was damp, too. This just kept getting better and better.

She stared at her slippers on the floor as her thoughts turned inward, calculating fast. The police had the video. At least it wouldn’t be going viral. But the police had it.

Had the reporters told them what they thought they’d captured? Of course they had. Yet Genieve and the senator’s relationship had been established. The police didn’t know there was a contract behind it. That contract was locked up and secure.

At least Luxxor’s copy of it was.

She’d need to get on that.

‘Where are you?’ she asked. ‘Are you safe? I’ll have Mr Howard come pick you up. What do you need, Genieve? Just tell me.’

‘I’m OK. I’m with … Brody.’

Nina’s chin popped up. Brody Haynes was a fixer. He cleaned up politicians’ messes and made problems go away. The man was a behind-the-scenes force, and not someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of. For all his pretty-boy looks, he had the instincts of a rattlesnake. He knew things about people. He collected it for use at a later time. She’d done her best to steer clear of him or align herself with him, when she could.

That better be paying off now.

‘Did he get you out of the hotel?’

‘Yes. He wants me to lie low for a while. He said he’d handle things.’

Oh, did he now? Nina’s lips flattened. ‘What do you think, Genieve? Forget Haynes. Don’t worry about me or Luxxor. What do you want to do? Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.’

The escort paused. ‘I think he may be right.’

Nina thought through the options. ‘Is he there now?’

‘Yes.’

‘Let me talk to him.’

She glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning. She’d been jolted out of a dead sleep – although a very active dream. Adrenalin was pumping through her system, and it honed her thoughts. She needed to think strategically.

‘Nina.’

Two syllables was all it took for her to measure the man’s mood. Scary.

‘Brody. What’s the situation?’

‘Not good. The reporters were pretty loud with their accusations, but the police knew they didn’t have anything solid. The detective on the scene seemed suspicious, though. You have to destroy that contract.’

She shook her head. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t. ‘I need to hear it from one of the parties involved.’

‘Are you serious?’ There were sounds of footsteps. ‘Jenny, tell her to burn the thing.’

Genieve’s voice came on the line. For as upbeat as she usually was, she sounded worried and tired. ‘Nina, you’ve got to get rid of it.’

‘Does the senator know?’

Brody was back on the line. ‘He will. He’ll do whatever I tell him if he wants to keep his job.’

‘He won’t be happy.’

‘I’ll deal with it.’

It wasn’t the best way to conduct business, but they needed to get rid of that damning evidence as quickly as possible. ‘I’ll handle it myself,’ Nina promised. ‘The video the reporters took. Have you seen it?’

When Brody cleared his throat, it sounded suspiciously like a growl. ‘Enough of it.’

She rubbed her forehead. ‘Can we get it?’

‘Not legally. They took that as evidence for the B&E charge. Those reporters have to be pissing their pants right now. I should be able to handle them. Our bigger problem is the anonymous tip.’

Nina hadn’t missed that part. She just needed to focus on the most important things first. ‘I can take care of Genieve.’

‘I’ll do it.’

‘She’s my employee.’

‘And the senator is my problem.’ Haynes let out an uncharacteristic sigh. ‘Nina, this is my turf. I handle clean-up better than anyone, including you, and this is a crucial time in the campaign process. I’m not going to jeopardise the senator’s seat.’

She’d give him that, but she knew the lengths the man went to when he swept issues under the rug. ‘I won’t have Genieve hurt or thrown to the wolves.’

‘I’ll protect her.’ He paused again. ‘I promise.’

Nina slowly rested back against her pillow. For all his games, she’d never seen Brody Haynes outright lie. He spun things, twisted them or fluffed them up.

‘It would be best for everyone if we separated your attachment to her,’ he argued. ‘You’re simply her employer, like a waitress at a coffee shop or an account manager at a media firm.’

Good point. ‘Did the reporters use Luxxor’s name?’

‘No. It never came up.’ There was rustling on the other end of the line and then Genieve’s voice in the background. ‘What?’

Nina heard murmurs as the two talked, but the phone was too muffled for her to hear. When the voices cleared, Genieve had control of the phone again.

‘Nina, that’s the bad part.’

Nina let an eyebrow lift. They hadn’t gotten to the bad part yet?

‘Your detective was there. He recognised me.’

‘Morgan?’ Nina’s heart kicked into overdrive again. She was so surprised, she didn’t even argue that he was her detective. ‘What was he doing there?’

‘Working? It looked like he was in charge.’

Nina came right off the bed and started to pace. Of all the cases for him to catch. Nothing that Genieve had told her should have brought the authorities’ attention to Luxxor. They had plenty of other things to be concerned about. Luxxor should have flown right under the radar.

But with Morgan on the case?

A dog with a bone.

She rubbed her forehead as she turned to pace in the other direction. Her thoughts were flying low and fast. ‘Stay with Brody. You’ll be paid for your time. Do whatever he says.’

‘OK. But Nina? He was good to me. Morgan, that is.’

Yes, he had that sweet side that came out on occasion just to mess with a woman’s head.

Nina turned her back on the rumpled bed. She couldn’t look at it any more. ‘I’m glad you’re safe, Genieve. Call me if you need anything.’

‘I will. And Nina? I’m sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault. Be safe.’

Nina hung up from the call, and the silence in the room was heavy. Under the lamp on the bedside table, her blue butterfly glowed.

She turned on her heel and headed for the walk-in closet. She slipped her arms into the sleeves of her satin dressing robe and belted it tightly. From being so overheated, she suddenly had a chill.

He’d come for her soon.

He might not have any proof, but he’d come.

She had to be ready.

She swept up her phone again and hit speed dial for her security team. ‘Mr Howard, we have a situation.’

She moved through her penthouse apartment, turning on lights as she headed to the kitchen. She needed tea. She needed to remain calm. ‘Genieve ran into a bad spot with the press tonight. I don’t know if they’ve connected her to Luxxor yet, but you might have some unexpected visitors setting up shop outside. Do not engage, but make sure our people get home safely without being harassed.’

Hosts picked up and dropped off their escorts at the security office on the first floor of their building. It was a good safety procedure. Nobody ever knew where an escort lived. The only clients who might avoid that requirement were the ones with exclusive contracts – like the one Genieve had with Gunderson.

‘Wasn’t she out with the senator tonight?’ Mr Howard asked.

‘Yes.’

Her security man let out a grumble that reflected her opinion pretty accurately.

Nina looked at the clock over the stove. It really was late. Most of the escorts should be done with their engagements by now. She’d have to decide what to do about tomorrow. She hated to cancel appointments so late, and that would only arouse suspicion.

Her brain flipped through her options like a Vegas dealer shuffling a deck. She could change pick-up and drop-off to an alternate site. Rielle could handle that in the morning.

‘The police were also involved.’

Howard got over his disdain for the senator fast. ‘Understood, ma’am.’

She knew Howard was already going through their procedures. She’d trained her people well on the law. They knew when to ask for a search warrant. They knew their rights. ‘If Detective Morgan drops by, let him in, as usual.’

Brody was right. They needed to act as normally as possible. One of her employees had had a scare. She should be aware of it, but not overly involved.

She briefly closed her eyes. If she’d thought Morgan had watched her closely before, she was sure it was nothing compared to how he’d watch her now.

Why had he drawn the case? Was he still sore over the way she’d left him at the ballpark a few weeks ago? She remembered the angry, disappointed look that had been in his onyx eyes.

She flinched when the teapot started whistling.

She pulled the kettle off the burner and poured the hot water into a cup. Steam rose. She was in hot water, all right.

She braced her hands on the counter and hung her head. Everything inside her was screaming to run to the office and lock everything down, but she couldn’t. Everything was secure. They had procedures that they followed to make sure of it. Their records were clean. Their computers were protected – Rielle had made Darien guarantee that. The only thing dangerous was that contract. All of Luxxor’s exclusive contracts. They were in a different locale and, while it might make her feel better to destroy the senator’s right now, driving across town in the middle of the night would draw attention. Morgan might be watching.

She glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows of her penthouse. He knew where she lived. He’d been here.

What if he dropped by her home?

Instead of a shiver, heat flared inside her once again.

She picked up her cup of tea and turned all the lights back off, but she didn’t return to her bedroom. She couldn’t. Instead, she curled up in a recliner in her darkened living room. It was the dead of the night. The curtains were all closed, except for a slit that allowed a shard of light to sweep across the room. In the penthouse she had no neighbours, but she could feel the city sleeping all around her. There was no way she could rest.

She put the cup of tea aside and leaned back against the oversized leather cushions.

She needed to hold tight and let everything blow over. The detective was like that light slashing into her room, trying to peer into the darkness. She just needed to stay back, hidden amongst the shadows. She needed to make sure no more cracks were showing.

But this was Morgan.

And the last time she’d seen him, she’d given him a kiss-off.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket again. It was time she called her lawyer. It was time for her to start protecting herself from the protector.

Things weren’t over between them yet.

* * *

Josh still hadn’t been to bed when he stopped by Luxxor’s offices the next morning. He always felt like a bull in a china shop when he came to this place, but, tired and rumpled, he felt even more out of place. He supposed he could have gone home first, showered and shaved. But if he’d gone home, he would have crashed.

But probably not slept.

He had to see her. He had to look into her eyes. If he didn’t, the questions would drive him nuts.

He stopped in front of the door to Luxxor’s suite. The gilded letters of the company’s name matched the font he’d seen on that business card. He dragged a hand through his hair and straightened his jacket. When he stepped inside, the look on Rielle’s face told him it hadn’t helped.

‘Oh, Detective. Can I get you some coffee? Aspirin?’

He looked that rough, huh? He shook his head. ‘I just came by to see if Nina had an opening in her schedule.’

The office manager looked at him dubiously. ‘You’re asking?’

He shrugged. Typically, he didn’t. He just went in to see her. He liked catching her unaware. He liked shaking her up. Today, it felt like he should follow the rules.

‘She’s not with anybody right now.’ Rielle reached for the phone on her desk. ‘Let me check if she can see you.’

‘I have time.’

The soft words came from around the corner. When Nina entered the room, Josh felt the jolt like he always did. She looked like a million bucks. She was wearing a fitted blue suit with a necklace that dangled low in the V between her breasts. Her heels were the serious ones this time. No flower-patterned designer sneakers. The four inches of additional height told him just how ready she was for battle.

He felt the tiredness overtake him. He didn’t want to fight with her. He didn’t want to know if they were on the opposite sides of the law. All he wanted to do was take her home to his place, to the soft bed that awaited. It was more than big enough to fit both of them. They could pull the covers over their heads and forget about the world outside. All their problems.

And everything that stood between them.

‘Detective Morgan.’

Fuck. They were back to that?

‘Ms Lockwood.’ His voice sounded like sandpaper.

Just … fuck.

‘I won’t take much of your time,’ he said. ‘I need to ask you a few questions about one of your employees, Genieve Hart.’

Rielle’s chair squeaked as she spun away and became interested in her computer.

Nina folded her arms around the folders she carried. ‘Genieve’s not here. She’s still shaken from what happened last night.’

‘She called you.’

‘Yes, she asked for the day off. I gave it to her, of course, with pay.’

‘How kind of you.’

Her brown eyes flared. Finally. There was the reaction he was used to.

She tapped her fingers against the folders and reined it in. ‘Thank you for helping her. She told me you came to her aid.’

‘No problem. It’s my job.’

The silence became uncomfortable.

‘So,’ she finally said, ‘you’re here because …?’

‘Just doing some follow-up work. Your employee was the victim of a pretty bold crime last night. I’m trying to figure out why she might have been targeted.’

‘Her boyfriend obviously was the target, Senator Gunderson.’

Josh cocked his head. ‘Maybe. I still need to check all the angles. You know that about me by now, Nina.’

Her eyes widened. She set the files on Rielle’s desk and gestured to the hallway. ‘Come to my office. We can talk there.’

His gaze swept down her form as he followed her. It was beyond habit now; it was a compulsion. Her skirt cupped her backside like it had been custom made, and the slit up the back gave him glimpses of sleek legs. She thought those sky-high heels of hers could help her kick ass.

Come to think of it, they did. The first time he’d seen her, he’d been knocked on his.

They hadn’t kicked him out the door, though, and he’d kept coming back.

He looked around the familiar office. It screamed sophistication with plush grey carpeting and lighter grey walls. Pops of royal blue were sprinkled around from the pillows on the sofa to the decanter on the wet bar. He’d guessed long ago it was her favourite colour. He sat down in the chair in front of her desk – the normal one, not the funky blue one. You couldn’t pay him to sit in that thing. Yet when he sat, he felt all of her menagerie staring at him. Blue glass figurines flashed at him in disapproval from the shelves on the walls. The elephant on the corner of her desk even flailed its trunk in outrage.

I know, buddy, Josh thought. I know.

He didn’t know why he felt guilty. He’d had inklings all along about Luxxor’s mysterious line of work. Inklings that, in truth, had been big, glaring red neon signs. He just hadn’t looked too hard at them.

He’d been looking somewhere else.

He watched Nina as she moved behind the big oak desk and sat in that oversized leather chair of hers. ‘Now, what is this about, Detective?’ she asked.

‘I thought you might be able to help with our investigation.’

‘Into the break-in at the Emissary Hotel? How?’

‘I’m looking for a motive.’ He held up his hands. ‘You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to. This isn’t an interrogation.’

She arched an eyebrow at him. ‘So if I ask you to go away, you really will this time?’

He lowered his hands and wrapped them around the arms of the chair. ‘I wasn’t the one who ran away, Nina. You were.’

Colour lit her cheeks, and she fussed with her pen. They both knew that, the last time they’d seen each other, they’d been in a lip-lock that had lit up a 40,000-seat stadium.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘I apologise. That was rude of me.’

He didn’t mind so much. He intimidated most women. He didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help his size. OK, maybe he could fix his attitude, but when he was working he focused. He’d focused hard on her, and she hadn’t flinched. He liked the way she stood up to him, itty-bitty thing that she was.

He looked at her more closely. He hadn’t seen her for a couple of weeks. Her ash-blonde hair looked soft and shiny. Her lips were a soft pink to match the colour on her fingernails. She looked put together, but with enough femininity to balance the seriousness of that suit. With the morning sun coming through the windows behind her, though, he could see the tiredness written across her face.

He frowned. When had Genieve called her? He’d bet his lucky nickel it had been before she’d made it down to the car. Which meant that Nina had been up nearly as long as he had … Unlike him, she’d tried to hide her fatigue with the magic of makeup, but he could see it.

She sat behind that huge desk looking tired and way too calm, and he just couldn’t take it. The behemoth desk had stood between them more than once. Not this time.

‘Where’s that coffee Rielle talked about?’

Nina’s eyebrows rose. ‘In the breakroom. Would you like her to bring you some?’

She reached for her phone.

‘No, let’s go down there.’

‘What? Detective Morgan?’ he heard her sputter when he stood and left the room.

She followed him, like he knew she would.

He caught Rielle’s eye when he stepped back into the lobby. Her head was bent close to Sienna Blakely’s, Luxxor’s communications manager. Wonder what they were talking about?

‘Breakroom?’ he asked.

Rielle quickly unfolded her long legs and started to rise.

He held up his hand to stop her. ‘Which way?’

She pointed, and he found it just one door down. The office lunchroom area was like a gourmet kitchen compared to the breakroom down at the police station. The refrigerator was stainless steel, as was the dishwasher. At the station, they used paper cups and plastic silverware. Here, a bowl of fresh fruit sat on the counter, along with a basket of power bars. He headed for the coffeemaker and found real coffee mugs. He poured himself a cup and had one waiting for Nina when she marched into the room.

‘What are you doing?’ she demanded.

‘You look about as good as I feel.’ He pointed at the coffee cup already on the table.

Her chin came up at that, and her hand lifted self-consciously to her face.

‘Oh, don’t give me that. You’re a knockout and you know it, but I can see how tired you are.’

She glared at him. ‘You’re such a sweet-talker, Detective.’

Wordlessly, he passed her a packet of creamer and two sugars – just how she took her coffee. He knew. He’d been paying attention. He gave her a spoon, too, a real one from a fancy silverware set in the first drawer he opened. No plastic stir straws for this place.

The stiffness in her jaw softened. At last, she took a chair, prepared her coffee and took an appreciative sip. ‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘You’re welcome.’ He sat down in the ladder-back chair at the end of the table. It put him right next to her, and he much preferred this set-up. There was no desk between them, no zoo of glass figurines watching. They were still on her turf, but not in her fortress. They could talk now.

‘So …’ he began. ‘Genieve dates a senator.’

‘Yes.’

‘How long has that been going on?’

‘I’m not sure. A month or so? I don’t follow my employees’ love lives that closely.’

‘Really?’ He grunted. ‘It seems we’ve had a front-row view of some of them.’

She considered that for a moment and shrugged.

Josh ran a hand through his hair. Even when she shrugged she was graceful. How could he ask the questions he needed to ask? What he’d seen in that hotel room hadn’t been nice and proper. If Luxxor really was what he worried it was, and Nina was its president, that also made her …

No. One step at a time. He couldn’t get ahead of himself.

‘How did they meet?’

‘Through business.’

‘Your company’s business?’

Her gaze met his over her coffee cup. ‘Yes. I introduced them. What does that have to do with the invasion of their hotel room?’

It took him a moment before he decided to answer truthfully. He had to see her reaction. He had to know. ‘The reporters claimed she was a prostitute. They thought the American people should know what their elected officials are doing. Or should I say, “whom”?’

Nina flinched hard enough to make her hair sway, and the fight came into her eyes. ‘So that gives them the right to break the law? They can enter a hotel room by force and film a couple during a moment of intimacy based on hearsay?’

‘No. That’s why I arrested them.’

The tension in the room ebbed.

‘Yes. Right. Thank you for doing that.’ She stared down into her coffee. ‘The video … can the part after the break-in be erased?’

‘No. That would be tampering with the evidence.’ And he wouldn’t do that – not even if she asked him to. His shoulders pulled tight as he waited to see if she would.

‘Even if it’s a terrible invasion of privacy?’ she asked.

‘The judge could rule that portion impermissible – for this crime.’

Her lips thinned, and she folded her hands tightly. ‘The accusation is offensive. Genieve’s been seeing the senator exclusively for a while. Do your homework, Morgan.’

Exclusive. There was that word again. It hit Josh’s ear wrong. He’d heard it before … from Genieve …

‘Interesting you should say that.’ He took a drink of his own coffee. It was the good stuff, but he’d long since passed the need for caffeine. When he set it on the table, he leaned in towards her. He gave her credit. He felt the electricity between them jump, but she didn’t pull back. ‘I did a quick Internet search on the senator. He seems to show up in lifestyle stories more than political ones.’

‘I’m shocked.’

‘There were photos of him at events with Genieve on his arm.’

Nina lifted her coffee cup and an eyebrow. ‘Don’t make me say I told you so.’

‘There were even more photos of her doing the same with other men. Rich men.’

She took her time sipping her coffee. When she set it back down, the cup didn’t even clink against the table. ‘She dates. That’s not a crime.’

‘Maybe. Not usually, but the senator had your business card in his pocket.’

He watched as her pretty eyes narrowed. ‘Probably because his girlfriend works here.’

‘And what, exactly, is it that Luxxor does, Nina? You’ve never really shared that with me.’

The muscle in her temple pulsed. ‘I don’t know what you’re implying, Detective, but Luxxor will not tolerate slander. From reporters or you. I thought this discussion was supposed to be about the crime that was committed – the break-in. Do I need to call my lawyer?’

Josh sat back in his chair and stretched out his legs. Their feet bumped, and she shifted. They were back to the magnetic push/pull dance they liked to do. Skirting around the subject … and each other … He’d always wondered at the cause behind it. Serious attraction had always been the pull, but the push had always been a mystery.

Was her job the reason why she’d told him they couldn’t be together?

He drummed his fingers against the table top. ‘Have you noticed anyone hanging around the place? Has this TMI website reached out to you in any way?’

‘No.’

‘Does Genieve have any enemies?’

‘Everyone likes her.’

Yeah, he’d seen proof of that. The boys in blue at the hotel room had liked her a lot. ‘How about the senator?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘He’s a politician – and he’s running for office.’

Point taken. Dumb question.

‘How about you?’ he asked.

She reached up to touch her earring. It was a little thing, but the question unsettled her more than he liked. ‘Not that I know of.’

‘Would you tell me if you did?’

She didn’t answer.

Suddenly the tension in the room pissed Josh off.

‘Nina, the reporters got an anonymous tip.’

‘From someone obviously very hurtful.’

‘That’s what worries me.’ The energy he’d been missing for most of the night returned with a surge. He turned in his seat and leaned towards her until he was in her space and in her way. ‘Just tell me, is there anything I need to know?’

She concentrated on her coffee, but the pulse at her temple fluttered wildly. ‘No.’

‘Do you trust me?’ he asked.

The tip of her tongue darted out to run across her lips, but she kept her silence.

Apparently, not enough.

The spurt of energy left him, and the weight of the night jumped on Josh’s back. If she’d just shared a little, he might have been able to let it go. But now? Now he had to keep digging, and in places she might not like.

Wearily, he pushed himself to his feet. She looked up at him, her beautiful face pale.

He wanted to touch her so badly, his fingers ached. To stop himself, he planted his hands on his hips. ‘I knew some new scandal would eventually bring me back here. I just wasn’t expecting this.’

‘Detective …’

He shook his head. ‘Get some rest, Nina.’

He had a feeling they both were going to need it.