“She might be too little to get on the swing set, but I don’t see why she can’t go out and play.”
“Come on, baby love.” Nicholas cooed as he crouched down to Bella’s level.
Butterflies filled my chest hearing how my baby girl babbled and fussed as she reached for him. He scooped her up, kissing her on top of her head as she balanced her on his hip.
“Papa tambien extrano, mi nina. Daddy missed you too.”
“Come on, Miss Jameela. Let me show you how high I can swing.”
I held onto Amira’s little hand, forcing a smile as I followed her through the house and right out the back door. I logged every detail just in case something stuck out for the report I needed to write later. Like Tremaine said, I had given them little to nothing aside from describing a few whispered phone calls and how lavishly he lived. Wealth didn’t automatically equate to criminality.
My heart was in tatters as I tried to keep a level head and keep the oath that I had taken years ago. It was hard to do my job when the person that I was supposed to be investigating made me feel like a queen and would literally give me anything I asked for. It was hard to do my job when the man I was sent to take down treated my daughter like his own and went out of his way to make her feel special. It was hard to ignore the way Bella loved Nicholas.
The one thing I wanted for my daughter was a present father. Why did that have to come in the form of a man who I would have to walk away from at the end of the day? Just thinking about how this would end made my chest hurt.
Nicholas spent hours pushing the girls on the swings and putting Bella on the slide. I probably took a hundred pictures of them playing. Most for my own records, but I also had to havesomething to turn in. As I scrolled through the pictures looking for good ones to send to Nicholas, a text message came through.
LT: We need something solid.
Me: I need you to stop breathing down my neck. I have access to his house. I should have something soon.
LT: You better, Jameela. Get in on one of those business meetings. They are working on getting a judge to sign off on getting a bug in his offices.
I didn’t know if I liked that idea or not. I knew protocol, but I didn’t want to put a bug in Nicholas’s office. Something inside me wanted him to be innocent, but even if he wasn’t, that didn’t mean I wanted him to go down. I was compromised, and I knew it. I couldn’t let anything happen to Nicholas.
Hopefully I wouldn’t have to risk my career and freedom to save him, because I didn’t want to have to make that kind of decision. He caught my eye from across the yard and flashed his signature slow smile that usually melted me from the inside out. In the moment, it just made the knot at the base of my stomach tighten. I forced a smile, but I wasn’t sure Nicholas bought it because he kissed Amira’s cheek before crossing the yard to where I was.
“Que pasa, mi reina? Como estas?”
“Estoy bien, Nicholas.”
“Your Spanish is getting better, but I don’t know if I believe you. You seem distant lately, Jameela. Are you good?”
“Yeah, I’ve just been tired lately. Bella’s teething.”
He studied my face, searching for any cracks in my demeanor. I fought not to notice. His hands slipped around my waist until his hands squeezed my ass.
“Tell me you’re not pulling away from me, Jameela. If me pushing you to move in with me is too much, I’ll back off. Just don’t run. You know I don’t like that shit,” he said, dropping his eyes to my lips.
“I’m not running, Nicholas.”
“Promise?”
It felt like the perfect chance to speak up. All I had to do was open my mouth and spill everything from the assignment to the accusations and pictures I’d seen in the folder Hale gave me. I was saved by the bell when Nicholas’s phone rang, stealing his attention long enough for me to walk over and join the girls on the swings. From my new vantage point, I could see Nicholas inside the house. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it was clear that he was having a heated conversation. I needed to get closer.
“Amira, do you want to push Bella for a second?”
“Yes!” she shouted, jumping out of her swing and landing on her feet before I could react.
“See how high I jumped, Miss Jameela?”
“I sure did, Amira. That was amazing.”
“Bella is tiny. I have to be very careful with her. I will push her soft like my daddy. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“You’re very smart, Amira.”
“Told you,” she said, smiling proudly.
