“Neither did I.”
“Now that I got you, I’m not letting you get away, so get that out of your mind.”
My stomach was in knots because this was the first time in forever that I felt whole. For years, I chased validation and confirmation in my career and gave little time for love. Being with Nicholas made me feel like I wasn’t patching the wounds. Now I was actually healing them. At least for tonight, I would let myself believe that everything would be OK.
Every day I lost a little more of myself in the battle of morality versus love. Every lie and misdirection sank me deeper into quicksand. All I had to do was tell Nicholas what was going on. Even if he couldn’t explain himself, I needed to give him a chance to make a plan. I couldn’t just let this amazing, generous father be blindsided.
After a couple days at his house, I had been able to get pictures of a few shady transactions with five- and six-figure price tags, but there was nothing solid. I did hear him saying something about a large shipment, but we were looking for financial crimes. There was likely something that I was missing.
Hopefully, tonight’s meeting would either clear him or solidify the case, because I was exhausted with going back and forth with myself. At this point, I had no idea where to stake my allegiance. I felt lower than low for allowing Nicholas to continueto fall in love with me, knowing I would be responsible for his fate.
“Did you hear me, baby?”
“Um, . . . no, sorry. I was distracted.”
“You’ve been jumpy. You sure you good, habibti? If something is going on, you know I can handle it for you.”
“It’s nothing, Nicholas. I’m just wondering if Bella is OK.”
“I was just telling you my mom sent me a picture of the girls sleeping on the couch.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“It’s fine. I was just worried that you were preoccupied with something. You with me?”
“I’m here.” I nodded. I just didn’t know how long that would be a fact.
The building was packed. I wasn’t used to Nicholas taking me to a club. This wasn’t our usual outing. Even if I wasn’t in my normal jurisdiction, any club was a place where I was likely to be recognized. Thankfully, Nicholas led me upstairs.
Two giant men flanked the door. One of them reached out and opened the door for Nicholas to walk inside. The room overlooked the club through a floor-to-ceiling glass window. As we crossed the room, the floor vibrated with the bass of the music. He led me to a plush black sectional positioned in front of the glass window. Once he was seated, Nicholas pulled me into his lap.
“I know this really isn’t your scene, baby. I promise we will be in and out of here,” he explained, kissing my cheek as his hands rounded my waist.
Nicholas’s hand swept up my neck to the side of my face. I almost jumped out of my skin when his hand brushed against one of my earrings. The simple gold studs were listening devices. Although the microphone was undetectable, wearing them period made me paranoid as hell.
He chuckled. “Relax, Jameela.”
“Been a while since I’ve been out to a club.”
“You’re safe with me, baby. Give me one second; I see my associate. I’m just going to walk over to the bar.”
“You sure you don’t need me on your arm for good luck?” I asked, hoping to show the team that I was trying to close the case.
“Actually, walk over, let me order you a drink, then you can come back over here and people watch until I finish up.”
“Sounds good.”
As soon as Nicholas ordered a Manhattan for me and a double shot of bourbon on the rocks for himself, the door swung open. Three men walked into the room, immediately shifting the atmosphere. I recognized Vargas from the files. The team had wanted to catch him and Nicholas in the same place at the same time so they could link Cashville to the money laundering going on in the casino. I tried to be as invisible as possible as the men moved deeper into the room and toward the bar.
“Vargas,” Nicholas said, standing to his feet to shake Antonio’s hand.
“You’re a hard man to nail down, Nicholas King.”
“You have my attention now. Make the most of it.”
“Who do we have here?” Vargas asked.
I didn’t have to look in his direction to know that he was referring to me.
