The edge of censure in his tone frustrated her. “Yes. I didn’t have any other options.”
At her confession, he sat back in his chair, his stare pinning her in place. “And now you’re going to tell me why you’re here and how you came to be in this state.”
It was a command, pure and simple. Once upon a time, that wouldn’t have bothered Sasha. She’d grown up compliant, always following the rules and never rocking boats. But now that her whole life had been upended, Nick’s tone made her bristle.
Somehow, she swallowed down her anger, took a deep breath, and tried to remember the words she’d rehearsed. “You probably don’t recall, but when you visited Mike at our house, Harper was a newborn.”
“I remember.”
He did? “About a year later, Mike’s behavior changed suddenly. He turned anxious, secretive. For months, I didn’t know he’d fallen into dicey political waters at work. He never gave me details, but I gathered his difficulty had something to do with his boss, Walter Clifford, the Orleans Parish district attorney. Then I overheard Mike talking to you on the phone a few weeks before…” She didn’t want to finish that sentence and relive her husband’s death again. “He told you that Clifford was dirty.”
“As sin. He’s responsible for Mike’s murder.”
“I gathered. Apparently, the man suspects Mike left behind some evidence that proves his corruption. In the last fifteen months, I’ve tried to figure out where he might have hidden it, to no avail. But I knew my husband. If he’d been about to blow a whistle, he had solid proof.”
“Meanwhile, Clifford has had thugs and hit men chasing you, right? He’s told you to hand your evidence over or he’s going to turn you into fish bait.”
“Harper first.” Her voice broke. “If I don’t produce the proof three days after her murder, then me.”
Something terrible flickered across Nick’s face quickly, then it was gone. Sasha couldn’t decipher the expression, but resisted the urge to back away from him—barely.
“Why do you assume I’m any better than Clifford?”
Sasha’s heart stopped. Why had she? “I—I just thought…”
“That since Mike was my childhood friend, I’d want vengeance for him? That I’d help you out of the goodness of my heart?” He shrugged. “C’mon, I knew Porter well. So I know he told you to steer clear of me unless it was a dire emergency. But you assumed that since I’m a convicted rapist, I didn’t have many boundaries to cross, and murder wouldn’t bother me. How do you know I have a conscience at all? How do you know I can’t be bought by the other side?”
Sasha froze. She been so desperate, so sure Mike would have steered her in the right direction, that she’d rationalized the very real risks of coming here. Obviously, she’d been naïve. Foolish.
She had to leave now.
Darting to her feet, Sasha charged out of the kitchen and dashed down the hall. Harper. She had to reach her little girl, pluck her out of bed, and escape—somehow—before Nick Navarro stopped her. Would he turn her over to the people wanting to kill her baby? Or did he have some nefarious plan of his own?
In seconds, she heard pounding footsteps hunting her from behind. Oh, god. Oh, god! He was going to catch her before she and Harper could escape.
Suddenly, he clamped hard fingers around her wrist and yanked. She spun to face him, nearly tripping and falling. Nick caught her with his body, bracing her against the hot, solid width of his chest.
Before he could tighten his grip on her, she started clawing and kicking, aiming for his genitals. He dodged her, clamping his thighs around hers and capturing both her wrists in his huge hands.
Then he nudged her off balance. While she went from fighting him to fighting for firm footing, Nick took her to the carpet in the narrow hallway and lowered himself on top of her, pinning her trembling form under him.
Sasha fought him with every bit of her strength, but she was nearly a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter. He had gravity on his side.
Panic clawed her. She couldn’t breathe.
No!
She’d failed Harper. Her baby didn’t deserve to die because her father hadn’t been sneaky enough to sidestep criminals and her mother hadn’t been worldly enough to escape them.
Sasha kept fighting long after Nick had her contained. She tried not to sob. She still didn’t understand all the rules of survival, but she knew crying wouldn’t do any good.
Finally, Nick clamped down on her with strong arms and long legs, holding her immobile. “Stop!”
Panting, her breath quivering, Sasha looked up into his endless inky eyes. She expected to see laughter, triumph, anticipation.
She saw regret.
So he wasn’t looking forward to killing her and Harper. She doubted that would stop him.
