“Of course not.” Nico pushes up from his chair and comes around his desk to meet me. He catches my hand. “I would love for you—” He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a rush.
His gaze flickers with uncertainty.
“What?” I press.
His jaw works. He glances over his shoulder at his laptop. “I have more news. About my—him.”
Nico hasn’t called Elio Parisi his father since the night he got home. It’s justthat manorthat assholeor simplyhim.
“Okay?”
“The charges are piling up,” he replies. “Now that word is out, other people are volunteering to testify against him. Victims, like the woman who hired you. Clients hoping for leniency by turning against him. With all the evidence I found, plus that, he won’t get off. I’m sure of it.”
I don’t doubt what Nico is saying. First, because he’s been calling on all his contacts for assistance—former Army buddies turned law enforcement, government connections, and I know Wraith contacted some of his CIA associates for help, as well. And second, if there’s information out there, I know Nico will find it.
“That’s good,” I reply. “I mean, that he won’t be able to do those things anymore.”
“No, he won’t.” Nico’s eyes flash with anger. “Not with that man in prison and his company shut down.”
I rub my thumb across the back of his hand. “So… do you want dinner? And maybe to watch a movie after?” Because, apparently, I’m too chicken to push for anything more serious.
Nico sighs again.
If possible, his expression grows even grimmer.
Flutters of nerves explode in my chest.Is this it? Is this when he asks me to leave?
“Soph,” he finally says in a low, heavy tone. “I know I said it’s safer for you to stay here right now. But if you want to go to the Fox & Falcon apartment, or stay with one of my friends?—”
“Do youwantme to leave?” Pain stabs into me. “I thought you… If you want me to go… If it’s too much…”
“No.” It’s immediate. Fierce. “No,” he repeats, “I don’t want you to go. But it would be selfish of me to push you into staying.”
“What do you mean push me into staying?”
Nico leans against the desk. His shoulders droop. “Sofia. I know it can’t be easy for you, staying here. And I don’t want to put you through even more than you have been already.”
I drop his hand. “Doyouwant me to go?”
Part of my mind shifts gears, contemplating plane tickets and mad-dashes across the country and days, weeks, months of tending to my broken heart again.
“No.” It’s sadder this time. “I don’t want you to go. At all. But how could you want to stay? Knowing what my… father did? Knowing that if not for me, you wouldn’t have been dragged into it at all?”
“That’s not true.”
He cocks his head. One eyebrow raises. “Isn’t it?”
“Fine. Part of it is,” I concede. “The part in high school. Yes. But now? I got myself into it.I’mthe one who started investigating that case. I would have been in danger regardless of your involvement.”
“But it was my father, Sofia.” His voice rises. “Myfather. He did that to you. How can you ever forgive me for?—”
Cutting himself off, Nico strides across the room to the window. He puts his hands on the windowsill as he looks outside. After a long pause, he adds, “I know it’s all ruined, Soph. I don’t blame you for it. Not for a second. This is all on me. And as much as I want you here, as much as I…Shit. I don’t deserve a second chance.”
Oh, Nico.
I walk over to him and put my hand on his arm. Side by side, we both stare out the window at the buzz of traffic outside. “It’s not your fault.”
He turns to me, stricken. “It was my father, Soph. How can you ever forgive?—”
