Immediately her gaze filled with uncertainty, and she pressed her fingers to her lips, as if regretting the words she’d spoken now that she’d witnessed his volatile reaction.
“Nicole, answer me, ” he said through gritted teeth, and took a step toward her, willing to shake the explanation from her if need be.
She held up a hand to ward him off, looking more nervous than he’d ever seen her. “Give me a minute.”
Even though his patience was hanging by a thin thread, he stopped and gave her the space she seemed to need, while his mind spun with all kinds of scenarios. Was she a plant on this case? Was he being set up? And the worst possibility of all-had his cover with Sloane already been blown somehow?
His gaze narrowed and his gut churning with acid, he watched as she made her way to the plush armchair in the living room and sat down. Taking off her sparkly pink headband, she ran her fingers through her hair, disheveling the silky strands as they fell softly around her face. That little change was enough to age her appearance a few years. Or maybe it was the worry lines creasing her brows that made her look her true age. She licked her bottom lip and rubbed her palms along the skirt of her dress-sure signs of anxiety.
After inhaling a deep, fortifying breath, she brought her eyes to his with dread glimmering in the depths. “What I’m about to tell you is really going to piss you off,” she said in warning. “But I want to be completely up-front with you about what I know, so try not to flip out on me, okay?”
This didn’t sound good at all, and he remained as calm as possible under the circumstances. “I appreciate your honesty.” That said, he refused to make any promises about his reaction to what she confessed, because he had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to like it.
She gave him a quick nod to acknowledge how important the truth was to him. “The night we slept together, when I was on my way out, I accidentally knocked over a folder that was sitting on the table in the entryway, and it was difficult to ignore the contents that spilled out.”
That quickly, it all clicked together in his mind and everything about her involvement finally made sense. Anger welled inside him, and he let loose a ripe curse that made her wince. “How much did you read?”
“Enough to know that you’re somehow involved with Preston Sloane and it has to do with a runaway teen named Angela Ramsey.”
Nicole was right. He was royally pissed off and trying like hell not to flip out, as she’d put it. “And you decided all that juicy information would make a sensational story for you as a journalist? Beats the hell out of your assignment on dating trends, doesn’t it?” His tone dripped with contempt.
She bristled with indignation, and the fire igniting in her eyes flared with her own brand of rebellion. “Look, I wasn’t the one who left the file out in the open to be found, so I’m not entirely to blame.”
Her accurate comment hit a nerve, but his temper got the best of him and he jabbed a finger at her in accusation. “You confiscated confidential information.”
“I saw an opportunity and I took it,” she admitted unapologetically. “I won’t deny that. You would have done the same thing.”
In her shoes, yeah, he probably would have, he silently conceded. The truth was, he was more furious with himself than with her-for leaving the file in a place anyone could have discovered it. Never mind that he hadn’t been expecting company that night. Bottom line, it was his fault and he should have done a better job of protecting the file.
Even knowing he was responsible, a part of him felt scammed, though that hadn’t been Nicole’s intent when she’d accompanied him to his place. Yeah, she’d slept with him and had inadvertently stumbled across the information on Sloane, but what bothered him the most was that she’d never made any attempt to contact him again when she had two solid reasons to-her interest in Sloane and the connection they’d established. Admittedly, his male ego was involved, which accounted for a part of the resentment he was harboring.
Despite his own complex feelings over Nicole, he pushed them aside to focus on the issue at hand. “I want you to back off this story.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Stubborn, frustrating woman. Knowing he was in for a battle, he sat down on the sofa across from her and cocked his head to the side. “Can’t, or won’t ?”
The wry twist to her lips almost made him smile, because he knew exactly what she was going to say.
“I won’t. I need to expose Sloane for the slime that he is,” she said adamantly. “And it’s not just about the story for me. The man needs to be stopped.”
He couldn’t agree more. Undoubtedly, there was a deeper, personal element to this case for her, just as there was for him. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not letting you near him again. I’ve got a job to do and I don’t need you making things more complicated.”
“Complicated?” She laughed incredulously. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m already in, ” she said, reminding him of Sloane’s interest in her. “If anything, you need me to get close to Sloane.”
His gut cramped at the thought of Nicole immersing herself in Sloane’s world. The last time he’d used someone to help-when he’d hoped to nail the pimp responsible for running an international prostitution ring in Vegas-the results had been disastrous. Katie had died because he hadn’t been able to protect her, and he’d sworn after that awful experience that he’d never, ever risk another person for a case again. And that included using the eager, intrepid reporter sitting in front of him to get into Sloane’s estate.
Now he worked solo, and he meant to keep it that way. “I was doing just fine on my own.”
She casually crossed one leg over the other and arched a blond brow. “Really? The way I see things, I have a personal, private invitation to Sloane’s estate to see his art collection, and we have a joint invitation to a party he’s having at his nightclub this weekend. Not to sound full of myself, but I think he’s more interested in me than you, and I can easily do this on my own if you’re not keen on forming a partnership.”
Shit . They were at an impasse once again. Feeling stonewalled, he scrubbed a hand along his jaw and tried to keep his temper in check. He knew she wasn’t going to back down or give up her golden ticket into Sloane’s lair, and that knowledge forced him to reassess the situation, and her involvement in his case-despite his strong reluctance to do so.
He couldn’t argue the point that she was the bait he needed to slip easily and seamlessly into Sloane’s world. She could do things he couldn’t, such as bond with the girls at the parties and at the estate, and gain their trust in a way that would lead straight to Angela Ramsey.
Engaging in a partnership with Nicole, even against his better judgment, would definitely speed up the process. And since time was of the essence, Nathan knew he wasn’t in a position to turn down her offer-even though it pained him to give in to her demands. He absolutely hated the idea of taking her undercover with him, but at least this way he’d have some semblance of control over the situation and know where she was at all times. Rather than constantly running interference or worrying about her welfare.
He leaned forward on the sofa cushion and braced his elbows on his thighs, meeting her gaze head-on. “Because I know you’re going to get involved with Sloane regardless of what I say or do, I would prefer you do it under my protection. I might need you to entice Sloane and get us into his estate much quicker than I could do it on my own-but you need me to make sure you’re kept safe.”