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Yes, she knew he was curious about the father of her baby. That much had been clear last night, but they had come to a sort of truce over it. He’d seemed willing to leave those questions unanswered, giving her the room she needed to decide what to do about Ferdy.
How jarring to realize there was no truce at all.
A fact made even clearer by Nikolas’s plea to Marlowe. “How can you ask that? What if it has everything to do with finding your brother? What if she’s working with someone? Jace Smith already made a run for your family. What if she’s just a new tactic?”
“I thought she was working with you,” Marlowe insisted.
Bowie chose that minute to come back into the room, concern lining his face. “What’s going on out here? I just got the baby back to sleep.”
“Nikolas has a few questions.” Marlowe waved a hand in his direction, before moving to stand closer to her fiancé.
“Well, get them out,” Bowie said, his arm coming around Marlowe’s shoulders in support.
Solidarity Nova was suddenly envious of as she realized that, once again, she had precious little of that in her life. And certainly not from a life partner.
While she shouldn’t have leaped to the conclusion that she had that camaraderie with Nikolas, she had come to believe that he was in her corner. Yet here they were, suddenly on opposite sides.
A small muscle ticked in Nikolas’s jaw and for the first time since he’d come back into the condo, Nova saw something other than anger.
Doubt?
Confusion?
Or the sudden realization that he’d been a raging ass?
Nova finally spoke. “I think it’s time to leave. I’ll go ahead and show myself out.”
“Please don’t go. I’m glad you’re here, and I’d like you to stay,” Marlowe said.
Once again, the simple offer stunned her. How was it so easy for Marlowe—someone she’d met an hour ago—to take her at face value? Nova didn’t want to be ungrateful, but the roller-coaster emotions of the day had shaken her.
But it was Nikolas’s sudden change of heart that had done the rest.
All she could think of at the moment was running. Finding some quiet time by herself, even if she had to do it in her car, and just getting away.
“I drove you over here. I’ll drive you back to town,” Nikolas said.
“I think I’ll be fine,” Nova said. “Town isn’t that big and it won’t take me that long to get to my car. It’s parked just across from your office, where we left it this morning. All I need are five minutes to get my stuff out of your place.”
“This is ridiculous,” Bowie finally spoke up. “Nova, we will take care of getting you back to your car.”
* * *
Nikolas felt all eyes on him and recognized his mistake. Honestly, he’d realized his error the moment he’d stomped out of the house under the guise of making a phone call. Yet something had kept him going. Some small flickering flame, growing bigger by the moment as his thoughts gave it air and room to breathe.
“I can take Nova back to her car. She and I can discuss a few things while we’re at it.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” Bowie said.
Nikolas hadn’t come here to pick a fight, nor had he come with the expectation he would bungle things so badly. “Nova’s things are still at my house. I do think that she and I should talk alone, and then I’m happy to bring her back here.”
Bowie and Marlowe both looked at Nova, as if waiting for her assent. It took a moment and Nikolas bore up under Nova’s scrutiny as she considered his offer. Although he had seen a myriad of emotions from her over the past twenty-four hours, he hadn’t yet seen betrayal.
That was exactly what he saw now.
And he had no one but himself to blame.
“I’d like to go get my things. And I’m fine if Nikolas drives me back to his house.”
