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“That’s when you learned about Ace Colton?”
“Yes. Their teenage love affair burned hot and wild one summer. They met while both were on family vacations at a ritzy resort. They’d had an affair before he had to come back to Arizona and the life planned for him here.”
“Why didn’t your mother ever tell him about you?”
Nova screwed up her face. “It’s not going to make any sense.”
“I’m a private eye. Trust me, I get told a lot of things that don’t make sense. It’s why I have a job.”
“My mother had her fair share of eccentricities. She was raised in a wealthy family and never really dealt with the real world, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.”
Nova’s description made Nikolas think of his own father and Guy Slater’s views on life. Although not Colton wealthy, Nikolas’s father had done okay for himself. But the fact that he spent every spare dime he had on his latest obsession had definitely skewed his perception of “what women wanted.” While Nikolas didn’t share his father’s perspective, he had seen his parents’ mess of a marriage and wanted no part of that for himself.
“For some reason, she came to the conclusion in her own mind that by not telling Ace she was somehow winning a point against him. At the end of their relationship, he told her that he had a girlfriend waiting back home. He left, she reasoned, so it was his own bad luck he’d never know he was a father.”
“She’s sort of right.”
“Maybe. Or she saved him from a lifetime of responsibility. It’s hard to miss something you never knew you had in the first place.”
That determined rubbing over her belly changed, her hand settling in place over the front of her stomach. Like she was protecting her unborn child and warding off danger.
Nikolas sensed the change, as well, the air around her growing still. And suddenly, he knew that there was more going on here than a hunt for Ace Colton.
Nova Ellis was running from something.
He’d bet his life on it.
* * *
Nova saw the change in him immediately. Although she’d said nothing about Ferdy, somehow, some way, Nikolas Slater knew her secret.
Or sensed it, since she hadn’t actually given any specifics.
“I am sorry for your loss. But it’s curious you waited so long to come find Ace. Why wait?”
“Like I said, showing up on his doorstep would make him realize what responsibility he’d escaped all those years ago.”
“It would also let him know he’s a father. Most men would want to know that, even if the discovery upends their life a bit.”
A bit?
She wanted to laugh at that even as she considered Nikolas’s words. Yes, most men would like to know if they were a father. It was why she’d breathed a sigh of relief that she’d managed to escape Ferdy before telling him about the baby. But what if he knew?
Somehow, she didn’t think he’d rest quiet if he knew he had a child out in the world somewhere. Nor did she think he’d give up until he had control over her and the baby.
The first few days on the run, when she hadn’t thought to turn her phone off, she’d gotten increasingly nasty texts from him. If he was so irate over some texts, how would he be over the baby?
Throat dry, she lifted the bottle of water to her lips.
Would she put the baby in danger if she told this PI about Ferdy?
With that foremost in her thoughts, she opted to keep her own counsel. She’d come here looking for Ace Colton. That had nothing to do with her own failed relationship and poor choice in a boyfriend. And even though she hadn’t known about the trouble her biological father was in when she’d started the journey to Arizona, she’d learned pretty quickly that this was the worst time to try and enter his life.
If it was just for herself, she’d put her tail between her legs and leave. But she had a child to consider and had lost the room to be choosy.
Pushing as much brass into her tone as she could muster, she stared Nikolas Slater straight in the eye. “I had my reasons for waiting. But now I have my reasons for looking for my father.”
