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Setting it aside, in spite of the clanging undercurrents that kept telling him she was facing some sort of personal danger, Nikolas pressed on with the details about Marlowe’s close encounter with danger at the start of the year. “It was. She found out she was pregnant, and then suddenly had to deal with a stalker. I haven’t talked to her about it directly, but it was common news around town, and Ainsley did share a few things with me. It was a really terrible time for her and her fiancé, Bowie.”
“I’m so glad she and the baby are okay.”
“We all are.” Nikolas waited a moment before pressing on. “The Coltons aren’t immune to challenges, Nova. I hope you understand that. I believe they will accept you. Truly, I believe that. Several of them have privately vowed that the gossip about him and the news he’s not a Colton by birth hasn’t changed how they feel about him. But you need to understand that being part of their world can come with some unexpected attention.”
“I guess I do understand that.” She glanced down toward the ground before her gaze came back up to land on him. “I am ready for it. I realize prominent families receive more than their fair share of attention. What I don’t want is for them to think that their social status is why I’ve come to find them.”
r /> Nikolas gently took her elbow and moved her back over to the desk chairs, settling her into one seat, then taking the empty one beside her. “If I thought that, I can tell you right now I wouldn’t be helping you.”
“If you’re handling a separate case about Ace Colton, you probably shouldn’t be helping me at all.”
“Don’t worry about that. I can handle myself. And I’d rather be the one taking care of an investigation, because I know I’ll do it the right way. I’m not on some witch hunt to find some cheap shot of evidence that could get Ace Colton convicted. I’m going to look into things the right way. And I won’t allow an innocent man to pay for the crime of another.”
It was only as he said those words, conviction coming from a place so deeply inside he wasn’t entirely aware it was there, that Nikolas finally understood what had compelled him to take Selina’s case. For the past few days, each time he considered her desperate need to find any evidence of Ace’s guilt, Nikolas had warred within himself. But now he understood. Now he knew why it had to be him.
He would do what was right.
And he would make sure that those in Ace Colton’s orbit would be required to do the same.
* * *
Nova wasn’t sure how Nikolas Slater had landed into her life—or more aptly, how she’d landed in his—but she was beyond grateful she’d found him.
The prospect of depending on him too much still bothered her, but she was doing her best to ignore the small voice that kept telling her she shouldn’t take too much. The help he was offering. The home he was willing to open up to her. Even his connections with the Coltons and with him going out of his way to see that she found answers.
Who did that? And what was in it for him?
Even as she asked herself the question, she knew she wasn’t entirely being fair. He had a case of his own to work on, and had been more than up-front about what he was tasked to do. Which added yet another thought. Maybe the situation with her was a little like Sun Tzu’s famous maxim: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
Even if that didn’t really fit, either.
Only one glance into those hazel eyes and Nova was forced to reconsider. What sort of enemy made sure that she had food? More than that, who but a good person would have seen through her ruse and brazen lie that a package of crackers was more than enough to hold her over?
Goodness, it was all such a jumble in her head. After so many months of depending solely on herself, was it possible she’d lost the ability to recognize simple human kindness when it was offered?
“Those are some awfully serious thoughts I can see flitting through your mind.”
Nova glanced around the room, her gaze alighting on a few of the framed articles she saw on the walls. “I didn’t see reading minds listed as one of your professional capabilities.”
“It’s not mind reading when it’s as plain as the crinkles on your forehead.”
She deliberately opened her lips into a mock O.
“I thought I was too young for wrinkles.”
“I believe I said crinkles,” he said with a smile. “And while you may be young, you seem to have a lifetime of worry piled on your shoulders.”
“I’m okay. Really, I am.”
“We’re going to make sure that you stay that way.”
“I do thank you for that. More than I can say. But since part of that is making sure I’m capable of taking care of myself, I’m going to get out of your hair and go look for a job.”
“I said I’d go with you.”
“I know, but you look busy and, besides—” she let out a small sigh, not sure how to say what she meant without hurting his feelings “—you don’t have to.”
“Okay. Fair enough.” A few crinkles of his own rode Nikolas’s forehead as he obviously realized something. “What is it that you do?”
