AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The baby kicked again and, once more, Nova thought her little partner in crime was agreeing with her.
What was the harm in trying?
When that tiny kick came once again, Nova made her decision. Taking the last bite of the breakfast bar, she stood and dropped the wrapper in the trash.
And headed determinedly in the direction of Nikolas Slater, Private Investigator.
* * *
Nikolas rubbed his stomach and ignored the heavy growl, promising himself he’d get some lunch after he finished running a few more names through his database. He was on a roll, and while he’d like nothing more than a steak sandwich from his favorite sub shop, he wanted to get a handle on the Colton project.
He’d already spent an hour hunting through the endless layers of information on the internet, surprised at how many articles h
ad been written on Ace, his family and their elite position in Mustang Valley. The oldest child of Payne Colton, CEO of Colton Oil, and his first wife, Ace had been groomed to ascend to his father’s place from an early age.
Although Selina had been cagey in what she shared, it hadn’t taken much to put two and two together throughout the course of their conversation. She claimed her sole concern was catching Payne’s attempted killer so that Colton Oil could continue to thrive.
She’d even—tearfully—suggested Ace had snapped and gone after “poor Payne.”
What would it do to a man, if he’d believed he’d lost all that? All that position and prestige? And how much worse would it be if that loss also blended with the pain of discovering you weren’t who you believed you were?
Nikolas imagined it, his own privileged upbringing winging through his mind. Only unlike Ace Colton, Nikolas hadn’t run around with a whole pack of siblings. His mother, Clara Rivera Slater, had loved his father to distraction, but Guy Slater’s playboy ways hadn’t abated with marriage. He’d be a loving husband and father for a period of time, then something—or someone—shiny would catch his eye and he’d become aloof and distant again. Nikolas had spent his youth living the cycle, watching his mother’s happiness when his father was around and attentive, and then sad and lonely when he was all wrapped up elsewhere.
Whether by circumstance or a sadly determined effort, his mother hadn’t ever had another child and Nikolas had found himself adrift five years ago when she’d died.
He loved her and had spent his life wanting to protect her. Wanted to prove to her that there was someone in her life she could depend on.
But it was five years later and no amount of money could fix that loss, or how it had put his entire life into perspective. A good living made life comfortable, but it didn’t make life happy. And since his father’s ongoing attitude once his dependable, loving wife had passed was that women only wanted you for your money, Nikolas had done his level best to focus on his job and off anything that carried an air of permanence.
Was he a coward? Nikolas wondered. Or had something simply broken in him the day his mother died?
Regardless of the answer, his dedication to his firm hadn’t been entirely misplaced. He’d built something strong and solid on his own, with hard work, determination and the quicksilver tongue his mother said he’d been blessed with.
What she always added was that she wasn’t sure if the gift had come from the good Lord above or the very devil. To which Nikolas had shot back with a quick wink and a grin that they’d both claim him depending on the day.
The swat she’d drop on his dark curls was never quite hard enough to bite, nor slight enough not to feel, and he smiled as the warm memory washed over him. Even now, he could feel her small palm lying against the back of his head after she gave him that playful pat, full of the affection that had always flowed easily between them.
A steady presence at odds with his father’s flit-in-and-flit out approach.
A light buzz interrupted his thoughts, the front door to his office emitting the standard notice of a new arrival. Was Selina back to dish more dirt or make more demands about her former stepson?
Nikolas glanced one last time at the image of Ace Colton still sitting on his computer screen. Sure, the man looked formidable, but he hardly looked like a patricidal maniac.
Nikolas loved nothing more than a juicy case, but he had to admit, even if it was just to himself, that it was quite possible he’d bitten off too much with this one. Yes, the case was exciting, but he wasn’t going to make up evidence or put a good man through the wringer.
On an inward sigh, Nikolas once more forced himself to look at the situation objectively. It was the same argument he’d made to himself earlier that week when he took the case. He’d been honest with Selina from the get-go that he would do the job and he’d stand by his findings about who shot Payne—whatever they were.
She’d agreed but he hadn’t missed the skepticism in her eyes, as if she figured that the verdict would be a guilty one.
Which was her problem, not his.
Stepping out into his outer office, he’d already braced for round two with Selina when he found a different woman entirely. Small and petite, she had a mane of blond hair pulled back in a messy braid that was somehow enchanting for all its disarray. Pretty green eyes peered back at him from that small face and he felt something strangely protective kick in his gut, banishing all thoughts of food.
That protection shifted slightly—along with a subtle disappointment he couldn’t quite define—as his gaze moved from her face to her small frame.
And the large, round, beach ball of a stomach that unmistakably announced her pregnancy.
“Can I help you?”
