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It looks like you got your wish, Mom.
Nova fought back the lump of tears that clogged her throat and focused on Nikolas instead. “I think she’s still a little mad at you.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
He might have expected it but Nova hadn’t. “Really?”
“Of course. And since I’m still a little mad at me, too, I can hardly blame Marlowe for feeling that way.”
“I told you earlier that it’s fine,” Nova said. “That I’m fine.”
“Maybe you are.”
“Why aren’t you okay with that?”
Nikolas let out a hard sigh and ran a hand through his hair, ruffling those curls she now knew were baby soft. “Because I’m not used to second-guessing my instincts. It bothers me that I did. More than that, it bothers me that I questioned them with you.”
Nova wasn’t particularly used to apologies. As an only child, she hadn’t had siblings to fight with and then apologize to when things got out of hand. And she and her parents had always gotten along quite well, the occasional fight notwithstanding. But this... This was something different.
“Thank you for telling me that.”
Nikolas had been jotting notes intermittently on the legal pad beside his computer, but he laid his pen down and gave her his full focus. “You’re welcome. And you should know I’ll try very hard not to do it again.”
“I believe you.”
She took the seat beside him and looked at the notes he had scribbled down. “Your handwriting is atrocious.”
“Why, thank you.”
“I’m serious. This is like serial killer scrawl if I’ve ever seen it.”
“And the compliments keep on coming.” His hazel eyes crinkled as he smiled and Nova fought the urge to reach out and touch the line of his jaw. That perpetual five o’clock shadow was so tempting.
She might be able to control herself around his temptingly strong jawline, but she couldn’t hide her laughter. And just like that, the tension at the prospect of meeting another of her father’s sisters faded.
“What exactly did you write down?” She turned the pad toward her but could make little sense of what was there. “Because yeah, I see what looks like words but I’m not taking anything away.”
“I’ve searched all articles about Ace, Payne or the Colton family since Payne’s shooting.”
“And what did you find?”
“Not much that’s all that substantive, despite the amount of coverage. The speculation about Ace’s parentage has been covered, but not in any real depth. Colton Oil had evidently done a good job of keeping the information on lockdown. Where it is mentioned, it’s referenced by anonymous sources, which makes me say that the mercurial Selina Barnes Colton has been doing her job.”
“And doing it well.” Nova scanned the list once more now that she knew what she was looking for. “How often is that angle of the non-heir referenced?”
“A few times. It’s kind of set up to leave a question in the mind of the reader, before every reporter goes on to say that no one has been accused of any crime against Payne. Or had until the recent arrest attempt after the gun was found in Ace’s home.”
“Do the articles say there are any other suspects?”
“No, and that’s the strange part. I know the MVPD has been working this case. They haven’t simply assumed that Ace is responsible for the shooting.”
“But the news doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Apparently not.” Nikolas tapped his pen on the notepad. “You have to admit, the family aspect is what makes the story juicy.”
Was that how people would look at her? As a juicy story, fueling local gossip and speculation. The long-lost daughter, arriving back in town and pregnant, as well.
“You look sad all of a sudden.”
