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Selina ignored the distinction. “I’ve seen this woman with Marlowe and Ainsley. Who is she and what are you doing with her?”
There was no way in hell he was giving up the news that Nova was likely Ace’s biological daughter, so he sidestepped the question completely. “This is my friend, Nova Ellis. She’s new in town and I introduced her to Marlowe and Ainsley.”
The screech subsided to a mild roar. “That’s awfully convenient. You have a friend,” Selina spat the word, her feelin
gs on Nova’s status more than clear, “and you decide to introduce her to Ace’s sisters. That’s an awfully large conflict of interest, don’t you think?”
“I thought you hired me to investigate Ace. Not your stepdaughters.” If Selina wanted to play the family card, he’d toss it right back at her.
“Ex-stepdaughters. And my point is valid. Where are your loyalties?”
“To the truth.”
Whatever Selina was about to say vanished, her jaw snapping shut at his point.
“We are both looking for the same thing, aren’t we?” Nikolas pressed.
“Of course we’re looking for the same thing,” Selina finally agreed.
“Then perhaps you’d like to know more about my visit today to the AAG.”
For her part, Nova remained quiet throughout the exchange and didn’t seem to have any need to interject into the conversation. And with the dangling opportunity to hear more about the AAG, Nova might as well have been invisible to Selina. “Of course I’d like to know more.”
“Why don’t we continue our discussion in the outer office?”
Nikolas filled Selina in on his visit and the continued concerns that the AAG wasn’t what they seemed.
“You know I have little regard for that ‘be your best self’ stuff. Why does someone need to pay some organization to find that?” Selina huffed.
“Everyone finds their own way in their own time.” Nikolas wasn’t about to dismiss those who didn’t have the shark-like instincts of Selina. “What I’m more concerned about is that you knew there was an email sent from an AAG member, yet never told me.”
Selina’s smile was reminiscent of that shark as she stared back at him, innocence personified. “That’s why you’re the best, Nikolas. You’re so good at finding all the clues and I didn’t need to betray my knowledge of a highly confidential matter involving the Colton Oil company.”
As strategies went it was a smart one and, once again, a reminder not to estimate Payne Colton’s second wife.
Which led him to his final area of concern. While he’d been open to whatever this case threw at him, there was one piece that had increasingly bothered him.
“Maybe you can answer one more question for me.”
“I’ll answer what I can.”
Cool, calm and vague. Yep, she was a business executive all right.
“There’s still the matter of the gun found in Ace’s apartment. Ainsley and Santiago have been working on that matter, as well as the MVPD. It’s moved Ace up on the suspect list.”
“Which is exactly the reason I wanted you to investigate him in the first place. The goal here is to determine who shot Payne.”
“I’m well aware of that. But there is something about that gun I can’t quite wrap my head around.”
“What’s that?”
“A gun is magically discovered under Ace’s floorboards and suddenly you show up at my door asking me to investigate the man. You didn’t have anything to do with putting it there, did you?”
That calm, cool visage crumpled as Selina began to laugh. “Oh, Nikolas, you do have an imagination.”
Nikolas didn’t see what was so funny about any of it and held his ground, not even cracking a smile. “In my line of work, I like to think about it as considering all the angles.”
Selina’s laugh continued on, but she finally sensed that he wasn’t laughing with her. “You’re serious.”
