by James, Anna
“Did you miss me, baby?”
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “No!”
“Awe. I missed you, so much I got you a present. Did you get it?” he cooed.
Her stomach roiled. “I don’t want anything from you, just leave me alone.”
“Pay me my money and I’d be happy to.”
She slammed her hand on the steering wheel in frustration. “I don’t have any money.”
“We both know you do.”
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“Don’t play dumb because I know you aren’t. I don’t know how you did it, but I’m not going to stop until you give me back what is rightfully mine.”
“Rightfully yours? What are you talking about?”
“Stop it,” he ordered. “If you don’t have it, then ask your millionaire boyfriend.”
No way! “Be reasonable. What man is going to give that kind of money to someone he just met a few weeks ago?”
“I thought you might say that, which is why I sent my present.”
“What present? I didn’t get anything from you.”
“Let’s call it a little incentive to find the money. Check your e-mail.”
The line went dead. Her body started to shake. Oh god, oh god, oh god. What had he sent?
Nicole pulled the car to the side of the rode, grabbed her phone and clicked on the e-mail icon. Sure enough, a new message had arrived. Anger shot through her when she registered the sender’s name: Sugar Lips. It had been his pet name for her. Don’t let it upset you. She opened the note, and cried out in shock when several incriminating pictures of her flashed on the screen. In each one she appeared to be accepting payment in exchange for drugs.
Her phone rang again and her stomach heaved when Carlo’s voice crackled on the line. “Good, you got them. Quite damning, aren’t they?” Carlo said cheerfully.
“Where did you get these photos?” Would this nightmare ever end?
“I’m sure the NYPD would love to get their hands on them. With this kind of evidence they could reopen the case. They could even arrest you again. And this time they’ll make the charges stick.”
Don’t let him scare you, she ordered silently. “So you have pictures of me with your criminal friends.”
“That’s a rather hefty sum of money exchanging hands.”
“They’re not real, Carlo. You know that as well as I do.”
He let out a maniacal laugh that sent chills down her spine.
“You’d have to prove they’re fakes. Do you really think the cops are going to believe you?”
“The police aren’t stupid. The first question they’ll ask is why you didn’t turn these in six years ago.”
“Maybe, Maybe not. Do you really want to take the chance?”
“Carlo—”
“Maybe I should send them to the press, instead,” he said.
Her body trembled violently. No, please no. If he did that, the whole story would come out and she’d be ruined. She’d lose everything.
“Now get me my fifty thousand, and I’ll destroy the copies.”
What am I gonna do? She couldn’t prove he’d faked the photos. The cops wouldn’t believe her. They didn’t before and the press . . . She needed to buy more time. “You’ll have to give me a couple of weeks to liquidate some assets.”
“How much cash do you have in your savings account?”
“Ten thousand doll—” Shit! The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“Meet me at the bank in fifteen minutes. I’ll take the ten grand as a down payment.”
“No.” She couldn’t give him the money. Kate needed it for her fall tuition.
“Okay.”
She let out a sharp breath. Okay? “I’ll be in touch once I’ve—”
“You do that. In the meantime, I have an appointment with a news reporter at WWGN in an hour.”
Her heart pounded. “No. I told you—”
He laughed. “You don’t tell me what to do. I tell you. Either you give me the ten thousand now or I meet with the reporter and give the photos to him. It’s your choice.”
Her shoulders sagged. Choice? There wasn’t any if she wanted to keep him quiet. He’d tell her secret to anyone who would listen. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Chapter 14
The next morning, Nicole glared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Fool! Only an idiot would fall into the trap Carlo set. Imbecile! How could you be so stupid?
He’d sent the photos to upset her and scared the crap out of her by mentioning the police, upping the ante with threats of involving the press, then moved in for the kill.
He’d manipulated her into giving him all of her savings. His goal all along, and she’d fallen for his game hook, line, and sinker.
“Nicole?”
She whipped around and found Kate behind her. “How long have you been standing there?”
Kate wrung her hands together and shifted from side-to-side. “Not long. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
The uncertainty on her face had Nicole leaning back against the sink and giving Kate her full attention. “Sure, what do you need?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about this for a while, but you’ve been so busy and—”
“Sounds serious. What’s up?”
Kate took a deep breath. “I have an opportunity to do my next semester for school abroad—in Italy. Rome to be exact. I realize money is tight but I got a partial scholarship, and a job bartending at the pub down the street. With the scholarship, the job and the money you’ve already set aside for next semester, I think this is doable and it’s such a fantastic opportunity. There’s even an internship that goes along with it.”
Nicole flinched.
Kate’s face fell. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have asked.”
I won’t let her suffer because of my mistakes. “When do you need to make a commitment?”
“I have to put a five thousand dollar deposit down by Friday. The rest isn’t due until August.”
Four days. How could she come up with that amount of money in such a short time frame?
This wouldn’t have been a problem if you hadn’t been such an idiot and given the money to Carlo, the voice inside her sneered.
There was only one choice. Sell her mother’s diamond pendant, even though every fiber of her being rebelled against the idea. She took a deep breath and hardened her resolve. “You’ll have the money.”
A hesitant smile formed on Kate’s face. “So I can go?”
Nicole nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh my God,” Kate shrieked. She threw her arms around Nicole and hugged her tightly. “You’re the best sister in the world. I’m so excited. I can’t wait.”
Nicole closed her eyes and prayed she wouldn’t disappoint her. The two-carat pendant had been appraised at just over seven thousand dollars. She hoped the jeweler would give her at least five for the gently used piece.
Later in the day, Nicole grabbed a sandwich from the deli around the corner from her office building and walked the short distance to the bank. Her cell phone rang just before she entered. She snagged the iPhone from her coat where she’d pocketed it on the way out the door. “Hi, Kate. What’s up?”
“Can I use the car tonight? My study group is meeting at the library and then we’re going out for some dinner.”
“No problem.” She didn’t have to work at the restaurant and had planned to spend the evening working on Ashley’s wedding dress anyway.
“Thanks, Nik. I gotta go. I’m late for class.”
The call disconnected. Nicole shoved the phone back in her pocket and pulled open the door.
Once inside, she acces
sed the safety deposit box housing her mother’s jewelry.
She stroked her fingers over the beloved diamond necklace. The pear-shaped solitaire pendant had been a gift from her father on their twentieth wedding anniversary.
Nicole remembered the awe and wonder that shone in her mother’s eye the evening her father had given her the beautiful gem. It had been just before Nicole had gone off to attend her first year of college.
They’d taken the family out for an elegant dinner. They could have gone off on their own, but they’d wanted to celebrate with the family. Her father had presented the gift-wrapped package during dessert and said the most romantic words about how he’d fallen for her the moment he’d laid eyes on her. She’d been the light in his life and the rock that steadied him through the good times and the bad. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it and couldn’t wait to see what adventures the future held for them on their journey together. Little did they know fate had conspired to cut their journey short.
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. How on earth could she part with it? It’d meant the world to her mother, and her, too. But there wasn’t a choice if she didn’t want to disappoint Kate. Taking a deep breath, Nicole shoved the necklace into her purse, returned the box to its rightful spot, and hurried out before she could change her mind.
Once back in the main lobby, Nicole put on her coat and scarf and braved the cold, windy day. The store wasn’t far and she decided to walk the short distance.
A crowd of people browsed among the display cases when she arrived and it took almost thirty minutes before someone could speak with her. After a lengthy negotiation Nicole pocketed the fifty-five hundred dollar check, bundled her coat around her body, and headed back to the office.
She hadn’t gone more than a few blocks when someone yanked her arm from behind and shoved her into one of the brick buildings lining the street. Her shoulder hit the wall with a thud. He—at least she thought the masked person was a man judging by his sizable height and brute strength—whirled her around to face him and before she had time to catch her breath, he pulled out a knife.
Her heart hammered in her chest as he slashed the knife across her body slicing through the coat in several places, cut the strap of her purse, then slammed her to the ground and took off running.
Nicole lay on the sidewalk in a dazed state for a moment and tried to gather her wits, then slowly rose to her feet. She peered around trying to spot which way the man had gone but he was nowhere to be found.
The throngs of humanity surrounding her went about their business as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. No help on that front. Typical. No one wanted to get involved.
She pulled her phone from her coat pocket and, miracles of miracles, it hadn’t broken when she’d hit the ground. She dialed Max. When he didn’t answer she left a message then dialed Reed. Strike two. Resigned, she made her way back to the office on foot.
She arrived two hours later after a lengthy stop at one of the city police stations to report the robbery. By the time she’d made it up to the tenth floor, where the offices of Paradis and McNamara were located, every muscle in her body ached.
“Nicole, I’m sorry I missed your call. I was in the middle of—” Reed drew in a short, sharp breath. “What happened to you?”
Max, who sat in the chair in front of Reed’s desk with his back to her, whipped around to face her.
The care and concern emanating from him brought tears to her eyes. No. She wouldn’t cry now. There wasn’t any reason to. The danger had passed. “I got mugged. They got my purse and . . .” Oh god, oh god, oh god. No! She reached into her pants pocket and breathed a sigh of relief to find the check from the jeweler still there. Heaven help her if she’d lost that. What would she do?
Max rushed over. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did, but you didn’t answer so I left a message and then called Reed.”
He uttered a soft curse. “I’m sorry. My phone died after my conference call earlier. I left it in the car, charging, when I arrived here.” He touched his hand to her face and stroked his thumb over her cheek.
She stared up at him. His eyes radiated with an emotion she couldn’t quite decipher. Care and concern, yes, but there was much more. “I’m okay,” she whispered.
He brushed his lips over hers. “Thank God.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and sank into the solid strength of him.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I was on my way back to the office when he came up on me from behind.”
“How did your coat get torn?”
“He had a knife.”
Max closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath, then pulled her tighter against him. She flinched when he touched her shoulder.
He eased her back and stared down at her, his eyes flashing. “He hurt you?”
The anguish in his voice was almost her undoing. “It’s not bad. I’m just a little sore.”
“Where else are you hurt?”
“My left arm.” She’d extended it out in front of her to break the fall.
He removed her coat and lifted her hand to examine the appendage. His muffled oath startled her and she peered down to see what had upset him. A large area of skin had been abraded and a blue and purple bruise formed over the entire area.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.”
“I can’t. I—”
He shook his head. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Go home, Nicole. Whatever you have to do here can wait until you’re feeling better,” Reed said.
She sighed. “Okay, but my car is here and—”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get it later,” Max said.
“Kate needs it tonight.”
“I’ll drive the car back to your place and grab a cab back to the office,” Reed said.
She nodded, relieved. Somewhere along the way her head had started pounding and all she wanted now was to go home.
Once inside Max’s car, she tilted the seat back and closed her eyes.
“Where were you when this happened?”
“A couple of blocks away from Cartwright Jewelers.”
“What were you doing there?”
She put the seat back to its original upright position. “Kate needs five thousand dollars for school by the end of the week and—”
“You don’t have the money.”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“We’ve been through this before. I’m not taking money from you. Kate is my responsibility and I will take care of her.”
“You could have been hurt badly or worse.”
His voice trailed off, and she shivered at his implication. “But I wasn’t and all he got was my purse which, thankfully, didn’t contain the check I got from the jewelers.”
“You still have the check?”
She nodded. “I was in a hurry to get back to work so I shoved it in my pocket and left.”
“What did you sell to get that kind of money?”
“My mother’s diamond pendant,” she said quietly.
His eyebrow arched up. She stopped him before he could say anything. “It’s not like I wanted to but . . .” She been about to say there’d been no other choice but he’d argue with her on that score and she didn’t want to start a fight. “This is a great opportunity for Kate and I didn’t want to see her miss out.”
He didn’t say anything more and they drove the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the house, he helped her out of the car.
“I’ll draw a hot bath for you.”
She sighed. A bath sounded heavenly. “First, I have to call the credit card company and report my card stolen.”
&nbs
p; He nodded. Once inside the house, he asked, “Where do you keep your pain reliever?”
“Upstairs in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.”
“I’ll get it.”
He disappeared upstairs. She took off her coat and walked into the kitchen to throw it in the trash, pausing for a moment to retrieve her phone, then went back to the living room and called the credit card company.
Max returned just as she ended the call.
“Take these,” he said and handed her two pills with a glass of water. “Did you get a hold of the credit card company?”
She swallowed down the pills and nodded. “They’re closing the account and sending out a new card.”
“Good. I’ll take you down to DMV tomorrow so you can get a new license. Is there anything else we need to do?”
We? “I don’t think so.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you,” she said and wrapped her arms around him.
He held her close. “No thanks necessary. I’m here whenever you need me.”
Heaven help her, she needed him. He was the rock that steadied her, just as her mother had been for her father. And if she hadn’t been absolutely sure she’d been in love with him before, there was no question of it now. She loved this man with all her heart.
He scooped her up in his arms and strode toward the stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“To take a bath.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re coming with me?”
“Yes,” he said and kissed her fiercely. “Because I don’t think I can let go of you. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”
She smiled into his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he loved her, too.