Chapter 23
Nico’s phone pinged as he drove Julia to work two days after Zoe’s party. While they sat at a stoplight, he glanced at it. Saw a text from Mel and swiped to open it. Clenched his teeth as he read it, then dropped the phone back into the cup holder.
“What?” Julia said. “What’s wrong?”
“Why do you think something’s wrong?” he asked, trying to keep his face neutral as he glanced at her.
She rolled her eyes. “You think I can’t tell when you’re upset about something?” she said. “We haven’t been apart, except when we’re sleeping, for almost two weeks.” Her face reddened, and she closed her eyes. Drew in a deep breath.
“Except that one night,” he heard himself say. “We were together even when we were sleeping.”
What the hell was wrong with him?Julia was supposed to think he’d forgotten all about that night. Put it out of his mind.
She wasn’t supposed to know that the replay of their lovemaking ran on a continuous loop through his head. It occupied every moment he wasn’t working. And some when he was.
He made the mistake of glancing at her, and found her staring at him with naked need. Knowing she wanted him as much as he wanted her made his heart pound. His throat tightened.
She held his gaze without speaking, and he couldn’t look away. At an impatient honk, he pressed the accelerator too hard, and they shot through the intersection.
Maybe he was a coward, but they weren’t going to talk about that night. Nothing good could come of that conversation. He had to keep his distance from Julia. Period. No exceptions. No more stolen nights together. Especially now that they’d engaged Dawson at Zoe’s party.
“What was it?” she asked.
Gripping the steering wheel, he said, “It was a text from Mel. They didn’t get any usable prints off the business card Dawson gave you. One small smear at an edge, but that’s it.”
“Damn,” Julia said quietly. “I had high hopes for that card.”
“He’s incredibly careful,” Nico said, keeping his eyes on the street to avoid seeing her disappointment. “Too careful to give anyone his fingerprints. I was watching him at the party, and he sipped one glass of champagne all night. Then crushed the glass into dust.”
After a beat of silence, Julia said, “Why would a guy who emigrated from Canada and opened an office in Seattle be so careful about his fingerprints?”
“An excellent question,” Nico said, clenching his teeth in frustration. “He’s hiding something, and we need to figure out what it is.” He glanced at Julia. “And we will. Mel is a wizard with a computer. There’s something Dawson doesn’t want us to know, but Mel will find it.”
“Not without more information, she won’t,” Julia shot back. “Dawson’s too careful to let something slip.”
“Yeah. He’s holding his cards very close to his vest.” Nico smiled. “But Mel is the most devious woman I’ve ever met.”
“I hope she can untangle whatever Dawson’s hiding,” Julia said with a sigh.
“She’s digging into his background in Canada,” Nico said. “In the meantime, we need to keep our eyes open. Stay alert. Kent Dawson’s secrecy is a huge red flag.”
“I know.” Julia slumped against the seat. “We’re grasping at straws. We’ve got nothing on Dawson, other than his connection with Carole. No motive for him to target me. I have no idea what to do next.”
“That’s why you hired Blackhawk Security,” Nico said. “So you don’t have to figure out what comes next. That, and keeping you alive, is my job.” He might wish his connection to Julia was more personal. But keeping her alive was far more important.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I know. But it’s frustrating.”
Nico allowed himself a quick brush of his fingers over her hand. “If Dawson was the mastermind behind Carole’s scheme, he’s got to be frustrated, too. Carole’s sitting in jail, and whatever he had planned is on hold.” He glanced over at Julia. “I’ve known men like Dawson before,” he said quietly. “Guys who think they’re all that. Smarter than everyone else. Sooner or later, their arrogance trips them up.”
“So we just wait for Dawson to make the next move?”
Displeasure vibrated through her words. It matched his annoyance. “For now. You manage your restaurant. I’ll keep in touch with Mel and make sure she shares everything she finds, even if it doesn’t seem important.”
Julia sat up straight as Madeline’s appeared down the block. “I have lots to do around the restaurant. I need to focus on that anyway.”
“Good. You need to act as normal as possible. If he’s the Big Bad, you never know when Dawson might have eyes at the restaurant. Whenever you’re at Madeline’s, you need to act as if everything’s back to normal. You fired Carole, Ruth and Andra. Hired more people and shifted others around. Concentrate on getting your restaurant back up to speed.”
As he pulled into the parking lot, he glanced at her. “I’m going to have Flynn stick around for an hour or so. I want to take a look at Carole’s building. Maybe have a cup of coffee in the coffeeshop across the street and watch it for a while. Do you mind?”