She looked up at him with blue eyes, so open and honest that she took his breath away. He didn’t know why she affected him so deeply, making him want to give her everything she’d missed out on in her life. “Okay, then. We stay.”
“We have an announcement to make,” Mike said, his voice a welcome intrusion into Sam’s musings.
Without thought, he reached out and clasped Nicole’s hand in his. Her warmth and presence grounded him.
“Michael? What’s going on?” Simon asked.
“It’s good news,” Cara jumped in, nudging her husband in the ribs.
“Well, come on, then,” Simon said, sounding relieved.
Sam stifled a chuckle. After the year of his father’s cancer, news and updates and problems, he understood why Simon reacted the way he had.
“Okay, grandpa times two,” Mike said, unable to contain his smile.
A grin split Simon’s face. “You’re having a baby!”
“I knew it!” Ella said, launching herself at Cara and pulling her into a hug. “Long bouts of nausea, unable to sit at the table and look at food. I was wondering when you would figure it out or at least fill us in.”
Cara hugged Ella back. Her relationship with her own mother was difficult because of the woman’s unwillingness to leave Cara’s abusive father, so Sam knew how much Ella’s love and support meant to her.
“I should have known you would figure it out before we did. There’s no keeping secrets from you, is there, Mom?” Mike asked laughing.
Erin and Cole stepped up next for congratulations, then Sam, who, of course, already knew, and Nicole, who pretended it was her first time hearing the news.
Sam watched as she interacted with his brother, who admittedly hadn’t been her biggest fan. But Mike had come around, trusting Sam’s feelings for her over his history with her mentally ill sister.
“I’m thrilled for you,” she said to Cara. “Are you feeling any better?”
“A little. I think telling people helped my mental state, at the very least.” She shot a glance at Mike, who pulled her in for a hug and a long kiss that had even Sam wanting to look away.
Nicole, on the other hand, watched them, a look of pure longing on her face. A look so wistful, like she knew she was seeing something she’d never have. Sam’s stomach cramped badly and he glanced away.
“Anyone ready for dinner?” he asked, hoping to break the tension building inside him.
Everyone jumped on the idea of his mom’s food, and the meal was one of the happiest and most fun Sam could remember in a long while. Considering his family always ribbed each other, joked, and had a good time, that was saying something. Erin wanted to know if Mike and Cara planned on finding out the sex of the baby. Either way, she was mentally planning baby play dates. By the time they’d finished coffee and dessert—his mom being smart enough to serve only Nicole’s meringue puffs and not anything she’d made or bought too—Sam was ready for grown-up time.
Beneath the table, he reached out and placed his hand on Nicole’s thigh. Through her long skirt, he felt the heat of her skin against his palm, or at least he imagined he could feel it. His body thought so too, igniting at the thought of getting her home and into bed.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Ready to get going?” he asked, his hand trailing higher.
“Behave,” she whispered back. “I want to help your mom clean up.”
“Nonsense,” Ella said, having heard that. “Guests don’t clean up.”
“But . . .”
“Go,” Ella insisted.
Sam rose from his seat. “You heard the lady,” he said, pulling out Nicole’s chair.
“Thank you for a delicious meal and a wonderful evening,” Nicole said.
“Our pleasure,” Simon said.
Ella actually snorted in reply. “As if he cooked?” She laughed. “But it is our pleasure. See you soon.” She blew a kiss in their general direction.
“Congratulations again,” Nicole said to Cara and Mike.
“I’ll walk you two out,” Mike said, taking Sam by surprise.
He followed them to the front door, where Sam paused, turning to face his brother, Nicole by his side. “What’s going on?”
“Change of plans. It turns out the DEA was already watching the Romanovs. They have a guy deep undercover and a sting in place. They want us to stand down and stay the hell out of their way.”
Sam glanced at Nicole. Her eyes opened wide. “But . . . what about the money laundering and my father’s firm? Tyler? And me? They’re after me!” she said, her voice rising.
Sam pulled her tight against him. “You’re going to be fine,” he said, glancing at his brother for reassurance.
“Mike?” Nicole asked.
He exhaled a harsh breath. “From what I understand, and it’s sketchy at best, they hope to have the Russians behind bars by tonight. According to Cole’s sources, there’s a huge shipment coming in and if they can catch them in the act . . .” He trailed off.
“Okay, and the bit players? Like Tyler’s father?” Sam asked.
“The New York City cops will talk to Tyler about giving grand jury testimony and indicting his old man and anyone else involved in laundering money.”
Nicole sucked in a breath. “I need to go home and talk to my father.”
Sam exchanged glances with Mike. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. The less you’re involved, the better.”
“But I am involved. I’m the one who overheard the conversation.”
“Which probably can’t be used as evidence anyway,” Mike reminded her.
She sighed. “I still want to talk to him. He deserves a heads-up. He may not have been a doting parent, but I can’t imagine he’d let anything happen to me. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t warn him before his world comes crashing down.”
Sam admired her loyalty to a man who didn’t deserve it, but given what he’d learned of her so far, she was loving and caring and put others before herself. “I’ll go with you.”
She swung toward him. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Maybe not, but I want to.” He squeezed her shoulder and she laid her head against his arm.
Mike shot Sam a knowing look. “I’ll leave you two to figure out your next step. I don’t have to remind you to be careful,” Mike said before turning and walking away.
Nicole looked up at him with trusting eyes. “Will the Russians leave me alone?”
“Once the DEA arrests them with drugs in hand, you’ll be off their radar, believe me. We can go to the city tomorrow and talk to your father.”
She studied him, as if gauging his sincerity in wanting to go along. Without warning, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She shrugged. “For making me feel better. Now let’s go home and I’ll make you feel good.”
His cock stiffened in response. The things this woman did to him, mentally and physically, defied anything he’d felt before. Grasping her hand, he said, “Lead the way,” and tugged her toward the car.
Sixteen
The next morning, Sam found himself driving to New York City. On the ride there, Nicole had been eerily silent, keeping her own counsel, withdrawn into herself. Sam guessed she wasn’t comfortable bringing him to meet with her father, but he wasn’t letting her go through this alone.
He pulled up to an expensive building on Manhattan’s east side. Though out of his element, he refused to be intimidated by her parents’ wealth. She was what mattered, not her folks.
“I thought you grew up in a house?” Sam asked, indulging his curiosity as the valet opened her car door.
“I did. On Long Island. My parents still own it, but they also have an apartment in Manhattan, and my father stays here more often than not.”
They climbed out of the car and Sam met her by the large revolving door to the building. “Is your mother here too?” He wanted a heads-up on whom he’d be meeting.
> Her sigh answered his question.
He didn’t expect her to elaborate and was surprised when she did.
“Mom’s at the house on Long Island. A testament to what does love have to do with anything,” she said without meeting his gaze.
Sam winced, recalling that she’d told him her mother had used that line to try to persuade her to marry Tyler.
“My father is always here on Sunday night, so I figured I’d catch him before he goes into the office this morning,” Nicole explained.
“Hence the six A.M. wake-up call,” Sam said, covering his yawn with one hand.
She shrugged. “I wanted to get this over with.”
Sam grasped Nicole’s hand as they walked into the luxury building. Ignoring the mirrors surrounding her, she headed straight for the bank of elevators.
“Still want to do this?” he asked.
She didn’t answer right away, waiting until they were in the elevator, the doors closing behind them. “No,” she said, as the elevator took them skyward to the penthouse. “But I have to. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I admire that about you,” he said.
She leaned against the wall and treated him to a forced smile. “Thank you.”
The doors opened wide and her father, dressed in what had to be a thousand-dollar suit, greeted her in the doorway of the apartment.
“The doorman called up,” he said, answering her unasked question. “To what do I owe this early-morning visit?”
No hello. No warm welcome. No hug. For the love of—
“Can we come in?” Nicole asked. “I don’t think you want your neighbors overhearing what I have to say,” she continued, unperturbed by the greeting or lack of.
Her father stepped aside and Sam followed Nicole past him into the apartment. A glance revealed that the floors were marble, the walls were adorned with thick crown moldings, top and bottom, and the décor oozed wealth. Sam didn’t like it here worth a damn.
He noted her father hadn’t batted an eyelash at Sam’s presence, nor had he introduced himself. Just because they were wealthy self-righteous pricks didn’t mean he had to be. His mother had raised him better.
“Sam Marsden,” he said, extending his hand toward the other man.
“Sorry.” Nicole blushed, embarrassed. “Paul Farnsworth, this is Detective Sam Marsden. Sam, this is my father.”
“Nice to meet you, Detective.” The older man took his hand in a firm grip. “So to what do I owe this visit?”
Nicole drew a deep breath. “Is everything okay with your business?”
He narrowed his gaze. “Why would you be asking about my business?”
She pressed her lips together, and he was floored by how difficult she obviously found it to shake her father’s world in light of how cold the man acted toward her. Didn’t every kid deserve love and affection from their parents?
She deserved love and affection, Sam thought, and damned if he didn’t want to be the one to give it to her. It was all he could do not to reach out and pull her against him, supporting her completely. The only thing stopping him was the fact that she didn’t need the distraction any show of affection would provide. So he kept a respectful distance even though it just about killed him, as he realized his feelings for her were growing exponentially with every minute that passed.
“Would it surprise you to know that your partner is in bed with the Russian mob?” Nicole asked her father. “And before you ask how I could accuse him of such a thing, you should know I overheard him discussing it with Andre, your accountant.” She went on to explain what she’d overheard and when, along with the resulting threats to both Tyler and herself.
Sam kept an eye on her father. His training taught him what to look for, and the older man’s expression never registered shock, surprise, anger, or anything else he knew she’d expected over her accusations.
“You already know!” Nicole exclaimed, proving what Sam already knew.
She was smart. Savvy. And one hell of a strong woman to have been raised by this cold, unfeeling man and still come out the warm, sweet woman he loved.
Loved?
Shit. This was not the time for revelations, he thought, breaking into a cold sweat.
“I didn’t know specifics, but I suspected something was wrong when I noticed the books were off. That and Robert’s been acting strangely, clearly nervous and hiding things. I hired a forensic accountant to look into things.” He straightened his tie. “You said Tyler knows too?”
Nicole nodded. “I suggest you talk to him. The police are aware as well, and that’s why I’m here. I wanted to give you a heads-up before they pay you a visit.”
He sent her an appreciative look, which was as much emotion as Sam suspected the man was capable of, Sam thought in disgust.
He’d never treat his child like a business associate or inconvenience, which was exactly what this man was doing to his daughter. And she accepted it, clearly used to the dynamic. Sam wasn’t, and his stomach churned. He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d just thought about the idea of how he’d handle a kid of his own, something he’d never contemplated even in passing before, or because the notion settled in his heart. And stayed there.
“Well, I’m certainly not going to jail because Robert’s gotten reckless and greedy.” He straightened his tie. “However, I did not know anything about what you heard or that he’d let those animals loose on you.”
Sam stiffened at the reminder of the Russians and any danger. He hoped like hell the DEA bust and round of arrests had gone down as planned.
“I know that, Dad.”
“No, I don’t think you did, or you would have come to me long before now.”
Guilt flashed across Nicole’s face, which infuriated Sam on her behalf. “Maybe if she thought you gave a shit about her, she’d have brought her problems to you instead of thinking she had to handle them herself,” he said, unable to rein in his anger any longer.
“Sam—” Nicole placed a warning hand on his arm, but he was finished letting anyone treat her with cold dismissiveness.
“Excuse me, but I’d say this is between myself and my daughter,” her father said with an air of authority and entitlement.
Oh hell no, Sam thought. “Considering I’m the one keeping her safe, I’d say you’d better include me in the conversation. You’re lucky she cares enough to warn you. I wouldn’t have been so generous. Now tell me what you plan to do to make sure your partner can’t use his connections to hurt Nicole.”
Paul Farnsworth stepped back and studied Sam, suddenly seeing him as someone worth assessing. “What are your intentions toward my daughter?” he asked, surprising Sam by turning the conversation to the personal.
“That’s between me and Nicole.” Sam couldn’t help but play this man’s game. He didn’t like him or his smug arrogance, but mostly he didn’t like how he treated Sam’s woman.
He reached out and snagged Nicole’s hand. Let the man take that as an answer. As of this moment, Sam was claiming her, at least in his mind. He’d take the time to sort through what that meant to him later.
For now, he’d deal with the situation at hand. “I believe I asked you a question.”
Nicole couldn’t believe Sam was engaging her father. For her. She found the whole situation humiliating and embarrassing.
“I’ll call the police myself and cooperate,” her father said, taking Nicole by surprise. “If they have the evidence from Tyler and me to arrest him, that should protect Nicole.” He spoke to Sam as if she weren’t in the room, his tone bland, as if he were discussing a business deal, which was the way he always acted toward her.
Her father was the iceman. That had been Vicky’s name for him growing up, and she wasn’t wrong. To have Sam, who came from a perfect family—loving, caring, kind—see her treated like that . . . She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, unwilling and really unable to face him.
“And I’ll talk to Tyler and see what we can salvage business
wise when this is all over,” Paul continued.
Because after all, that was what mattered most to her father, Nicole thought.
Her father turned his gaze on her. “Now I suggest you and your friend head back to Serenity—”
“Serendipity,” Sam muttered, obviously disgusted that the man didn’t even know the name of the town where his daughter now lived.
Whatever, she thought. She just wanted to get out of here. “Good luck,” she said to her father.
He inclined his head. “Thank you for the heads-up. And thank you, Detective, for your help.”
The men shook hands, and none too soon Sam and Nicole were back in the car and speeding home to Serendipity. She didn’t have anything to say and kept quiet.
“That went well,” Sam said.
She leaned her head back against the seat. “About as I expected.”
Keeping his gaze on the road, he placed his hand on hers. Although his touch usually warmed her, today she was ice cold, inside and out, her father’s behavior having reminded her of her place, not just in his life, but in Sam’s.
Passing through.
“It’s almost over,” Sam said, and she didn’t know if he referred to her father’s business mess or to them. After all, considering what he’d just witnessed, she wouldn’t blame him.
“Yeah,” she said, keeping her gaze on the passing scenery outside the car window. “It is.” She wanted nothing more than to get back to Serendipity and throw herself into her work.
At this moment she was glad he wasn’t a man looking for a serious relationship, because after viewing what she knew of love and affection, if he had been looking, he’d run far and fast from her now.
Sam couldn't remember the last time he hit up Joe’s on a Wednesday night without looking to see if Nicole was there or knowing he’d be meeting up with her later on. But something between them had changed. He would have thought it had to do with their visit to her father, but after the trip, she’d been distant, not gone.
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