Page 48 of Stir
Nic’s already got the phone to his ear. “Rand… Actual break-in this time. Just now… Yep. All present and accounted for… Yep… That’s next. Don’t give me any grief, just do what you can… I appreciate it. I’ll call you when I’ve got more information.”
Noticing Finn’s glare, Nic rolls his eyes. “One thing at a time.”
“Reporting the crime is supposed to be the first thing.”
While Nic talks to the police, Finn brings me back out to my own desk.
“Try not to touch anything until the police get here,” he says. “I know it’s a mess, but do you think anything’s missing?”
“Well, the absence of a computer gives me a hint,” I say dryly. My heart has finally come down out of my throat, and apparently, all that’s left is sarcasm. Which is probably not helpful. I clear my throat. “Sorry. The laptop I use is gone. And I can already tell you the office cash box is missing.”
Finn swears under his breath.
“There hasn’t been anything else from the blackmailer, has there?” I ask. I hate the sudden certainty that I’m out of the loop, but given the state of our office and the tableau I just witnessed in the elevator, something else is definitely going on.
“Not that I know of,” says Finn. He looks me right in the eyes, as though trying to make sure I know he’s telling the truth.
“Anything else you want to tell me?” I ask. A muscle bunches at his jaw. “Because what I saw in the elevator back there looked an awful lot like?—”
Finn takes my hand, holding a finger to his mouth. Then I hear what he must have: Several people getting off the elevator, their voices loud in the otherwise silent corridor.
Finn angles his head toward the door. “That’ll be security, I bet.” He squeezes my hand, then brings it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles, the now-familiar gesture squeezing at my heart. “We’ll talk about it, I promise. But later.”
I swallow down the questions, the fear, the sudden, violent insecurity. Because he’s right; now is definitely not the time. If he’s going to dump me for my male boss, I want to be able to leave right away and not have to sit through police questioning, however long that takes.
That’s what we do when the police arrive a few minutes later. They question us, one at a time. It feels like ages before anybody starts leaving. Finn’s statement is last. While he’s locked in Nic’s office with the remaining police officers, Nic and I begin trying to set the place to rights.
“Finn said you haven’t heard from the blackmailer since that first time. Is that true?” I venture to ask.
He looks so remote, his body still in the room with me but his mind a million miles away. Even answering the question doesn’t bring him back fully.
“It’s true.”
My heart hurts for him.
“You don’t deserve this,” I say. “I’m so sorry, Nic.”
He glances at me, a little surprised, and gives me the slightest smile. “Thank you, Natalie, but you don’t have to say that.”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”
He blinks. I think, for a second, he’s back in the room with me. “That’s true, too.” The smile he gives me this time is sadder than any expression I’ve ever seen on his face, and before I think twice, I stretch out a hand, cupping his cheek.
Nic goes stock-still, his handsome face unmoving, not even breathing. I’ve crossed a line. I think this may be the first time we’ve touched, except the day he shook my hand as he hired me.
“Natalie,” he says, almost inaudibly. He shudders.
“Nic?” I take a step closer because I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want him hurting. If ever there was a time to hug somebody, this is it, but he’s not just somebody, he’s my boss. I don’t know if this is a line I can cross. Not now that I can see it coming. Not now that I know what it might cost.
“Don’t.” Nic’s eyes widen.
“Are you—?” Does this mean what I think it means? Oh my God.
“Natalie.” His voice is torn. There’s so much emotion in his eyes I can barely stand to look straight at him. With my hand still on his cheek, I can feel him trembling.
There’s more here, more than I ever thought possible. It’s as though I’m seeing him, truly, for the first time.
“I swore I’d never let this happen. I was never going to touch you.”