Page 91 of Perfect Together
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.
Chapter Sixteen
The next morning,Sam found himself driving to New York City. On the ride there, Nicole had been eerily silent and withdrawn into herself, keeping her own counsel. 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.Shewas 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 towhat 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 o’clock wake-up call,” Sam said, covering his yawn with one hand.