Chapter Fifteen

Nick squeezed the Explorer into a tight spot against the curb in front of the building that housed the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He glanced at his watch. It was almost ten a.m.

After his pre-dawn calls to Cox and Eric, AUSA Bennett had insisted on an emergency meeting. The entire investigative team would be there, and they wouldn’t leave until they cranked out a plan to get Myer into police custody. Alive.

He and Andi had swung by his place for a change of clothes and to put Saxon up in his kennel. He’d showered, shaved, then grabbed a fresh pair of dark slacks and a navy-blue polo shirt with the state police emblem embroidered on the front.

“You ready?” he said to Andi.

“Not really.” She pushed open the passenger side door and stepped out of the SUV.

She hadn’t wanted to be there, preferring to remain at home to make sure Stray was comfortable, but he’d insisted. There was no way he’d leave her alone again. Short of handcuffing her to him, the only way he managed to get her out of the house was to arrange for Tess to check up on the dog while they were out. But he knew Stray wasn’t the only reason she didn’t want to be here.

Since Myer’s call earlier that morning, she’d begun distancing herself from him. Only once had he caught her eye in the last few hours, and at that moment, he’d understood. They’d made love, then he’d bolted like the chickenshit that he was.

He slammed his own door shut, and when he met her on the sidewalk, she quickly avoided his gaze. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her how he really felt about her, but he couldn’t. Hell, even he didn’t exactly know. Or if part of him did, his brain still refused to acknowledge it. The sooner they could both get this investigation behind them, the better.

They walked in silence across the cobblestone courtyard to the main doors of the enormous U-shaped building, then through security and to the elevator. When the doors opened on the third floor, he touched the small of her back, intending to direct her to the reception area, but she flinched, and he dropped his hand.

I’m fucking this up. Royally.

“Andi, wait.” He stopped her outside the reception door. Her eyes were filled with uncertainty, and she clasped her arms around her waist as if she were trying to shore up the steadily growing wall between them. Christ, he couldn’t blame her for a second. For the last five years, he’d been doing the same goddamn thing between him and anyone who tried to get close. “After Myer turns himself in and the dust settles, we will talk.”

Her brows furrowed. “About what?” she asked in a flat tone.

“About—”

The reception door opened.

“There you are,” Cox said. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Nick groaned aloud. Fuck.

When they walked in, a dozen male eyes cast appreciative looks at Andi, particularly the FBI special agent in charge. SAC Dan Wolinski made no attempt to hide his reaction, sweeping his gaze down, then up her body.

The conservative beige linen slacks she wore couldn’t hide the slim curves of her waist or the shapeliness of her legs. Her black sleeveless blouse was loose-fitting but somehow emphasized the gentle mounds of her breasts. With very little makeup and only tiny gold hoops at her ears, she was both beautiful and sexy in a casual, graceful way few women could achieve.

He understood the attraction other men had toward her, but as her lover, he wanted to wipe that sleazy look off the SAC’s face by slamming him headfirst into the nearest wall.

The only man she smiled at was Eric, who came up to them first. “You guys both look like I feel—like crap. Get any sleep last night?”

“Some,” Nick said, noting the flush on Andi’s cheeks.

Their conversation hadn’t gone unheard. Wolinski sent him a sly grin. Nick gritted his teeth. Stomping down the urge to kiss her then and there—branding her as his—was quickly becoming a habit. But this wasn’t the place or the time to start acting on his impulses.

Focus.

“The lab guys should get started on Matteo’s phone dump today,” Cox said. “I’ve asked for geocoding on that photo. If they can give us the date, time, and location where it was taken, it may help us figure out who wound up with it after it was stolen from Myer’s house. I’d like to nail down this guy’s identity before we bring Myer in.”

“Agreed.” Nick nodded. “Once we arrest him, the gangs will want to stay as far as possible from the center of this investigation.”

“Gentlemen.” AUSA Bennett held open one of the inner doors. “And lady.” He tipped his head to Andi. “We’re in Conference Room A. Conference Room B is empty, and Ms. Hardt can wait there.”

Nick escorted her to the other conference room, located in the far wing of the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught SAC Wolinski and his ASAC watching them. Watching Andi, more likely.

Conference Room B was cavernous, with giant floor-to-ceiling concrete pillars in the center. Bookcases crammed with law books lined two walls, while a bank of windows overlooked the courtyard below.

“Want coffee?”

She shook her head, then turned her back to him, staring out the row of horizontal windows. “How long will you be?”

He came to stand behind her, gently rubbing her arms, but she stepped from his reach. “A couple hours.” Maybe more, but he hoped not. When she groaned, he handed her a remote sitting on the long table in between two of the columns. “You can watch TV.”

“Thanks,” she answered, staring at the remote in her hand.

He watched her, feeling totally helpless. Not for the first time in his life, he wished he could turn back the clock for a do-over because, minute by minute, she was shutting him out and it was killing him. What he needed was more time to explain to her all the shit that was cluttering up his mind. Today, there wasn’t a second to spare. Giving her space was the only thing he could do. “I’ll see you later.” Before she could skirt away, he dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head, then left.

Back in Conference Room A, he closed the door behind him and sat at the opposite end of the table from AUSA Bennett.

“Everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice.” Bennett pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher on his nose then pulled a legal pad from a stack of papers in front of him. “Nick will fill everyone in on what’s happened.”

All sets of eyes turned to him.

“Early this morning,” he began, “Myer returned my call. He’s ready to turn himself in.”

A chorus of murmurs went around the table.

“What changed his mind?” Wolinski crossed his arms over his dark-gray suit jacket. “Last I heard, he was holed up with no indication of showing his face anytime soon.”

He met the older man’s eyes. “I let him know gang members tried to kidnap his ex-girlfriend, most likely at the direction of whoever he was laundering money for. I made it clear they were going to use her to get to him.”

“She’s a hot-looking woman.” Wolinski grinned sleazily again, leaving Nick wondering if the man had any other facial expressions. “If anyone could draw him out of hiding, she could. With a body and a face like hers, she could make a man do just about anything.” He chuckled, but no one laughed with him.

Nick clenched his jaw. Every second he spent in that arrogant little prick’s presence made him want to launch across the table and strangle the man.

Eric alternated between eyeing the FBI SAC with disgust and shooting Nick warning glances not to act on what he was thinking.

“Where is he now?” Bennett asked.

“Canada,” Nick replied.

“Canada?” Wolinski huffed. “How did he get across the border without us knowing? Didn’t anyone notify DHS?”

“We did.” With every word out of this prick’s mouth, Nick was getting more and more irritated. Didn’t this asshole read Cox’s reports? “Somehow he got through a border crossing without getting grabbed.”

“Stuff happens.” Bennett made a few notes on his pad. “We can whine about the holes in our borders all night, but it won’t do us any good today. Luckily, this time it’s irrelevant, since he’s turning himself in.”

“How’d you leave it with him?” Cox asked.

“That we’d call him today at eleven thirty with the logistics.” At that statement, every man looked either at his watch or at the round white clock on the wall over Bennett’s head.

“Nick? Randy?” Bennett’s gray brows rose as he looked from Nick to Cox. “How do you want to play this?”

Wolinski slammed his hand down on the table. “I say we get a convoy of marked units, go grab his ass at the border, then haul him to FBI headquarters for interrogation.”

Nick and Eric exchanged knowing looks. So, the FBI can take all the credit. Not that he gave a shit who got the credit. His only goals were to bring Myer in alive then squeeze him dry of every ounce of intel he had on the gunrunning ring and get him to vindicate Andi.

“We could take him directly to a safe house,” Cox supplied.

The SAC’s neck reddened as he glared across the table at Cox. Nick hoped the guy didn’t get demoted for going against his SAC.

“A safe house isn’t a bad idea,” Nick countered. “But we don’t have the luxury of time. We should bring him directly to the courthouse, so we can throw him in front of the grand jury and lock down his testimony before he changes his mind and lawyers up.”

“Or somebody else gets to him,” Eric added.

“I agree.” Bennett nodded. “Let’s not take any risks. I’ll reserve a room outside the grand jury for us to debrief Myer first. I want him to give us all the account numbers and passwords for the tainted bank accounts, along with all related wire transfers, emails…whatever we can use as evidence.”

Eric turned to Nick. “Did he say who he’s working for?”

“Brian Argyle.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pants pocket—the notes he’d made earlier that morning when Myer had called. “Argyle’s company is Argyle Enterprises based in Scotland. That’s where Myer’s been wiring some of the money.”

Cox flipped open his laptop and began typing away. They all waited to see what he could pull up. The man was a whiz with the computer and had access to more government databases than Nick could remember acronyms for.

A few minutes later, he looked up from the laptop. “I can’t find anything on Brian Argyle or Argyle Enterprises.”

“So they’re phony names,” Nick said. “But someone had to open those accounts in person and provide the banks with a name and identification to do it.”

Special Agent Bill Douglas of the IRS jotted something down in his portfolio. “I’ll run these names through our databases. Just in case.”

“I’ll get started on an MLAT with Scotland.” Bennett made a note on his pad. “But that will take a while to work its way through DOJ and then across the pond to our Scottish colleagues.”

Too much time to bother with.

In theory, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties were great for obtaining information in foreign government databases, but not if you wanted it ASAP. It would be months before the request worked its way through official channels.

Knowing Eric had a police contact in Scotland, he caught his friend’s eye. Eric nodded subtly, acknowledging the unspoken request.

While Bennett stepped out to make arrangements for grand jury time, Nick and the others brainstormed the logistical details of getting Myer in. Before they knew it, it was eleven thirty.

Bennett had returned to the conference room, and Nick punched in Myer’s cell number. He put the call on speaker and set it on the table so everyone else could hear the conversation. The phone rang three times.

“Hello.”

“Joseph Myer,” he began. “This is Sgt. Houston. With me is Assistant United States Attorney Ted Bennett, agents from the FBI, IRS, and ATF. We’re making arrangements to meet you at the border tomorrow and escort you to the federal courthouse in Springfield to testify before the grand jury.”

At first, Myer didn’t respond. He could hear him breathing, so he knew the guy hadn’t hung up. “You with me?”

“I’m with you.”

“Good.” If Myer reneged on the deal, he was fully prepared to cross the border and drag his ass back himself. “Before we go over logistics, we have a few questions about Brian Argyle. His name doesn’t show up in any database, so who is he?”

“I don’t know who he is, and we’ve never met.”

Bennett gave Nick a quizzical look.

“Then how were all the transactions handled?” Nick asked.

“By phone and by wire transfer.”

“What does he sound like over the phone?” Cox asked. “Young? Old? Does he have a Scottish accent?”

“I don’t know. I never spoke with Argyle.”

“Then who have you been dealing with?” Nick frowned at the phone.

“His secretary, Mary. And she does have a Scottish accent.” Myer paused, and Nick heard what sounded like boat horns in the background but couldn’t place them. “I have to go. I’m not sure, but someone might be following me.”

“Wait.” Nick grabbed the phone. “Why did you use Andi’s bank account to wire that hundred grand last month?”

A deep exhale came through the phone. “I never meant to involve her, I swear it. My bank’s system was down that day, and I was desperate. I had to send money out of the country in a hurry, so I copied down her bank information when she wasn’t looking, and my friend at her bank helped me out. She has nothing to do with this. Any of it.”

She’s innocent. Not that Nick doubted it at this point, but hearing it from Myer’s mouth made it more than just his gut impression. Now it was official.

Tomorrow, Myer would be in police custody, but Nick was reluctant to stop peppering him with questions. Something about this scenario sent up all kinds of red flags, not the least of which was that Argyle could be anyone, and they had abso-fucking-lutely nothing to go on to ID the man. But it sounded like Myer was jittery enough as it was. “Can you be at the Thousand Island Bridge border crossing in Alexandria Bay by ten o’clock tomorrow morning? We’ll meet you there.”

Myer hesitated a long moment before speaking. “I have my own terms.”

“What terms?” Even though Myer couldn’t see him, Nick narrowed his eyes.

“First, I’ll meet you at the courthouse. I’ll slip through the border the same way I got in.”

“Fine,” he bit out. He didn’t like that idea, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. They could easily remove the Red Notice and replace it with a border alert so they’d know the second Myer crossed out of Canada. “What else?”

“I’ll only turn myself in if Andi is there.”

“Not happening.” Nick shot to his feet and smacked his hands on either side of his cell phone. “Your actions nearly got her killed once already. I won’t let that happen again.”

“Those are my terms. Take it or leave it.”

“You’re not in a position to make demands,” he shouted. “I’ll put her on the phone with you, but that’s as close as you’ll get to her.” Ever again, if he had his way.

“Then the deal’s off. If I don’t see her in the doorway of that courthouse, I’ll turn around and disappear. Forever.”

“Nick.” Bennett’s face twisted with disapproval.

Struggling for control, Nick fisted his hands on the table. “Stand by,” he said to Myer, then muted the call.

He knew damned well what had crawled up Bennett’s ass. He wanted Nick to agree to Myer’s terms, regardless of the risk to Andi’s life. Selfish bastard. Like most prosecutors, Bennett only wanted the next notch on his belt of convictions, all in the pursuit of a ridiculously high-paying job offer from a prestigious private law firm one day.

“Dammit, Ted.” He shook his head adamantly. “I won’t let this sonofabitch dictate how this goes down, and I will not put Andi in harm’s way again. Even if it means we have to chase Myer down some other way.”

Because now that he’d found Andi, she was too important to him to risk losing.

“What’s your problem, Sergeant?” Wolinski sneered at him.

“My problem”—he gritted his teeth, again struggling not to do bodily harm to Cox’s boss—“is that no one but me seems to care about an innocent woman’s life. They already tried grabbing her as bait once, and if they’d succeeded you know as well as I do, they’d have killed her the second Myer showed up. Now you want to put her in the line of fire again?”

“We can put more agents on the ground,” Cox offered. “You’ll be there. We’ll all be there to protect her.”

“Maybe,” Eric joined in, “Matt, Kade, Markus, Jaime, or Dayne can lend a hand. Their detail at the Expo started today, but their shifts vary. Some of them may be free tomorrow morning to assist.” Eric’s expression was one of understanding. He was the only man in the room who knew about Nick’s personal relationship with Andi. “We’ll control every aspect of the meet.”

Nick pressed his lips together, glaring at Eric. Not that he didn’t appreciate his friend’s input, but he’d seen plenty of controlled meets go bad. This one was so out of their control, it was a joke to call it that in the first place.

“I don’t have to remind you,” Bennett said in an implacable tone, “as long as you’re assigned to this federal task force, technically you report to me.”

“And to me.” Wolinski shot Nick a smug, cocky look.

“Let’s be clear here.” He flicked a steely gaze from Wolinski to Bennett. “Officially, I don’t work for either of you.” He let out a heavy breath, knowing he was backed into a corner he didn’t like. When the case was over, he was so done with this task force.

“Your concerns are duly noted.” Using his pen, Bennett pointed to Nick’s phone. “Get him here tomorrow.”

He unmuted the call. “Myer. When can you be at the courthouse tomorrow?”

“Noon. And Andi will be there?”

He held back a snarl. “Yes.” He recited the address for the Springfield federal courthouse on State Street.

“Sergeant.” Myer’s voice choked. “If something happens to me, tell Andi… Tell her I love her.”

Swallowing the first response that sprang to his mind—go fuck yourself—Nick reeled in his anger. “You can tell her that yourself.” You sonofabitch.

Even though Myer was looking at substantial jail time, there was no way on this earth Nick would allow him to start something again with Andi. No way he’d ever let Myer touch his woman.

Damn straight, she was his woman. Until that moment, he’d been too thick-headed to see it, but he fucking knew it now.

The phone beeped, and the screen went dark. Now all they had to do was throw together a foolproof ops plan involving a half dozen agencies.

From across the table, Eric caught his attention. “So we still have no idea who we’re looking for.”

“Then we start with the secretary,” Nick said. “As soon as we get Myer’s cell phone and laptop, we track her down.”

“When he gets here,” Bennett added, “I want to do a thorough interview before putting him in front of the grand jury.”

Thirty minutes later, they’d hashed out an ops plan that would suffice, given the exigent circumstances. Through it all, Wolinski’s face registered more and more indignation. The man hated not being in the driver’s seat.

The door opened, and Nick recognized Brendan Sykes, another prosecutor he’d occasionally worked with. “Sorry to interrupt,” Sykes said. “Nothing was on the schedule for this conference room right now. I thought it was free.”

“It’s an emergency meeting,” Bennett replied. “We’re almost done here.”

“Thanks, Ted.” Sykes left, closing the door behind him, but it didn’t completely latch and edged open a couple of inches.

“I just heard from the lab guys.” Cox held up his cell phone. “They dumped everything on Matteo’s phone and are analyzing it now. I told them it’s a priority, so they’ll try to have something for us by the end of the day.”

“I have something to add.” IRS Special Agent Douglas tugged a stack of sheets from his portfolio. “I went back ten years into Ms. Hardt’s financial records. She’s totally clean. All her money is untainted, including funds she used to purchase and renovate the Dog Park Café. I also found this.” Douglas handed the sheets to Bennett. “Two years ago, she left a prominent financial firm that was later named in a civil complaint alleging the theft of millions of dollars from their clients. Unsolicited, Ms. Hardt turned over incriminating evidence to the Attorney General’s Office proving that her colleague—and boyfriend at the time—had used her to bring in clients, then scam them out of annuities by changing the terms of the contracts without Ms. Hardt’s knowledge. The company got hit with heavy-duty fines, and her ex-boyfriend was arrested.”

Holy shit. Nick drew his brows together. When Andi had talked about New York, she’d barely touched the surface. That asshole had raked her over the coals. While Nick had been unloading the ghosts of his past on her, she’d been keeping hers to herself.

“In addition to Myer’s admission, we also have hardcore proof that Andi had no knowledge of that wire transfer.” Cox handed Bennett another sheet of paper. “This is a notarized letter from her bank admitting they ‘erroneously’ permitted an incoming and outgoing wire transfer in the amount of a hundred grand without legitimate authorization from the account holder.”

Disgusted murmurs went around the table.

“Erroneously?” Nick snorted. “Meaning Myer’s friend at her bank did him a favor.”

“Exactly.” Cox nodded emphatically. “A team of agents interviewed the branch manager this morning, and he admitted to doing Myer that very favor.”

Bennett finished perusing the bank document before placing it in a manila folder. “I’ll consider filing charges against that manager. I’ll also prepare the paperwork to unfreeze Ms. Hardt’s bank account. It may take a week or two, but it should bring a smile to her face.” He turned to Nick. “I’d say congratulations are in order.”

“For what?” He narrowed his gaze on the prosecutor. Until they got an indictment, nothing was a done deal.

“For an outstanding plan and for getting Myer to turn himself in. You were being modest. You’re better at undercover than you thought.”

“What’s this about?” Wolinski glared at Cox. “Why wasn’t I told this was an undercover op?”

“It wasn’t.” Nick snapped, wondering who’d given Wolinski the impression it was.

“Well, not really.” Cox squirmed in his seat, making it obvious he hadn’t updated his SAC on the extent or method of Nick’s involvement. “Nick merely suggested he could work his magic and get close to Andi Hardt. You know, spend more time with her. We figured Myer would call her eventually, and if he was stuck to her side when that happened, he could intervene and talk the guy in. Who knew he’d turn out to be a better actor than most of our trained UCs? It was an Academy Award-winning performance, and she fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Believe me, the way Nick’s got her under his thumb, she’ll agree to anything we need. Including being there when Myer turns himself in.”

Nick shot the agent an icy glare. What a dick Cox turned out to be. He’d put his own spin on Nick’s operation just to get his ass out of hot water with Wolinski.

Wolinski laughed, grinning at Nick. “I just figured out why you’ve got your state police panties in a bunch over this woman. I hadn’t realized until now that you’d been spending the last two weeks pumping her for information.” He made a gesture with his fist that no one could misinterpret.

Beneath the table, Nick clenched his hands so tightly his nails bit into his palms. If only murdering a federal agent wasn’t illegal.

Wolinski’s smirk deepened. “You gotta love undercover assignments with side benefits, and that Hardt woman is one fine piece of ass. No wonder you kept her all to yourself.”

A startled gasp came from behind Nick.

Andi stood just inside the now-open door, one hand covering her mouth. Her cheeks were pink, her blue eyes wide.

Nick bolted to his feet. How long had she been standing there? From the horrified look on her face, she’d heard everything, including the part where Cox had made it seem like Nick had only been using her.

He rushed to the door. “Andi?” When he touched her shoulder, she swatted his hand away.

“Don’t,” she spat, her face an even deeper red, her entire body rigid.

Gently but firmly, he ushered her out to the hallway, then back to the empty conference room where she’d been waiting. He shut the door behind them and reached for her.

She spun on him. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

If he’d had any doubts before, now it was crystal clear she’d heard every word of bullshit Cox and Wolinski had said.

…

Chilled to the bone, Andi wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders. It didn’t help. The temperature seemed to have dropped twenty degrees.

I can’t believe I fell for it. I can’t believe I fell for him.

The vicious cycle of her life was repeating itself over and over, and she was powerless to stop it. Getting used by men must be something attached to her DNA. First Steve, then Joe, and now Nick.

“Andi—”

“No!” She spun to face him, her body shaking with barely controlled rage. “Us—you and me—it was all a lie, an act on your part to get close to me and talk Joe in.”

“Goddammit.” He advanced on her, his hard jaw clenched. “You know it wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it?” She held up her hand, stopping him. “Are you denying what those men said?” She held her breath, hoping he would, praying he had another explanation for what she’d overheard. When he raked a hand through his hair, her hopes died.

“No. But I didn’t use you. Not like that, and not like you think. What’s happening between us is real.”

“Real? You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Her breaths started coming quicker. She wanted to yell, to scream at the top of her lungs to keep from crying. “You said you’d acted in high school and college musicals. I was a fool not to realize you were using those talents on me. You don’t care about me. You only wanted your ‘piece of ass’ on the side.”

“Andi, listen to me!” Before she could stop him, he’d stepped closer, and clasped her upper arms. She tried pulling away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I do care about you, and it is real, I—”

“I don’t believe you.” She began shaking her head, trying not to inhale his scent with every breath, but it was impossible not to. Even if she could eradicate his scent from her lungs, she’d never be able to erase the pain he’d inflicted on her heart.

Oh my God. It’s happening all over again.

He stared down at her, his gray eyes radiating an intensity she’d never seen before. “Getting this gun dealer has been my sole purpose in life for the last five years. When I first met you that was all I thought about. I can’t deny that. I would have done anything to get to this guy, including taking advantage of your relationship with Joe. At first, that’s all this was. A job. Then I got to know you, and things between us changed.”

“You’re right, they did change. You used me, and then you slept with me to make sure you got what you wanted. That’s what men do.” To her, anyway. She bit her lower lip, anything to keep from crying like a baby. “Finding out about Joe was bad enough, but what you did is worse. Far worse. Congratulations really are in order, Sergeant. You went above and beyond the call of duty by leading me to believe that you actually cared, and you know what? I did fall for it. Hook. Line. And sinker.”

As she stood there, chest heaving, the worst of it hit her. She’d been horribly hurt by Steve, and then by Joe’s lies, but that pain didn’t compare to what she was feeling now. Because she hadn’t been in love with either of them. She was in love with Nick. Admitting it was like taking a bullet to the heart.

“Andi.” He leaned in so close she could have kissed him if she’d wanted to. “Don’t do this. Don’t do this to us.”

“Us?” Uttering a soft cry, she shrugged from his grasp. “There is no us, and there never was. I knew something wasn’t right about you.” She blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall because, once they started, they wouldn’t stop. “I don’t even know you.”

“You do know me.” From the rigidity of his stance, it was obvious he was resisting the urge to touch her again. “And I’m telling the truth.”

“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. Unfortunately, I can’t tell what the truth is with you.” Without warning, something inside her snapped, and she rushed forward, pushing at his chest. “I was nothing more than a job to you—a means to an end.”

He stood there, silently taking her hits with his arms at his sides. She looked into his eyes, momentarily taken aback by the abject misery she saw reflected in his gaze.

It’s not real. It’s an act. Like everything else that had passed between them.

Sucking in deep breaths, she stepped back and uttered a sarcastic laugh directed at herself. While she’d been stupidly falling in love, he’d probably been logging in the names of the Napkin Girls before making a pretense of tossing them out.

She’d been taken advantage of and used so much in her life. If she hadn’t caught on to Steve’s scam, not only would her clients have lost their annuities, but she could have been taken down along with him. Because of Joe, she’d been on the verge of being arrested and losing her business. Now she’d lost something just as important.

Her heart. And she doubted it was possible to ever get it back.

Nick’s face was an impassive mask, the same one he’d been wearing the day they’d met. That was his real persona.

“I’m not giving up on us.” He took a step closer, shaking his head. “When this is all over, we can—”

“Go our separate ways.” She backed up, putting the corner of the desk between them. Much as she tried, she couldn’t keep her voice from shaking. “Maybe it’s my fault—my gullibility in believing you could possibly be different.”

“I’m sorry for what you overheard, but I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do.” He held out his hand to her in a pleading gesture. “When this is over, I’ll prove it to you.”

“You’re only saying that so I’ll keep helping you. I heard Special Agent Cox. He wants me there when Joe turns himself in.”

“He does. I don’t. It’s too dangerous.” He took another deep breath as if to steady himself. “That part of the conversation you conveniently missed.”

Unable to bear the intensity of his eyes any longer, she spun and turned her back to him. A moment later, she felt his hands on her bare shoulders. Warmth from his touch seeped into her skin, reminding her of how he’d once made her entire body come alive like never before. The urge to lean against his chest and let him enfold her in his strong arms was overwhelming.

Don’t do it.

It wouldn’t be real. It would be temporary, to keep her tied to him in order to get what he needed to wrap up his investigation.

She turned to look at him, gazing into his handsome face, inanely wishing he could feel even half of what she did for him. Steely gray eyes watched her from beneath lowered brows, and she suddenly understood the only motivating force driving him. Ironically, it was an admirable cause. “I get it. I really do. What happened to your wife was terrible.”

Again, he shook his head, more adamantly this time. “That has nothing to do with—”

“Let me finish. You think that by taking down this organization you can absolve yourself of what you think is your own failure. But it wasn’t your fault, and you know it.”

He didn’t deny it, and that was okay with her. What wasn’t okay was letting him use her to find his salvation.

Steeling herself, she swallowed. “I want to go home.”

“I’ll take you.” He went to the door and reached for the knob.

“Eric can drive me.”

He turned on her. “The hell he can.” His voice was low and controlled, yet his tone was hard as nails. “You may hate my guts right now, but I’ll be damned if anyone else watches over you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want you.”

“Too bad.” He yanked open the door. “Until this is over, you’re stuck with me. That is not open for negotiation.”

The conviction in his eyes told her there was no way to breach his stony resolution. For one supremely stupid moment, she dared to hope his adamant pledge to protect her was about his feelings for her.

It’s not, she reminded herself. With that painful realization, her heartbeat slowed to a dull thud until she barely felt it beating at all.

The only truth in all of this was that if they got to her, they’d get to Joe. Then kill them both.