Chapter 86

“Don’t worry. I’ll have her tossed out the minute she shows up. You won’t even have to see her.”

“That’s not neces—”

A light of fierce protectiveness lit her eyes. “I’ll make sure she knows she’s not welcome here.”

Great. Just what he needed. The delicate Raina going into battle for him. That would show everyone. “Raina,” he began, his tone a steely warning. “I don’t want you to talk to her. I don’t care if she’s here tonight.”

Raina frowned. “Of course you care. She’s your ex.” Before he could protest more, she pointed out, “Besides, if you really didn’t care, then you wouldn’t have gone stone still the moment I mentioned her.”

He wanted to argue the point, but it was a

moot one anyway. A moment later, his phone buzzed, ending the conversation. He was glad for the interruption until he answered the call from J.D., who was down on the ground floor preparing to check invitations for the guests who would start arriving any minute now.

“There’s a woman here who claims she needs to see you right away.”

Through sheer force of will alone, Nolan didn’t curse. “I assume it’s Candace McKenna.”

J.D. paused just long enough to confirm Nolan's suspicions. “Affirmative.”

And now even his employees were walking on eggshells around him.

This was exactly the kind of crap he’d wanted to avoid. “Escort her up to my office.”

He might as well get this over with. The night—which hadn’t promised to be a pleasant evening anyway—had been going steadily downhill. Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d had to see her the other day? He’d had the joy of having her poke and prod at his emotions.

After all this time, he was doubting himself. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now he was going to be haunted by yet more memories of what she felt like in his arms. By the taste of her mouth beneath his. And now, on top of all of that, he had to face her again? Fine. Bring it on. Things couldn’t get any worse.

Five minutes later, when J.D. showed Candace into Nolan's office, he wished he’d been a little more careful in his predictions of the future. She looked as though she’d been poured into a shimmering teal dress. Her skin gleamed, her hair fell in loose tumbling waves. The fact that she looked ill at ease in the dress only added to her appeal. Every cell in his body leapt in response to the sight of her.

Yep. Things could get worse. A whole lot worse.

If she had thought—even for a moment—that her past relationship with Nolan might make it easier to admit to him that she suspected her brother was about to rob Messina Diamonds, the instant she saw Nolan, Candace realized how mistaken she’d been.

This man, dressed in a crisply elegant tux, with his cool, assessing gaze and his unreadable expression, could have been a complete stranger. Except she had the added humiliation of knowing that last time, when he’d kissed her, she’d responded. She’d actually wanted him. And he hadn’t wanted her.

Now, standing in his office, she could almost believe that he didn’t remember her from hours ago, let alone from three months ago. Maybe she should have gone to the police. But they probably wouldn’t have believed her anyway. And Nolan, at least, was in a position to stop Andrew before it was too late. Before Andrew crossed the line into outright criminal behavior.

“I need your help,” she began unceremoniously.

“We already had this conversation.”

Ah, so he did remember coming to her house and kissing her senseless.

“Yes, we did. But I need something else from you.”

“I’ve already written the check,” he said, settling himself behind the massive desk. “I was going to have it sent over to you on Monday.”

He said the words with a sort of detached casualness. As if he wasn’t talking about fifty thousand dollars. As if just days ago he hadn’t told her she wasn’t worth the money. So he had just been toying with her. Great. Well, then he would love having this new opportunity to torture her.

“It’s not about the money. Or maybe it is.” Dang it, this would be so much easier if she hadn’t let him kiss her. What had she been thinking? Besides, Oh, baby, baby, take my clothes off? “The thing is, I don’t think Andrew really wanted me to ask you for the money. I think he’s planning on stealing it.”

Nolan's eyebrows shot up. After a moment, he rocked back in his chair.

“So why come to me?”

“I think he’s planning on stealing it from Messina Diamonds.”

For a second, he looked as shocked as she felt. Then—much to her consternation—he threw his head back and laughed.

She frowned. And then frowned more when his laughter subsided very slowly. She even found herself drumming her fingers against her leg, waiting for him to stop.

“My brother—”

“Couldn’t steal a pen from the receptionist without me knowing it.”

“I’m not joking,” she insisted.

Nolan's smile faded, and he leaned forward in his chair, propping his elbows on his desk. After a long moment, he said, “This is either a bad joke—”

“It’s not.”

“Or another one of your attempts to screw with me.”

It took a second for his words to register, but when they did, she shot out of her chair. “Is that what you think? Seriously? That all of this—” she gestured broadly to encompass the events of the past few days “—was nothing more than some elaborate plan to ‘screw with you’?” She made sarcastic air quotes as she spoke. “I didn’t come here just to help my brother. I came here to help you, too. And if you’re too stubborn—no, too stupid—to see that, then you deserve whatever fallout you get when your client is robbed right under your nose.”

When it came to Candace, he had no judgment at all. So there was no point in pretending it went against his better judgment to stop her. He did it anyway.

She was almost out his office door when he grabbed her arm.

“Hold up a minute, Candace. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”