Selena rolled her eyes. “I knew that. But a plant? A mole? Who the hell would do that for Simon?”
“Someone who needed money,” Brian said. “There’s nothing people won’t do for money.” He rubbed his chin. “Dave wouldn’t say who, but he said someone on your team is being paid a lot to feed ideas back. It’s very disappointing. That boy jumps from one bit of trouble to the next, but you Selena, you are where you belong.”
“Thank you Brian,” she whispered. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she scanned through the team in her mind.
Nancy? No, she’s far too straight-laced to do that. Marnie. Why would Simon ask her, she’s hardly involved in anything? Nick?
She dismissed the thought. He was too new. Simon would have no way to get to him… Or would he? But Nick wouldn’t. Would he? Ice washed over her body…
Oh God. Not Nick. Please don't let it be Nick. He did arrive at just the right time. And Soho House. Simon has a membership. Was he there with him? Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to believe it, but the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. He’d said his brother was in trouble. How far would he go to protect him?
After Brian had gone, Selena turned in her chair, scanning the skyline in deep thought. Her eyes fell on a woman at a desk opposite, which sent a surge of nerves through her gut at the memory of their explicit office performance. She prayed it wasn’t him. But praying wasn’t going to do her any good. She needed answers. She spun the chair round quickly and buzzed Nancy. “Nancy, can I please have the login codes for everyone on the team?”
“Yes, sure, everyone?” Nancy asked cautiously.
“Yes, everyone.”
“Okay, not a problem,” Nancy replied returning to her usual bright manner.
A few moments later Nancy knocked and entered, before striding up to Selena’s desk with a bundle of papers. She was about to turn on her heel but hesitated. “May I sit down?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“Of course. Is something up?” Selena asked, leaning forward.
Nancy chewed her lip. “It’s none of my business, dear, but things don’t seem right at the moment. Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” Selena replied abruptly, stiffening in her seat and shuffling the papers.
Nancy sat in silence for a moment, still chewing at her mouth as though trying to stop the words from spilling out. “It’s just that, with that ordeal the other day at Soho House with Nick, and then the meeting, now these logins...”
“These logins are for the IT department,” Selena replied briskly, not making eye contact. Lying wasn’t her strong suit. “There’s some maintenance going on at the weekend and they need access to all our computers.”
“Wouldn’t they already have them?” Nancy stopped herself. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, sorry, I’d better get back to my desk, who knows what calls are coming in right now. Can’t leave Marnie in charge for long, she’ll be sending calls all over the building.” Nancy gave a little chuckle and rose to her feet. Halfway towards the door she stopped and turned to Selena. “You know I only worry about you,” she said softly. “I don’t want to see you get hurt by anyone who’s not trustworthy. If there’s something going on and you need help, you know you can ask me. I’ve been with you since day one.”
Selena’s stiff expression softened. “Thanks, Nance. You’d be the first person I’d turn to for help.”
She crossed Nancy off her mental list of possible suspects. Of course it wouldn’t be her. Right now, Nancy was the only person she really, truly knew and trusted.
She scanned the list of employee logins. She’d need to act quickly before anyone had a chance to delete files. But she’d have to be smart about it and choose the perfect moment.
The day passed quickly and with Nick working late, she couldn’t get access to his system. She didn’t dare hang around and tempt him to ask for a repeat performance of last night, either. She couldn’t fully give herself to him again until she’d ruled him out, which she hoped beyond hope would be the case. Jesus, what would she do if it really was him in cahoots with her brother? Her gut lurched. She prayed it wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him. She needed it not to be him.
That night, she lay awake in bed. It was midnight but her mind was still pouring over every detail of the past few weeks, looking for signs of Nick’s betrayal. She’d begged off seeing him tonight and told him she had an early morning. He seemed so sincere. She knew her bullshit radar wasn’t the best—she’d often judged people wrongly in the past, always seeing the positive in even the worst characters. But could it really be this far off?
Her mind kept stumbling upon the best moments with Nick. He was intense and caring in one gorgeous package of lust. She tingled at the memory of the way his eyes traced over her body, hungry for her. He had touched her scar, which she never let anyone do. The gentle trace of his fingertips along the bumpy tissue somehow felt as though it was part of the healing process. She was beginning to let the scar fade into her subconscious. If someone as dazzling as Nick thought she was beautiful, then surely it was time to start feeling it.
It was impossible to believe that those nights, and that day in the darkened office, were faked. Surely not even the best Oscar-winning actor could pretend to care about her to that extent. Would he really go through all that just to get close to her for Simon? She hated even thinking about her brother.
Since the news had broken within the board that he’d used a source to attempt to steal Selena’s campaigns, Simon had gone AWOL. He was probably snorting drugs off strippers in Las Vegas, Ibiza, or Dubai. He always fled the scene after doing something wrong, rather than face up to things. Brian had called Selena earlier in the day to tell her he was missing. Not missing, in the ‘call the police because we’re so worried’ way, more like the ‘we’ll deal with the little shit when he’s back from his foreign jolly’ kind of way.
She rolled over onto her side and switched on her bedside lamp. There was no point trying to sleep, it just wasn’t happening. She decided to read, but picking up her e-reader and seeing a set of sexy abs on the cover of her latest book, she thought better of it. Now was not the time for romance. She was having a hard time not calling Nick as it was.
The message alert light was flashing on her phone. She’d put it on silent earlier to drown out the constant pinging as Nick was trying to get hold of her. She picked it up and scrolled through the texts.
Can’t stop thinking about you. Nick. X
Is everything OK? X
Do you want some company? I can come over. I keep thinking about the other night. X
The other night. A dull ache started between her thighs. That was the last thing she needed to think about right now. Yes, that was amazing. She wanted to believe it was real. Until she knew for certain, she couldn’t afford to get any closer to him. She’d already fallen far enough.
Selena wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping that night. Nick lay awake in bed, sirens wailing in the distance, and voices audible from the street below as drinkers made their way home from the bar around the corner. He stuffed some foam earplugs in to drown out the sounds, but it didn’t help—he was still taunted by the noise of his inner thoughts and they were far more agonizing than sirens and shouting.