Page 61 of Guarding her Gangster Girl

“Wait,” Nik says suddenly, leaning closer to the screen. “Brie, before the murder, when was the last time you wore that particular dress? It’s the same one you wore at the Secret Garden.”

“What garden?” Holden asks, looking between us in confusion.

“It’s a lesbian club,” I tell him distractedly, trying to remember. It’s hard to think straight with Nik so close, with the weight of accusation hanging over my head, and with the fact that I have alotof clothes. Terry liked me to be a symbol of his endless wealth. “I don’t know, I—” And then it hits me. “A few nights before Terry’s murder,” I say slowly. “I went in to remind him he had a meeting with the head of the Gatto Family that night. I remember then, he told me I looked like a flapper. Said it was…cute.”

My eyes well up with tears that I blink away in annoyance. This isn’t the time for sentimentality. And then it hits me, what it means.

“Son of abitch,” I breathe. “They must have spliced the footage in from that night.”

“That’s exactly what they did,” Holden says grimly. “Now that I know what I’m looking for, I can see where it’s not perfect,” Holden finishes, zooming in on a particular section. “See here? The lighting’s off. And the way she moves…it’s slightly jerky. Like they had to stitch together a few clips to make sure whoever they were covering upwascovered.”

I feel a rush of relief so strong it makes me dizzy. “So I’m in the clear,” I say, sagging against the desk.

“Not quite,” Nik says, her voice grim. She places a hand on my shoulder, and I resist the urge to lean into her touch. “We still don’t know who was in the original video—or why they’re trying to frameyou.”

The euphoria fades as quickly as it came, replaced by a cold dread that settles in my gut. “Who would have access to bothsets of footage?” I wonder aloud, my mind whirling through possibilities, each more terrifying than the last.

“Anyone in casino security,” Holden suggests, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Or higher-level staff who wouldn’t be questioned if they went in there.”

“Like Phil or Sophie,” I say. “Or…anyone in the Family,” I finish, despair washing over me. “Any one of them could have said they were there on orders, and no one would question them.”

Nik straightens up, stretching her neck and back. “I think we’ve done all we can do tonight,” she says diplomatically. “Let’s call it here and get some shuteye. Might as well sleep while we can. Tomorrow we’ll keep working on this.”

She’s right. I’m crashing hard after all the terror from before, and Holden’s eyes are drooping. “Let’s go to bed. Holden, seriously—just leave it for tonight.”

We leave Holden mumbling that he’ll just do a few more minutes, and Nik follows me to the bedroom after doing what she calls “a sweep of the perimeter.” I’m so exhausted I just nod and sink onto the bed. When Nik comes back a few minutes later and sees me sitting there in the same position I was when she left, something changes in her face.

“I don’t want you to worry—” she begins softly.

“—my pretty little head?” I finish bitterly. “You sound like Frank.” I glance up at her, immediately regretting what I’ve just said. “Sorry. That wasn’t fair.”

She joins me on the bed and puts her hand in mine. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to patronize you. I just meant—well, that youcan trust that I have your back. You concentrate on everything else.”

I lean into her and put my head on her shoulder. “This feels nice,” I say in a small voice.

“Yeah.”

For a few minutes we sit there, breathing together, and I try to allow myself to trust her. Let myself believe that she really will keep me safe from the Colombos and the Syndicate, just like she’s kept me safe every other time.

I turn to face her. In this moment, stripped of all pretense, I feel naked under her gaze. “Can I really trust you?” I ask, echoing the question I posed to her what feels like a lifetime ago.

For a long moment, Nik is silent, her blue eyes unreadable. I hold my breath, suddenly certain that everything hinges on her answer. Then, slowly, deliberately, she nods. “Yes,” she says simply. “You can trust me, Brie.”

The weight of her words, the intensity of them, makes my breath catch. Maybe it’s true. Maybe I’m not alone in this mess. Maybe in Nik, I’ve found not just a protector or a lover, but a true partner.

Someone who sees past the masks and the lies to the real me underneath.

I reach out, drawing her in for a soft, sensual kiss, need pulsing through me. And then I press my forehead to hers and whisper, “I want you.”

For a long moment I think she’s going to tell me we should get some rest, that I’m not making good choices, that I should see how I feel in the morning?—

And then she pushes me back on the bed and crawls over me. “I want you, too, Brie Colombo,” she tells me seriously. And then, with a wicked grin, she straddles me. “And I intend tohaveyou.”

CHAPTER 28

Nik

I straddleBrie on the bed, our bodies pressed close. Her soft blonde hair fans out and I want to bury my face in it, breathe her in. My hands slide possessively over her curves, mapping the dips and swells I’ve been craving. “You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I murmur, my voice husky with want. “I plan to taste every inch of you.”

---