Page 57 of Dissension

Well. He used to take her to such places so they could eventually find a way to dubiously screw elsewhere. Their old favorite game was to pretend to not know each other. It always gave way for some steamy, dark engagements of power plays.

Nick is well-dressed in one of his finely tailored suits. He must have been in court this morning for one of his clients. Karalifts an eyebrow as she sits across from him in the swanky booth they’ve snagged. Candles add to the vibe of secrets and whispers in this café.

“You look sharp,” Kara says idly as she gets settled with her splendid coffee. “Were you the hero for some scumbag this morning? Someone going free who shouldn’t be?”

Mouth quirking with a slight grin, Nick doesn’t answer directly. “Is that your awkward method of saying I look good?”

“Hm.Perhaps.” She looks around at the atmosphere, impressed. “You always pick the best places to meet.”

“It’s a gift of mine.”

Leaning in the velvet, dark purple seat, Kara replies, “You didn’t ask me to meet you for idle chit chat. And we both know we aren’t meeting forotherreasons. What is it you want to scold me about,dad.”

Nick smirks at that, getting into business. “Chit chat is for the idle. Has your PI given you anything of note yet?”

“Not yet.” Kara sips her delicious cup, happily munching on a fresh croissant. “Why?”

He works his jaw slightly, as if figuring out the best way to say something. “Because you need to call them off and stop. Youaren’tprosecuting Paxton. There’s no reason for you to be looking into him and the circumstances around him. This is professionaladvice, Kara.”

Oh, professional advice my tight ass. “Look. Why is this an issue? We’re technically on the same side now, aren’t we?” Kara says. She wants her client out of this mess, but she also wants to make sure that Paxton Brooker isn’t being framed for a crime he didn’t actually commit, given the odd evidence now with the witness.

Nick gives her a strange, thin little smile. His gaze searches her face, as if taking in his fill of her. “This is so beyond youand you don’t even have a clue. What you’re doing? It’s going to cause a bigger storm than you know.”

She hates it when he makes her feel young and stupid in his presence. It reminds her that they aren’t the same age; he has nearly a decade of experience on her. Scowling at him, she says, “Make your point without insulting me, thanks.”

He leans back and crosses one ankle over his knee. “Dieter is on no one’s side. Not even yours.”

Inhaling with a slight growl, Kara looks upward, as if seeking serenity. “The only thing I hear in this conversation is you telling me to stop digging, to look away from your ‘possibly’ guilty client. I don’t think this has anything to do with me. You just want your client to get off free, even though we both know he’s likely donesomeshady things. You’re the one who likes to defend the guilty, Nick. Not me.”

“You think I’m the monster here, but I’mnot,” Nick says coldly, eyes like winter storms. “Dieter isn’t-”

“Would youstopbringing my client into this conversation?” She doesn’t need the constant reminder of Dieter and how her relationship has taken a terribly unwise turn. A turn that she’s not sure she can control.

She never, never wants Nick to know with certainty that she’sactuallyslept with Dieter. For whatever reason, she simply doesn’t want him to know. The shame she feels is greater than her need to make digs at him, to make him jealous.

He barks out a bitter laugh. “Your client? You think you know what he is, but youdon’t,” he rasps, blue eyes alight with something unpleasant. “You think you recognize monsters? You think all bad men are like me? Thinkagain.”

“You’re not a bad man, you’re just not a good one.” She tries to hide her discomfort from his words. “And I know what Dieter is like.” Spoiled. Selfish. Hedonistic.

This makes him snort, bitter and ugly. “You don’t know him.” Nick is shaking his head, eyes sparking with that cold fire. He sounds as confident as he ever in a courtroom. It almost scares her. “Not like I do.”

She’s tired of the insinuations. “So, tell me! Explain to me what I don’t know!” Kara rants, gesturing with her hands. “You and Gale are always cagey about him, but there’s nothing I’ve seen that makes me thinkrun away, Kara.”

He shakes his head with an unhappy grin that cuts like razors, pressing a hand to his eyes. “That’s why so many monsters are successful; you don’t know that you need to run. There’s nothing I can tell you that you’ll understand. Believe me.” He sighs. “Please. Juststopthe PI. There are things out there that you don’t want to dive into. Some rabbit holes are not ones you can escape.”

Kara frowns. She can’t figure out his game. Is he saying this because he’s worried about her, or is this just because he’s trying to direct her gaze away from Paxton Brooker once again? He’s tricked her on a casebefore. How can she trust his motives?

That’s simple, Kara. You can’t trust his motives.

“What if the information my PI finds exonerates Paxton Brooker?” Kara asks pointedly. “What then?”

The look he gives her is shadowed. “It depends on what that information costs. And I’m not talking aboutmoney.”

Kara swallows thickly. She wishes he could just say things clearly instead of all the damn riddles, smoke and mirrors.

When they stand in front of the lovely stonework of the café, Nick pauses. The scent of him fills her nose as a breeze passes over them, filling her with excitement. It reminds her of darker nights, of thrilling encounters. “Do you miss me at all?”

The words are vulnerable and they strike Kara in the center of her chest. The answer is obvious to her, but she realizes he has no idea what she’s feeling. How she’s been feeling since they parted. Of course, she misses what they had, no matter how twisted. She misses the dates he would take her on. His calm steadiness, the real him beyond the sexual.

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