Page 37 of Between the Lies

Robert cocked an eyebrow. ‘Aye, at Walls Street. Remember?’

Nina swallowed, her fingers curling together in a tight fist. She could deny it, but… ‘I heard about it on the news.’

Her gaze flickered to her backpack. Those photos Jonas had snapped placed her at the crime scene. But amongst a sea of drunks, would someone recognise her? Did the place have CCTV? Judging by the state of that place, she doubted it. Besides nothing would’ve survived that fire.

Robert pushed off his seat and strode over to Nina’s backpack.

Nina jumped off her own seat, a protest ready on her lips. But all Robert did was turn and hold the bag up. ‘This will be with me until you give me answers.’

Nina crossed her arms, sending a glare Robert’s way. He dropped down on his seat again, her backpack secured between his feet just like Shah had done at the airport.

‘I was never in that nightclub,’ Nina said truthfully. She’d gone up to the top floor using a set of stairs at the back. They could hear the hullabaloo of the nightclub – the building had very thin walls – but she hadn’t entered it at all.

‘Were you in the building?’ Robert snapped, that dark glint back in his eyes.

Nina pulled her legs up on the sofa, wanting to curl into herself and wither away. Robert had shot her smouldering glances after that moment in the car park, but now he glared with anger and frustration.

‘You have no proof to place me there. Shah tried abducting me.’ Nina placed a hand over her throat. ‘He almost killed me today. How am I the criminal?’

The lips Robert had pressed together curved into a smirk. ‘So you were there that night.’

‘I-I…’

‘You can’t lie, Nina. Unlike most journalists, you can’t fib.’ Robert sat back, a small smile gracing his face. ‘What were you doing there?’

‘This is ridiculous. I told you I wasn’t there.’ Nina slid backward on the sofa, just slightly. He was getting close. Hell, he was close. And the only escape was…

She cast a glance at her backpack. Nina had gone to great lengths to keep the things in there with her at all times. But now, she had to leave, evidence be damned. After all, Robertknew.

Robert leaned forward again, as if trying to make up for the space she’d just put between them. ‘Why were you there?’

‘It’s none of your business.’

He lunged, and Nina gasped as his strong hands gripped her upper arms. He loomed over her, so close she saw the wildness in his eyes. ‘I’ll ask for the last time: why were you there?’

Nina’s heart had been palpitating, making its way into her throat, or so it felt, but now she was sure it would just stutter and stop. If Robert had been attracted to her, all he felt now was something dark, dangerous… sinful. She wasn’t afraid. The man had too much good in him to hurt her physically even when seething. But the sheer strength she’d felt in his body before… and now finding herself caged by his arms… Need for him pooled in her gut.

Nina licked her lips. This situation couldn’t get worse. Robert knew something about that night. And he’d lost his wife.

There would never be a ‘them’.

‘Work,’ she spluttered. ‘I was following up on a lead.’

Robert let go of her. ‘What lead?’

‘You know I can’t tell you that,’ Nina whispered.

He blew out a breath, like a bull about to charge. ‘I lost my wife in that fire; I don’t care about your journalistic ethics.’

Wait, what? He’d told her he’d lost his wife that day in the pub, but had he mentioned he’d lost her in that fire? ‘R-Robert, I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t think…’ Nina licked her lips again. ‘No one died in that fire.’

Robert didn’t have to respond; his raised eyebrows were enough to call out her shite. The news had initially been about a murder-fire, and then the police had confirmed it had been an accidental fire, the death also an accident. But they hadn’t revealed who’d died – a male or a female. The only person who knew the identity of the body was… her. So how could she tell him she knew Jonas had perished in that fire, not a woman?

Again, she tried wetting her lips. Why were they drying out so quickly?

Fear. She trembled from the burning need to confide in someone. She took a breath and burst – ‘It was a man, not a woman who died in that fire. I’m a journalist – I heard it.’

Just for a moment, Robert’s frown faltered. ‘You’re lying.’

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