Page 33 of Taming Nikki

I shot her a surprised look. “What?”

She rolled her eyes. “It was set up that way, numbnuts. If I wanted to get close enough to touch him, I needed a way that couldn’t be mistaken for a drop.”

I kept my eyes on the road as I tried to remember the fall. She would’ve had to have been incredibly fast to pull it off so that even I didn’t notice.

“And the fact that you now have one more person who knows about the drop?”

Nicole shook her head. “The waiter doesn’t know shit. They were hired to knock me over. I didn’t tell them why, but I did spread some rumors before the party that I was sleeping with someone else’s man, so it’d look like they were hired to embarrass me as revenge.”

“So then what was the flirting for if you always planned to be tripped?”

She grinned. “That was because he’s been after me for months now, and I enjoyed the fact that it pissed you off.”

Tightening my grip on the wheel until it creaked, I growled through gritted teeth. “I’m reaching the end of my rope with you, Nikki.”

“Good. Cancel the deal and we can all leave happy.”

I stopped at a red light and put my hand on the back of her seat, leaning close. “If you wanted me to cancel the deal, you wouldn’t have thrown yourself at me in the library.”

She crossed her arms and glared at me. “I was playing the game, so we didn’t get caught.” When I lifted my eyebrows, she growled. “Go fuck yourself, Vitale. I’m not interested in you.”

“We both know that isn’t true.”

She looked about ready to start something while we were driving, so I let it go for now. I’d use it against her later.

“Tell me about the product.”

She ground her teeth, her attention on the window. I thought she might back out, refuse to tell me, but Nicole Morelli doesn’t break her word apparently, even when she was incredibly pissed off.

“Information.”

I frowned and glanced at her. “I’m going to need more than that.”

She rolled her eyes. “I sell information. They give me a name. I get anything and everything related to it for them.”

“And they can’t get it themselves because…?”

“Because the way I do it isn’t exactly legal. Neither is the stuff I find. I go beyond what your regular google search will provide. Privacy acts are fickle and irritating, it’s hard to work around it legally. I ignore them and do what I want. And since I built the program and the viruses to back it up, I haven’t been caught yet.”

It wasn’t what I was expecting. After she threatened to use the virus on my computer, I thought maybe she was selling it to destroy people’s systems.

“What happens when someone gets ahold of the USB who isn’t supposed to have it?”

“You already know the answer to that. You get one shot at getting the info before it shuts down your computer. Then you get charged extra for me to clean up the mess and do another drop. Luckily, most of my clients are smart enough not to get caught because the fee is exorbitant. I’m not laying my ass on the line for people to fuck around.”

Honestly, it was a decent business, especially if she was pulling politicians. They all wanted information they couldn’t get legally. She gets hired by the right people, she could go really far.

Her phone alerted, and she pulled it out. It was dark now, but the glow from the screen lit up the huge grin on her face.

“What?”

She shoved the phone into her clutch, almost giddy as she leaned back. “Nothing. I’m in a good mood. Do me a favor and drop me off downtown. I want to celebrate.”

I had to assume she just got paid for the job. If the senator wanted illegal information, he must pay well for it, especially when it was delivered as flawlessly as Nicole did tonight.

“I’m not dropping you off downtown alone.” She scowled at me, but before she had a chance to start bitching, I spoke again. “You like poker?”

ChapterSixteen

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