Page 65 of How to Play the Player
Strangely, I believe him when he says that.
He continues. “I can’t undo what I did. I know that. But let me help you at least.”
I close my eyes briefly, trying to process the enormity of what’s happening. It’s all coming at me at once, like sitting in the splash zone at Sea World. A part of me wants to scream, throw things at him, to make him feel a fraction of the pain I’ve carried for a year. But the other part—despite my anger and hurt—still aches for him, for what we lost, for what might have been.
If something as dramatic as this happens again, I don’t know if he’ll be there for me. Would he have the sense to stop and listen to me? Would he choose to give me the benefit of the doubt rather than forsake me? Or will he just accuse me without a second thought? I don’t think I can go through another round of rejection for the wrong reasons.
“Why now?” I ask finally. “Why did you start investigating after all this time?”
“Because of us,” he admits. “Being around you again, working together… It made me start reconsidering things I thought I was certain about.” He hesitates. “And then my brother said something that made me wonder if I’d been wrong all along.”
Is he for real?
“So it took your brother’s doubt, not mine, to make you reconsider.” I can’t resist letting out the bitterness in my voice.
He winces again. “You have every right to be angry at me, never want to see me again, wish for a special place in hell for me. I deserve everything, and then some.” He leans forward, hands clasped between his knees. “I’m not asking for forgiveness. I know I’m not worthy of it, especially from you. But I wanted you to know that I’m sorry. Sorrier than I’ve been about anything.”
This isn’t the Nathan I’ve come to expect. Rather than being defensive, accusatory, and certain of his own rightness, the Nathan I’m seeing before me seems genuinely remorseful, even broken.
“What happens now?” I ask, because I don’t know what else to say. The ground has shifted beneath my feet.
And to think that wouldn’t happen again in the way that it did.
“You want to find out who’s really behind this as much as I do,” he points out, determination creeping into his tone. “Someone deliberately set you up then and is doing it again now. And based on this text I got, they’re getting cocky. Let me assure you, I won’t let that stand.”
“You want to help me?” I raise an eyebrow.
“If that’s what you want,” he adds quickly. “This is my fault. Let me try to make it right.”
How the tables have turned. This morning, I was saying the exact same sentence,Let me try to make it right.Hearing it from his own lips is something I didn’t expect to happen today.
I study him for a long moment, weighing my options. The professional in me knows I’d need all the help I can get. That Nathan has connections that could do more than I’d be able to on my own. Also, this isn’t just for me but for the sake of Jonathan and Kiera, which makes Nathan more involved thanI’d like to admit. But the woman in me isn’t sure she can trust him again. Not with all the scars he’s left.
“I need some time to process this. But that doesn’t mean I forgive you or that anything has changed between us,” I say finally.
“Of course,” he replies with understanding.
“However… Yes, I’d like for us to work together. But we’re not going to make this about us.” I release a steady breath. “It’s about protecting your brother and his fiancée from any further scrutiny.”
Relief crosses his features. “What you say goes.”
Damn right.
I nod, acknowledging his response. “So what’s our next step?”
Nathan straightens, shifting back into business mode. “We need to identify who that woman is. And we need to figure out who would have access to the information, along with the motive, to leak it.”
“I can’t help but wonder if it’s someone we both know,” I exclaim. “Someone who would not only benefit from destroying my reputation but also from causing problems for Knight Industries.”
“The list of people who knew about the NorthStar deal was, at the client’s request, very small,” Nathan says. “Just Jonathan, Jake, the client, and me. And then you, because I told you.”
“And whoever this is.” I gesture to the frozen image on the screen.
He nods. “Exactly.”
I lean back in my chair, my mind working through the possibilities. “If this is the same person, how would they have known about Jonathan and Kiera’s story? Who knew those details before they were leaked?”
“That’s an even bigger question and list,” Nathan admits. “Our immediate circle, plus Kiera’s family, the wedding planning team…”
