Page 65 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

“Nik likes you.” He shrugged. “That’s enough for me.”

“Oh.” This was bordering on surreal, but didn’t help. She had to go. “Enjoy the rest of the party,” she muttered, and turned away.

“Are you leaving?” He stopped her with a hand on her arm.

She hesitated. “I have to. Something came up.”

“Does Nik know?”

“Of course.” Or he would soon. Once she’d picked up her bag from the coatroom, she’d send him a text.

His hand dropped to his side, but he didn’t look happy. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” She tried for her usual snarky tone, but it came out a bit pathetic-sounding. She didn’t wait for him to say anything else, just headed away. Five minutes later, she was out on the street. She got her phone from her bag and texted a quick message to Nik, then hurried away.

…

Nik felt the vibration of his phone in his pocket and pulled it out. When he saw the message, he swore under his breath. He’d known something was wrong. He should never have let her out of his sight.

Something came up. I’ll see you on Monday.

What the hell did that mean?

Should he go after her?

At that moment, he caught sight of Harry weaving his way through the crowd. He came to a halt in front of him. “What the hell did you do to upset Summer?” Harry asked.

What the fuck?

“Did you see her?”

“Just as I came in. She was on her way out and she did not look happy. So, what did you do?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. She was fine. Enjoying herself. Then something spooked her.”

“What?”

She’d gotten a little upset when she’d realized his dad knew who, or rather what, she was. But she hadn’t seemed truly bothered. And he was pretty sure he’d convinced her that his dad would never give her secrets away. It wasn’t until Trenton had talked with them that she’d gone quiet. He glanced around and caught sight of Trenton across the room. That was when he’d lost her. There was obviously a connection there, but he had no clue what and his mind shied away from the obvious one. What would be enough to upset her that way?

Was she in trouble?

The fact that she’d run rather than talk to him told him she didn’t trust him. Probably never would.

“Damn.” What was he supposed to do if she wouldn’t tell him what was bothering her? “Reopen the file on her,” he said.

Harry quirked a brow. “You want me to investigate your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Tell that to your mom.”

“I need to know if she’s in trouble.”

Harry stared at him for a minute longer and then gave a curt nod.

“And see if you can find any connection to Steven Trenton,” Nik added.

“From Trenton Industries?”

“Yeah.” He hoped what he was thinking wasn’t the case. But he had a bad feeling about this. And he had no clue what to do. “Should I go after her?”

Harry shook his head. “The fact that you’re asking me suggests you know the answer.”

“Yeah, it’s a really bad idea.” Nik scraped a hand through his hair, pressing his fingers to his scalp.

“She can’t go anywhere,” Harry said. “She’d be in violation of her parole.”

There was that. He hated the idea, but he’d give her some space, and maybe she’d decide to come clean. Tell him whatever it was that was bothering her.

He’d give her until Monday. Then they were going to have a talk.

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