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“Go ahead.”
“Tread carefully.”
“Is that a threat, Mrs.Black?You’re more than just a private investigator, aren’t you?”
“Sure, I’m a loving wife and a philanthropist.”
“And the rest?”
There wasn’t much information about me online—Mack took care of that—and the few snippets painted a picture of a billionaire’s trophy wife rather than a special ops bitch.So, Nico still had connections, and he’d been working them.
“I’m a PI in the same way that you’re a simple hotelier, Mr.Belinsky.And no, it isn’t a threat.I’ve merely heard a rumour that Ottie Marquette might have run into bigger trouble than a jackass of an ex.”
“I see.Then I’ll take that under advisement.”
“Leave this to the experts.”
“Are you talking about the sheriff’s department or Blackwood Security?”
“I’m flying home tomorrow.”I flipped a business card across the table.“But if you need somebody to replace that camera, I’m sure we can assist.”
“I have people for that.Is there anything else?”
“I do have one more question.”
“Shoot.”
Would he still have said that if he’d known I had a gun at the small of my back?Probably.I’d bet my last donut Nico was carrying a weapon too, and that he knew how to use it.The man gave offvibes.They hadn’t been so evident earlier, but peel the charm back and there he was.
“Why build a hotel in Baldwin’s Shore?Your other properties are in London, Paris, and New York.Why small-town Oregon?”
“I also have a lovely place on the beach in Croatia.You should give it a try if you’re ever in that part of the world.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.But you dodged my question.”
Nico barked out a laugh.“Okay, I’ll answer.I took this land as payment for a debt from a jackass who’d inherited it.”
“That tells me how you acquired the land.It doesn’t tell me why you stuck a luxury hotel on it.”
“Oh, you’re good.”Nico picked up the bottle again, and I nodded.Russian custom dictated it was rude to say no.He filled his own glass too, then grinned.“In truth, the land would have been a write-down in my portfolio if I hadn’t caught my ex-girlfriend in bed with the jackass a month later.I built this place to spite them.Last I heard, he’d gone bankrupt, and she’d moved in with her parents.”He held up the glass.“Za pobedy.”
To victories.I clinked my own glass against it.And it had been a victory for me too, a small one—I could set Darya’s mind at rest as to why Nico had shown up in town.He hadn’t been looking for her.
“Za nashu druzhbu.”To our friendship.
He smiled, and it wasn’t the usual polite-yet-distant version.“You speak Russian?”
“Enough to get by.”I rose, waited for him to do the same.Offered my cheek again.“Thanks for the drinks.”
“Anytime.”
When I got back to my room, Ana was still there, lying on the couch.She cracked an eyelid when I opened the door.
“How did it go?”
“No change in Ottie, Leona’s upset, and Nico definitely didn’t come to Baldwin’s Shore in search of Darya.”
“How do you know that?”