Page 42 of Play Dirty

“First, we have a project that affects us both, and I care to finish it. Second, I need you to tell me about June. You are the last person to have seen her alive. Give me something.” My tone lowers. “Anything.”

“I already told the cops everything, Shiloh. I suggest you start there. For the project, I’ll work on it.” He motions between us. “But us being friends or playing detective together, forget it. Ask Daddy to just hire a private investigator to look into it, buy your answers. Do what you need to do, just leave me out of it.”

He doesn’t miss a beat.

After all, it's said and done. I remain standing in front of the now closed door, fury burning me from the inside out. My ears ring and my heart beats too loudly when soft hands land on my shoulder.

“Shi.” Thiago’s familiar voice pulls me back from my wrath; my eyes sting.

But it’s my pride that burns the hottest.

“What are you doing here?”

Blinking away the proof of my emotions. “ I came to ask Nicolas some questions.”

“Oh yeah. How’d it go?”

I turn to face him, biting my lower lip and then smiling. “As good as you can possibly imagine.”

“He’s an ass.”

I nod. “He is, but we have a project that requires us to work together.”

Thiago’s pouty lips form an ‘o’. “He didn’t tell me that.”

“Why would he?”

He shrugs as he pulls out his vape and takes a long drag. Smoke curls between us when he exhales. “Did you hear anything that night?”

Thiago narrows his eyes. “Which night?”

“The night June went missing. She was here with him.” He looks like he’s going to throw up, his face pales, and he shakes his head before replying. “You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“How do you know?”

“I know, Nico,” he replies flatly.

“And I, June.”

Thiago looks at me in the eyes, making sure that I understand. “Nico isn’t who you think he is.”

I roll my eyes, folding my arms over my chest and slightly tilting my head. “So tell me who he is.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but the way his eyes soften with pity and distrust tells me he isn’t spilling anything. “Just trust me.”

“Trust you? No, you also have some things you have to clear up. Why were you at the Club?”

Thiago gives me a look of disbelief before using his hand to tussle his dark hair. “I was asked to look into something, and I found you. We found you.”

“He—” I don’t finish my question before Thiago replies with a nod of his head.

“Like I said, Shiloh, he’s not who you think he is. If you can’t believe what I tell you, believe in what June saw in him. Trust her.”

This time, I don’t reply; instead, I stalk out. Trying to fizzle out the anger beneath my skin. Nico has them all fooled. Do they know?

Do they know what happened that night between us?

I’m sure that’s a secret he will never share. For the same reasons, I never would.