“He’s lying, Nicole,” Danielle told her. “Don’t listen to his bullshit.”
Kane looked back at Danielle. “You really don’t know me.” Something about the way he said it silenced her. A certain gleam in his eye, a tone of voice—something in him shifted and suddenly his full presence was palpable in the car.
Suddenly you realized that you were sitting next to a man who had more wealth than small nations, who could literally buy and sell you. He could pick up a phone and have someone killed, make someone disappear, or he could wipe out hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt the way someone might pick up the check for lunch at the corner deli.
“So, Nicole, what’s your answer? A few days with me, no strings attached, nothing required but a little of your time. And in exchange you get so much more for the people closest to you.”
“Don’t do it Nic,” Danielle muttered.
“Just let me think for a second,” Nicole said.
“This offer is only good for the length of this car ride,” Kane told them. He glanced at his gold Rolex. “I never make bad deals, Nicole. In fact, the main reason I’m as wealthy as I am is because I refuse to make a deal unless it benefits me most. I don’t like feeling as though I’m getting the worse end of things, but for some reason, it’s different with you.”
His eyes fixed on her. She couldn’t look at him.
What would Red tell her to do? She wondered. Of course he’s say that Kane Wright was a snake, untrustworthy, all of it.
But then again, Red wasn’t here. And because of that, she was on her own, dealing with a shark in deep waters with nobody to help her.
“I’m fine,” Danielle told her. “I don’t need his help.”
But Nicole wasn’t so sure. She’d seen Danielle crying not that long ago, opening bills and shaking her head, saying she didn’t know how much longer she could last in the city.
“If I say yes, how can I be sure you’ll keep your promises?”
“If you say yes right now, I’ll get on the phone with my accountant and put the word in to take care of Danielle’s financial situation immediately. By the end of business tomorrow, she’ll be free and clear. Before you and I even get on a plane together, your best friend will have a new lease on life.”
Nicole glanced at Danielle. She was shaking her head no, but somehow Nicole couldn’t believe her. “I’ll do it,” she said. “I’ll go with you.”
“Nicole, don’t!” Danielle cried.
Kane Wright smiled like a proud father. “Good decision, Nicole. You won’t regret it.”
“Of course she will. She’s not a prostitute.”
“I never claimed she was. Nicole doesn’t have to have sex with me, I’ve made it very clear that all I’m asking is for some time together.”
“That’s bullshit. What man goes through this much trouble for a woman he doesn’t want to sleep with?”
“I never said I didn’t want to sleep with her. I said that I wouldn’t have any expectations that she’d do so on this trip. The deal is simply for some of her time. It’s a good deal, especially for you Danielle.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Regardless, by this time tomorrow you’ll have no debt. Your credit cards and student loans, even your rent for this year—will be paid in full.”
Nicole looked at him and he smiled at her.
She knew she couldn’t trust him, and yet—for the first time—she wondered if she’d somehow misjudged Kane Wright.
***
The next morning she threw up again.
This time it was when she was brushing her teeth after her morning shower (there was no way she could go two days without bathing, no matter how depressed).
Everything had been going just fine up until the point that she got sick. One moment, a typical weekday morning and the next—blecchhhh.
Her stomach lurching, she leaned over the toilet and everything came up yet again. This was now officially something weird.
Two days in a row she’d been sick in the morning.
There was a term for that—wasn’t there? Nicole thought, as she went through the now familiar process of wiping her mouth and chin with toilet paper and flushing the mess away.
Morning sickness.
A wave of unreality washed over her, making her so dizzy that she had to grab hold of the sink and close her eyes.
It’s a coincidence, she told herself. Maybe I do have a touch of the flu. Wasn’t I sweating a lot last night? I woke up and my sheets were damp. It’s the flu. I probably even have a bit of fever if I take my temperature.
She tried to talk herself off the ledge, because the alternative was just too frightening.