Sam cleared his throat and both Tyler and Nicole turned to face him. “We hadn’t had a chance to discuss that yet,” he said pointedly.
“Shit,” Tyler said, realizing he’d spilled those beans.
“Yeah.” Thanks a lot, asshole, Sam thought. Though it was his fault Nicole didn’t know yet.
He’d wanted to spare her the worrying until there was a reason, but from the furious look on her face, she didn’t appreciate being left in the dark.
“What’s going on? What do you two know that I don’t?”
“The feds—” Tyler began, but Sam held a hand up, interrupting his explanation.
“I’ve got this,” Sam said.
“Now. You’ve got this now,” Nicole muttered. “But you’ve had plenty of time to tell me . . . what?” She perched her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“When Mike and Cole spoke to the feds, they said they wanted you to wear a wire to get information from his father so they could implicate Romanov. He’s a major drug dealer and money launderer,” Sam explained, as Tyler remained silent.
“And you didn’t think I needed to know about this?” she asked, her voice rising.
Sam set his jaw. “I didn’t think you needed added stress right now, no.”
“Tell me you didn’t make that decision for me.” Her eyes grew dark and stormy, along with his mood, and a beat of silence followed.
They both already knew the answer.
Tyler swore out loud. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
Sam ignored him, drawing a calming breath. “Can we discuss this later? In private?”
Nicole nodded, but her pain-filled expression told him she wasn’t up to the news. And he’d known that.
The doorbell rang again and Nicole threw up her arms, wincing in agony. “What now?” she asked, her voice rising. She glanced through the door before swinging it open wide. “Am I glad to see you,” Nicole said.
Macy walked in with a cake box in hand. “I was coming to bring you a get-well present from my family. Then I saw the car in the driveway.” Her voice darkened as she narrowed her gaze on Tyler, who’d clearly been caught back in town visiting his ex—before he’d told his current . . . whatever Macy was to him that he’d returned.
Now it was Tyler’s turn to be in the doghouse, Sam thought, taking no pleasure in anyone sharing his predicament. Having Nicole mad at him ruined his damned day.
“Might as well come in and join the fun,” Sam said to Macy.
She rolled her eyes. Handed Nicole the cake. Folded her arms across her chest and glared at Tyler, hurt and fury warring for dominance.
Even Sam winced at what poor Stanton was in for.
Macy had taken one look at Tyler’s Porsche parked in Nicole’s driveway and wanted to vomit. Of course he’d come here before letting her know he was back in town. If he was back. For all Macy knew, he’d planned on leaving again before she even realized he’d returned. But she refused to let him stop her from checking on Nicole and delivering her gift.
Once inside, it took all her willpower to keep her focus on her friend and not the man who’d asked her to wait but couldn’t be bothered to keep in touch.
“Anyway, Aunt Lulu said she can take the deliveries if you aren’t up to working,” Macy said, ignoring Tyler’s heated gaze.
“I’m not missing any more work because of this mess.” Nicole sliced a hand through the air for emphasis. “And what about you? What are you doing out and about? You were in that car with me,” Nicole said.
“What!?” Tyler stepped forward. “Are you okay?” He reached for her, but she backed away.
“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “Nice of you to ask.”
Tyler ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know. Mike only told me about Nicole. He didn’t know you and I . . .” He trailed off, obviously unsure of how to characterize their relationship.
Hurt rocked through Macy, but she didn’t want to deal with him now. “What mess are you talking about?” she asked, referring to what Nicole had said earlier. “What don’t you want to keep you from work?”