“Nonsense,” Ella said, having heard that. “Guests don’t clean up.”
“But . . .”
“Go,” Ella insisted.
Sam rose from his seat. “You heard the lady,” he said, pulling out Nicole’s chair.
“Thank you for a delicious meal and a wonderful evening,” Nicole said.
“Our pleasure,” Simon said.
Ella actually snorted in reply. “As if he cooked?” She laughed. “But it is our pleasure. See you soon.” She blew a kiss in their general direction.
“Congratulations again,” Nicole said to Cara and Mike.
“I’ll walk you two out,” Mike said, taking Sam by surprise.
He followed them to the front door, where Sam paused, turning to face his brother, Nicole by his side. “What’s going on?”
“Change of plans. It turns out the DEA was already watching the Romanovs. They have a guy deep undercover and a sting in place. They want us to stand down and stay the hell out of their way.”
Sam glanced at Nicole. Her eyes opened wide. “But . . . what about the money laundering and my father’s firm? Tyler? And me? They’re after me!” she said, her voice rising.
Sam pulled her tight against him. “You’re going to be fine,” he said, glancing at his brother for reassurance.
“Mike?” Nicole asked.
He exhaled a harsh breath. “From what I understand, and it’s sketchy at best, they hope to have the Russians behind bars by tonight. According to Cole’s sources, there’s a huge shipment coming in and if they can catch them in the act . . .” He trailed off.
“Okay, and the bit players? Like Tyler’s father?” Sam asked.
“The New York City cops will talk to Tyler about giving grand jury testimony and indicting his old man and anyone else involved in laundering money.”
Nicole sucked in a breath. “I need to go home and talk to my father.”
Sam exchanged glances with Mike. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. The less you’re involved, the better.”
“But I am involved. I’m the one who overheard the conversation.”
“Which probably can’t be used as evidence anyway,” Mike reminded her.
She sighed. “I still want to talk to him. He deserves a heads-up. He may not have been a doting parent, but I can’t imagine he’d let anything happen to me. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t warn him before his world comes crashing down.”
Sam admired her loyalty to a man who didn’t deserve it, but given what he’d learned of her so far, she was loving and caring and put others before herself. “I’ll go with you.”
She swung toward him. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Maybe not, but I want to.” He squeezed her shoulder and she laid her head against his arm.
Mike shot Sam a knowing look. “I’ll leave you two to figure out your next step. I don’t have to remind you to be careful,” Mike said before turning and walking away.
Nicole looked up at him with trusting eyes. “Will the Russians leave me alone?”
“Once the DEA arrests them with drugs in hand, you’ll be off their radar, believe me. We can go to the city tomorrow and talk to your father.”
She studied him, as if gauging his sincerity in wanting to go along. Without warning, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“For what?”