Keeping Her Guilty Secret (Forever Yours Trilogy) by Anna James Page A

housing her mother’s jewelry.
    She stroked her fingers over the beloved diamond necklace. The pear-shaped solitaire pendant had been a gift from her father on their twentieth wedding anniversary.
    Nicole remembered the awe and wonder that shone in her mother’s eye the evening her father had given her the beautiful gem. It had been just before Nicole had gone off to attend her first year of college.
    They’d taken the family out for an elegant dinner. They could have gone off on their own, but they’d wanted to celebrate with the family. Her father had presented the gift-wrapped package during dessert and said the most romantic words about how he’d fallen for her the moment he’d laid eyes on her. She’d been the light in his life and the rock that steadied him through the good times and the bad. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it and couldn’t wait to see what adventures the future held for them on their journey together. Little did they know fate had conspired to cut their journey short.
    Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. How on earth could she part with it? It’d meant the world to her mother, and her, too. But there wasn’t a choice if she didn’t want to disappoint Kate. Taking a deep breath, Nicole shoved the necklace into her purse, returned the box to its rightful spot, and hurried out before she could change her mind.
    Once back in the main lobby, Nicole put on her coat and scarf and braved the cold, windy day. The store wasn’t far and she decided to walk the short distance.
    A crowd of people browsed among the display cases when she arrived and it took almost thirty minutes before someone could speak with her. After a lengthy negotiation Nicole pocketed the fifty-five hundred dollar check, bundled her coat around her body, and headed back to the office.
    She hadn’t gone more than a few blocks when someone yanked her arm from behind and shoved her into one of the brick buildings lining the street. Her shoulder hit the wall with a thud. He—at least she thought the masked person was a man judging by his sizable height and brute strength—whirled her around to face him and before she had time to catch her breath, he pulled out a knife.
    Her heart hammered in her chest as he slashed the knife across her body slicing through the coat in several places, cut the strap of her purse, then slammed her to the ground and took off running.
    Nicole lay on the sidewalk in a dazed state for a moment and tried to gather her wits, then slowly rose to her feet. She peered around trying to spot which way the man had gone but he was nowhere to be found.
    The throngs of humanity surrounding her went about their business as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. No help on that front. Typical. No one wanted to get involved.
    She pulled her phone from her coat pocket and, miracles of miracles, it hadn’t broken when she’d hit the ground. She dialed Max. When he didn’t answer she left a message then dialed Reed. Strike two. Resigned, she made her way back to the office on foot.
    She arrived two hours later after a lengthy stop at one of the city police stations to report the robbery. By the time she’d made it up to the tenth floor, where the offices of Paradis and McNamara were located, every muscle in her body ached.
    “Nicole, I’m sorry I missed your call. I was in the middle of—” Reed drew in a short, sharp breath. “What happened to you?”
    Max, who sat in the chair in front of Reed’s desk with his back to her, whipped around to face her.
    The care and concern emanating from him brought tears to her eyes. No. She wouldn’t cry now. There wasn’t any reason to. The danger had passed. “I got mugged. They got my purse and . . .” Oh god, oh god, oh god. No! She reached into her pants pocket and breathed a sigh of relief to find the check from the jeweler still there. Heaven help her if she’d lost that. What would she do?
    Max rushed over. “Why didn’t you call