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Shortly after 11:00 a.m., Sal called. She’d snuck out of the office and was at our favorite coffee shop. In a low voice she updated me on the progress of her snooping. She’d called in some favors and had spoken to an old friend who now worked in the enforcement division at the SEC. He was able to confirm that Nick and Nick’s school friends, Teddy Bennett and Josh Jones, had all been arrested on suspicion of insider trading. The details were sketchy, but Sal’s contact said that between them they’d made a three-million-dollar profit by preempting takeover bids in the last eight months.

“So do you know where Nick is? Is he still in custody?” I asked, my heart pounding at the thought.

“Haven’t you heard from him yet?” Sal inhaled sharply. “Nick got out on bail yesterday afternoon. His father stumped up $500,000.”

Fortunately, I was already sitting down. I couldn’t believe it. Nick was out of jail and hadn’t called me.

“Ah…thanks for telling me, Sal,” I mumbled. “I, um, better go now.”

“Hey Zara, before you go…I’m sure there’s some explanation for why Nick hasn’t called. Let me know when you speak to him. I’ll give you a call in a little while.”

I sat dumbly staring at the phone. I couldn’t believe Nick hadn’t bothered to call. Did I matter so little to him?

I needed to speak to him. I wanted to hear what he had to say for himself. I dialed his number for about the thousandth time. Again, no answer.

In desperation I resolved to call his father. If he’d paid Nick’s bail, he obviously knew where Nick was. This was going to be awkward. Since Nick and his father weren’t exactly on speaking terms (due to Nick turning his back on the family business and in his father’s eyes, the family), I’d never been introduced.

Chapter 4

I

Googled
Hansen Enterprises
and clicked through to the “Contact Us” page, which contained the general reception number. An officious female voice answered on the third ring. Putting on my most professional voice, I asked to speak to Bill Hansen. Sounding suspicious, the receptionist refused to put me through and instead offered to take a message.

Thinking quickly, I said, “Sure. I’m calling from The Sexual Health Clinic about Mr. Hansen’s test results.” I paused for effect and proceeded, “Actually, this is a bit delicate so maybe I should…if you could just have Mr. Hansen call me back, that’s probably better. It is quite urgent that I speak to him today, though.”

My message had the desired effect: the receptionist suddenly discovered that Bill Hansen was available to take phone calls.

“Bill Hansen.” The voice on the other end of the phone sounded gruff.

My voice quivered. “Mr. Hansen, I’m Nick’s girlfriend, Zara. I’ve been trying his cell and apartment phone, but he’s not answering and I’m really worried about him. I understand you posted his bail…”

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. “Nick is staying with me at the moment, Zara. He’s under instructions from his lawyer not to speak to anyone. Look, I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss this over the phone. Come over to the apartment at seven tonight.” He then rattled off the address before hanging up in my ear.

I looked at my watch. It was only lunchtime. I had hours to kill before seeing Nick. Trying to take my mind off things, I mindlessly flicked on the flat-screen monster that dominated my tiny living room. It was one of the many presents I’d received from Nick. Despite my protests, he’d insisted on getting me a television with full surround sound so he could watch the business news and the sports channels (as opposed to romantic comedies) on the odd occasion he stayed at my place rather than me staying at his.

Listlessly, I channel-surfed before settling on one of the business channels. Snuggling deep into the couch cushions, I had just started to wearily close my eyes when I heard: “In breaking news, the son of wealthy New York businessman and philanthropist Bill Hansen has been arrested on suspicion of insider trading.”

My eyes snapped open. The attractive blonde news anchor had already moved on to the next story, but there in teletext for all the world to see scrolled the words “Nick Hansen, son of Bill Hansen, arrested on suspicion of insider trading.”

“Shit, shit, shit, the whole world knows about Nick!” I screeched hysterically down the phone to Sal.

I could hear the bang of Sal’s office door in the background. “Shhh, calm down, Zara,” whispered Sal urgently. “Look, I really can’t talk right now, but this was always going to come out sooner or later. Nick’s from a well-known family, so it’s no surprise his arrest has been reported. You need to just calm down. And whatever you do, keep a low profile. Now, have you spoken to Nick yet?”

I filled Sal in on my impending visit.

“Good; call me as soon as you get home. Also, Zara, I heard from my friend at the SEC. He couldn’t say much, but I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about. It sounds like the information was coming from somewhere else.”

I unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. If it was true that I wasn’t under suspicion, at least one part of my life could return to “normal.” Well, semi-normal, I ruefully thought. No doubt I’d be the butt of scandalous office gossip for some time to come.

Guiltily, I thought about calling my parents. It was only a matter of time before they found out about Nick, but I couldn’t bring myself to make the call. Fortunately, they lived in Melbourne, Australia; so Nick’s arrest was unlikely to make the local news.

I pondered my impending visit. In the course of two days I’d gone from being happily in love to utterly confused about my feelings. It was becoming obvious that Nick and I probably didn’t have a future together.

For starters, he was probably a felon. Strike one. Strike two: the whole world had found out he was a felon at about the same time as me. There goes intimacy. Strike three: he still hadn’t called me back despite my million calls and my very obvious concern for his welfare.

So the question I was pondering was: what would breaking up with Nick now do for my future relationship karma? Would I always be the girl who took while the taking was good, but skipped town the minute things got ugly?

Chapter 5

F

inally, 6:00 p.m. came around. Slipping on a super-fine fitted cashmere Ralph Lauren dress, I quickly touched up my makeup, grabbed my bag, and headed for the door. Granted, I was in the midst of a personal crisis, but that was no reason not to look as good as possible. Thirteen hours moping around in a terry-cloth robe was quite enough!

Bill Hansen’s apartment was in the uber-luxe Manifold Building. I willed myself to seem confident and in control as I was buzzed upstairs; inside I was a bundle of nerves. I still didn’t know what to say or do when I saw Nick. Part of me wanted to kill him for what he had put me through.

Nick answered the door almost at once and pulled me into his strong arms. I tried to push him away, but he pressed me firmly against his chest and tightened his grip on my body. My fury started to melt, and as the tension of the last two days ebbed out of me, I began to cry. Kissing my eyes dry and stroking my hair, Nick murmured “sorry.” After a while, my sobs subsided and I could hear the steady, reassuring beat of Nick’s heart against my ear. Eventually, he released his grip on my body and led me toward the closest room.

We entered a richly decorated sitting room. Thick Persian rugs adorned the floor and the soft flicker of a gas fire danced on the walls. Nick steered me toward an oversized sofa and pulled me gently onto his lap wrapping his arms protectively around my body. My cheeks were still wet with tears, and he wiped them tenderly.

He turned his face toward me, and for the first time I saw how sad and drawn he looked. His usually sparkling blue eyes had lost their luster and he had deep, bruise-like purple splotches under his eyes.

“Nick, you look absolutely terrible!”

The corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly, exposing his perfectly straight, white teeth. “Trust me, I feel a lot worse than I look.”

“Nick, you need to tell me what’s going on,” I urgently said. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been. When you didn’t return any of my calls I thought you were dead.”

Nick’s body slackened. I waited for him to say it was all just a giant misunderstanding, but he didn’t.

“Zara, I don’t know how to say this, but the insider trading allegations are true.”

Nick’s admission felt like a punch. I tried to push his arms away from me, but he tightened his grip.

“No, Zara, stay. I need to explain.” Nick’s voice sounded thick with emotion. “I was just trying to help Teddy and Josh. They lost millions trading options during the GFC. To make matters worse, Teddy mortgaged his sister’s house: she has four kids and has recently been made redundant and Josh used his parents’ printing business as security. Their families have been good to me over the years so I gave them all the money I had, but it wasn’t enough. I even swallowed my pride and asked my father to bail Teddy and Josh out. He refused. In desperation I came up with a scheme to make some fast money.”

“Insider trading?” I whispered.

Nick nodded his head.

For a minute I was silent. “So what are you going to do now?” I sighed, defeated.

Nick put his head in his hands before looking up at me. “I don’t know Zara,” he said helplessly. “My father has hired New York’s top criminal attorney. He seems to think he can get the charges against me dropped, or at least significantly reduced, on the basis that I wasn’t knowingly involved in the trading.”

“Nick, I don’t know what to say,” I said, holding his hands between mine. This was so much worse than I’d thought.

“There’s nothing to say. I absolutely did the wrong thing and I’ve got to live with that. I’m just so sorry, Zara, that you’ve been caught up in this. It’s the last thing I ever wanted to happen. I wanted to tell you all this yesterday, but my attorney said contacting you would only drag you further into this mess.”

“So what does this mean for us?” I didn’t want to ask the question, but I knew we needed to have the discussion.

Nick gave a long, heavy sigh before answering, “There is no us any more, Zara. You need to forget about me. For the foreseeable future I’m not exactly good boyfriend material, am I?”

When I heard these words, I felt a mixture of relief and sadness. Relief, because Nick was letting me off the hook and making the decision I knew I had to make. Sadness, because despite his faults, Nick really was a good person and I loved him. Until yesterday I had thought I was going to marry him!

I rested my head on Nick’s shoulder and closed my eyes. Then Nick’s body tensed; I heard the apartment door shut and the heavy tread of footsteps.

I slipped off Nick’s lap and arranged myself in an armchair.

“There is just one last thing,” Nick quickly whispered. “My father is probably going to offer you money. Money is how he deals with problems. Take it and do something useful with it.”

Sensing that I was about to protest, Nick put his finger on my lips and said, “Please, for my sake, take it. I got you into this mess. Besides, think of it as the inheritance I’ll probably never get.” He gave me the semblance of a smile, but it didn’t manage to reach his strained-looking eyes.

At that moment Bill Hansen entered the room. He was stockier than I had imagined and shared none of Nick’s good looks. He wasted no time in getting to the point. “Zara, until yesterday I didn’t know about you. I would have preferred to meet you under happier circumstances, but as we’re all aware, Nick has gotten himself into an almighty mess.” Nick winced beside me.

“I’m sorry he has involved you in this, and I hope he finally learns from his mistakes. I’ve got Nick a top attorney, and he and I agree that it’s important for Nick not to have distractions of any kind right now. He needs to keep a low profile and start acting like a mature adult. Whatever kind of relationship you and Nick had, it has to end so Nick can concentrate on sorting himself out.”

For the first time in my life I was speechless. Yes, Nick had screwed up, but his father didn’t need to be so patronizing. My cheeks felt warm and red.

Bill Hansen pulled out a checkbook from his pocket. “I know this is awkward, Zara, but I hope this small amount helps you move on with your life.”

He leant over and passed me a check. I almost did a double take when I saw the figure: $250,000! That’s more than some people will ever see in a lifetime.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt angrier in my life—I wasn’t some commodity to be bought off. Haughtily I pushed back the check. “Thank you, Mr. Hansen, but I’m really not that sort of girl. Besides, Nick has already dumped me, so there’s no need to pay me off.”

Jumping angrily to my feet, I left the room without a backward glance. I’d made it to the front door before I felt Nick’s hand on my waist. “Zara, wait—before you go.” He turned me around and kissed me hard on the mouth. “You know I’ll always love you.” My throat constricted and I choked back tears. Putting on a brave face, I let myself out.

I bawled the entire cab trip home and for the next two weeks did nothing, but cry and watch re-runs of
The Bold And The Beautiful.
My heart was broken.

Chapter 6

“B

reathe through your belly; that’s right, long, deep breaths. Fill your belly with air.” Why do yoga teachers always have to say such ridiculous things?

I stole a quick glance at Emi. Ordinarily she would have giggled at such a silly suggestion, but today she was all concentration. The reason for her good behavior was standing at the front of the class.

His name was Henri—not a very yogic name, but who cares when you have an adorable French accent! I had to admit that Henri was quite the catch—tall and muscular with a big easy smile.

Mind you, when I looked around the room, it was clear that Emi had some competition. I’d never seen so many primped women in low-cut tops in a yoga studio before. Still, my money was on Emi. Emi happens to be gorgeous, with long blonde hair and a killer bod. And the other women’s push-up bras couldn’t compete with Emi’s natural assets!