Warning his partners was the easy part. He knew that they respected him enough to take this threat seriously – hurt Dr. Santino, and there would be hell to pay.
Showing his feelings for her was tricky, until he realized it wasn't. All he had to do was treat her the way he wanted to treat her.
He didn't see her for a few days, but when he did, his heart leapt. He reminded himself that he needed to be surreptitious around others, but make it clear around her. When he was setting up a firewall on her computer (a job he could have handed off to one of a dozen employees), he put his hand on the back of her seat and leaned his head close to hers. She would recognize that as possessive, intimate body language. When she mentioned Pittman, he spoke from the heart, and promised her it would never happen again. He looked deep in her eyes, and was gratified to see her give a small, delighted smile, almost to herself. She dropped her eyes, almost shy in the face of the feelings he was letting her see.
He was glad he allowed himself to show how her how he felt. He had
She shared these feelings, he was entirely sure. He just wasn't sure she had put a name to them. Well, he'd keep courting her when he could and see where it took them. Hmm. Courting. He liked the sound of that.
As he walked out of the door, he saw Paloma giving him an appraising look. Well, she was a smart cookie and wasn't going to be gossiping about what she saw. What was there to say, really - Mr. Careles was looking into Dr. Santino's eyes? That wasn't exactly a smoking gun. Still, he didn't know Paloma, so he vowed to be much more careful.
When he saw her walk into the party in that green dress, she took his breath away. She looked…like the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Who ever existed. He watched her for a second, then approached her. Once again, she was startled. They made small talk, and he kept his tone gentle. Gathering up his courage (why was he suddenly unsure of himself?), he said, "You look beautiful." (He didn't recognize his voice sometimes when he spoke to her, he realized. He sounded so gentle. He hoped he didn't sound foolish, but he had vowed to do this, and he was going to be true to his feelings.) She smiled like a shy teenager. She might even have blushed. He was definitely making progress.
When Connor approached, he cursed to himself. He had to make sure not to show too much interest in Dr. Santino in front of his boss – he didn't need to reveal any vulnerabilities. He looked at his (mercifully) empty drink and used the polite excuse of someone who was relieved to get away from a boring conversation. He saw Dani's flash of confusion and disappointment, and he held her gaze for longer than he should, hoping that would tell her the truth of the matter, even if his actions seemed to say something else.
He was surprised at how upset he was when he saw her dancing with Connor. What did McLane want from Dani? And what if she bought into his easy charm? Connor was the most charming person Nico knew. The most charming man, that was. He'd make it very easy for her to fall for him. He took a sip of his drink as he contemplated those possibilities.