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“Well then,” I say. “I guess I better read it.” I accept the file and set it on the desk before updating her on Ashley.
“She must be a wreck,” Lori says. “I’m going to see if I can take her to lunch. Maybe talking will help her.”
“Order in,” I say, sharper than I intend. “I don’t want you out with her.”
“Cole,” she says, her hand settling on my shoulder. “I thought you were easing up.”
“This isn’t about a case, Lori. I’m paying for security for Ashley for a reason. The FBI is involved for a reason.”
“Right,” she concedes. “You’re right. We’ll order in. I almost overreacted. I’m sorry.”
I kiss her hand. “Just protecting what is mine and you are mine.”
“Yes,” she says, cupping my face. “I am.” She kisses me. “I’m going to ask Ashley to lunch, in my office.” She smiles and heads toward the door, peeking over her shoulder to say, “Those pink panties you like so much.”
I groan, and she laughs, shutting me in my office, alone. I’m about to reach for the phone when my eyes settle on the file she gave me now laying on my desk, I know it’s a fight ready to happen. I open it and start reading and confirm my assessment. Federal judges lead to politics, this particular one especially, and there’s nothing more volatile than politics which isn’t necessarily something the firm needs in its newly formed identity.
I have to hope Lori understands this, but my gut says that she’ll think I’m holding back to protect her, that I’m incapable of giving her the freedom I know she craves and the growth she deserves. If I’m not careful, that’s exactly what will happen, and that would be my mistake again. I can’t insist that Lori tear down her walls while I try to hold her captive, but deep in my gut, I still feel what I felt right before we returned from Paris. Trouble hasn’t finished with us yet.
Lori
Ashley and I sit down for a lunch that includes salads and soup, which suits my intention of losing my five pounds quite well. “How are you feeling about everything?” I ask, then add, “Though we don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”
“It’s fine. It really is. I’m fine. I have to be, right?” She jabs her fork at her salad before continuing, “How do you love someone that was a lie? That makes the love a lie, too.”
“But it didn’t feel like a lie,” I surmise.
“No.” She swallows hard. “It felt more real than anything I’ve ever known.” She shuts her eyes. “I’m not sure how I was that foolish.”
I have no idea why but I get the sense that despite her reactions, she wants to talk. “How did you meet him?”
“Jogging and texting. I ran right into him, as in literally. Of all the men I chose this tall, dark, and gorgeous man to run into. I thought it was a fairy tale. And now, I think it was a set-up. I was an easy target. I don’t have any family. If I disappear, no one misses me.”
“Is that what the authorities told you?”
“They thought I was an accomplice.”
“To what?”
“I never got that answer. It’s crazy, right? Not to know what I was accused of? But I was in another country and I heard the word ‘spy’ several times. Spies don’t get the same rights.”
“You think he was a spy?”
“I have no idea, Lori. I’m being guarded from a man I was going to marry. I’m clearly not objective.”
“What can I do?”
“Listening helps. Thank you.”
“Of course. Do you want me to go to the FBI interview tonight?”
“No,” she says. “I wish Cole wasn’t going. I’d like to learn what kind of fool I am on my own, but I know that would be foolish.”
“Call me after, will you?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Maybe you should make out with Smith. It might make you feel better.”
