Page 80 of Hellbent

Evan thought, Like having Jack.

“God,” she said. “Sometimes I miss Roger so much. It’s never the big stuff like you’d think. Candlelight dinners. The sex. Wedding veils and vacations. No. It’s coming home when you’re at the end of a brutal day and there’s someone there. Consistency. You know?”

Evan said, “No.”

She laughed. “Your bluntness, it’s refreshing. It’s always yes and no with you. Never ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I get it.’”

He thought, That’s because I don’t get it.

“This personal thing you’re dealing with,” she said. “What is it?”

He took another sip, let the vodka heat his throat. “It is,” he said, “the job to end all jobs.”

“Truly?”

“I think so.”

“If that’s the case,” she said. “Maybe a DA and a … whatever you are can be friends.”

“Friends.”

She rose from the table, and he followed her cue.

“Maybe we could do this,” she said. “Just this. Maybe again Friday? Peter enjoys it. I enjoy it.”

Evan thought of Jack, stepping silently into space, giving his life to protect Evan’s. Joey, working furiously to get him back on Van Sciver’s trail. Benito Orellana, besieged by debt, his wife dead, his son in danger. Please help me. You’re all I have left.

Evan didn’t deserve to have something this nice on a regular basis.

Mia was staring at him.

He said, “What?”

“This is where you say you enjoy it, too.”

Evan said, “I enjoy it, too.”

They were at the door. Mia was looking at his mouth, and he was looking at hers.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked.

He drew her in.

Her mouth was so, so soft.

They parted. She was breathless. He was, too. An odd sensation—odder even than guilt.

He said, “Thank you for dinner.”

She laughed as she closed the door after him.

He had no idea why.

35

Patron Saint of Dispossessed Orphans

It was a new look.