“I don’t feel obligated. I feel...sort of excited actually.”

“You do?” Despite her fervent desire to get through this without them, tears filled her eyes anyway. “You’re not just saying that?”

“Shelby,” he said with a chuckle as he drew her in closer to him, “I’m not just saying that.” With his lips close to her ear, he said, “Every time we made love without protection, I knew what could happen. I’ve known all along what you wanted, and I hoped maybe I could be the one to give it to you.”

She rested her hand on her chest. “I think my heart just stopped for a second there.”

“What do you think this has been about all this time?”

“I wasn’t sure. We don’t really talk about it.”

“No,” he said with a sigh, “we don’t, and that’s my fault mostly.”

“How so?”

He hesitated, sighed and sat up straighter. “If I tell you, you might not want to be with me anymore.”

“I’ll still want to be with you.”

“You should wait until you hear what I have to say.”

“Are you married? Gay? Really a woman?”

He laughed and shook his head. “No to all of the above.”

“Then what could be so bad?”

After another long pause during which she wanted to beg him to just tell her what was on his mind so they could move forward, he said, “Long before I ever met you and before I knew she was married, I sort of had a thing for Sam.”

“Sam, my Sam?”

“Yeah.”

Shelby pulled back from him as a thousand disturbing thoughts riffled through her mind one right after the other. “Is that why you started seeing me? To stay close to her?”

“Had nothing to do with it. I just happened to meet you through her. That was the full extent of it.” He took hold of her hand. “Think about all the time we’ve spent alone together. Think about the hours we’ve spent in bed together, the nights you’ve slept in my arms, the time we’ve spent watching TV, making dinner, hanging with Scotty. What did any of that have to do with her?”

“Were you ever going to tell me you’d had feelings for her?”

“I’m telling you now.”

Filled with disbelief, Shelby blew out a breath. “Now, months after this started, you tell me you had a thing for my boss and close friend. That’s kind of a sin of omission, Avery.”

“When would’ve been a good time to tell you? When could I have told you when you wouldn’t have thought exactly what you’re thinking right now, that I used you to get closer to her?”

“Did you?”

“No! You and I have nothing to do with her other than the fact that we both work with her.”

“This is why Nick doesn’t like you.” So many things came into sharp focus in the span of a few seconds. “They know, don’t they? They both know this, and no one told me. God, how big of a fool could I possibly be?” She pulled free of his grasp and got up, her legs wobbling under her until she recovered her bearings. “I...I have to go.”

“Shelby, come on. Stay here and let’s talk about this.” As he spoke, his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and swore under his breath. “Please don’t go.”

“Take the call. I can see myself out.”

“Shelby, honey, please. Stay and talk to me.”

She wanted to tell him not to call her that, but the words got stuck on the huge lump in her throat. Blinded by tears, she rushed out of his house and tripped on the last stair, falling to her hands and knees on the sidewalk.

The impact took her breath away as searing pain from her knees and palms tore sobs from her chest.

Avery came running down the stairs. “Shelby! Are you okay?”

She wanted to fight him off, to tell him to go to hell, but he scooped her up as if she were weightless and carried her back into the house. “God, honey, you’re bleeding.”

She was also crying too hard to speak. Her heart ached almost as badly as her knees did.

Avery deposited her on one of the stools in his kitchen, carefully placing her legs on the next stool. “Hang on just a second. Let me get the first aid kit.” He went into another room and when he returned, he was on the phone, speaking in a clipped tone.

“Get to HQ and see what’s needed.” After a pause he said, “I was going to handle it, but now I can’t. I’m giving you an order, George.” He put his phone on the counter and got busy cleaning up her cuts. Of all days to wear a skirt with her favorite pale pink tights. They were now a shredded mess, just like her knees.

The pain was ridiculous and reminded her of the time she’d fallen on the street in front of her house when she and her sister were trying out Rollerblades they’d gotten for Christmas. She’d never gone near the Rollerblades again.

He dabbed antibiotic ointment on the wounds, and Shelby gasped from the shocking pain.

“Sorry, honey.”

His use of that word caused shocking pain in the vicinity of her heart. She’d loved the way that endearment had sounded coming from him. “Don’t call me that. I’m not your honey. Not anymore.”

“Yes, you are.”

She pushed his hand away from her leg. “No, I’m not. You lied to me and used me and God knows what else.”

“I didn’t do any of those things.”

“You wanted my friend and settled for second best when she wouldn’t have you.”

“That’s not true.” He took her by the chin and forced her to meet the steely gaze he directed her way. As always those honey-golden eyes made her melt until she remembered why she was so upset. “Nothing about you is second best. You’re first-class all the way, and every minute I’ve spent with you was because of you and no one else but you.”

“I don’t believe you. The only reason you’re saying those things is because I might be carrying your baby.” She wiped angrily at the tears that continued to fall from her eyes even though she’d moved from hurt to fury. “I wish I’d never told you that.”

“Well, you did, and now I know.” His movements were jerky as he cleaned up her other knee. “I’m taking you to the ER to make sure you didn’t hurt more than your knees when you fell. After that, we’re coming back here and we’re going to talk this through.”

“I’m not going to the ER and I’m done talking.”

“You are going to the ER, and we’ve only begun to talk.”

“I don’t want to be with you.”

“Okay.” As if she hadn’t said a word, he grabbed his keys, pulled on a coat, picked her up and carried her to his car in the garage.

Knowing she was no match for him, Shelby went along with it. But the minute she could, she would break free of him. Permanently.

* * *

Gonzo felt like he was having a heart attack as he watched the news unfolding in the city. A police source had named him as the chief suspect in the murder of his son’s mother. The talking heads rehashed the custody battle he’d waged with Lori, picking apart every detail and obsessing about the fact that he hadn’t disclosed his previous connection to the judge.

“Attorneys for Lori Phillips broke the news of the connection between Gonzales and Judge Leon Morton three days ago, and now she’s dead,” the CBC talking head said almost gleefully. “Coincidence or is the man recently hailed a hero actually a cold-blooded killer?”

“Oh my God,” he said as the shock ricocheted through his body, leaving him reeling. Didn’t all his years of impeccable service count for anything?

Christina came into the room.

“Where’s Alex?”

“With your mom. She’s reading him a story and trying to get him to nap.”

“This is totally out of control, Chris. They’re having a field day at my expense. I’m never going to be able to work again in that city if someone doesn’t fix this quickly.”

“We need a lawyer, and we need one now.”

“I’ve tried to call Andy.”

“We need a criminal lawyer. I want to call my brother.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Tommy, babe, I know that. You know that. We need to make sure you don’t get railroaded for something you didn’t do.”