Page 65 of The Silent Hour

Silence fell again, heavy with unasked questions. Maybe they’d expected me to snap or to lash out. I didn’t dislike Lila. I disliked that something as simple as an associate looking at me too long had become a conversation involving my wife, my partners, and now a fucking incarcerated crime boss, but none of that justified destroying someone's career.

"She's good at her job," I said. “Between now and Monday, we verify everything Cortez told us. Nobody contacts Marino or hints that anything changed today. And nobody starts treating her differently around the office."

"Eric, get me the initial access review. Katerina, work with Serena on anything related to her case assignments. Caleb, start tracing Cortez's known family connections and see whether Marino appears anywhere legitimate."

Caleb wrote each item down.

"Knox and Rafa, keep reviewing the actual case."

Knox looked offended. "So everybody gets espionage except us?"

"You get several thousand pages of federal discovery."

"Fucking Christmas."

I looked around the table. "Cortez wanted to destabilize us with this. Don't let him."

Chairs scraped across the polished floor as everyone rose, phones awakened with quiet chimes. The murmurs of departing colleagues swelled and then faded until only Rafa, Serena, Eric, and I remained clustered around the long mahogany table. A single fluorescent bulb buzzed overhead, casting the scale-tipped silhouette of Lady Justice on the far wall.

Eric studied me across the scattered case files, his blue eyes probing. “You alright?”

I closed my fist around a pen, knuckles whitening. “Fine.”

Rafa snorted, exhaling through his nose in irritation. His black hair caught the light. “You look like you want to punch something.”

I pressed my palm flat on the table, fingertips grazing the edge of Serena’s legal pad. “I want information.”

He rolled his shoulders. “That’s less fun.”

Serena remained seated, posture rigid, her laptop open but screen dark. She looked up at me, jaw tight. “Laurel vetted her.”

I met her gaze. “Her paperwork was clean. HR processed everything. I signed off on her placement.”

“Rena,” I said, turning to point at her.

“How did we not know?” Her lips thinned, and she tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear.

“Because there was no reason for us to know. Marino is her legal name. Cortez apparently kept her existence private. Unless you planned on DNA-testing every associate we hired, what exactly were you supposed to find?”

Rafa reached out and rested a hand on Serena’s shoulder, the leather of his jacket creaking. “He’s right.”

She exhaled, the tension in her shoulders melting away. I felt it too—the sting of betrayal, the dizzying realization that Lila had walked our halls for almost two years, file by file, handshake by handshake, while we remained oblivious. Every casual greeting, every conference-room exchange, suddenly bristled with potential secrets. I forced the thought down. Hindsight could twist coincidence into conspiracy in a heartbeat.

“Sunday I’ll talk to Dad,” I said, voice low. “See what he knows about Cortez and the Marino family.” I looked at Eric. “You get me whatever we can verify before then.”

“Done,” Eric replied, already tapping his pen against the table.

“And tonight, I talk to Julia,” I added.

Serena’s expression shifted—her brown eyes narrowing. “About Lila?”

I tucked a stray file into a neat pile. “About everything I’m legally permitted to tell her.” The weight behind those words was heavier than any briefing I’d given that morning. Julia was my partner in life; I hated that privilege might force me to measure my words. But I wouldn’t risk the firm—or a potential client—to unburden my own mind.

Eric pushed his chair back with a soft scrape. “I’ll have the first report in your secure inbox tonight.” He stood, straightening his tie, then left the room.

Rafa lingered a moment longer. He leaned down to brush a kiss across Serena’s temple before turning on his heel and following Eric out. I’d never been awkward about their relationship—mainly because I deliberately kept it simple in my mind: Rafa loved her, and I trusted him with her. That was enough.

When the door clicked shut, Serena stared at me. Her voice was quiet but firm. “Ethan.”