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She nodded. "Yeah, Lara told me about that."
"Phineas was one of them. He's known us for only a few years, but he's demonstrated over and over again how loyal, brave, and trustworthy he is."
LaToya scoffed. "He was a drug dealer. I checked him out, you know. There's an outstanding warrant for his arrest."
"He's come a long way since then."
"That doesn't mean he shouldn't pay for his crime."
"He did pay," Robby insisted. "With his life. He deserves a second chance."
LaToya huffed. "I'm not sure I can be that forgiving."
Robby glanced at Marta Barkowski, who was sitting at a table with Vanda and Phil. "I dinna think I could be forgiving, either. But sometimes there's just no point in prolonging everyone's suffering."
With a small shock, Robby realized he was changing. His time with Olivia was healing his heart and soothing his wounds. He still wanted to kill Casimir, but it was no longer the top priority in his mind. And when it came to Vamps like Marta or Stanislav, he now understood that they'd been victimized, too.
"Can I cut in?" Phineas tapped him on the shoulder.
Robby released LaToya and stepped back. "That depends on the lady's wishes."
Phineas extended a hand to LaToya. "Sweetness, will you dance with me?"
She gave him a wary look. "I guess I could finish this one with you."
"Great!" With a grin, Phineas wrapped his arms around her.
The music ended.
"Oops. Dance is over." LaToya stepped away.
"No, it's not." Phineas pulled her back.
"Yes, it is!" She stomped a stiletto heel on his foot.
With a yelp, Phineas released her.
"So long, sucker." She strode away, flipping her long curls over her shoulder.
Phineas tried putting weight on his sore foot and winced. "Ouch."
"Sorry about that," Robby murmured.
Phineas gave him a wry look. "Yeah, it hurts, but at least I didn't turn emo and punch a hole in a wall."
"I fixed it," Robby grumbled. He'd taken a lot of ribbing over that hole.
Phineas turned his attention back to LaToya, who was ordering a drink at the bar. He smiled slowly. "It's happening, bro. She's falling under my spell."
"How can ye tell? She attacked you again."
"Yeah, but this time she didn't threaten to kill me." Phineas smoothed a hand over his short black hair. "Oh yeah, baby, the Love Doctor is hard to resist."
It was the end of April when the pace at work finally slowed down. Olivia had spent the morning finishing up paperwork. "Ready for lunch?" she called over the partition to J.L.
"Almost," he replied. "Give me five minutes."
This was the perfect opportunity to check her personal e-mail account. She grinned when a message from Robby popped up.
Good morning, sweetheart. After we talked on the phone last night, I received a message from Jack and Lara in Venice. They sent some pictures from the wedding. I've attached them for you.
Olivia clicked through the photos, delighted to finally put faces to the names she'd been hearing about for the last two months. Her heart swelled when she saw a photo that included Robby. He looked dashing in his formal black jacket, white shirt, and black tie that matched his black and white plaid kilt. There was a twinkle in his green eyes and an amused tilt to his wide mouth. She could have gawked at him for hours, but there were a bunch more photos to see. She clicked through some more.
"Hey, Liv. Here's that report you wanted." Yasmine set a file on Olivia's desk, then glanced at the monitor. "Are those wedding pictures? I love wedding pictures!"
"Let me show you the bride." Olivia clicked on Lara's photo.
"All right." J.L. leaned his elbows on the partition. "I'm ready for lunch now."
"Wow, she's beautiful," Yasmine whispered.
"I know," Olivia said. "Can you believe she was a New York cop?"
"Hello?" J.L. waved at them. "Lunch?"
Yasmine ignored him. "I didn't know you went to a wedding. Are you friends with the bride?"
"I didn't go," Olivia replied. "I'm just friends with the best man."
"Just friends?" J.L. scoffed. "He's all you ever talk about anymore. I can't eat my lunch without getting the latest 'Robby' update."
Olivia made a face at him. He'd laughed at the stories, too.
"Who's Robby?" Yasmine asked.
"He was the best man. Here, I'll show you." Olivia clicked on a group photo.
Yasmine snorted. "Who's the big guy in the skirt? And what's that? A purse?"
Olivia stiffened. "That's Robby."
"He's wearing a skirt? I've got to see this." J.L. peered over Yasmine's head at the monitor, then snickered.
Olivia glared at him. "Robby's Scottish. That's why he's wearing a kilt and a sporran."
"Where on earth did you meet a Scotsman?" Yasmine asked.
"Look, guys," J.L. interrupted them. "I'm starving. If you want to keep drooling on those photos, I'll bring lunch back here."
Olivia's glare switched to a smile. "That would be great. I'll take a turkey sandwich."
"Me, too," Yasmine said.
J.L. walked away, muttering about the female fascination with weddings where poor saps got shackled for life.
"Well?" Yasmine asked. "Where did you meet the handsome Scotsman?"
"On Patmos last November."
"A Scotsman on a Greek island?" Yasmine laughed, then abruptly turned serious. "Oh my gosh, Liv, he's not the one who made you cry, is he?"
Olivia's cheeks warmed with embarrassment. "That was just a misunderstanding. We're okay now."
"You're dating him?"
"Sorta. We talk and e-mail every day. I wish I could go see him, but I'm out of vacation days."
Yasmine shook her head slowly. "I had no idea you were involved with someone. How serious is it?"
Olivia bit her lip. Yasmine could be annoying sometimes with her constant curiosity about everyone's personal affairs, but Olivia was dying to tell someone her news. "Last night Robby told me he was taking some vacation time in June so he could come for a visit. He said he had something really important to discuss with me and he needed to do it in person."
Yasmine gasped. "Do you think he's going to propose?"
Olivia grinned. She was so excited, she'd hardly slept at all last night. "It sounds that way, don't you think? I mean, he wouldn't come all this way to break up with me, would he?"
An aura of anxiety swirled around Yasmine. "Are you seriously considering this? You can't really know him that well."
"We've had lots of long talks. I can tell him anything, and he understands. He makes me laugh. I make him laugh."
"Girl, he made you cry last December. You were hurting really bad. Maybe you should rethink this. Or at least slow down."
Olivia shrugged. The last thing she wanted to hear was something bad about Robby. He was the sweetest, most gentle man she'd ever met.
"Here, I'll show you the rest of the photos." She clicked through them, and her eyes were invariably drawn to Robby whenever he appeared in a photo.
Was he really planning to propose to her? She couldn't imagine anything else of importance that he would need to tell her.
There was, however, something important she needed to tell him. She'd meant to tell him before, but the appropriate time had never come up.
How was yer day? he would ask on the webcam.
Great. We arrested a kidnapper, and by the way, I'm a virgin. That would have been too strange.
But surely it didn't matter if Robby was unaware of her secret. Why would any man object to it?
Two weeks later, on a Saturday afternoon, Olivia returned to her apartment after running errands. She dropped her handbag and keys on the console by the front door, then carried her bag of groceries to the kitchen.
As she passed the breakfast nook, she noticed something on the dinette table. A brown cardboard box. The logo on top was unmistakable.
Apples.
Her heart lurched up her throat. The box was in her house. Not on the front porch, left by a delivery man. In her house.
She set her tote bag of groceries on the floor and moved quietly to her bedroom. All her senses tingled high on alert. She might not be alone in the apartment. She was good at martial arts, but she'd feel a lot safer with her gun in her hand. She reached her bedside table and removed her sidearm from the top drawer.
