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Grayson scowls. “Use my company? I don’t know if I like how that sounds.”
“With limits that you and your legal counsel set-up. I’m getting the deal to you to review with your team and to Reese. He’ll talk to you about a counter with your terms. Be happy. They want you to make this deal. This is going to be on your terms.”
“Why are they suddenly offering a deal?”
“Things change when you pit two agencies against the other. I have an ex-CIA agent on board who knows who to talk to. Once they tried to take over, the FBI changed their tune. You’re free. This is all but over. Celebrate. Eat chocolate, if my guys left you any. Drink champagne. Get married. Adrian and Axe are sleeping off the night. You have Jacob and Smith with you today. Both are quiet, unlike Adrian and Savage. May the force be with you and all of us.” He hangs up.
Grayson slides his phone into his pocket. “Well?” I ask, prodding for his feelings.
“I’m cautiously optimistic.”
I breathe out in relief. “Then so am I.”
He picks up my coffee and sips before offering it to me, turning the cup so that we drink from the same spot. His green eyes simmer with heat, sunshine on a winter’s day, sunshine on every winter day I could ever live. My belly flutters with the intimate act, that somehow is just as intimate as us naked in that shower. I sip the coffee and when I’m done, his hand covers mine over the mug.
“I think you better call the wedding planner, baby, any wedding planner that has the time to help. New Year’s Eve will be here before we know it.”
My lips curve and all that sunshine is pouring into me, warming all those cold spots that chilled me this past year. Optimism officially wins. Today is the day our new life really begins. Because today is the day my man, and sunshine, wins.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Mia
Smith and Jacob are both military types that stick with formalities like “yes, ma’am” and “how are you, sir?” I’d normally try to break through that stiffness and force them to be the real people they are, but today, I don’t. Once we’re in the back of the Escalade, I’m focused on Delaney and my case notes. My goal right now is to bring Reese and Delaney together in a way that sticks and then show them both a path to victory.
Grayson sits next to me, his big powerful leg pressed to mine, and peeks at my notes with my blessing. I want him to believe in this case, in Delaney, in me. His cellphone rings and he snags it from his pocket to show me the caller ID that reads, Eric.
Grayson answers and after a quick few words, he hangs up. “He heard about the offer. He wants to talk about it.”
This stiffens my spine. “And?”
“He wants to know the terms, but he’s cautiously optimistic.”
Cautiously optimistic, I repeat in my head. I keep hearing those words but I cling to them. I want this to be over, really over, but I also know Grayson. He can assess the deal, he’s a talented attorney himself, but that won’t be enough. He’ll want Eric and Davis, his confidants in different ways, to offer in-depth opinions, to pass along to Reese. This agreement is nothing but a verbal tease right now.
I force my focus back to my client notes and Grayson’s gaze catches on the controversial idea I have for Delaney’s defense. He reaches for my notepad. “Can I?”
“Of course,” I say, holding my breath as he scans the notes in more detail before those intelligent green eyes meet mine. “I think you need to be running our criminal law division.” It’s the biggest compliment I could ever get from anyone.
I’m warmed by his praise, my cheeks heating, but I force myself to remain dubious for Delaney’s sake. “I hope Reese is as approving of my strategy as you are.”
“If he doesn’t, she doesn’t need him.”
His confidence in my strategy matters and not just because I’m representing his firm and him, but because I care about what happens to Delaney.
“It’s true,” I say of what he’s read. I don’t speak the details, not with Smith and Jacob in the vehicle. I trust the Walker team, but Grayson is part of Delaney’s legal team and they aren’t, which means they aren’t privy to the knowledge he is. “That’s why I’m supporting her.”
“As well you should. Does she know this is your strategy?”
“No. And I’m not telling her yet.”
“Why?”
“I want her to tell her story to Reese with me guiding her to my conclusion, of course.”
“As you would if she were on the stand,” he assumes.
“Yes. I want him to experience what I did when I first talked to her. Her desperation, her honesty, and she is honest, no matter how brutal it is for her to speak the words.”
