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She blinked at him.
“I have two master suites, one upstairs for when I’m walking and one downstairs for when I’m in my chair. You can stay upstairs and have your own floor.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Yes, thank you. For a bit anyway, until things settle down and we have some answers.”
***
Nutsbe drove them home in complete silence. It felt good to be encapsulated and moving. Nutsbe released some stress along their route by just breathing and listening to classical music on the radio. It seemed to work for Olivia, too.
When he pulled into his drive, they sat in the car, holding hands. “Is this too much for you?” she asked. “All this violence I seem to be dragging you into?”
“Your job is dangerous.” Nutsbe unfastened his seat belt and turned to her. “My job is dangerous. Your job puts you in international crosshairs and so does mine. We are not the kind of people with a low tolerance for danger. It isn’t naivete. Someone has to do it – why not me? That’s how I think about it anyway.”
“A calling for me.” She agreed. “I am risk-aware but not risk-averse.” She cleared her throat. “Is that only our jobs, Nutsbe? Or is that private lives too?” She put her free hand to her heart. “I care for you deeply—what I know about you in a few days is all about character and not much about the details. But still, I feel deeply connected. One could, I guess, even call it falling in love.”
“One could?” he grinned, his eyes alight with teasing.
“Yeah, that was cautious. Sorry. Here’s me bravely saying that I’m most definitely falling in love.”
“I bravely return your feelings.” He chuckled. “Oh what a few days can do to the trajectory of a life, right?” He painted his thumb over the back of her hand. “Though I’m not in the process of falling. I love you, Olivia. Simple as that.”
“Okay, so we agree then? We’re going to be brave enough to start a new relationship, but we need to do it knowing that we will always be a danger to ourselves and each other.”
“I don’t know,” Nutsbe said. “Do I want to be around when you’re hangry because you always forget to eat?” He winked. “Look, Olivia, we’re past the shiny expectations of youth, right? We get that there will be rough patches. I want your lows so I can take care of you. And I want the highs so I can rejoice with you. And I want the calm of sharing a bowl of ziti and cheese and hang out with Beowolf and Henrietta on the couch.”
“We haven’t done that yet,” Olivia whispered.
“A guy can dream. I want to fully live and fully love all of you.”
She leaned in to kiss him, pulling back just enough to whisper. “Just no tears.”
“Yeah, that’s my deal breaker.” His eyes warm with emotion. “Other than that? Bring it.”
Epilogue
Panther Force had the bar to themselves.
They’d gathered around the table. “Mac! Drinks all around. And turn up that news station,” Thorn called to the bartender.
Cheers went up amongst the operators when Olivia’s image flashed onto the screen. She stood in front of the outdoor podium in a plum suit with her hair whipped by the wind.
“Shh,” Nutsbe said. “Let’s hear this.”
“It took years of effort to get here. But it feels so good to have the conviction. We’re anxious to hear how the judge will rule regarding prison time.”
The image changed to a newscaster sitting rigidly in her brightly colored set across from New York’s Representative Alejandro Sanchez. “Break it down for us, Representative. What happened with this verdict in the federal courts today, and how will it affect our international relations going forward?”
“Canada and America are firm friends. We work in collaboration to solve crimes across our borders. Here in D.C., the DOJ brought a case against two Canadian nationals in a conspiracy scheme to intimidate federal prosecutors. The convicted Canadian nationals have an affiliation with a group that earns money through narco-trafficking and other illicit money-making ventures. In this instance, they were working not only to bring in drugs from the Middle East, but they were also invested in finding and assassinating dissidents. The terrorists involved in this scheme were concerned that names and practices were being revealed to a secret Eastern District grand jury being run by Stephany Abner and Olivia Gladstone.”
Panther Force whooped.
“Shut it,” Nutsbe yelled over them.
The reporter said, “From court documents, we learned the Canadians came to America to intimidate and harass Abner and Gladstone into—what would you call it—like taking a dive in a boxing match?”
“That’s right,” Sanchez responded. “Their intended goal was to intimidate the prosecutors into hiding evidence and shifting the questioning of the witnesses in such a way that the grand jury would fail to bring charges.”
“That did not happen. Even when there was a home invasion and a physical assault, our federal prosecutor, Olivia Gladstone, stood strong and continued to bring the case. She’s an American hero.”