Page 23

CHAPTER 23

I t ultimately took Lovelyn three days to return to Raleigh's office. She was so sore she couldn’t move the day after the party. From the skating, not the happy fun time, no matter what her overprotective Viking Daddy said.

As they walked in, Gabi met them at the door. How she managed to run in heels that high was beyond Lovie. But not only did Gabi run, she hopped with excitement. “I’m so excited! We’re going to be practically sisters!”

Lovie turned to Law. He must have spotted the panic in her eyes because he pulled her to his side. “Good morning, Gabrielle. You seem… more chipper than usual this morning. How exactly will you be Lovelyn’s sister?”

Gabi frowned. “I’d be happy to tell you, but you should be careful. I could have you charged with a felony for violating 187b U.S. Code Section 25-011. You’d be in a lot of trouble, so it's best to be cautious.”

Law seemed to be caught between annoyance and amusement. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. But what about the sisters thing you mentioned? ”

“Oh, that. Well, it falls under the same category of non-blood-related individuals who share a common bonding experience or environment, like sorority sisters or Sabre Security brothers. As the only two women in a profession dominated by men, we call ourselves sisters in solidarity with the universal sisterhood of all women. Isn’t that right, Lovie?”

Lovie paled and stepped closer to her Viking. Luckily, Gabi’s question was obviously rhetorical, as she only paused long enough to take a breath before continuing with her explanation. She hooked her arm around Lovie’s and began to walk to the front door of the building.

“You didn’t hear it from me, but Raleigh is going to offer you a job! You’re going to love it. It’s mostly research and trial preparation. You can work remotely from home and come into the office for meetings and planning sessions. But you should totally hold out for more money. Raleigh is a fantastic lawyer, and now that this case has fallen into his lap, he’s become very popular with the thugs and criminals. Which is weird, because he’s working as a consultant with the DA office to help put the General away for life. But that means he’s got more money coming in than ever and can totally pay you more if you need it.”

As she opened the door, Lovie pulled back. “Where are we going?”

Gabi looked around, as if trying to figure out where she was. “Oh! It’s time for our early morning coffee break. We’ll walk one block over to Books N Brews for one of Tazzy’s creations. I tell you, she is a coffee goddess.”

“Oh, um, I’ll have to take a rain check, I’m afraid. I have an appointment with Raleigh right now.”

Gabi blinked at her. “You do? Does he know you’re coming in?”

Lovie stole another glance at her Viking. She was beginning to believe what he’d been saying. Gabi was a bit of a nut. “He does. But I’ll catch you for coffee next time. ”

Gabi gave her another bright smile. She might be a bit eccentric, but Gabi was very sweet. “If you’re still here, we can grab lunch. I always go to That’s Italian for lunch on Mondays. Monday’s special is their Bottomless Spaghetti Bowl. It’s so good. It’s a date then! That’s Italian for lunch. I’m off to get my caffeine fix. If I don’t go and get back, my early morning coffee break will run into my late morning cinnamon roll break. When they overlap, Raleigh gets cranky. So, any who… toodles!”

And then she was gone.

Law scowled. “Did she even tell Raleigh that we were here?”

Lovie shrugged. “I don’t think so, but I bet we can just go back.”

They walked down a short hallway to the last door on the right and knocked on Raleigh’s open door. They found him on the phone, but he waved them in and motioned for them to take a seat.

When he finished his call, he stepped into the hall and looked up and down. Returning to his office, he asked, “Did you see Gabi when you got here?”

“You could say that,” Law replied.

Raleigh frowned. “I’m surprised she didn’t walk you back to my office.”

Not wanting to get anyone in trouble, Lovie chimed in before Law could rat out a fellow Musketiara. “Oh, it’s no problem. We caught her on the way out to…to run an errand, right, Daddy?”

Raleigh’s frown deepened to a scowl. “I see. And did this errand have anything to do with sugar and caffeine?”

“I don’t suppose we’ll know that for sure until she gets back,” Lovie hedged. When she started working here, keeping Gabi out of trouble might be a full-time job. “She should be back soon.”

Raleigh mumbled something about hoping she brought extra cushions for her chair.

“I have a class at the diving shop today. I’ll be in town, but I won’t be able to stay here with Lovie. I haven’t nailed down how significant a threat the General poses to her yet, so I’m going to need you to keep an eye out and call me if there’s trouble.”

Raleigh nodded. “I can do that. We keep the door locked, so anyone without a key would have a difficult time getting inside the building.”

“The door wasn’t locked when we got here,” Law said. His voice was monotone, but that didn’t make it any less menacing.

“Of course, it wasn’t. Sorry about that. I’ll discuss workplace safety with Gabi as soon as she gets back.”

Law snorted, which Lovie found unhelpful, and muttered, “Good luck with that.”

“I suppose she mentioned we’ve figured out a way for Lovie to work for the firm that allows her plenty of flexibility in hours and remote access, so she doesn’t have to drive in.”

“She told us,” Lovie said. “Do you mind if I take a day to think about it?”

Raleigh shook his head. “Not at all. Take your time. But since you’re here, I thought you might want to start going through the boxes of files the Society’s lawyer sent over.”

That sounded great to Lovie, so she nodded. “I already have lunch plans with Gabi.”

Raleigh grinned. “Bottomless Spaghetti Bowls at That’s Italian , right? She’s a bit of a creature of habit.”

Law glanced at the time on his phone. “I have to run. My class lasts all day, but I’ll be back to pick you up at four.”

That felt like a long time away. She wasn’t sure how she could find enough to do to fill the hours, other than sorting through all the boxes Raleigh had, searching for the needle in the haystack.

She couldn’t shake the feeling she’d missed something when she created the list of documents, she saw the day her Viking rescued her from the compound. Hopefully, if she had, she’d remember what it was soon.

** *

By lunchtime, Lovie had a headache. If she never saw another document again, it would be too soon. She was glad she’d agreed to go eat lunch with Gabi.

Law had called her every hour on the hour all morning. He was having major separation anxiety, and to be fair, she missed him too. It was a good thing Raleigh had offered to let her work remotely. There was no way she wanted to be away from Law for extended periods of time. But helping him meet deadlines and be prepared for trial from the comfort of her home was very doable.

Gabi peeked her head through the door of the office assigned to Lovie. “Are you ready to go to lunch?”

“Am I ever.” Lovie closed the box she had been working through. “Spaghetti never sounded so good.”

“Just wait until you taste it,” Gabi said. “You’ll never miss Mondays again.”

Raleigh was waiting for them in the front room. “I promised Law I’d go, too. He was worried about trouble.”

They walked down the street. It was a beautiful day for a stroll, and the restaurant wasn’t far away. “I hope I’m not pulling you away from something important,” she told Raleigh when they’d almost reached That’s Italian. " I know Viking appreciates it.”

“Viking?” Raleigh asked.

Lovie laughed. “That’s what I call Law. You have to admit it fits.”

“It does,” her new boss replied. “It really does.”

They were seated quickly, and Lovie relaxed, coloring pictures on the white paper tablecloth. She couldn’t remember the last time she colored; it was always so relaxing.

Just as the food arrived, Raleigh’s phone rang. He grimaced upon seeing the screen. “Sorry, I need to take this. I’ll be right outside on the sidewalk. You girls stay in your seats until I get back. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Gabi and Lovie said in unison. As he walked away with the phone to his ear, Lovie began to eat. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until the aroma of homemade tomato sauce and freshly baked bread filled the air.

“Don’t be surprised if Mr. Bianchi, the owner, comes to our table to chat. He enjoys doing that. He’s really nice, and his wife is extremely talented. She crafted all the plates and bowls used here.”

Lovie had admired the large ceramic bowls adorned with painted scenes of the Italian countryside when they’d first sat down.

Since Gabi had warned her, she wasn’t surprised when someone scooted into the seat beside her friend. She didn’t even think anything was wrong when her friend took in a sharp breath.

It did surprise Lovie when someone also slid into the seat, crowding her against the wall. But she still didn’t suspect things had gone horribly wrong. Maybe Mr. Bianche had brought his wife to meet them. It was rude of her, but she was trying to finish coloring her picture so she could show it to Law later.

When she finally looked across the table, she blinked at the woman seated next to Gabi. That wasn’t Mrs. Bianchi.

She turned to face the man in the seat beside her, and the blood in her veins turned to ice. The man sitting next to her wasn’t Mr. Bianchi.

Doing her best to breathe and keep the trembling from her voice, Lovie said, “Hello, General. What brings you here?”

***

Law glanced at the clock on his phone. Raleigh said he’d check in at lunch to see if Law could join them. He couldn’t, but he was surprised when Raleigh hadn’t called. As busy as he was, he hadn’t noticed until twenty minutes after they’d planned to be at the restaurant.

Ignoring the two spam calls he’d missed from an unknown number, he scrolled to Raleigh’s number and placed a call, cursing under his breath when the call went to voicemail. He tried calling Lovelyn with the same results. Fuck.

Call him a paranoid bastard, but he’d been through this too many times with his brothers and their Littles to wait. He cancelled the rest of his class and headed to That’s Italian .

On his way, he called Reid, who answered in his usual style. “You got me. What’s up?”

“Maybe nothing.” It had fucking better be nothing. “I left Lovelyn at Raleigh’s office this morning to work, and now no one is answering their phone. I’m headed to check That’s Italian, where they were going for lunch. Can you get Sawyer to ping Lovelyn’s phone and see where she is?”

“Yep. Hold on.”

Minutes later, Reid was back. “Sawyer says she's at That’s Italian. Hopefully that’s the case, and everything is fine. If it isn’t, call me back, and I’ll activate the guys.”

“I’ll call you back either way,” Law told his brother.

“Good,” Reid said before disconnecting the call.

Reid knew firsthand what it was like not to reach his girl and have it turn into a fucking shit show. He had lived it with his Little girl, Winnie. She’d almost died at the hands of the Society, so yeah, Reid took everything seriously.

Best case scenario, he was overreacting. Worst case, whoever had messed with his girl. was going to die.