Page 103 of Rio

The meeting lasts for a painstaking hour.I force myself to focus, but it’s almost impossible.My brain is here, but my heart and body are back in the SUV with Rio.I feel restless, itching to escape this meeting room, knowing that Rio is somewhere close, and waiting for me.Knowing that I have something I thought I’d never have.A man who loves me deeply, a man who cares, and a man who only wants the best for me.

It’s knowing that there is more to my life than just my career.It’s knowing that I have a home to go to, and not an empty apartment.

Rio stays for the weekend and we make love, and talk, even though we still dance around the case.

We even call Dex and Dani.It’s good that they know because keeping this secret is getting harder.After we were forced to come out to them, Dani was so happy for me, but she hasn’t stopped teasing me since.

“You’re with a Knight?”she keeps saying, mock scandalized.“Don’t you hate these people?You used to think say there were so despicable.Now you’re telling me that this one actually got through to you?”

I have no defence, because Rio Knight did.I used to hate the Knights.I hated them before I even knew who they were.The name alone was enough to put me off them, and once I realized what they were like to have as family?I hated them even more.

But from the moment Rio walked into my life—or slouched lazily on a stool in an upscale Manhattan bar—I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

“He was the man who broke me,” I told Dani.

“They don’t break us, Raquel,” she replied.“They get lucky enough to keep us.”

She’s right.

Rio and I cook and stay in most of the weekend.Partly because I don’t want to run into any work colleagues, especially Pierce, though mostly because we’re still making love all over my apartment, and we’ve turned into hermits.

When we’re not in bed, we cook, we watch TV, we talk about the future.I’ve started looking for jobs in New York, but I don’t tell Rio that because I don’t want to get his hopes up.Or mine.

But, I see him in my future.I need him in my future.

Chapter 33

RAQUEL

The first I hear about it is when Alma calls me, her voice high and panicked.“Where did you get some of the data?”she demands.

My heart stops.“What data?”

“The data you used in the report, when you filed the injunction.“It’s problematic.”

“W-What do you mean it’s problematic?”My insides hollow out and a heavy weight lands in my chest.Surely she’s not talking about the file Rio gave me?

No.It can’t be.

“It’s false.It’s falsified.The case has collapsed.They didn’t just reject the injunction.They tore the whole case apart.We’ve lost credibility.The donors are panicking.We’re withdrawing the case, Raquel.It’s over.”

“Over?”The word barely makes it out.The room tilts around me and I sink into my chair, as my legs begin to buckle.

“The court found inconsistencies in the data.They’re questioning the validity of your key evidence.The case has no legs to stand on.”Alma’s voice is grim.

I press a hand to my forehead, feeling dizzy.“They can’t do that.”

“They can, and they did.”

I open my mouth but no words come out.

“Was this to do with Rio Knight?Did he play you?”Alma demands.

I clutch the phone tighter.“No.I-I …I don’t think so.”That’s just it.I’m not sure.But he wouldn’t do this, would he?A dark, dark thought worms into existence.I’m still in shock, trying to process what she’s telling me.

“He gave you a folder.You told me it was data by a third-party.Did you use it?”

“I-I … I might have used a little of it.”