Rylann took a deep breath, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that, Cameron.”

“You really were nervous about this,” Cameron said with a chuckle.

“It’s just that if I were in your shoes right now, I’m sure I’d be wondering why a woman in my position would choose to pursue this relationship.”

Cameron smiled. “Oh, I understand that better than you think. These things work in mysterious ways. Three years ago, an FBI agent went on national television and declared that I had my head up my ass.” She checked her watch. “And strangely, in about twenty-eight hours, I’m going to marry the guy.”

Rylann held out her hands in surprise. “Oh my gosh, I hadn’t heard. Congratulations.”

Cameron’s eyes sparkled happily. “We’ve been low-key about it. I just started telling people today—I figure the cat will be out of the bag on Monday anyway, when I show up for work wearing a wedding band. Neither Jack nor I wanted a lot of fanfare. Just a few friends and family, a small ceremony, and dinner on the terrace at the Peninsula hotel.”

“That sounds lovely.”

The way Cameron’s face had lit up said she couldn’t agree more. “It’s the place where Jack and I reconnected. Sort of. Another long story.”

“Well, I won’t take up any more of your time, since you obviously have a lot going on.” Rylann stood up. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

“What can I say? You caught me in a really good mood today. If it had been last Friday, I might’ve fired you.” Cameron laughed when she saw Rylann’s eyes widen. “Just a little U.S. attorney humor. Enjoy your weekend.”

After Rylann left the office and stepped out into the hallway, she closed her eyes and exhaled.

She’d survived.

Now, she had only one mea culpa left—after that, everyone else could hear about her and Kyle in whatever ways these things inevitably came out. With that in mind, she headed down the hallway to Cade’s office. She stopped in his open doorway and knocked.

Sitting at his desk, working at his computer, Cade looked over and smiled. “Hey, you. You’re a bit early for Starbucks.”

“Got a second?” Rylann asked.

“Sure. Come on in.”

Rylann stepped inside, shut the door behind her, and took a seat in front of his desk. She crossed her legs, resting her hands in her lap. “I need to talk to you about something. And I’m warning you now—it’s going to be a little awkward. Maybe a lot awkward.”

He didn’t seem too surprised by this lead-in. “I think I know what this is about. The rumors, right?”

Rylann cocked her head. “Rumors?”

“That you and I are hooking up.” Cade held up his hand. “I swear, I had nothing to do with it.”

Rylann blinked—she’d assumed Jack Pallas had been making that up to flush out Kyle. “Great,” she said dryly. “Now there will be two scandals floating around the halls about me.”

He raised an eyebrow curiously. “Scandal? What have you done, Ms. Pierce?”

“Well, remember that thing you read in the Scene and Heard column, about the brunette bombshell that Kyle Rhodes is seeing?”

Cade looked at her for a long moment, waiting for her to say something else. Then it clicked. “Get out of here. You are the brunette bombshell?”

“I suppose ‘bombshell’ may have been a little overboard, but you don’t have to look that shocked by the description.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, I was going for a joke. Trying to ease over that awkwardness.” She saw his guarded expression. “Probably going to take a lot more easing.”

“When did this start?” he asked.

“A few weeks ago. After the Quinn case pled out.” Rylann tried for a smile. “It’s weird, I know. I just told Cameron, and it was weird then, too. But I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“I called your boyfriend a terrorist.”

“Good thing he wasn’t my boyfriend at the time. Then this would’ve been really awkward.”

Cade sat back in his chair, still with the cautious look. “A couple months ago, I told you some things about Kyle’s case. About the fact that Silas asked me to go for the maximum sentence in order to make an example out of him.” He looked her dead in the eyes. “Did you tell Rhodes about that?”

“Of course not. That was something you told me in confidence. I’m still the same person you go to Starbucks every day with, Cade. Just…with an ex-con boyfriend you once called a cyber-menace to society.”

He wasn’t quite smiling yet, but he wasn’t staring at her as though she’d sprouted a second head anymore, either.

“You know that everyone’s going to be talking about this, right?” Cade asked.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” Rylann said. She wasn’t pleased about that fact, but she’d deal with it. She’d have to.

Cade studied her for a moment, then sat forward in his chair. “Seriously, what is it about this guy? He’s just a rich computer geek with good hair.”

Rylann smiled. “I think there’s a little more to it than that.”

“Christ, you are smitten.” He threw up his hands. “What is going on with everyone these days? Sam Wilkins is babbling about a meet-cute, Cameron’s sneaking off to get hitched, and now you’re all starry-eyed over the Twitter Terrorist. Has everyone been sneaking happy pills out of the evidence room when I’m not looking?”