I nodded toward the door Trinity had left through. “Trinity.”

Then I told her an abbreviated version of the story, complete with the role Rix and Rhett had played in it. When I was done, Yve’s mouth gaped even further than before.

“Damn. When you got back in the game, you got back in the game hard.”

“More like clueless.”

“Do you love him?” she asked. “Because at the end of the day, if you love the guy and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to be with him, you’re going to be fine. But if either of those two pieces are missing, you should run like hell now . . . that is, if he’d even let you run at this point. From what I’ve heard about him, when he finds a woman, he owns them. Claims them. He’s got quite the reputation, from what I hear.”

I didn’t want to hear about his reputation or how he’d been with other women, regardless of whether there was any truth to it. He’d never minced words with me. Actually, his favorite word did seem to be mine. So maybe his reputation was accurate and well deserved.

Doesn’t matter.

“He makes me feel safe. Alive. Basically, he just makes me feel when I thought I’d never feel anything again.”

Yve’s smile was understanding. She’d been through hell too, although hers had lasted much longer than mine. “I know what you mean. Even if all you feel is the urge to punch him in the throat, feeling something is better than feeling nothing.”

“Exactly. I thought I was broken, but he opened my eyes. I was waiting for something to force me to start living again. He may be one of the bad guys, but he’s a good man. And he’s mine.”

“Sounds like you’re just as possessive as he is.”

“Maybe I am,” I said.

Rix was mine. I was his. We would figure this out. Any other alternative was completely unacceptable.

Yve had taken the paintings and left me with too many swirling questions and no answers. Brisk business made the next several hours slide by quickly, and I took comfort in Trinity being back to her normal chatty self, less mentions of Derrick. I still wasn’t sure what had happened there, but every time I went to ask, I bit my tongue. If he was out of her life for good, I wasn’t going to start bringing him up.

I volunteered to make the run for lunch, and left Trinity holding down the fort. But I wasn’t going out only to pick up some salads. I had another task to take care of. One that was long overdue.

Rhett Hennessy was also a good man, but he wasn’t the man for me. I’d lied to him about . . . well, everything, and it was time to tell him as much of the truth as I could.

I made my way to the precinct, but luck, if you could call it that, was with me. He was heading in at the same time, white paper bag in hand with delicious scents wafting from it. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was starving.

He lifted his chin and smiled when he saw me. “What a coincidence.”

My smile was less enthusiastic than his. “You could say that. Do you have a minute?”

“If I’d known you were coming looking for me, I’d have offered to take you to lunch.”

“I don’t need that much of your time. Just a few minutes will do.”

His smile faded and a harder, shrewder expression replaced it. “What do you need, Valentina? Another missing and reappearing employee? Some other mysterious crime the NOPD can assist with?”

I dropped my gaze to the ground and stared at the gum and other substances that the scrubbers hadn’t managed to remove this morning, gathering my courage. When I looked into his face again, one raised eyebrow dared me to spill. It was time.

“I’m sorry. I lied to you. I know that’s unforgiveable, but I had a good reason. And . . . I have to tell you, in all fairness, the other guy won before the game even started, and I just hadn’t caught up yet. I didn’t mean to lead you on. I really, truly didn’t. You’re a nice—”

Rhett held up a hand. “You can stop with the apologies. I might not lose the girl very often, but I’d already picked up on that clear as day. The lying? Yeah, that pissed me off, but I figured you weren’t the type to do it without a good reason. Wish you could’ve trusted me, but that isn’t always the case. Call it water under the bridge.”

He was making this easier than I’d expected. “I really am sorry.”

Rhett shrugged. “So am I. We could’ve been good together.”

This was the moment when I was supposed to add in the letting him down gently part. Where I said, If it doesn’t work out, I’ll let you know. But I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t even allowing for the possibility that things wouldn’t work out between Rix and me.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. But if things don’t go the way you plan, you know where to find me.”

Damn it, I hated that he’d put that out in the universe. I dropped my gaze back to the sidewalk.

Rhett reached out a hand and tipped my chin up. “You don’t have a clue, do you?”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’re one hell of a prize, and don’t forget it. Make sure this guy appreciates you for what you are.” He leaned in and brushed a kiss across my cheek.

Shit. Rix was undoubtedly going to hear about that. I stepped back and surreptitiously looked around for whoever might be babysitting me today. There were too many people on the streets to pinpoint who it could be.

Rhett was watching me carefully when I dragged my gaze back to him. “Something wrong?”

I shook my head. “No. Sorry. I’ll let you get back to your lunch.”

“Take care, Valentina.”

I hoped he found someone. Someone who didn’t lie to him and wasn’t wrapped up in another man. He was a good guy and deserved better than I’d been able to offer him. But there wasn’t much left to offer when your heart was already taken.

I turned and headed down the sidewalk, my phone buzzing in my hand before I made it three steps.

RIX: We’re gonna have words, duchess. Only lips on you are mine.

I raised my hand in the air and saluted my mystery babysitter with the middle finger. Such a tattletale.

NORMALLY I NEVER SHOWED UP to a meet by myself, but since Johnny was MIA with the Escalade, I fired up my 1970 Chevelle SS that I’d picked up off Lord Robichaux over at Chains. It hadn’t been my first choice at the time, but now I was in love with the car. No one drove her but me, so Johnny checking out gave me the perfect excuse to get it out of the garage.