“About which part?” she asked.
“About all of it,” he said. “Whatever you want, that’s what we’ll do.”
She kissed his chest. “I want to be with you.” She thought of her parents, her job. “I don’t know how it will work, but I know it's what I want.”
It was only one part of the equation but it was a start.
His arms tightened around her. He kissed the top of her head. “I want to be with you too.” He hesitated. “What about Leland?”
She had a flash of Leland Walker onstage at the rally, his face shining with the promise of a future guaranteed to be as easy as his past, guaranteed to be paved by his father’s money and other people’s pain.
For all her agonizing, it wasn’t as difficult a question as it should have been.
She turned to look at him, propping her head on his chest. “I want to make sure Leland Walker can never hurt anyone again.”
21
Nick sat in his office, the glass doors open to the breeze blowing in off the water. Sometimes he took the view for granted, forgot that one of the reasons they’d chosen the office space was because it was on the water, but on a day like today he was glad it was there. The salty air and sound of the waves lapping against the dock below, the boats rocking in their moorings, was soothing.
And he could do with some soothing after the past few days.
The office was quiet despite the fact that it was a Monday. Reilly still manned the front desk, weapon at the ready under his suit jacket, but other than that, Nick was alone. He hadn’t spoken to Ronan since the morning before when he’d come to the hotel with Dec, but Nick assumed he was at the house with Julia and the baby.
His chest twinged at the thought. He wanted to be there, wanted to see his new nephew and check on Julia and make jokes with Elise. He wanted to help with the baby when they got tired and order takeout when Ronan finally gave up his mission to cook a decent meal.
He wanted to be with his family, and he wanted Lex to be there too, wanted to share them with her and share her with them. He’d texted a bit with Elise, who’d gotten the rundown from Declan, but he hadn’t been in touch with anyone else in the family since Saturday night when Julia had had the baby.
Elise had been guarded with her words, but Nick knew she would always be on his side. It was everybody else he was worried about. Two days wasn’t a long time in the grand scheme of things, but after years of working and living with his family, it felt like forever.
“Hey.” He looked up as Declan walked into the office and dropped into one of the chairs on the other side of Nick’s desk. “What are you doing here?” Dec asked.
“I could ask the same about you,” Nick said.
Declan shrugged. “There’s a lot going on at the house and nothing going on at the house, you know what I mean?”
Nick nodded.
“I’m going a little stir-crazy.” Declan hesitated. “I’m not gonna lie: I’m bummed that the AG is going to open a formal investigation, not just because it’s bad for us but because I’m desperate for some fucking work.”
Nick was glad his brother avoided the issue of Alexa. He wasn’t ready to talk next steps with Dec or Ronan when it came to his relationship with Alexa. Maybe after her meeting with Imani, which was happening downtown at that very moment.
“I get that.” If it hadn’t been for Leland Walker, Nick would have been losing his mind. “Do you need money?”
Declan scowled. “No, I don’t need fucking money. Like I said, I’m just bored.”
Nick held up his hands. “Just making sure. We can move things around if you get short.”
“I'm not short,” Declan said. He looked at Nick’s open laptop. “What are you working on?”
Nick sighed, wondering how much to share. How much was fair to Declan given the circumstances. “Going over the details of the Walker case.”
Declan raised his eyebrows. “Case?”
“I know it’s not an official case for the company,” Nick clarified. “But it is for me. I’m working on it on my own time. Like you said, what else is there to do?”
“Can I take a look?” Declan asked.
Nick studied him. “Why?”