“It’s still a deal.” He gave me a quarter smile. As much as I seethed, arguing with Todd was like battering a foam wall. It seemed soft and yielding, but I couldn’t break through, no matter how hard I tried.

I stayed silent for the rest of the visit. I said my goodbyes as genuinely as I could, not wanting to storm off in anger, but the minute the visiting room door closed, I strode ahead, leaving Gabriel to catch up.

He said nothing until we were in the car. Then it was, “You’re upset.”

“Let’s just go,” I said.

He sat there, one hand on the steering wheel, those damned shades covering his eyes. He was eager to be gone but clearly felt some unwelcome obligation to pursue this.

“It upsets you,” he said finally, and I almost snapped a reply, but managed instead to say, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He gave an abrupt nod, and what sounded like a sigh of relief. Anyone else would have prodded, made sure I wasn’t holding back. Gabriel couldn’t get that car in gear fast enough. He’d fulfilled his obligation by acknowledging that I was “upset”—not once but twice—and I’d let him off the hook. That was enough.

We didn’t talk for the rest of the ride.

DANGEROUS GAME

Lunch with Olivia had not gone well. Not as well as their lunches used to go. It was perfectly cordial. Like eating with Don or another long-term client. Not like having lunch with someone who’d been a friend, a good one. Simply working a case together wasn’t going to bring Olivia back to him.

He’d suggested they go visit Todd because he knew she loved seeing her father. Gabriel was proving he understood her, could provide what she wanted. Except it hadn’t been what she wanted at all. It only reminded her of Todd’s situation.

He had to go further. Had to take a risk. Had to do whatever it took to give her the one thing she wanted most right now.

Gabriel had betrayed Olivia’s trust three times since they’d met, which would not be nearly so grievous a track record if that first encounter hadn’t been a mere six months ago. And now, as they struggled to recover from the third misstep, he decided to attempt to fix it with … another betrayal. A measured risk in the hope of solving a problem he knew she desperately wanted solved.

First, though, he would do something he’d never done in his life: get advice.

Rose answered on the third ring.

“I need to speak to you,” he said, “about something that Olivia has forbidden me to do.”

Rose’s response came slowly, as if she was bracing herself. “All right …”

“I’ve decided to do it anyway.”

He could have sworn he heard the thump of Rose falling into a chair. Her breath hissed along the line. “Please tell me that’s a joke.”

“I never joke.”

“Tell me you’ve started trying. It’s a poor effort, but —”

“I don’t appreciate being mocked.”

“It isn’t mocking. It’s praying, by whatever gods one might pray to, that you are attempting a little levity, because the only other possible excuse would be that you’ve fallen down the stairs and hit your head.”

“I am in full possession of my senses.”

“Not if you’re considering betraying Liv again. I know patience is not your strong suit, and yes, it’s been a few months, but if you really are ready to give up, then may I suggest you just step back. Don’t vent your frustrations on her.”

“That’s not what I have in mind,” he said, his voice chilling. “At all.”

“You’ve used up your chances with Liv, Gabriel, and—”

“I wanted your opinion on what I am about to do. On whether my reasoning is sound.”

She went quiet. Then, “You want my support.”

“What?”

“You want me to tell you that whatever you have planned, it’s perfectly all right, and she’ll have no reason to be angry.”

Gabriel gripped the phone tighter, his words brittle now. “I was calling to ask your opinion, because you have, in the past, suggested that, before I do something imprudent where Olivia is concerned.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I—”

“No, I’m sorry. This was a mistake. The decision is, of course, my own, as are the consequences, and I did not intend to shift blame. I apologize for bothering you.”

He hung up. Rose called back. He let voice mail answer. She called again. Then she texted. He shut off his phone, pulled on his jacket, and headed out.

Gabriel sat at the table, his hands folded on the top, gaze fixed on the door. It opened, and a guard prodded a woman in.

News reports claimed Olivia looked like her mother, but Gabriel saw a resemblance only in gestures and expressions. Olivia’s jaw would set, and he’d glimpse Pamela. Or her eyes would ignite with a spark of ruthlessness, and there, too, lay her mother. Flares only, rising and falling away. It was the same with her father. Those moments when she’d be carefree and childlike, that was Todd. Or when she’d dig in her heels, her expression warning him there was no sense pushing. Mostly, though, he saw only Olivia, her own person, untethered to either parent.

When Pamela spotted her visitor, she stopped short. He waited, his hands still folded, gaze on her, no challenge in it. Yet there was challenge there. He’d told the desk that Pamela had rehired him, and now all she had to do was deny the ruse and this meeting would be at an end.