“I’m sorry,” Lacy mumbled. “I’m sorry, Nester,” she added when her assistant shot her a threatening look. “It’s just...been a long morning.”
Quin’s disapproval was replaced with instant mischief, as she pressed a few buttons and the smell of steaming espresso wafted through the little room. “A long morning, because you had a long night? Cavorting over at the lake with a certain Nordic god I’ll one day steal for myself?”
An image of Logan’s face drifted through Lacy’s mind, and her throat tightened so dramatically that she was unable to speak. Instead, she turned her misdirected rage to the cupboards, ripping them open as she yanked down a handful of mugs.
“...or maybe we didn’t have fun at the lake?”
It was a probing question, but to be fair, Quin was rather entitled. The three women who worked at Verum Investigations spent almost every waking moment together, and there was very little about the others they didn’t know. Lacy’s budding relationship with the notorious Dylan Stone was the talk of the office, and questions were to be expected.
That being said, Lacy was one of two people in the world who happened to know that she wasn’t in a budding relationship with Dylan Stone at all. She was in one with his brother.
Or at least...she had been.
She debated a moment as to what to say. Admitting the truth made it seem all the more real, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. Maybe with Sarah, but not with Quin. It didn’t help that the man in question could decide at any moment to simply show up and—
“What’s wrong with the board?”
Quin glanced over her shoulder, as Lacy suddenly set down her mug. Her bright eyes fixed on the giant board mounted in the center of the wall—the one the three members of Verum Investigations had spent countless hours staring at over the last few years. The one that was plastered with pictures and hand-scribbled notes of all ongoing case suspects.
There was a giant hole in the middle. One picture was conspicuously missing.
“Well, we...uh...” Quin shifted nervously, unable to look her boss in the eye. “I mean, Sarah and I were talking, and we thought it was probably in bad form to leave up your new boyfriend’s picture.” She backtracked quickly upon seeing the look on Lacy’s face. “Just seeing as he was your new boyfriend and all...”
A wave of anger welled up in the pit of Lacy’s stomach, but she kept her face a perfect calm. Instead of answering, she stormed over to the trashcan, pulled out the crumpled but flawless picture of Dylan, and hammered it back in the center of the wall.
“Dylan Stone is not my boyfriend. ...He never was.”
“Because he’s a womanizer?” Quin asked.
“The man I dated, well, I don’t believe he would ever treat women that way. Not ever! Not in a million years.”
“But we saw the pictures and heard the stories.”
“Sometimes...things aren’t what they seem.”
“I’m more confused than ever!”
Lacy abandoned her coffee altogether, leaving the break room, the picture, and a very confused assistant behind her as she swept angrily out into the hall.
By the time she fired up her computer and scanned briefly over the events of the day, Sarah was just getting into the office. She shook back her dark hair and glanced up at Lacy in surprise—setting her purse and jacket down in the center of her desk.
“What are you doing here?” she asked curiously. “I figured you and everyone’s favorite lover boy would still be in bed. Pretending it’s dark out. Pretending you don’t have real jobs.”
Another surge of anger, and Lacy fought to keep a straight face. She needed to get some aggression out. She needed to go to the gym. But Stella was at work halfway across town.
“Ems, how would you feel about sipping a smoothie while I beat up a mannequin?” She tilted up her face with a sweet smile. “I’ll buy.”
Sarah paused, studying her friend with the hint of
a smile.
“...is that some kind of metaphor?”
“Oh—forget it.” The sweet smile vanished as Lacy pushed abruptly to her feet. Her head was spinning, her blood was boiling, and she didn’t see how she could possibly contribute to the greater good by staying at the office. “I’m taking a sick day. See you tomorrow.”
Sarah had just sat down, but pushed back to her feet with concern as Lacy gathered up her things and headed for the door. “Hey—wait a second. Is everything okay—”
Before Lacy could answer, the door burst open and a manic-looking woman flew inside. She took only a second to get her bearings, before zeroing in on Lacy with the focus of a hawk.