Rogue Hearts

“Okay. I mean, no. I’m fine.”

“You sure? Look like you could use something to relax.” He poured a glass for himself.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“You going to tell me what’s got you all freaked out? You look a little down. It isn’t your office giving you hell because of me?”

“That’s part of it.”

“I’ll come there and tell them my side. They have to know we did nothing wrong. Neither one of us would have entered that courtroom if we knew we were facing each other.”

“I appreciate the offer, but you coming to my job would only make things worse. Think of how your office would react to me showing up defending you.”

“I guess you have a point.”

“There is something I wanted to tell you.”

He took out ingredients for a salad and mixed the vegetables in a bowl, and she thought about the salad she couldn’t eat earlier.

“I’m all ears. What’s on your mind, baby?”

There was that word again. Even his endearments were hitting her with steady reminders of their unprotected nights together.

“My boss offered me a promotion today,” she said, watching for his reaction.

“Really? That’s great!” He stopped messing with the salad and came around the counter to kiss her and pull her into his arms. “Why would you be nervous to share that with me?”

She didn’t want him to pull away. When he held her, it was the only time she had a clear head and blocked everything else that was on her mind like none of it even existed.

It was now or never. She needed to know at least part of his thoughts on the craziness that was now her life.

“He offered me a DA position. It’s in Chicago.” He continued holding her, so she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her or not.

He finally pulled away, and she wasn’t sure what she read in his eyes.

“What did you say?” he asked.

Andrei was so still that she couldn’t even see him breathing.

“I haven’t given him an answer yet. He told me to think about it.”

“What’s there to think about? This is something that’s big for you.”

He moved away from here, and she instantly felt the distance between them increase more than just physically. It was like he had shut off a part of himself to talk to her.

“You should consider it,” he said. He’d gone back to fixing the salad, but now he avoided her eyes. His voice even sounded cold and distant.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because I know how much your work means to you. I’ve seen you in action, Victoria. You were made to be a District Attorney.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that.”

“You keep hearing it because it’s true.”

“I thought out of everyone, you’d be the one person to talk me out of it.”

“Is that what you want?”