“My money’s still on Hunter convincing her,” Ryker said.
“You’ve talked about this?” I asked, perplexed.
“Just... exchanged opinions,” Skye said.
I couldn’t help but notice that Cole wasn’t his usual self. He was quiet, not joining in on the fun. I didn’t want to ask him if anything was wrong in front of my cousins, not wanting to put him on the spot in case he had any kind of troubles.
Aft
er everyone left, I asked, “Cole, is anything wrong?”
“I didn’t want to bring this up during your first day back, but your case worker was here in the building last Friday, asking questions.”
I felt as if someone had just thrown cold water in my face.
“What kind of questions?”
“About you and Josie... your marriage, your life before. The days before you announced the engagement. Things like that.”
“What did everyone tell her?”
“I wasn’t there to hear what they answered, but I hope she was satisfied.”
Fucking hell. What was going on? Had she gone to Josie’s office too?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Josie
After the trip, I came into the office with a big grin. Regular vacations, I’d decided, were definitely going to be a part of my life from now on. I mean, what was better than spending hours relaxing? It didn’t hurt that I had a sexy man at my side to fill all those hours with.
I felt reborn and ready to take on the world. I had an appointment with my boss first thing. He’d emailed yesterday evening and asked me to come by his office today.
Hunter and I had made a bet what it would be about. He said it would be about the promotion. While I loved his confidence in me, promotions were not usually awarded this time of the year. I was sure this was about a new case.
My good mood plummeted when I entered his office. I immediately sensed something was wrong. Craig wasn’t his usual self. His shoulders were tense, his eyes pinned to the desk instead of me. Shit, what if Hunter was right and this was about the promotion after all? Only I wasn’t the one getting it?
“Josie, take a seat,” he said.
I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, taking my notepad and pen out the way I always did during my meetings with Craig, using the familiar routine to calm myself down.
“What is this about?” I finally asked.
“It was brought to my attention that you’ve had a run-in with the immigration services.”
I gripped the pen so tight that my fingers went numb. My mind worked frantically, but I couldn’t come up with a good enough solution except to say the truth and work from there.
“Yes.”
“I would have appreciated to hear that from you.”
“It’s a personal matter. It didn’t interfere with my work at all.”
“It’s a legal matter. Personal or not, you should have told me.”
I doodled with the pen to keep myself from tapping my foot against the floor.
“I can tell you now that everything will be cleared.”