“I didn’t know.”
“Who did?”
He only shook his head, lay back on the bloody floor. “I didn’t know.”
“Somebody did.”
She woke to find Roarke sitting on the sofa. No suit—black jeans, a light sweater nearly as blue as his eyes—which reminded her it was still the weekend.
Instead of lying on Roarke’s lap, the cat stretched across the back of the sofa as if reading whatever Roarke did on his tablet over Roarke’s shoulder.
“Did you dream then, before you woke?” he asked her.
“I guess. Yeah.” She sat up, realized she felt—body and mind—like a woman who’d been sexed into reviving sleep.
“I’m going to get a workout in.”
“All right. I’ve done one myself already. We’ll have Sunday breakfast when you’re done.”
She saw the fire simmered, and the sky window over the bed ran with wet.
“It’s raining.”
“Buckets. You’ll be working at home, at least for the most part, I’m thinking.”
“Yeah. Unless.” She pulled on gym pants, a tank, running shoes. “I’ll be about an hour.”
“Then you’ll tell me what’s on your mind, won’t you?”
She got coffee, nodded. “Once I figure out what’s on it, I’ll tell you.”
When she went down, he checked the time, then rose. He’d get some work of his own done while she figured it out.
In the gym, she programmed a three-mile run, selected a tropical beach because she didn’t need a challenge. Just movement.
While her body worked, so did her brain.
She polished off the run with weights until her muscles said enough already. She rounded that out with a short session in the dojo with the master, and finished with five strong laps in the pool.
When she came up, Roarke and the cat had deserted the field.
She pulled out an old NYPSD sweatshirt, sweatpants. If she had to go out, she’d change, but she’d work at home in comfort.
She took them into the bathroom, set them aside to grab a quick shower. Because of where her mind had traveled, she thought of the cold shower, the frigid tub of water she’d been subjected to as a child. The meanness in it.
She set the water hot, let the pulsing jets pummel her with heat.
When she came out, Roarke sat as he had before. The table held a pot of coffee and two domed plates.
“You look rested and ready.”
“I feel rested and ready. Galahad?”
“Decided he preferred Summerset’s company. And Summerset enjoyed the company last night. He also told me he expects Number Two’s arrival within a couple of weeks. Three at the most.”
“How would he know?”
“I have no idea, and didn’t ask, as I know what we’ll be expected to witness yet again. Unless we plan a holiday and find ourselves in Australia, for instance, when the day comes.”
