“Popped the question.” He smiles. “Guess what she said?”
“I hope to hell it was yes.” I raise my chin. “That grin on your face is giving everything away here, Brant.”
His smile only widens. “She cried, Sebastian. Remy cried when I got down on one knee. I couldn’t have scripted the night better.”
“I’m happy for you,” I say genuinely. “Don’t fuck it up between now and the walk down the aisle.”
“That’s happening in the next few weeks.”
I look down at my desk and the mountain of paperwork I need to get through tonight. Brant has just as much waiting for him, but the guy is lost back in the moment when his girlfriend said yes.
I should have figured it out hours ago. He wasn’t invested in the job today. His mind was somewhere else. Now, I know where.
“What’s the rush?” I pick up a pen. “Don’t most women need months to plan their wedding day?”
His gaze travels around the squad room. It’s late afternoon and a hub of activity at the moment. That doesn’t bode well for the commissioner’s promise to lower murder rates in Manhattan.
“Can I tell you something?” Brant leans over his desk. “I’ll need you to keep it between the two of us for now. I’m not going to the lieutenant with this until I know for sure.”
I already know the next words out of his mouth.
I’ve heard the same preface to a confession from a partner before.
He’s on the hunt for a new job. One that doesn’t require him to look at dead bodies on a regular basis.
“You have my word I’ll keep it quiet,” I assure him.
“I’m looking at joining the force in Chicago.”
“Chicago?” That surprises me. I was expecting him to tell me that he was transferring to robbery or narcotics. I didn’t foresee a move to another state. “Why Chicago?”
“Remy misses her folks.” He surveys the room again. “You know what they say about a happy wife makes a happy life.”
It’s a sacrifice not many men in this room would be willing to make.
“The lieutenant has pull in Chicago.” I point at her open office door. “She came up the ranks there before she moved here. Talk to her. She’ll be pissed when she finds out you’re headed there and you didn’t ask for her help.”
His gaze follows my hand. “You’re not setting me up, are you?”
I shake my head. “Christine’s door is always open for a reason, Brant. Get in there and tell her what’s on your mind. You owe it to her.”
He pushes back from his desk. “The wedding’s here in New York, so I expect you to show.”
“If you let me know when and where I’ll be there.” I flip through the stack of papers in front of me.
“You’ll bring someone, right?”
I look up. “No plus ones for me.”
“Remy will insist.” He straightens his suit jacket. “There has to be one woman you’re willing to sit next to through the ceremony and dinner.”
Matilda.
I could sit next to her for hours, days if need be. I didn’t want to leave her this morning, but duty called.
“I’ll give it some thought,” I reply. “Go talk to the lieutenant about Chicago and then burn through that paperwork on your desk. You’re still pulling your load until you walk out of this squad room for the last time.”
“You’re fucking kidding me, Julian.”I lean back into the worn leather of his sofa. “I came here to decompress and now this?”
