“Let me guess. My trusty intern told you.” She shook her head. “Oh, Blake.”
“Don’t be too hard on him.”
“Here. Let me give you my cell in case you need to reach me. I’ll do my best to respond in a timely manner, but if I don’t, just keep bothering me.”
“Thank you.” He recorded her details in his phone.
They walked out into the hallway. “Be well,” Saito said.
She returned to the boardroom and Emmett headed for the exit.
He felt light, unburdened not only of his anxieties about the trial, but of that terrible, throttling fear he’d felt while looking through the glass.
A study of canine saliva. Of course. It was just strange enough to be true.
Except—he paused in the waiting room, remembering the mug shot of the murderer Tanya Swygert, her blood-slicked mouth so evocativeof cannibalism. Had anything Saito said about the study justified the photo’s presence in the presentation?
“Heading out?” said the woman behind the desk.
Emmett looked around, surprised, before remembering the cocksure persona that had served him so well before. Hushing the dark whispers in his head, he said, “I’m late for a lunch,” and walked out.
CHAPTER 30
“Emmett, my god! You’re skeletal.” Abby gawped at him across the restaurant lobby, her mouth an open U of disbelief. It was the exact reaction Emmett had been looking forward to for weeks. He hadn’t seen his family since he started taking Obexity, and Abby’s last-minute dinner invitation had been too good an opportunity to pass up.
“You’re so skinny,” she continued, stepping toward him. Emmett pretended not to hear the note of alarm in her voice. Their unpadded cheekbones knocked as they hugged. She drew back, gripping his arms, scanning him up and down. “Are you sick?”
“Come on.”
“But you’ve lost so much weight. Last time I saw you—”
Eager to avoid a conversation that might lead to a violation of his NDA, Emmett turned to greet his half brother and sister-in-law. Chris regarded him with a sudden jolt. “Jeez, Emmett, you’re lookin’—lookin’ pretty trim.”
The color drained from Jayla’s face. “You look great,” she warbled.
Emmett was relieved when Aaron walked through the door. He seemed to have come straight from the museum, still in his work clothes, stress and exhaustion etched around his eyes. He came over and Emmett kissed him hello. “Everyone,” Emmett said to his siblings and their partners, pausing as Abby continued to murmur something that sounded suspiciously likeDo you think it’s opiates?“I’d like you to meet Aaron.”
One by one the others introduced themselves. The vibe was friendly but awkward, everyone clearly distracted by the elephant no longer in the room. “I hear congratulations are in order,” Aaron said, shaking Abby’s hand.
“Hm? Oh yeah. Thanks.”
“Come on, Ab, toot your horn a little,” said her partner, Mark, a red-haired business consultant and marathon runner from Massachusetts. Emmett had always liked him, not least because he routinely ordereddouble portions. “It’s not every day you win a landmark case. She wanted to stay in, but I told her we need to round up the gang and celebrate.”
“Absolutely,” Aaron agreed.
“Were you able to get hold of Niño?” Abby asked Chris.
“He can’t make it. Working late.”
“Speaking of opiates.” Abby rolled her eyes.
A moment later Mark’s and her friends Shivani and Kumail arrived, completing their party. The final introductions were made, and the host escorted them to their table.
As Emmett followed, he caught Abby appraising him. Her face was like an oozing gash, inadequately closed by the smile stitched over it.
The restaurant was Abby’s favorite, upscale, French-American fusion. Too expensive for Emmett, too chic. At one time, he would’ve felt like he stood out. His was a body built for Chili’s or the Cheesecake Factory. Making the most of the special occasion and his more inconspicuous physique, he ordered the largest piece of meat on the menu, a twenty-two-ounce rib eye cooked blue.
“Oh please,” Abby said once the waiter had gone.
