"Mostly because you're cute when you're angry," he answers promptly, "but this time, it's also to make sure I have all of your attention."
"For what?"
"To warn you about other idiots I used to work with—-"
"And who I'm most likely to meet tonight?"
"Unfortunately."
"Are there really that many idiots working in the FBI?"
"Definitely more than there should be," Rake admits with a grimace, "and some of them might tell you things that could make you think twice about marrying me."
"You haven't actually asked me to marry you—-"
"And risk having you say no?" Rake looks at me like I'm more psychotic than psychopathic. "I know I said there are idiots working in the FBI, but I didn't say I was one of them."
No, no, no.
I must be strong. I must not waver. I must remember that my smiles absolutely can't...come...cheap!
Hearing my phone ring is the distraction I need, but the news I get from my men isn't anything good.
Shit.
"What's wrong?" Rake has no trouble sensing the change in my mood as I drop my phone back in my pocket.
"It's Yiorgos. He hasn't been answering my calls since this morning, and my men are still out looking for him."
"Let me see what I can do."
Rake is already walking away before I can decide whether to stop or thank him. I've never been the type to ask for help or accept it, but it feels weirdly good that Rake's willing to step in even for my pro bono cases.
Greg and Corey immediately start talking as soon as Rake leaves, and I call them out on it as soon as they pause for breath. "Are you guys worried I might start killing people for fun if you don't keep me entertained?"
"Nah, of course not."
"Aww c'mon, we know you better than that now."
I'm about to tell them they're the worst liars on the planet when a woman walking past us catches my eye. She's matched her denim bikini top with a pair of silk pants, and tattooed on the underside of her right breast is a familiar-looking vagina flower.
"Do you guys know who she is?" I ask Rake's friends.
"Suzanne Packer," Greg supplies with a grimace when he sees who I'm looking at. "She's friends with Nicole, Major's fiancée. Only daughter of John Packer, whose yacht we're about to board."
"How did she and Nicole meet?"
"Art school. Nicole loves to collect works of 21st century Impressionists while Suzanne's into the more modern stuff."
Like GRWK, I can't help thinking.
But since I also know liking the same artist does not a dog-napper make—-
"Has she ever gotten in any kind of legal trouble before?"
Corey looks at me in surprise. "How do you know—-"
"So she has?"