Page 166 of Nocere

"Panic attack over?"

"Yeah. It's been at least an hour."

"I know, baby. I'm so sorry that you were scared."

"It was unexpected," she said, then traced her knuckle around my navel. "Your outfit is so cute."

I chuckled and shook my head. "No sex in Stella's office."

"Okay. My office is six floors up." She grinned and I brought her hand to my lips to bite her knuckle.

"Naughty. Unfortunately, we can't distract ourselves right now. People need us."

"I know, my sweet." She cupped my face in her hands. "I love you."

My whole body warmed as if she shot a dose of the richest nectar in my veins when I heard her say it. "I love you, too."

"You and Rebecca will look after my mom?"

"We will."

"And you promise not to go to her house?"

"I promise." I placed my hand over my heart. "My solemn vow."

"Okay," she said with a smile, despite the fatigue in her eyes.

We held hands as we left Stella's office and decided to rejoin the world together. Sam's treatment of her mother changed drastically in an environment that wasn't her mother's home. She spoke openly to her, and allowed her mother's affection. Rebecca and Mrs. Flynn got on swimmingly, especially once they both rattled off in Italian to each other. Sam and I watched them, both of us laden with amusement as they headed down the hall together in front of us. With moms, age gaps didn't seem to matter when it came to shared interests. Stella linked her arm with Sam's and escorted her up to the sixth floor after we all parted ways, and my worry decreased knowing she had an ally at work who had her back when I couldn't.

***

Rebecca and Mrs. Flynn formed a fast, easy connection that left me in awe of the entire situation. For hours, we sat in the dining room, sharing a meal, conversation, and stories about Samirah's childhood that I never expected to know. She showed me pictures on her phone of Sam as a little girl, in pretty dresses with various family members, usually connected to her father's side of the family. Although she looked most like her mother, she had her father's eyes. Mrs. Flynn told us the story of how she became a Syrian refugee, how her parents died, and how Farid saved her and their brother by getting them to Canada. To me, she seemed at ease with us, not bound by cultural statutes like Sam feared, and it made me wonder how deeply Farid scarred Sam after what happened to her.

"Everything changed after my husband died. Sam became distant, moving all the time for work. His family passed on and I was left with my brother's family as my source of comfort. Farid might've left Syria, but Syria never left him. As he aged, it seemed to get worse until his own pain turned to cruelty. And he focuses it on Samirah," she explained to us.

Mrs. Flynn was just as trapped by the situation as her daughter. I wondered how she would handle knowing what happened to Sam, but getting to know her helped me understand on a deeper level why Sam kept it a secret. It would hurt her mom very much to know what happened.

With Mrs. Flynn safely settled at home, our routines returned to normal the next day, but Sam and I hadn't had a moment together since our talk in Stella's office. Rebecca kept an extra close watch on me, and checked on me more than once during the day in between her cases or tasks. I appreciated it, especially with the news that came after lunch.

An email notified me that my mother was released from prison into the free world again, and just knowing that she walked the same streets as me brought a shudder of disgust to my gut.

"Rosie," Ainsley chirped as she headed into my office. "I was thinking about you."

"You got the alert, too. Don't lie." I narrowed my eyes at her and she laughed.

"Yes, but I was still thinking about you anyway." She smooched my cheek then helped herself to the seat beside my desk as usual. "How are you?"

"Okay. On edge, but okay."

"I can kill her if you want." Ainsley wagged her brows at me. "I know people. I am people."

I chuckled and shook my head at her. "You always make me laugh."

"I try. Speaking of laughter, you and Sami bailed on our party this weekend."

"We had other things come up."

"Uh huh. Well, we're having another on Friday night. Just Alice and Vee with their counterparts. We want you and Sam to come. We're no longer calling it The College Throuple night. It's now a Doctor Lovers party."

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