Page 96 of Heat of Justice

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“So, she came,” Quinn said, spotting Brooke on the beach a split second before Lia did.

“Yeah.” Lia eyed her former partner, dressed in flowy white linen pants and a tank top, barefoot, who sat on her own a short distance away. “I wasn’t sure she would when I invited her, but I’m glad she did.”

A couple of cops from the station walked past Brooke. One of them almost gave himself whiplash glancing back, then forgot his original destination in favor of going for a chat. Lia could tell from the body language, coming through loud and clear, that he was flirting with her.

“Barking up the wrong tree,” Quinn snorted.

Lia looked at her. Quinn always looked amazing in her uniform, but even better now, she decided, in her usual beach attire of board shorts, Nike swim top, and Oakley sunglasses. She looked drop-dead gorgeous with her sculpted physique, surfer-blond hair, and traces of salt on her tanned skin from an earlier dip in the ocean.

“I’ll go talk to her, okay?”

“Sure. Take your time.”

“Thanks for letting me do this.”

“Of course.” Quinn shrugged. “You’re a free woman.”

“I love you, baby.” Lia punctuated this with the kind of kiss that made her wife, always so strong and emotionally reserved in public, shiver and grin like a mesmerized rookie.

“Don’t be too long,” Quinn advised.

“Be right back,” Lia promised.

She joined her former fiancée, who drank Perrier in the hot sun.

“Hey there.”

“Hi, Lia.”

“You’re looking well.”

Brooke had caught a bit of sun since the last time Lia had seen her at the rehab center. She was still a little too thin, but she looked more like herself.

“Thanks,” Brooke nodded. “Thank you for inviting me here today.”

“It’s okay. You said you wanted to talk.”

“I wanted to apologize to you face to face.”

“I have a few things to say to you as well.”

“Okay.” Brooke visibly steeled herself in anticipation of a hard time. “You go first.”

Lia did not hesitate. She looked her in the eye and spoke clear and sharp as a blade.

“You went after my wife, Brooke. Quinn was hurt because of you. This, I find extremely hard to forgive.”

“I understand. All I can say is I’m sorry, Lia. Truly sorry for hurting you both.”

Though this came in a hushed tone, the words did not feel any less heartfelt when Brooke uttered them. Lia noted genuine regret in her grey eyes and the sort of humility Brooke did not display very often in the past. When Lia first met Quinn, she had been struck by the difference between them. Though the two women were close in age, Quinn had felt much older, wiser, and more grounded at the time. A lot more mature. It was obvious that she had gone through the fire. Now it sounded as if Brooke had also fought and survived her own painful battles.

“I love Quinn more than life,” Lia said.

“Understood.”

“I hope you do.”

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