Page 163 of Smoke Screen
“You gave the keys to my home to the Veras.”
Maddy locked her jaw shut, biting down hard enough to snap her back teeth. The vile nerve of this self-centered narcissist. She hoped they sent him to the worst prison available. Good Girl Maddy tsk-tsked.
Screw off, Good Girl Maddy.
“I panicked,” Louis said. “They were supposed to turn over the Pierres in exchange. They didn’t.”
Maddy scoffed. “There’s a shock. For a smart man, you’ve failed yourself and your family miserably.”
A knock sounded and a second later, the door opened. Special Agent Blackwell stood there, one hand still on the knob, his gaze on Louis. “Time’s up.” He glanced at Maddy. “You good?”
Good? Hardly. She pushed off the wall and paused before turning to the door. “Whatever happens to you, I hope you find a way to be free of your demons. I pity you. I’ll also forgive you. Maybe not today, but I won’t continue wasting my energy over this.”
“Youforgavehim?”
A physically and mentally whupped Phin stood in an FBI conference room staring at what appeared to be an equally exhausted Maddy. Puffy eyes, slumped shoulders, wild hair. The whole bit.
Before walking into FBI headquarters, she’d complained of a headache, popped two ibuprofen, and relieved her curly hair of its tie. Thanks to the moisture outside, all those curls had exploded into a ball of frizz.
She might be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Add to that the fact that she could forgive someone who’d framed her.
“I told him I would, but not today,” she said. “What kind of imbecile would I be to carry all that anger around? I refuse to give that man any more of my energy. Now, he’s in the hands of Lady Justice. She can deal with him.”
He stepped closer, got right into her space, and cupped his hands over her cheeks. “I think you’re amazing.”
Her face lit up. She ripped off a wide, toothy smile. He might have to marry her.
“Well, Phin Blackwell, I think you’re pretty darned special, too.”
The door came open and Ash stuck his head in. “Whoopsie.”
Ash needed to work on his timing. Phin lowered his hands and stepped back. “Have I mentioned you have a timing issue?”
His brother laughed. “No. But I’ll take it under advisement. Sorry to interrupt. You two good in here?”
“Yeah,” Phin said. “Where are Zeke, Cruz, and Rohan?”
“Zeke and Rohan are finishing up their statements. I just saw Cruz chasing after Cilla. Imaginethatcombination? She’s currently harassing my boss about a statement to the press regarding Maddy’s vital cooperation in solving this case.”
“Cruz and Cilla.” Phin ran a hand down his face. “That might tax me.”
“Please,” Ash said. “They’d murder each other in a day.” He shifted to Maddy, holding her gaze for a few long seconds. “I apologize for what we put you through. If it’s worth anything, I was having trouble believing you were involved. We had to … well.”
She waved him off. “You were doing your job.”
Yeah, Phin needed this woman in his life. Her ability to see through the haze, to maintain a rational and uncynical mind, gave him hope.
A reason to believe even assholes had potential.
“Sometimes,” Ash said, “the job sucks.”
“Sure does,” Phin added, taking a cue from Maddy and suppressing the full weight of his sarcasm.
Still, she shot him a look. “Hey,” he said. “Baby steps. I could have droned on about them harassing an innocent woman. In my mind, I gave him a pass.”
Ash let out a snort and Phin waggled his eyebrows at him.
