Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

happened before Thomas showed up.”
    “Later.” She hip checked him. “No PDA in front of the colleagues.”
    He slapped her on the ass. “Screw that.”
    Sam attempted a dirty look but failed to pull it off.
    “We make a good team, you know that?” he said.
    “As long as you remember who’s in charge.”
    Nick took great pleasure in hooking an arm around her and escorting her down the hallway full of hooting cops. Not even the elbow she jammed in his ribs could detract from his euphoria at having her by his side and John’s killer on his way to jail.
    In the elevator, she looked up at him, her clear blue eyes full of love. “Thanks for having my back in there.”
    Hugging her closer to him, he kissed her cheek and then her lips. “Samantha, I’ll always have your back.”

Epilogue
    Nick got home from the reading of John’s will just after five on Christmas Eve and went straight to the kitchen to dig out the bottle of whiskey he’d kept on hand for John. He poured himself half a glass and downed it in one long swallow that burned all the way through him. Pouring a second shot, he took it with him to sit in the living room where a seven-foot Christmas tree waited to be decorated. Under the tree were six festively wrapped gifts for Sam.
    He hadn’t heard from her all day, and after her refusal to discuss the Virginia Democrats’ offer when they finally got home late last night, he had good reason to wonder if she would keep her promise to spend this evening with him. She hadn’t even called to tell him that Marquis Johnson had been remanded over to trial—without incident. Nick had to hear about it on the news.
    Still hopeful that Sam would keep her promise to spend tonight with him, Nick went into the kitchen to make the dinner he’d shopped for earlier. By nine o’clock the pasta was rubbery, and he had given up on her. Could she really be that freaked out by his job offer? Didn’t she know that if she wasn’t in favor of it, he wouldn’t do it? Disappointment mixed with disbelief. That she would let him down like this, that she would let herself down like this…
    He stretched out on the sofa with another shot of whiskey. The empty tree was a stark reminder of how his plans for this evening had failed to materialize. Without Sam, what did it matter? What did anything matter?
    He must have dozed off because the ringing doorbell startled him awake an hour later. His heart surged with hope as he got up to answer it. He swung open the door, and there she was.
    “Hey,” he said. “Hey.”
    “I thought you weren’t coming.”
    “I almost didn’t.”
    Nick stepped back to let her in and took her coat.
    “What do I smell?” she asked, surprised. “Did you cook?”
    He shrugged. “Nothing special.”
    “Did you leave any for me?”
    “All of it.”
    “You didn’t eat?”
    “I was waiting for you.”
    Snuggling into his embrace, she said, “I’m sorry. I totally freaked, and I handled this all wrong.”
    Nick hugged her close, overcome with relief at having her back in his arms after a day filled with uncertainty. He brushed his lips over hers. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Samantha. Tell me the truth.”
    She looked up at him with those blue eyes he loved so much. “I’d be a liability to you. I’m messy and loud and I swear and sometimes I even tell white lies—I don’t mean to, but they sneak out before I can stop them. I’m dyslexic, infertile and my stomach runs my life. And then there’re the lovely people I come in contact with on a daily basis: drug dealers, prostitutes, murderers, rapists. There’s the whole fiasco with the Johnsons—and my ex-husband is headed for prison…”
    Even though he was amused by her speech, Nick knew she was dead serious and fought back a smile. “That’s not your fault. He tried to kill us both.”
    “Which will lead people to wonder what kind of woman marries a man like him. They’ll question my judgment and yours for getting involved with me. They’ll rehash Johnson and every other ugly case I’ve ever had—and there’re a lot of them. It’ll reflect poorly on you.”
    “I’m not running for office, Sam. It’s being handed to me for one year, and then it’s done.”
    Rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, she mulled it over. “We’d attract a lot of media attention after everything that happened this week.”
    “I can handle it if you can.”
    “I’d hate to be responsible for causing you trouble. I’d hate