Page 55 of Fracture

Adam nodded. “Yeah, on her new computer. She used some kind of shorthand that she doesn’t know and hoped I would be able to put some pieces together.”

“Oh. Um, good. I hope you could.” Adam was Lorelei’s partner. Of course she went through the computer with him. Vinnie had no reason to be upset. Or jealous. He wasn’t an agent.

“Unfortunately, no.” Adam shook his head, his gaze unfocused, like he was trying to figure something out. “She and Karli were looking at everything this morning, and Karli was no help. She thought maybe I would know something, but none of it makes sense to me. Lorelei had her own investigation and code for her notes. Even Cade couldn’t decipher it and he keeps notes in code, too.”

“Cade? And Karli? And none of you could figure it out?” Vinnie asked. That wasn’t really what he wanted to know. He wanted to know how many people Lorelei shared her notes with that weren’t him.

He offered. He told her they’d go through everything when he got home. But she didn’t wait for him. She shared it with her cousin and her partner. And her cousin’s boyfriend.

Not just her partner, who would have access to the same information, but two civilians. Two people who wouldn’t know what Lorelei knew.

She didn’t want his help. Not for anything besides orgasms and sleeping.

“It’s not simple,” Adam continued, as if Vinnie’s question was only about the complexity of the code. “We’ll keep trying, though. Next time you work, Lorelei is probably going to come into the office with me so we can go through things in a place where we have access to more information.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to jump in the shower.”

“Wash off the day. I get that,” Adam said. He returned to the couch and wrapped himself around his wife.

Vinnie walked away. He wasn’t in their group. Just like when he found Lorelei, he was an outsider. In his own home.

Vinnie remembered to grab clothes before he went to the bathroom. He locked the door and turned on the shower, frustrated with himself for thinking Lorelei was there for him.

It was sleep and orgasms. She didn’t think he was worthy of sharing her notes. Of confiding in about the case she was working on. Just the physical stuff.

Vinnie wanted to shout into the water, but he kept it in. It wouldn’t change anything. He couldn’t force her to open up to him.

The apartment was quieter when he got out of the shower. He dressed and stalled as long as possible before admitting to himself it looked weird for him to be in the bathroom so long.

Adam and Raina were gone when he walked out of the bathroom, but Karli and Cade were still there.

“We were going to go out to dinner. Want to join us?” Cade asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” Vinnie said.

“Are you sure?” Lorelei asked.

Vinnie nodded. “Yep. You go have fun. Enjoy your night out. I’m not your keeper. You don’t have to check with me before you do things.”

“I’m not… I wanted you to join us. That’s all.”

“It was a long day. I’m just going to stay in. I might be asleep when you get back, so lock the door. Unless you’re staying with Karli and Cade?” It was petty, but he couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m coming back here. Unless you don’t want me to.”

“It’s up to you where you want to be. I’m not going to force you to stay here.”

“Why are you acting like this?”

Vinnie shrugged. “I’m not acting like anything. Just want you to do what you want.”

“I… I’ll be back after dinner.”

“Whatever you want.”

Lorelei’s eyes narrowed, trying to figure out why he was being an asshole.

He couldn’t explain it. But he also couldn’t stop.

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