went up, surprised now. “Who?”
“That guy. From Mia’s wedding.”
Paige blinked. She was the only one who knew thestory which had only been pried from Olivia’s margarita-numbed lips. “You mean your sister’s wedding? No way. That was two
years ago, in Chicago. He just showed up, after all this time? What a jerk.”
Olivia flicked her gaze back up to the ceiling. Paige hadn’t been updated recently. “Two and a half years, and actually, he
lives here now. Moved here seven months ago.”
“Lots of stuff happened seven months ago,” Paige observed quietly. “Why did he move here?”
“His friend lives here. You met her. Eve.”
“The one you saved from Pit-Guy? Rest over. Another set. Go.”
Olivia winced as she pumped. “Pit-Guy” had killed dozens of people, most of them women. Eve had come within a hair of being
his thirty-sixth victim. “Another cop saved Eve, not me. I got there after all the killing was done, just in time to clean
out the pit.”
Paige sighed. “Two more. One, and you’re done. So what about Wedding-Guy?”
“Came to visit Eve, ended up buying a place. She told me. He hasn’t said a word.”
Paige winced. “Not a word? So, does Wedding-Guy have a name?”
Olivia’s throat closed and she swallowed harshly. “David.”
“And what does David the wedding-guy do?”
“He’s a goddamn firefighter.” And from the corner of her eye she watched Paige’s black eyes flicker. “What?”
“Just that he was at the fire tonight and you got the homicide. Helluva coincidence. So he’s been here, inMinneapolis, all this time? And he didn’t, like, call or anything?”
“Not once.” And that hurt. A lot.
“Pig.”
“I know, right? Except…” Olivia closed her eyes.
Be truthful, at least to yourself.
“Except he’s a nice guy. He likes cartoons and dogs and loves his mother. He cooks and fixes cars. We’d read the same books,
liked the same music, dreamed of traveling to all the same places. He volunteered in shelters for women and teen runaways,
fixing plumbing and roofs and whatever got broken. He did karate, too. Like you.”
“Oh? Really?”
Olivia nodded. “He was a brown belt, practicing for his black-belt test. He also taught a class at the Y in Chicago, to kids.
For free. I’d have thought he was lying, that nobody could be so perfect, but Mia had already told me he was a nice guy.”
“Wow.” Paige looked stunned. “I thought you’d only met him that one night.”
“Two, actually. We met at Mia’s rehearsal dinner. It was spring, and I guess I was wide open for getting swept off my feet.
A weekend fling. How cliché.”
Paige frowned at her disparaging tone. “Liv. You’d gotten dumped by your ass of a fiancé just a few weeks before the wedding.
I’d still like to use him for a punching bag for what he did to you. Going back to his old fiancée. Who was a ho.”
“I remember,” Olivia said dryly. “I was there.” Paige’s punching bag had been named Doug for quite some time after that.
“Then, not a week later, finding out the father you’dnever known was dead? Then finding out you had two half sisters?”
“The cop and the con,” Olivia said affectionately. “Meeting Mia and Kelsey was the only good thing to come out of all that.”
Paige’s scowl relaxed a little. “I’m just saying that you’d been through a lot that winter. To fall under the spell of a sexy,
nice Mr. Perfect could happen to any of us. He took advantage of you.”
Olivia shrugged. “Probably. The day of the rehearsal dinner, I was kind of a mess. I was late. I’d just come back from meeting
Kelsey for the first time.”
“At the prison,” Paige murmured.
Where Olivia’s half sister was serving eight to twenty-five for armed robbery. “Yeah. The prison’s about an hour away from
Chicago, and I hadn’t been able to get out there before then. I was kind of shaken up, meeting my sister that way, behind
the glass. I
“That guy. From Mia’s wedding.”
Paige blinked. She was the only one who knew thestory which had only been pried from Olivia’s margarita-numbed lips. “You mean your sister’s wedding? No way. That was two
years ago, in Chicago. He just showed up, after all this time? What a jerk.”
Olivia flicked her gaze back up to the ceiling. Paige hadn’t been updated recently. “Two and a half years, and actually, he
lives here now. Moved here seven months ago.”
“Lots of stuff happened seven months ago,” Paige observed quietly. “Why did he move here?”
“His friend lives here. You met her. Eve.”
“The one you saved from Pit-Guy? Rest over. Another set. Go.”
Olivia winced as she pumped. “Pit-Guy” had killed dozens of people, most of them women. Eve had come within a hair of being
his thirty-sixth victim. “Another cop saved Eve, not me. I got there after all the killing was done, just in time to clean
out the pit.”
Paige sighed. “Two more. One, and you’re done. So what about Wedding-Guy?”
“Came to visit Eve, ended up buying a place. She told me. He hasn’t said a word.”
Paige winced. “Not a word? So, does Wedding-Guy have a name?”
Olivia’s throat closed and she swallowed harshly. “David.”
“And what does David the wedding-guy do?”
“He’s a goddamn firefighter.” And from the corner of her eye she watched Paige’s black eyes flicker. “What?”
“Just that he was at the fire tonight and you got the homicide. Helluva coincidence. So he’s been here, inMinneapolis, all this time? And he didn’t, like, call or anything?”
“Not once.” And that hurt. A lot.
“Pig.”
“I know, right? Except…” Olivia closed her eyes.
Be truthful, at least to yourself.
“Except he’s a nice guy. He likes cartoons and dogs and loves his mother. He cooks and fixes cars. We’d read the same books,
liked the same music, dreamed of traveling to all the same places. He volunteered in shelters for women and teen runaways,
fixing plumbing and roofs and whatever got broken. He did karate, too. Like you.”
“Oh? Really?”
Olivia nodded. “He was a brown belt, practicing for his black-belt test. He also taught a class at the Y in Chicago, to kids.
For free. I’d have thought he was lying, that nobody could be so perfect, but Mia had already told me he was a nice guy.”
“Wow.” Paige looked stunned. “I thought you’d only met him that one night.”
“Two, actually. We met at Mia’s rehearsal dinner. It was spring, and I guess I was wide open for getting swept off my feet.
A weekend fling. How cliché.”
Paige frowned at her disparaging tone. “Liv. You’d gotten dumped by your ass of a fiancé just a few weeks before the wedding.
I’d still like to use him for a punching bag for what he did to you. Going back to his old fiancée. Who was a ho.”
“I remember,” Olivia said dryly. “I was there.” Paige’s punching bag had been named Doug for quite some time after that.
“Then, not a week later, finding out the father you’dnever known was dead? Then finding out you had two half sisters?”
“The cop and the con,” Olivia said affectionately. “Meeting Mia and Kelsey was the only good thing to come out of all that.”
Paige’s scowl relaxed a little. “I’m just saying that you’d been through a lot that winter. To fall under the spell of a sexy,
nice Mr. Perfect could happen to any of us. He took advantage of you.”
Olivia shrugged. “Probably. The day of the rehearsal dinner, I was kind of a mess. I was late. I’d just come back from meeting
Kelsey for the first time.”
“At the prison,” Paige murmured.
Where Olivia’s half sister was serving eight to twenty-five for armed robbery. “Yeah. The prison’s about an hour away from
Chicago, and I hadn’t been able to get out there before then. I was kind of shaken up, meeting my sister that way, behind
the glass. I
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