Page 82 of Fracture

The three of them reached out to hold hands. They told Lorelei she was there the day they were talking about, but she hadn’t regained her memory of that day.

“I thought for sure you and Adam were going to end up together,” Raina admitted to Lorelei. “When I met you two, I thought there was no way he wasn’t in love with you.”

“Why would you think that? We’ve never… well, I don’t think we’ve ever been like that,” Lorelei said. “I definitely don’t get those vibes from him now.”

Raina shook her head. “He told me the same. That you two clicked instantly as partners. He knew from day one he could trust you with his life and that you would always be there for him.”

“That’s how I feel about him,” Lorelei agreed. “Why would you think there was something more between us?”

Raina chuckled and looked around at the others. “Are you serious? Is she serious?”

Lorelei looked at the smiles on the other women’s faces. “What?”

“You are a badass. You are smart and strong and sexy. You never seemed scared of anything. Hell, you were protecting me. I mean, I wished I was half as brave as you. What man wouldn’t want you?” Raina asked.

Lorelei snorted. “I don’t think I was a very good person, or a great partner, but it seems as though there weren’t a lot of men beating down my door. There certainly haven’t been any that came to find me when I disappeared.”

“Vinnie did,” Karli reminded her.

“Yeah, but Vinnie said we didn’t know each other before. We weren’t dating. He just worked on the task force that went into Davis Developments,” Lorelei said.

“It was meant to be that he found you. And now you’re in love,” Raina said.

“In love? No,” Lorelei argued.

The others exchanged glances, avoiding Lorelei’s.

“Karli, tell them. There’s no way. It’s not like that. We’re having fun and enjoying each other’s company. We’re getting to know each other and solving the mystery of who the fuck kidnapped me. I don’t love him, and he doesn’t love me.”

“Are you sure about that? Because he’s looked over here about every fifteen seconds to make sure you’re okay,” Jessica said.

Lorelei glanced back and found Vinnie watching her. He smiled, and her chest squeezed painfully.

“I can’t be in love with him. I barely know him. Hell, I barely know myself.”

“Clearly your heart didn’t get the memo.”

Lorelei sucked in a breath. They were right. Her heart didn’t get the memo. Because she might not remember having been in love in the past, but she was pretty damn sure she was now.

With the man who saved her life.

18

Vinnie couldn’t take his eyes off Lorelei. She was stunning when she laughed. She was stunning when she was engaged in a conversation. She was stunning all the time. He couldn’t fathom not being a part of the world he’d been introduced to thanks to her.

“Things are going well?” Marcus asked, leaning against the wall where Vinnie stood.

Vinnie nodded. “Yeah. She’s ready to have that cast off.”

“You know I don’t mean that.”

Vinnie stopped and looked at Marcus. He wanted to play dumb and pretend he didn’t know what the question really was, but it was Marcus, and that wasn’t an option.

“I don’t know. I think so. You know how I am.”

Marcus nodded. “Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. What if there is no other shoe?”

Vinnie shook his head. “There’s always another shoe.”