I was there for the bail hearing, but I barely paid attention as I waited for the final verdict, because that was all I cared about. Isaac assured me everything would be fine, and I had faith in the man. He had gotten the family out of a lot of shit, and though he wasn’t the primary lawyer in our dad’s case, I would have trusted him with that, too, but Dad had his team.

The whole time, I couldn’t keep still. I kept fidgeting; bouncing a leg, drumming my fingers on my thighs, twisting my fingers together or adjusting the lapels of my coat. Someone sat beside me, and I was pretty sure by the sighs they kept making that they were done with my shit, but I didn’t give a fuck.

When Jasmine got out, I almost thought my body would shake with the relief.

I left quickly and waited, so by the time she got out with all her things returned to her; I was there. Issac walked out beside her, and I approached the two of them. Her eyes widened when they saw me, then narrowed.

“Isaac, good work in there.” I held out my hand for a handshake. “I’ll probably be calling on you soon, though.

He reached back and shook my hand, giving me a nod. “Anytime, Gabe.” He gave a nod to Jasmine. “Hopefully, I won’t be seeing you both anytime soon.”

With a parting smile, he was gone.

I turned back to Jasmine, who was still looking at me with narrowed eyes. She had her arms crossed under her breasts, one hand holding a bag that probably held her things.

“Gabe,” she said in acknowledgment, her voice cold. “Thanks for helping me out, but don’t you feel like you’re a little late? I spent the whole weekend in there, you know?”

I ran my eyes over her. Her hair was in disarray, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her skin looked pale. “I can see that. And, I had no idea you were picked up until just this morning.”

She sneered. But then frowned and looked at me pensively. I leaned back a little from her gaze, unsure what was going through her mind. But then she relaxed her shoulders as she sighed. Her arms fell from their defensive stance, and the look she aimed at me was tired.

“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for me. But all I want right now is to get home and go to sleep, Gabe, please.”

I pursed my lips. I couldn’t let her go just yet. “How about I get you something to eat first?” I offered. “Or, I give you a ride back. I’d like to talk to you.”

She looked reluctant, but after a moment nodded her head. “No thanks to something to eat. A drive back would be fantastic!”

I turned and waited for her to fall into step beside me, then walked us over to the car. I went around to open her door for her, and I could see a slight softening of her expression as I did so. I hurried around and got in on the driver’s side, then put the car into drive.

“I wanted to apologize,” I started tentatively after a minute of silence. This late in the morning, there would be some light traffic on the way, and for once, I was grateful for it.

“For what, specifically?” I glanced over and saw she was watching me with an eyebrow raised. “Is it for getting arrested? Or for something else?”

I sighed and looked out the windshield.

“Okay, so, I deserve that. And it’s for everything. So that you know, I never planned for this to happen. I was supposed to be working to make sure it didn’t, and I’m sorry I failed in that.”

I glanced at her and saw when she sighed again and leaned heavily into the seat with a grimace.

“Fuck, Gabe. There was this cot in there that I had to sleep on for the past couple nights. It did things to my back, and I am in fucking pain right now.”

I winced. “Sorry about that, too, then. I’m sure you’ll be glad to get back home and in bed.”

She hummed. When she didn’t say anything more, I looked over to find her eyes closed.

“Hey, come on,” I called gently. I removed one hand from the wheel to reach for her but froze. She probably wouldn’t appreciate my touch at the moment. I put my hand back on the wheel and squeezed. “Don’t fall asleep just yet. We’re not done talking.”

She whined, but she fluttered her eyes open and looked at me. “What more do you still want, Gabe?”

“Just,” I paused and made a frustrated sound, both hands tightening around the steering wheel. “I think I know a little bit of why you got picked up. I should have been looking out for it, and I wasn’t, but I promise I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Her eyes were suddenly sharp and stared intently at me. Even before I looked to check, I could feel the weight of her gaze.

“What exactly do you mean by that, Gabe? It’s as if you’re implying it’s not just the case against your dad.”

I breathed out slowly through my nose. “You wouldn't be wrong about that.”

There was a short silence, then, “Gabe, if you know something, you better fucking tell me. I don’t need the FBI showing up on my doorstep again soon to arrest me.”

I grimaced. “That… shouldn’t happen again.”

“Shouldn’t?” she repeated, tone incredulous. “No offense, but I don’t have much faith in what you’re saying right now if you refuse to tell me—”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Jasmine. I’m going to have to ask you to trust me on this. There’s a lot more going on than anybody knows, and just in case, it might be safe if this knowledge didn’t fall in your hands. No one will bother you again, but if it happens, I will take care of it, too.”

The car slid from a crawl to a standstill, and I took the chance to look over at Jasmine. She was staring at me, her eyes considering me, and I stayed still for her perusal. After a moment, she huffed and looked away.

“Fine,” she muttered, mulish.

I put the car back in the drive as the cars ahead of us started to move. This time, when she let her eyes close, I let her. She deserved the rest after everything she’d been through. I remembered the general area of where she lived, and I was stopped in front of her building in a little over half an hour. I parked the car and looked over at Jasmine.

I should have woken her up immediately and let her know we’d arrived, but I took a moment. She did look terrible, and I cursed a fist against my thigh, frustrated with myself. If I hadn't been so focused on fucking her, I might have saved her a lot of stress. No matter what my father thought, I was usually on top of things, but I was letting myself get distracted, and it couldn’t continue to happen. I had to be more careful than ever.

“Jasmine,” I called softly. I repeated her name a couple of times before she stirred, she blinked open again.

“Hmm?”

“You’re home,” I said, pointing outside so she could look and see her building. “You can take the rest of the week off; I’ll just ask HR to have someone else take your place. Hopefully, everything will be taken care of by then, and you can come back to work. Also…” I hesitated.

“What?” she asked, blunt.

I rolled my teeth over my lip. “I wanted to talk to you, about Friday night. The thing that happened at the club, I wanted to apologize for—”

“About Friday night,” she said, cutting me off, “it’s fine.”

I frowned. The words were exactly what I wanted to hear, but her face was blank, and her tone worried me a little.

“Um,” I muttered. “Are you… sure? Weren’t you upset? I didn’t mean to—”

She didn’t let me finish, though. She turned away and opened the car door, and I stopped as I watched her step out. She didn’t head for the building immediately, though, leaning back into the car to meet my eyes. The uncaring look on her face, in her eyes, was enough to make me tighten my lips. I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t looking to start a fight with her right then when she did need to get some rest.

“It’s not like we’re together,” she said. “The only relationship between us is professional, right? Because in the end, I am just your secretary, Gabe. Thanks again for bailing me out, and for the ride.”

She closed the door carefully, then turned to go into the building.