She kept her gaze on me as she lifted her mug to her lips. “Who was the guy leaving when we came up?”

The deliberate casualness of her tone made me glad I’d sent word to Arash. I didn’t believe for a minute that the question was just small talk. “Blaire Ash. He’s the interior designer working on some renovations we’re doing.”

“You live here?” Pe?a asked. “We stopped by an apartment on the Upper West Side we heard was yours.”

“I’m in the process of moving in.”

He leaned into the island and looked around. “Nice place.”

“I think so, too.”

Williams caught my eye. “Have you been dating Gideon Cross long?”

“She’s married to me, actually,” Gideon said, appearing in the doorway.

Pe?a straightened, swallowing quickly. Williams set her mug down with enough force to spill some coffee.

Gideon’s gaze swept over all of us, then locked with mine. He looked perfect, his suit pristine, his tie immaculately knotted, his dark hair framing that savagely beautiful face. There was the faintest shadow of stubble around his sensual mouth. That, and the sexy length of his hair, lent a dangerous edge to his otherwise civilized appearance.

Not even the two cops standing between us could diminish the surge of hunger that flooded me at the sight of him.

I watched as he came toward me, shrugging out of his suit jacket as if it were the most natural thing to have two of New York’s finest there to question me. He tossed it over the back of a bar stool at the island and moved beside me, taking my coffee out of my hands and pressing a kiss to my temple.

“Gideon Cross,” he said, extending his hand to both officers. “And this is our counsel, Arash Madani.”

It was then I noticed that Arash had entered the kitchen behind my husband. The officers, as focused on Gideon as I was, didn’t seem to have noticed him either.

Supremely confident, with dark good looks and easy charm, Arash swept into the room and took over, introducing himself with a wide smile. The disparity between him and Gideon was striking. Both men were elegant, handsome, and poised. Both were courteous. But Arash was accessible, relatable. Gideon was imposing and remote.

I looked up at my husband, watching as he drank from my mug. “Would you like some black coffee instead?”

His hand swept down my back, his eyes on the officers and Arash. “I’d love some.”

“It’s good that you’re here, Mr. Cross,” Pe?a said. “Dr. Lucas also filed a complaint against you.”

“Well, that was fun,” Arash said an hour later, after showing the officers out to the elevator.

Gideon shot him a look as he deftly opened a bottle of malbec. “If that’s your idea of entertainment, you need to get out more.”

“I was planning on doing that tonight—with a very hot blonde, I might add—until I got your call.” Arash pulled out one of the island bar stools and sat.

I scooped up all the mugs and moved them to the sink. “Thank you, Arash.”

“You’re most welcome.”

“I bet you don’t step into courtrooms all that often, but I want to be there the next time you do. You’re awesome.”

He grinned. “I’ll be sure to let you know.”

“Don’t thank him for doing his job,” Gideon muttered. He poured the dark red wine into three glasses.

“I’m thanking him for doing his job well,” I countered, still impressed by the way Arash worked. The attorney was charismatic and disarming, as well as humble when it served his purposes. He put everyone at ease, then let them do the talking while he figured out his best angle of attack.

Gideon scowled at me. “What the hell do you think I’m paying him so much to do? Fuck up?”

“Dial it back, ace,” I said calmly. “Don’t let that bitch get to you. And don’t take that tone with me. Or your friend.”

Arash winked at me. “I think he’s jealous you like me so much.”

“Ha!” Then I saw the way Gideon glared at Arash and my brows went up. “Seriously?”

“Get back on topic. How are you fixing this?” my husband challenged, looking daggers at his friend over the rim of his wineglass.

“Fixing your fuck-up?” Arash asked, his brown eyes bright with silent laughter. “You both provided Anne Lucas the ammunition for this by going to her place of employment on two separate occasions. You’re damned lucky she embellished her story with a little assault accusation against Eva. If she’d just stuck with the truth, she’d have you both by the throats.”