I feel the color drain from my face and a sudden chill settles deep in my bones. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Forrest speaks slower, but the underlying panic rings through straight to my gut. “Jake is at the police station right now,” he says. “They claim he killed her. Strangled her at Navy Pier.”

My heart feels like it’s falling through my chest. It’s no secret Jake and Marissa had problems. You could practically set your calendar by their heated arguments. Sometimes they got bad…but never violent.

Sure, Jake could get angry. A nasty fight at the beginning of our business partnership has almost ripped apart our company before it even got off the ground. But was he capable of murder?

I can’t—won’t—believe it.

“Jake didn’t do this,” I whisper.

“Of course not,” Forrest says, clearing his throat. But it’s not the words I hear, it’s the subtlety of doubt in his voice—and it guts me. “It’s obviously a mistake,” he says.

“A mistake,” I repeat.

“Do you need me to come over?”

My eyes go wide. “No…no…I’ll be okay,” I stammer. My gaze flickers to Duke, who’s forehead is pinched in concern. He caresses the side of my cheek, and it’s suddenly all I can do not to burst into tears and crawl into his arms. “There’s nothing we can do tonight.”

Forrest finally concedes. “You’re right. I don’t have many details anyway, but first thing tomorrow…”

“Yes,” I say, quickly. “Tomorrow. We’ll go to the police station together and find out what we can.” Duke squeezes my shoulder, a reminder he’s there. “Oh, and I’ll text Mr. Kingston and let him know we won’t be coming into the office.”

Forrest groans. “Oh God. Talk about making an impression. What is he going to think?”

I glance up at Duke, his face shadowed in the dim light. My fingers curl around his arm. “He’ll understand, I’m sure.” Duke nods, as though he somehow knows we’re talking about him. “Get some rest, Forrest. We’ll figure this all out tomorrow.”

The advice sounds good, but I know there’s no way either of us will sleep.

I don’t realize how long I’ve been staring at my cell until Duke gently pries it from my hands. He sets in on the table and sits next to me on the couch. My body feels numb, my heart empty.

“Jake has been arrested…” My voice is so hollow I don’t even recognize it as my own. “…for murder.”

Tears swell in the corner of my eyes and I blink, blink, blink to stop them from falling. It’s no use. They come out in an uncontrollable rush until I’m sobbing so hard I can barely breathe. My chest heaves in time with my shoulders. I’m an emotional wreck.

Duke pulls me into him and strokes my hair. “It will be okay.”

I shake my head. “It won’t.” I lift my chin and stare into his dark eyes. They’re filled with emotion, with a sincerity that yanks on my heartstrings, adding more chaos to the storm. “It really won’t.”

It’s more than Jake’s arrest. It’s as though my whole world is crashing down around me. The business, this fantasy with Duke, the company I worked so hard to build crumbling into dust—it’s like some kind of nightmare and I just want to fucking wake up.

“I know that it seems bleak, impossible even,” he says. “But we have no details and without those, we can only speculate. The morning will bring clarity.”

“I just don’t see how Jake could have…”

Duke lifts me to my feet and gathers me in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck, too caught up in misery to appreciate his strength, his kindness. He carries me to the bathroom and sets me down on a bench beside a giant claw foot tub. “Wait here.”

I watch, numb, as he runs the water, adding bubbles that smell like vanilla and Epson salts with the faint scent of lavender. He lights candles, dims the lights. And when the tub is almost overflowing, he slides the robe off my shoulders and takes my hand. My palm fits so perfectly in his that it brings on a fresh wave of tears.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I say, my voice trembling.

He puts his finger over his lips and leads me into the water. I sink in, allowing the warmth to take away some of the chill that comes with shock. The tension along the back of my neck eases, begins to subside.

“I’ll be right back,” Duke says, gently.

Alone with my thoughts, stark reality begins to set in. Somewhere out there, Marissa’s parents are mourning the loss of their daughter, and her boyfriend—my business partner—is spending the night in a jail cell for a crime he may or may not have committed. A lump forms in my throat. I can’t believe he would do something so…

Is it so hard to believe in a crime of passion?

My mind reels through the database of their arguments. I zero in on the tone of his voice, on words and sentences that can’t be taken back. He’s never threatened her, not in my presence. Could something have happened to make him just snap?

Duke returns with a glass of white wine. “Drink,” he commands.

The first sip burns my raw throat, but I allow it to soothe me. I expect Duke to leave the room—he must have more important things to do—and when he doesn’t, I’m strangely silent. Reflective.

“What a mess this night has turned into,” I say.

Duke tilts his head and gives me a small smile. “Not all terrible, I hope.”

No, not all. The bath water stings the sensitive parts of my body that have been ravaged by Duke’s mouth. This night—for all the good and bad—will remain imprinted on me for eternity.

Twenty minutes and a full glass of wine later, Duke helps me out of the water, carefully towel drying me, and wrapping me in the robe before leading me back to the bedroom. My head spins. I should go home, back to my lonely apartment—but the thought leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Even Onyx wouldn’t be company tonight.

“Spend the night,” Duke says.

I shake my head in half-hearted protest but he’ll hear nothing of it. He pulls back the sheets, fluffs the pillows, and we crawl into bed. I roll onto my side and Duke pushes up against me, his arm wrapped tight around my waist, his lips nuzzled into my neck.

My last thought before drifting off to sleep is how ironic and unfair it is that the worst evening of my life also turned out to be my best.