8

Present

"You need dick."

I roll my eyes, swatting my little sister on the arm. "Don't be disgusting, Lily."

"Don't pretend to be all prude," she replies bluntly. "I know you look at brutally massacred corpses for a living, so don't act like the male anatomy offends you."

We'reoutat a trendy wine store-slash-bar downtown—Lily's choice, not mine. We're both busythese days, but I still insist on regular meetups. Partly so I can supervise her life choices, as is my self-appointed duty as her big sister.

Lily is my sister by choice, not by blood. We were foster kids, thrown together into a home when we were young. I made it my job to protect them from our foster father.

DNA means nothing to me. My biological parents were addicts who died before I hadto chanceto ever really know them. But our family of two was forged in the fire of that house. We were separated after Harvey died, but I made sure we kept in touch.

"Don't give me that," I say. "You're going to cut up corpses for a living."

She's amedstudent. I'm basically bursting with pride over the fact.

"Correction, I'm going to cut up alive people and put them back together to make sure they stay alive. A key difference." She takes a sip of her rosé. "All you do is talk about work. I think you're scared of dating and using your job as an excuse."

I force a laugh. "That's crazy."

"Remember that guy from my college, Mike? He asked if you were single after you came to that party."

I lean back, avoiding eye contact. "I'm not interested in dating right now. I'm just too busy with work."

Lily rolls her eyes. "Excuses, excuses."

"It's true!"

I'm not lying, but I am leaving something out. Though I'm closer to Lily than I am with anyone in the world, there are still things I haven't told her. Memories that I can never speak aloud. If she knew what I'd done…

She'd want to run from metoo.

"Anyway," I continue, keen to shut this topic down. "Why don't you date Mike if he's so great?"

Lily scoffs. "I don't need a man, but you get lonely. Some people are meant to be alone, and some aren't. You can act likeyou'rea lone wolf, but you're a pack animal at heart."

I chew on my lip.She'sright, of course, but I open my mouth to give a retort anyway. I'm cut off before I can begin my sentence.

"Tall, dark and fuckable alert. Jesus. Ava, you should get his number instead."

I follow Lily's gaze toward the door, where a tall, dark-haired man has just entered the bar.

He turns his head. My eyes land on the face of my therapist.

Oh god no.

The irritation I feel at the sight of him is closely followed by a pulse of heat in my core, which only irritates me more. I really don't want to admit he looks good. But his body issostrong and lean, and his sophistication isclearin his tailored charcoal gray suit jacket and clean white button-down shirt.

No. I refuse to be attracted to my therapist—the therapist I don't even want to be seeing in the first place.

"Oh god, not him," I mutter under my breath.

Lily gasps. "You know him?! Please tell me you've seen his dick."

Dr Keller turns, suddenly meeting my stare.

I quickly avert my gaze, cursing under my breath. "Shit. Accidental eye contact."

Lily waves at him, yelling across the bar. "Hey! You! Ava Cain wants to say hi!"

I grit my teeth, hissing at her to stop, but it's too late. Dr Keller's face breaks into a smile as he sidles up to us. God, he is pretty. Cut cheekbones and espresso-brown eyes.

"Hello, Ava."

I grimace in response. "Hi."

"So," Lily says expectantly, drawing out the word. "Aren't you going to introduce us? How do you two know each other?"

I stare at Dr Keller, daring him to spill my secret. But he's annoyingly smooth as ever with a casually spoken answer. "Ava and I met through work."

I smile awkwardly. "There's no need to be discreet here. Dr Keller, this is my sister. And Lily, this is my… therapist."

"Therapist?!" Lily echoes in disbelief

Dr Keller gives a ‘you got me' shrug.

"You didn't tell me you were in therapy," Lily says. "Why were you yapping on about rewatching You've Got Mail last night when you could have been telling me about that?"

Dr Keller's lips twitch upwards in amusementandI glare at Lily. My just-a-tad-fanatical passion for Nora Ephron romcoms is my dirty little secret.Homicide detectives aren't supposed to spend their evenings watching those, butdammit,they're undeniable.

"You've Got Mail?" Dr Keller says.

Lily nods. "Have you met Billy Crystal yet?"

I flush deep red. "Lily, let's not discuss that—"

Dr Keller's eyebrows raise. "Billy Crystal?"

"Her bike," Lily answers. Jackson looks confused. "She was obsessed with When Harry Met Sally when we were kids, so she called her bike Billy Crystal because she's always wanted to ride him—"

"Okay, party's over!" I practically yell.

Dr Keller's lips tug upward. "I thought she was called the Stallion."

"In polite company, yes," I mutter through gritted teeth.

He makes a mock-thoughtful face. "Well, I suppose Billy Crystal is badass in his own way."

"You're being polite."

"Yes," he says. "Yes, I am. That's the least badass thing I've ever heard."

Lily giggles and I ignore them both.

"Anyway," I mutter. "The therapy is just a mandatory process after a confrontation with a perp recently. My boss organized it. But the good news is it'll all be over inexactlynine sessions."

Dr Keller smiles warmly at Lily. "Your sister is a part of an extremely talented team of detectives, and it's an honor to offer my services to them."

I can practically see Lily melting as Dr Keller looks at her. It's not that I can't understand why. But I'm still uneasy after the moment at the end of our first session. I don't knowexactlywhat I saw in Dr Keller's eyes, but it triggered some primal instinct in my brain.

"What are you doing here anyway, Dr Keller?" I ask.

"I'm on my way to an exhibitionopeningat the Modern Art Gallery. I was just here to pick up a bottle of wine as a gift for one of the artists."

"Sounds fascinating," I mutter, praying for this interaction to end. "Don't let us hold you up."

Lily elbows me in the ribsbutI ignore her.

I lock eyes with him. For a second, his smile drops. My stomach flips—holy shit, there it is again. That look.

But this time, it's evenclearer.

It's something dark. I've looked into the eyes of killers before, and it's that look but even more intense. Cold and powerful.

Heat races through my body, an ache suddenly pulsating in my core. What the hell is this sliver of cold darkness I keep glimpsing in my therapist's eyes, and why is my body reacting like this?

I quickly glance at my sister's face, but she's just smiling back at him like she doesn't see anythingout of the ordinary.

"I won't take up any more of your time," Dr Keller says, his voice smooth and charming. "It was a pleasure to meet your sister, Detective Cain. I'll see you again soon."

He nods goodbye and heads for the exit.

Lily nudges me. "You okay, Ava? You look like you saw a ghost."

A ghost. That's exactly what it felt like seeing.

"Yeah, I'm fine—" My work phone buzzes, and I glance down at it. "Shit, it's my boss. I have to take this."

Hawkins' voice is grim when I answer his call. "I know you're supposed to be on leaveat the moment, but I need to make an exception. Get down here right now. I've sent you the location."

"What's going on, Captain?"

"Orion Vale is dead."