“I’ll have a Denver omelette waiting.”

“That’s cute.”

She added one last thing before hanging up. “And, Cade, whatever this news is—congratulations.”

With a smile, Cade tucked his phone into his suit jacket.

“From that grin, I’m guessing that some defendant, or his attorney, is about to have a really bad day.”

Hearing the woman’s voice, Cade checked his watch and saw it was three o’clock on the dot.

Starbucks time.

He turned around in his chair and saw a familiar face standing in the doorway. “Well, look who’s back in town. How was the vacation?”

Rylann Pierce, one of the other AUSAs in the special prosecutions division, stepped into his office. “Much needed. If I never again see another ten-defendant, thirteen-count mortgage fraud case, it’ll be too soon.”

“I bet the week in Bora Bora helped,” Cade said. “People are saying that Rhodes whisked you off as soon as the guilty verdicts came in, to a helicopter waiting on the roof of the building.”

“People say a lot of things. And I don’t think they allow convicted felons to park their helicopters on top of the federal building,” Rylann said, referring to her boyfriend’s colorful criminal history.

A year ago, she’d created a huge stir around the office by going public about her relationship with Kyle Rhodes, a wealthy network security entrepreneur who also happened to be an infamous ex-con known as the Twitter Terrorist. Initially, Cade had been particularly surprised by their relationship, given that (A) he considered Rylann one of his closest friends in the office, and (B) he, personally, had been the prosecutor who’d convicted Rhodes and had him sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment.

Awkward.

However, despite the unusual circumstances, he and Rylann had managed to get past the fact that he’d once called the love of her life a “cyber-menace to society”—yep, awkward again—and had continued to be friends. Which was nice, because on top of being someone he enjoyed hanging out with, Rylann was an excellent prosecutor. As two of the most senior AUSAs in the special prosecutions group, they frequently talked shop, sought out each other for advice, and traded courtroom war stories. True, he and Rhodes weren’t going to be drinking eggnog together and singing carols at the annual office holiday party anytime soon, but for Rylann’s sake they kept a quiet distance from each other.

“So no whisking away, huh?” he asked her. “The office gossips will be crushed.”

“No helicopter, but . . . there may have been a limo waiting outside the courthouse after I got my guilty verdicts,” Rylann said. “With champagne chilling on ice.”

Of course there was. Cade got up from his desk and walked to the door. “You know that I’m now required to make fun of you for that for at least the next two weeks, right?”

They walked side-by-side down the hallway to the elevators. “Yep.” Rylann grinned cheekily. “And it’s worth every moment.”

* * *

AT STARBUCKS, CADE suggested they grab a table after he and Rylann got their drinks. He found an empty one in the corner of the café, where they could speak privately.

“There’s something I thought you should know,” he led in. “And I wanted you to hear it from me first. I had a meeting with Cameron this afternoon. She’s asked me to step in as acting U.S. attorney while she’s on maternity leave.”

He wasn’t sure how Rylann would react to the news. She was a great litigator, also in the special prosecutions group, and very dedicated to her job. He didn’t want this temporary promotion to be something that caused friction between them.

Luckily, her response alleviated his concerns.

“Congratulations, Cade,” she said enthusiastically. “That’s fantastic. And well deserved.”

He brushed this off modestly. “I suspect a lot of it came down to seniority within the Chicago office.” Although he and Rylann had the same level of experience, she’d previously worked in the San Francisco office and had transferred to Chicago only last year.

She took a sip of her Frappuccino, and then brushed a lock of raven hair out of her eyes. “I appreciate you saying that. And yes, the fact that you’ve been in Chicago longer than me should be a factor that Cameron considered. But more important, Cameron picked you because you’ll be great at the job.”

“Thanks, Rylann. That means a lot.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve been great, too,” she added. She swirled her drink, mixing up the ice. “But we both know that never could’ve happened. There’s no way the attorney general ever would’ve signed off on an acting U.S. attorney who’s in a relationship with a famous ex-con.”

She said the words matter-of-factly, without any trace of bitterness. And while Cade wouldn’t have said it as bluntly as she had, they both knew she was right. Rylann, however, had accepted a year ago that there would be limits to her career in the government sector in light of her relationship with Rhodes—and as far as Cade knew, she didn’t have any regrets about that.

In fact, her comment provided him with the perfect lead-in. He gestured to the huge diamond making its debut on her left hand. “Judging from that rock on your finger, I think you and Rhodes are a little past the “in a relationship” phase. I assume congratulations are in order?”

She blushed, glancing down at the ring. “I wanted to say something earlier, but, you know . . . given your history with Kyle, it felt a little weird.”