She ran her fingers through his hair as she sprinkled kisses on his face. “Make love to me, Tommy. I’ve missed you so much. I’ve missed us.”

He pushed up her sweater and helped her remove it, then she did the same for him. Reaching behind her, he unhooked her bra and pushed it aside, revealing sweet pink nipples. As he bent his head to tease one of them with his tongue, it occurred to him that Arnold would never have this. He’d never fall in love or make love to the woman he adored. He’d never know the joy of fatherhood. He would never again have anything. Ever.

Those few thoughts were all it took to extinguish his desire.

Dropping his head to Christina’s chest, he fought through the tsunami of emotions that hit him every time he remembered what had happened to his partner.

“Tommy? What is it?”

“I...” His throat closed and his voice broke. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”

“It’s okay.” She tightened her arms around him. “We don’t have to do anything. I’d be perfectly happy if you held me for a little while.”

As he wrapped his arms around her, he felt like a total failure—as a partner to her and to Arnold, as a cop, as a father, as a man. Trulo had said those feelings would fade in time. He only hoped that would happen before Christina wised up and realized she could do a hell of a lot better than him.

* * *

THE SUV DELIVERED Sam to the West Wing entrance, where Lilia waited for her wearing a classy red dress with a black blazer. “You look nice,” Sam said, grateful she’d taken the time to change before her trip to the White House. “I feel like an amateur next to you.”

Lilia laughed. “You look great as always. Come on in.” She said that so casually, as if she weren’t inviting Sam into the most famous house in the world. “How’s the suspension going?”

“It’s been eventful, as I’m sure you know. I’m headed to Knoxville this afternoon to follow a lead in the Hamilton case.”

“So you’re working the case even though you’re suspended?”

“Shhh,” Sam said with a grin.

“I should’ve known. The West Wing has been buzzing all morning over the death of Troy Hamilton.”

“What’re people saying?”

“They’re shocked. He was so larger than life and so respected.”

“Yes, he was.” It was all Sam could do not to tell Lilia the rest of the Troy Hamilton story. But that would come out in time, if Josh turned out to be Taylor Rollings.

“The morning shows were one big tribute to him,” Lilia said. “People are stunned that someone like him could actually be murdered. It reminds me of how I felt when I heard Senator O’Connor had been murdered.”