Not a huge stretch from the truth, considering you had to be crazy to take someone’s life in cold blood.

“A protective streak and loaded,” Bonnie said. She grinned at Cassie and added, “Any chance the new boyfriend is the hot dude in the suit you went to El Torro with a few weeks back?”

“That’s the one.”

“Does he have any brothers?”

Oh, now that was an intriguing idea. Roman and Bonnie? She and Bonnie weren’t BFFs by any stretch, but Cassie had talked to her enough over the last few weeks to surmise Bonnie could absolutely use her own Cinderella story with a Russian prince. “Actually, he does. But he’s not really the suit type like Kir unless there’s a bona fide reason to wear one. He’s more the T-shirt and jeans fella.”

“I like T-shirts and jeans.” She waggled the piece of paper pinched between her fingers in the air—an invoice of some kind by the looks of it. “I just don’t like it when they can’t hold down a job, charge up my only credit card and disappear out of nowhere.”

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes.” She shook her head, sighed and folded the paper up. “Doesn’t matter. He was a loser anyway. Better for me to focus on Pops and get his bills paid off.”

“Is he doing any better?”

Her lips curved in a tight smile, but there wasn’t much hope in the gesture. “‘Bout as good as we can hope for unless they find him a donor.”

“I’m sure they will. You just need to hang in there long enough for it to happen.”

Bonnie gave her a look that said she’d believe such an eventuality only once she won the lottery. “Funny thing about livers and the people who figure out who’s gonna get ’em. They tend to go to the people who haven’t run the ones they were born with into the ground with drugs and alcohol. My dad thinks a fifth of whiskey falls under good hydration habits and is probably going to die with a cigarette between his fingers. He’s not high on their list.”

Yep. Bonnie definitely needed a prince. Or at least a steady full-time job with benefits and to only have to take care of herself for a change.

Before Cassie could come up with something comforting or encouraging to say, Bonnie shifted gears and jerked her head toward the door that led to the newsroom. “By the way, a friendly heads-up. The green-eyed monster is in today.”

“What?” The code name they’d come up with for Lizbet during one of their talks sent Cassie’s gaze darting for the door. Turns out, Bonnie wasn’t any fonder of her nemesis than Cassie was. “She’s supposed to be off today.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but she showed about ten minutes before you. A little more out of breath than normal, but all gussied up and ready for action.”

Well, shit. She and Lizbet hadn’t had any direct run-ins for the last few weeks, but just the thought of her kind of put a damper on Cassie’s good mood.