Brock's text stopped Gillian when she and Aldana brought a board to the family room, while Tanya set her computer on the table.

"Wait," Gillian said, reading from her phone. "Cassidy's gonna show up here any minute now."

And he did, just when she was ready to receive him. She let him knock a couple of times; only then she dragged her feet to the front door.

Cassidy frowned at her eyes barely open, her messed hair and her pajamas.

"What were you doing, Gillian?" he asked, suspicious.

She rolled her eyes, opened the door wide for him to come in and turned around to drag her feet away. "Throwing a party. Wanna join it?" she replied, on her way to the family room.

Cassidy closed the front door and followed her. "I've been calling you. Why didn't you pick up?"

"I turned my phone off to sleep in for once. Coffee?"

Cassidy spotted her phone on the breakfast bar. It was off. "No, thanks."

"So? You said you've been calling, and now you're here. You got me outta bed on my day off. What d'you need? Should I bring you my badge after all?"

It was nice, playing sleepy. Cassidy knew her usual morning mood, so she could act just as bitter and annoyed as she felt.

"Shut up," he grunted. "So you're taking a whole week off? Why so long?"

Gillian turned the coffeemaker on and spun around to face him, a light-year away from a smile, her voice oozing Irish poison.

"'Cause I've been working non-stop for months. And I just spent three days out in the worst storm in history, catching a very sick son of a bitch in the woods, and having nightmares about tortured babies. Not to mention putting up with all your bully shit, 'cause you're afraid Daddy Brass might ground you. But if you think I haven't done enough to earn me one damn week away from your shit, by all means, just say so and I'll be in my post within the hour, like the pathetic lap dog you think I am."

Gillian expected Cassidy to cut her off, but he didn't.

He let her speak, then scoffed and sat on a stool at the bar. "I see."

She turned her back to him with the excuse of grabbing her mug from the cupboard. Really? He'd bought her outraged act? Just like that? What was wrong with him? She didn't know what worried her most, that Cassidy might have bought it so easily, or that he only wanted her to think so to make her lower her guard.

Her keen ear registered a muffled sound from her room. Aldana or Tanya had sat on her bed. She turned to Cassidy and studied him-did he hear it too? A chunk of snow fell from the roof onto the backyard. Cassidy glanced out at the thud.

"Gonna take a while for all this snow to wash off, huh."

Gillian narrowed her eyes. So casual all of a sudden? He met her eyes and scoffed again.

"Don't think you can fool me, Gillian. Not in a zillion years. I enjoyed your tantrum, though."

She rested against the kitchen counter behind her, mug in hand, and held his eyes without a word. Cassidy smirked.

"This is your last warning, you should really take it," he said. "Whatever you have in mind, drop it, 'cause it'll backfire in your face. Hard. So try to be wise for a change, and understand you're way outta your depth here."

Gillian's lips mirrored his smirk. "D'you charge extra for bullying? Or d'you do it for free, just for the kicks?"

"You should thank me, Gillian. Predators don't waste time in asking before jumping to your throat. So consider yourself warned. And without any kind of support from me from now on. Keep it in mind before dragging others down, 'cause you're gonna be the one to blame when they lose everything."

"Aren't you thoughtful."

"Of course I am. I came all the way here to tell you in your face that from now on, you're on your own. Didn't I?"

"Spoken like a true peach. Should I kneel in gratitude?"

Cassidy climbed down from the stool. "Save your kneeling. You might need it sooner than you think." He nodded to the front door. "I'll show myself out."

"Have a nice day, sir."

"You too, Gillian."