Author's Note:

Thank you to all who left a review! You guys are amazing as always. Again, some material that you recognize in the chapter is directly taken from the show including dialogue, cases, and situations. I own nothing and make no profit from the story. Thank you again to all who left a review!

Thanks,

H4TH


Part VII

"…Hello from the other side
I must've called a thousand times
to tell you I'm sorry
for everything that I've done
But when I call you never seem to be home

Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
to tell you I'm sorry
for breaking your heart
But it don't matter, it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore…"

"Hello" – Adele

February 7, 2015…

Elia took a deep breath before she raised her hand and rapped against the office door belonging to Olivia Benson. She'd been on the phone all morning with various friends from school and acquaintances she'd made over the years. She'd been digging for information about Alex Muñoz and none of the information that she'd gotten was good news. Hearing Olivia bid her to enter, Elia opened the door and stepped inside feeling a rush of nervousness overcome her.

"Elia," Olivia said looking surprised. "Come in, please, have a seat."

Smiling tightly and nodding, Elia sat down on the leather couch closest to the door and dropped her handbag onto the seat next to her. Crossing her legs, she took a deep breath as Olivia stood up and sat on the couch with her.

"How can I help you?" Olivia asked with a warm smile, obviously trying to make her feel more comfortable.

"I thought about talking to Fin about this," Elia started. "But it makes more sense to come to you. You seem like the most objective person on the force and I need someone who isn't afraid to take Rafael on. You and I both know how he can be a bulldozer when he thinks that he's right about something."

Olivia nodded in agreement, looking expectantly for her to continue. Elia cleared her throat and nodded.

"I don't think that Alex Muñoz is asking Rafael to do a favor," she told the other woman. "The rumors I've heard about Muñoz, I can't tell Rafael. He wouldn't believe me and it would break his heart. I've made some calls to friends of mine on both sides of the political spectrum and while people like Alex, it's a complicated issue."

"Complicated?" Olivia asked with arched brow as she leaned forward. "How is it complicated?"

Elia felt like she was make a mistake as she leaned back on the leather couch that was in Olivia's office. She rubbed her forehead and dropped her hand with a sigh. She'd always promised herself that she'd never be involved with Barba's cases, but her husband was putting a noose around his neck and she couldn't stand to see Alex Munoz kick the chair out from under him.

"It's no secret among the upper echelons of politics that Muñoz is…a lady's man," she explained. "A friend, Georgiana Atwell, doesn't think that Eddie has anything to do with what happened. I called her and explained everything. Before you yell at me, I know that I broke protocol, but I trust her. Georgiana thinks that this girl might be one of a long list of girls that Muñoz has paid to be quiet about his extramarital affairs. If you go hunting, I'm sure you'll find plenty of girls that have been given jobs to hush them up."

"Do you have any names of these girls?" Olivia asked with a frown as she considered the idema.

"No, Gerogiana didn't have names, just that she'd heard rumors for others about strange appointments happening," Elia said with a shake of her head. "Women being appointed to jobs they had no qualifications to do, but all the women were appointed by Alex Muñoz or recommended to the private sector by his wife."

"Yelena Muñoz? Do you think she knows about any of this? The supposed affairs that Alex Munoz is having?"

"I think that she probably does what a lot of women I know do."

"What's that?"

"Turn their eyes away and tell themselves that men are insatiable, sexual creatures that need constant gratification," Elia said with a dip of venom in her voice. "That's what I think, Olivia. I'm probably going to regret this visit, but I had to come because Rafael is right. The wrong prosecutor sees Eddie, they won't see past his financial status and his ethnicity. I don't think he did this and I don't want Rafael to think that he owes the Muñoz family something. He doesn't, but from what I understand, details aren't adding up and this is far bigger than you or I probably can conceive."

Olivia leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, "Why'd you come to me today? Why are you here, Elia?"

"We had dinner at the Muñoz home two days ago," Elia explained with a frown. "I know that Rafael and Alex are friends, but I don't want my husband dragged into a scandal. I know a few names that could help you to clear Eddie of any wrong doing. The other half, women being appointed to positions, that I can't help you with."

"Who should I talk to?" Olivia wondered aloud.

"Do you have pen and paper?"

The Sergeant handed the two items over quickly as Elia looked over her shoulder. She scribbled down the four names that her old boarding school roommate had given her and handed the paper back to Olivia when she was finished. Georgiana Atwell was many things, but Elia knew that any information coming from the woman was beyond reliable. Georgiana had an ability to know people's business and connect the dots that others couldn't always see.

Elia supposed it was why the woman was such a good mystery writer now that she was older. All Elia had to do was mention Alex Muñoz name and Georgiana new practically everything about the man from various pieces of gossip that she'd placed together. It had taken an hour, but Georgiana had eventually given Elia names of men that had all slept with the same girl that Alex Muñoz was rumored to have had sex with at some point. Details were fuzzy, but she was confident that the police could solve and fill in the gaps that Georgiana couldn't.

"Who are these men?" Olivia asked as she scanned through the list of names.

"Wealthy men who have all had a similar problem," Elia said softly. "The woman who is accusing Eddie of rape, all these men had orders of protection and restraining orders against her. They're all rich, Olivia. What does Eddie offer? Not much. Maybe that will help you solve the problem of Alex Muñoz and Eddie Garcia and how they fit into the whole scheme of things. I just don't want to see Rafael dragged onto a sinking ship by some horribly placed sense of loyalty."

"I'll have Fin and Rollins look into this," Olivia told her with a smile. "Thank you for your help."


Barba had just stepped onto the elevator when Olivia followed him in. It was the end of the day and he was tired. Frankly, all Barba wanted was dinner, a tumbler of scotch, and a good night's sleep. Olivia didn't look happy and he could tell that whatever she was going to talk about involved Eddie.

"I've just come from speaking with Lindsey," she told him as she leaned back against the wall behind them. "It was very interesting."

"How?"

"Lindsey told us that Eddie came into her shoe store with his wife one day and then came back the next day alone. Eddie told us the fight between the two of them was about Lindsey being pregnant, but Lindsey says the fight was about Eddie being married and she didn't want to be the girl on the side anymore."

"Lindsey told you that Eddie came into the store with his wife to shop? Not a chance," Barba scoffed as he leaned back against the wood paneling next to her. "He hasn't seen his wife in three years. She's partying in Miami."

"Are you sure?" Olivia demanded with an annoyed expression on her face. "He still wears his ring."

"Elia asked me for a divorce in September and I'm still wearing my ring," he told her as he held his hand up and she looked at him with curiosity. "I'm sure. Eddie is catolico, loyal. If Elia does go after the divorce and it's finalized, I'll probably continue to wear my ring too."

"And that's what you're gonna tell me about you and Elia? It's the same as you and Eddie? The whole ring thing?"

"Elia and I were married in the church, yes. Do we go to church every Sunday? Yes, with Abuelita. We're…working on things. Marriage doesn't just fix itself over night. I screwed up my marriage, I'll admit to that, Olivia. I work too much and I wasn't sure if I ever wanted children and that was too much for her to put up with after too many years of putting off the whole issue of a family."

"I'm sorry," Olivia said quietly. "Elia does love you, if it's any consolation. I've seen the look in her eyes."

"I've never doubted her love," Barba told her with a slight smile on his face. "She and I were friends before anything else happened. Her brother died and he'd been my roommate at Harvard. Elia and I fell together by fate, I think. And Emilio…he probably played a hand in that somewhere along the line. What else happened when you interviewed Lindsey?"

"She told me that she'd be more comfortable just talking to Amaro."

"Because she thinks she has a better chance of working the male partner? So she's lied to you, tried to manipulate you—"

"So has Eddie," Olivia interjected. "Just because he looks innocent here doesn't mean that I trust him."

"I know Eddie's story and I know that it's crap," Barba agreed as he stuck his hands in his pocket. "What's Lindsey's story? Maybe that will help piece everything together."

The elevator dinged and he stepped off, leaving Olivia alone. He was feeling less and less confidant about the case and more suspicious of both Eddie and Alex. Details weren't adding up in his head and he was certain that Olivia was suspecting something as well. He just couldn't explain it, but something about the whole situation was unsettling to him. Knowing that Abuelita and Elia were expecting him home soon, Barba quickly went up to his office and prepared to leave. All the while, he kept trying to suppress the feeling that something just wasn't right about the situation that he'd found himself in.


February 10, 2015…

It was lunchtime when Amaro and Olivia walked into his office. His phone was vibrating on his desk and Elia's face appeared on the screen. She'd called him three days in a row at lunchtime, but he hadn't answered. He didn't know what to say to her about anything that had happened at Alex's dinner and he wasn't in the mood to really talk at all.

"Good news, bad news, counselor," Amaro began once the door to Barba's office was closed behind him. "Eddie wasn't in a relationship with Lindsay and he wasn't trying to rape her."

"Interesting theory, get to the bad part," the ADA said as he rubbed his forehead in a way that reminded Olivia of Elia when she'd been in her office at the precinct.

"We think that she may have been in a relationship with Alex Muñoz," Nick continued. "When she tried to shake him down, Alex sent Eddie over to tune her up. Lindsey's M.O. is to get her hooks into powerful, married men. She's a heat seeking missile and Eddie has no heat."

"If you knew Yelena, you'd know that he'd never step out on her," Barba defended with a bored expression on his face and a tone of warning in his voice.

"Maybe, but everything Elia told me seems to confirm our interesting theory," Olivia said quietly. "When she came to my office, she told me that she was worried that Alex Muñoz would end up in a scandal. She didn't say what specifically, but I got the impression that she'd spoken with several others about Senator Muñoz's practices. Fact checking proves that she was right before we were. All the names she gave us checked out and the other pieces of information, I'm thinking that they'll probably checkout as well."

An unreadable expression came over Barba's face as he stared at Olivia for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Elia came to speak with you?" he demanded with an edge in his tone.

"She's worried that you're gonna try and save your friend and get caught in the crossfire," Olivia said, obviously trying to defend Elia's visit. "She was worried and I got the impression that she'd gone to a lot of trouble to ask about Alex Muñoz when she didn't have to. Lindsey and Eddie's story practically falls apart when one really begins to look at and we probably would have found the men without her help, but she made it easier for us."

Barba sent them away as anger boiled inside. Elia had interfered with the investigation and he was annoyed that she'd gone behind his back and talked with Olivia about Alex.

Did she not realize how damaging her asking questions could be for Alex's future campaign?


Barba knew that he was late leaving the office, but he didn't care. The fact that Elia had gone to see Olivia and shared information that she hadn't shared with him brought anger to his chest and he wanted to pick a fight with her about it. Leaving the office didn't seem like a good idea and he knew that if he did fight with her, all the progress that he'd made would be ruined. He'd give her more ammunition towards wanting a divorce than reason not to proceed. He knew that the lawyer had been leaving messages; Barba had been surprised when he'd gotten a message himself.

He was so confident that he'd been pulling them both back from the edge. Now, he regretted ever agreeing to help Alex and Eddie. His marriage was too fragile to take any sort of strain and everything that was happening was exactly what it couldn't with stand. Hearing the clicking of heels, Barba looked up to see a furious Yelena entering his office. Moving to greet her, he heard the cracking sound of Yelena's hand meeting his cheek before he felt it. His cheek stung and tingled like someone was pricking needles into his skin.

"How dare you, Rafael," she hissed. "How dare you bring her into my home!"

"What are you talking about, Yelena?" Barba demanded, opening and closing his jaw, hoping to ease the ache.

"Donors are pulling out already," she hissed again. "Some people heard that Elia Barba, the wife of an ADA and the daughter of George Diaz was asking questions about Alex's reputation and the rumors going around. People know and they're pulling out. You know what happened today?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me all about it," Barba drawled, annoyed at her being in his office and in his space.

"Don't be smart," she snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Detectives came to visit Alex today and he gave me some stupid excuse, but he didn't marry a fool. Tell me what it was all about. What do the police want with him?"

"Did Alex send you to find out more?"

"He doesn't know that I'm here. I stopped here on the way to a fundraiser. He gave me a bunch of excuses as to why the police were visiting. If they cleared Eddie of the charges, why are they asking Alex questions, Rafael?"

"Let's not have this conversation," Barba said, trying to dodge the landmine that he might very well step on if he wasn't careful. "I can't talk about this, Yelena. It's an ongoing investigation."

The mood between them shifted suddenly. Gone was the angry, spitting woman that had marched into his office. She'd been replaced by someone with a soft, tender gaze and slight smile on her dark red lips. He hadn't forgotten this part of Yelena, her ability to swing from one emotional extreme to another. It was partly the reason why a relationship between them had never worked. She was far too volatile for him and he considered her to be emotionally unstable. He'd tried to tell Alex that, but the man hadn't listened. He'd only smiled and said that Yelena was worth it all and somehow, Rafael doubted it.

"You're Alex's oldest friend," Yelena purred as she caressed the side of his cheek, the side that she'd smacked thirty seconds earlier. "Please. Alex is on the verge of doing something great for all of us."

She was invading his personal space and he didn't like it. It was uncomfortable and her perfume tickled his nose in a way that wasn't the same as Elia's. Yelena was a beautiful woman, but he could see the stark contrast between Elia and the woman. The kind, soft look that Elia often had in her eyes wasn't forced. He barely knew what was happening as she leaned closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Yelena's lips were against his in the next second and Barba froze. It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a forced kiss that wasn't passionate, but rather violent.

"Please, tell what this is all about," Yelena breathed when she pulled away a second later. Her hands caressed the back of his neck before she begged again, "Please, mi amor, please."

In the next heartbeat, he grabbed her upper arms and jerked her away from him. He didn't feel any flame light in his lower body like he did when Elia kissed him, she just had to smile at him a certain way and that flame came alive. Instead, Barba felt slight pity and disgust at Yelena's desperate attempt to figure out what was happening with her husband.

"Don't," he breathed. "Don't do that ever again."

"Why?"

"Because we're married to other people and I would never betray Elia like that."

"The same wife, Rafael, who plans to ruin your oldest friend's campaign?" Yelena demanded hotly. "I don't understand why you're poking around issues that don't involve you or anyone in the police department. Don't ruin his chance, Rafael. You know that he'll do great things."

"If he has nothing to hide, he'll be fine, Yelena."

"That's a lie and you know it," she said angrily.

Barba froze and took a step back. The pieces clicked together in his head and he knew in the next breath that Olivia and Elia were probably right. Alex was bad news and he wasn't a friend any longer. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out.

"You should go," he said, looking up from it and at the angry woman in his office. Yelena looked furious that she was being dismissed, but she turned on her heeled shoe and left him alone. Staring down at the emergency message from Olivia, he sighed and stuffed the phone away. Grabbing his grey dress coat, Barba abandoned his office and left to walk to the precinct where Olivia said that they had gone on a fishing expedition and caught fire.

He made it to the squad room in record time and easily spotted the detectives and Olivia in the conference room with glass walls.

"All right," he said, opening the conference room door and walking in. "Where's the fire?"

"There's something that we need you to see," Olivia said in a soft, calm voice as she sat down and Barba felt dread fill him. She used the same voice that Elia used when she had bad, unwanted news to share with him.

"Since Lindsay found her other chumps through social media, we figured she might have done the same with Muñoz," Nick explained as he paced around the room with an anxious spring in his step. They all watched him and Fin shook his head.

"So, I went online and I set up an 'I heart Alex Muñoz for Mayor' page," Rollins explained as she showed him the laptop computer screen that she was looking at. "He messaged me back within half an hour."

Barba leaned down and looked at the screen where Alex had typed a message.

Hey Babe

Rollins scrolled through her the instant messages that she'd shared with Alex and he felt like someone had ripped the floor out from under him as he read each message that had been exchanged. A part of him was in denial, this wasn't the man that he'd grown up with, it couldn't be. Sure, Alex had cheated on girlfriends in the past, but once he'd gotten together with Yelena, Alex had sworn that he had put all the cheating and lying behind him.

"When you talk about the pension system, I got so excited," Barba murmured, reading aloud one of Rollin's messages with an arched brow. "You set up a honey trap?"

Rollins hummed in agreement and Fin told her to scroll down further through the messages. Barba watched as the next message from Alex popped up and his eyes widening slight as he read the words.

You did? How about a photo of you watching?

"I asked him next if he was sure that he could handle it and that he said that could," Rollins continued as she looked between him and the computer screen. "He didn't want to trade pictures openly on the website."

"He wanted to meet?"

"Well, not exactly," Olivia said, jumping in as she looked up at him, worry clearly evident in her eyes. "He asked Rollins to switch to a less public site."

Barba looked back at Rollins as she pulled up the second site on the laptop.

" ," she announced to him as a black and red logo appeared on the screen and some fancy animation passed over until a profile was pulled up.

"A cheating site?" Barba asked, feeling worse than before. "Alex has an account?"

"Not by name," Rollins explained as she moved the mouse to the name on the profile. "His alter ego, Enrique Trouble, does."

"I think that's his porno name," Fin stated as he and Amaro chuckled and he ignored them.

Barba could only remember a handful of times in his adult life where he actually felt dumbstruck and that moment was quickly become a member of that small list. He knew that plenty of men and women were apart of these cheating sites, but he'd never really given much thought to actually knowing anyone that participated on them. Alex being linked to an online cheating site was not good at all. Nothing good ever came from a cheating website mixed with politicians, Barba had learned that from seeing other people fall into the trap.

"Come on, this can't be real," he said, trying to deny where this conversation was probably headed, but he knew deep down that Alex had probably played him. He wanted to think that his best friend wouldn't be involved in such a thing, but the evidence was painting a less than innocent picture.

"Moving on," Rollins announced, silencing the chuckles of the other two men in the room. "He asked for a picture first, so I sent him a selfie."

She pulled up a picture of her cleavage and he looked away. Barba was certain that he never wanted to see the picture ever again in his life of Rollins' boobs. He looked down at the floor and crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head, disbelieving where this was actually headed.

"Any response?" he asked raising his head, looking around.

"Not yet," Olivia admitted with a sigh.

"This could all be a hoax," Barba denied, his voice cracking a little as a

"Yeah, but that's why I went ahead and asked him for a photo. Telling him that he's seen me and that I wanted to see him."

"Don't hold your breath," Barba told her. "He's at a fundraiser with his wife and daughters. His wife was just in my office less than an hour ago demanding to know why the police are investigating him. Tomorrow, I think he plans to announce that he's running for mayor in the next election cycle. He can't waste time sending pictures back and forth."

"No, guys like this, they make the time," Fin said with a shake of his head as the computer dinged. Everyone in the room looked at the screen and Barba felt a little light headed recognizing a scar on Alex's lower abdomen from where he'd had his appendix removed when he was fifteen.

"You said he was at an event. Doesn't that look like a tuxedo shirt?" Amaro asked, pointing at several key characteristics of the shirt in the picture.

"There's no face," Olivia interjected. "It could be anyone."

Barba wanted to thank her for her denial, but the scar already proved to him that it was Alex. He listened as Rollins planned out another message that she was going to send and Fin coached her on how to word the message. She hit the send button and Barba was afraid to see what Alex would send back. He suddenly wished he was at home with Elia. Fighting with her seemed almost like a treat compared to the feeling of betrayal that was overwhelming. The computer dinged twice and two pictures appeared. One of Alex in his underwear, the second of Alex's erected penis.

Not wanting to see anymore, Barba left the conference room.

He wasn't able to explain what he felt, but betrayal was at the top of the list.


February 11, 2015…

He had ended up lying awake all night on the leather couch in his office at Hogan Place. Sitting in a small dinner in the Bronx across from Alex, Barba reflected wearily how tired he was. His shoulders ached and the message that Elia had sent him this morning about his brief text that he was sleeping at his office was still swirling around in the back of his mind. The man across from him looked at the photos on the screen and shook his head.

"Oh, my God," Alex sighed. "I can't believe this. Someone is setting me up."

"That's why I'm giving you the chance to get in front of this," Barba murmured as the waitress put a second cup of coffee down in front of him. He thanked her before grabbing two packets of sugar and pouring them into the coffee that he needed to get him through the day.

"You can't believe I sent these."

"So, uh, someone else sent the pictures of your penis?"

"I'm not even gonna dignify that with an answer," Alex snapped as he pushed the phone away and shoved it across. He leaned back in the chair and shook his head.

"Alejandro, por favor," Barba said firmly as he put the spoon down. "I'm speaking to you as a friend, not a prosecutor. Don't give me the answer that you'd give the press."

"I've been hacked."

"If that's the case, then we can get our technical people to look into it—"

"I'll get my people on this," Alex whispered harshly. "Rafael, how can you believe this? It's obviously Wall Street trying to keep me out of City Hall."

Looking at the man across from him, Barba could see the same look that he'd seen in countless others who were guilty of something. There was always a look and Alex's shifty behavior was another cue that the man was guilty of something more.

"Alex, you need to be honest with me and honest with yourself," Barba said carefully. "You came to me to ask for help on Eddie's behalf."

"Because he's our friend, Rafael. The man needed our help and it was the right thing to do."

"I need you to tell me that you didn't ask Eddie to go to Lindsey and hush her up about—"

"Enough," Alex snarled as he looked around the dinner, paranoia evident in his eyes. "I don't have time for this."

"It looks bad," Barba told him, anger building up inside him as he began to finally make sense of what had really happened.

"To whom?" Alex snarled again. "You? Do you get to judge me? You get to be my priest? You gonna tell me how many 'Hail Mary' prayers I have to say?"

"Alex, I am going so way out on a limb for you. I could lose my job simply for speaking to you. Tell me that there are no other women out there," he murmured. "Deny all the suspicions that I'm having because it doesn't look good and the police will only begin to dig further."

"Yelena is the only one. I'm sorry if that still hurts, Rafael."

"It doesn't," Barba snapped back as he stood up, toe to toe with Alex. "It doesn't hurt because I realized a long time ago that Yelena doesn't actually love people. She loves the money and the prestige that they can offer her. She learned that you had political ambitions and she saw you as someone to carry her. She saw me as a lowly Harvard scholarship recipient who had didn't have much to offer. I'm not hurt, I just understand her for what she really is."

Alex left and Barba threw a twenty dollar bill on the table to cover the small meal he'd had and the waitress' tip. Leaving, he stepped outside into the chilly morning air and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. His meeting with Alex only confirmed that the man was hiding something and Barba wanted to know what it was.

"Find everything that you can, Olivia," Barba said over the phone when she picked up. "Just start looking into every lead. I don't think that Lindsey is the only woman out there."


February 13, 2015…

Elia was dressed in a black gown that hugged her curves in all the right places, Barba reflected when she came down stairs. Thick straps went over her shoulders and the gown was cut deep down her back, exposing creamy skin that come summertime would be a sun kissed tan. Her hair was loosely pulled up into a bun at the base of head and few loose strands fell, framing her face and the diamond stud earring she wore. She was beautiful and he felt slightly jealous that he would have the opportunity to have her on his arm for the evening.

George had called two days ago, confessing his news at being the recipient or a community award for the local children's hospital and asking hopefully if they could be there to support him. Elia had jumped at the chance and even though her relationship with George Diaz would never be simple, she could be a good, supportive daughter. The ailing man still hadn't told his daughter about the cancer and Barba was beginning to wonder if he ever would.

"You're not dressed," Elia stated with a confused expression on her face when she looked at him. "They're presenting Father with the hospital community award and you're not dressed."

"I'm not going," Barba told her and braced for the impact his words would have on her. Before Elia could say anything, George looked up from his wheelchair at her and encouraged her to leave her 'poor husband' alone.

"It means I get to monopolize your conversation all even," George smiled and patted her hand. "Rafael would be bored to tears and I can't remember the last time that I was able to spend one-on-one time with you and be the envy of everyone in the room."

Elia grudgingly nodded as her father's nurse took over and helped the old man to the kitchen to take his evening pills before they left for the evening.

Barba was dressed casually and he'd been in a constant state of limbo since Olivia had finally brought all the evidence that her team had discovered about Alex to him earlier in the day. They'd found all the women that had been given jobs by Alex as payment for keeping quiet about the affairs. Eddie had been implicated in everything, but Barba managed to convince the man to turn on Alex for the sake of his mother and son. The man had been scared of prosecution and in exchange for not being prosecuted, Eddie had revealed everything about Alex's movements. Where the money came from, who it went to and how much a week, the man had told them everything and had agreed to be a witness at Alex's trial. It was also Eddie who tipped the team off to Jodie Lanier, the most serious of all charges against Alex. It still felt like he couldn't breathe when he thought about the fact that Alex was going to be prosecuted for child pornography.

Barba had never thought that he'd be in the position that he'd found himself in, but he was. All the evidence had already been turned over to a special federal prosecutor, but he still had to confront Alex. He couldn't believe that the man that he'd grown up with had stooped to such levels as to prey on desperate Eddie, who was just trying to make ends meet to care for his sick mother and his motherless son. Not to mention, Barba couldn't believe that Alex was able to face his wife and daughters every morning, knowing all the while that he was living a double life that would rip that family apart. He still felt guilty of over the unwanted and unreciprocated kiss that Yelena had forced on him. He wasn't sure what to say to Elia, or if he should even say anything at all.

In a matter of thirty-six hours, Olivia and her team had uncovered the truth about so much that it made him sick to his stomach.

The feeling of hands touching his chest brought him back to the present and he looked down at the petite woman who had touched him.

"Are you alright?" Elia asked him bluntly as she stared at him. Worry was evident in her eyes. He reached out and gently held her arms just above the elbow, rubbing his thumb back and forth across her soft skin.

"We don't have to go tonight," she continued hastily. "I can stay home if you need to talk about something. I'm sure my father would love to have an evening where he's the center of attention from everyone."

Barba gave her a tight smile, "It's alright, Elia. I know that I haven't been around the past week much. Abuelita was on my case about it earlier. There are just a few more things that I have to do before this whole fiasco with Alex blows over. We'll talk after, okay?"

Elia nodded, but his words didn't ease the anxiety and worry on her face. If anything, he regretted that his words seemed to only heighten those emotions.

"Tomorrow, I thought that we'd go get dinner," he said. "Celebrate a quiet Valentine's Day."

"And see that movie about that erotic book 'Twenty-Five Acts' later at the movies?" she asked with teasing smile. "Don't think that I don't know about you reading that book."

"I had to read it for trial," Barba defended and before Elia could say anything else, George called for her. He was announcing that the car that would take them to the children's hospital benefit dinner was waiting for them. Barba walked her to the door and helped her to slip her dress coat on before helping her out to the car and opening the door. She eyed him suspiciously. It was as if she could see what his plans for the evening were and he felt terrible for lying to her, but Barba knew that if he told her about his plans to confront Alex, she'd try and talk him out of it. She'd tell him to stay far away from Alex Muñoz and she was probably right, but he had to hear the truth from his friend.

"Have a good evening," he said, kissing her cheek. "Call me if you need anything. I love you."


LEAVE A REVIEW! LEAVE A REVIEW! LEAVE A REVIEW!

So, you made it. I really am just not satisfied with this chapter and I'm sorry if it seems choppy. I kept re-writing it and finally threw my hands up in the air with frustration.

Thank you to everyone who left a review for last chapter! I have many people reading and a few new followers. Please take a few seconds to leave a review! Those who do leave a review will get a private message with a sneak peak of the next chapter, usually a paragraph or two. Leave a review and get a treat! Thank you again to those who do leave comments:)

H4TH