Ghosts That Haunt

by Adderlygirl

AU / Sequel to Forging a Life. Casey is assigned a foreign female operative to pose as his girlfriend.

16. Chapter 16

Ghosts that Haunt—16

The soft sound of his mother's footsteps walking past his closed bedroom door woke Casey. From the faint light filtering through the curtains, it wasn't long after dawn, so he gently lifted Riah to a more comfortable position and went back to sleep.

He woke again, probably not much more than an hour later, and knew it wouldn't be long before his sisters started showing up—if they hadn't already. Riah clung to him in her sleep, and he pictured that gown of hers again. He shifted in the bed, moved her until he could roll her beneath him as he'd done many mornings, and set about waking her up.

Casey felt Riah's smile against his mouth, and then her hands began sliding over his chest and up to cup his face. Riah's mouth was hungry, and he answered that hunger. Her body rose, rubbed against his, and he pulled at her nightgown as she shoved at his pajama bottoms. He lifted her just enough that he could slide the silky fabric of her gown up over her body, and she let him go, breathed hard, as he pulled it over her head and tossed it away. She had managed to push his pants down his thighs, and she lifted her feet and used them to push them the rest of the way off him. He admired her ingenuity, especially since it meant her hands continued to stroke over his body.

The angle of her head made kissing her a little difficult. He shoved their pillows off the bed into the floor. Now that she was more accessible, he ran his mouth over her face, kissed along the curves, planes, and angles. He opened his mouth beneath her left ear, and she rewarded him with a soft moan and threaded her fingers through his hair. He moved on, worked his way down her throat, paused once more at the base over her wild pulse. Riah's foot stroked up the back of his leg, and he settled more fully between her thighs. He moved down, kissed along her chest toward her left breast while her body lifted to meet him. Her breath hitched, and she held him against her as he worked up the slope of her breast to her nipple.

When he heard Julie say, "You owe me twenty bucks, Jan. Johnny's girl is actually real," his first instinct on the heels of Riah's embarrassed yelp was to shoot them where they stood in the open doorway. His second was to wonder why neither he nor Riah had heard the door open. His third was to drop his weight on Riah, who was moving just enough to dislodge the sheet and blanket barely covering his naked backside, and prevent their further exposure.

"I don't think I said she wasn't real," Jan drawled, and Casey could hear amusement in her voice.

Riah stared up at him, horrified. He was very far from amused by his sisters at that moment. He slid his arms up to take some of his weight off of his fiancée and to hide her bare breasts before he growled, "Get out. Both of you."

Of course, he couldn't get so lucky that they would do as he said. They never had, after all. He had hoped he could make up to Riah for the fact that he had been exhausted the night before, but he watched that hope go up in smoke as Julie added, "Mother's going to have a fit, Johnny, when she finds out you're sleeping with her in her house."

Casey found her remark completely uncalled for, especially since Riah paled and her eyes widened in mortified fright. Jan, on the other hand, apparently found it amusing, for she snorted and chided their youngest sister: "Julie, he's not sleeping with Mother."

And that was a complete mood killer, Casey thought, as though having two of his sisters interrupt weren't bad enough, and he gave a moment's further thought to the notion of fratricide—was there a word for killing a sister that wasn't masculine, he wondered? Sororicide, maybe?

"You know what I meant," Julie shot back, and Casey was plunged right back into the bickering he'd put up with during their adolescence. In fact, he wondered if Julie would ever grow up, and that was saying something given she was forty-one. "If I knew her name, I'd have used it if for no other reason than to clarify."

He had absolutely had enough of this. "Go away," he snapped. "Now."

"Not on your life, Johnny," Julie said with an unapologetic grin, but then Julie had always said whatever popped into her head and was always unapologetic about it. If someone took offense, she considered that the other person's problem, not hers. She leaned to the side, tilted her head to look around him at Riah. "I'm Julie, Johnny's youngest sister. This is Janice, his oldest sister."

A deep flush stained Riah's face. She looked shell-shocked. "Mariah," she said faintly. "John's fiancée." It was the first time she had claimed that title. He grinned happily down at her and kissed her, disregarded his watching sisters and Julie's juvenile gagging noises.

After a second, Riah opened her mouth beneath his, and Casey would have forgotten the two women in the doorway if Julie hadn't added, "Given how out of practice he must be, he does at least seem to have some idea of what he's supposed to do."

It was then that Casey remembered one of the reasons why he hadn't brought a woman home for decades. It infuriated him that Julie managed to imply he was some sort of inept eunuch at the same time she interfered with his attempt to make love to Riah. He couldn't stop the frustrated growl, but Riah apparently decided to stop him from saying something he might regret—not that there had ever been many regrets given he and his sisters generally took no prisoners once they got started—because she looked up at him and told Julie and Jan in, he realized, a very firm, very sexy kind of drawl, "I appreciate your concern, but he's actually really, really good at it."

He wasn't entirely sure which was more embarrassing—Riah's testimonial or his sisters' snorts of disbelief followed by their laughter after his fiancée's declaration. Apparently, it was going to shut his sisters up, though, because Jan's voice was businesslike when she told them, "Mother said to tell you breakfast will be in about half an hour."

Julie, who always had to have the last word, added, "You'll need clothes," before she reached for the doorknob and closed the door behind her.

Casey studied Riah, who wore a bemused look. "Sorry. I love them, but sometimes I really could kill them," he grumbled. "Easily."

"I dread introducing Emma to them."

He snorted, though he had to concede from what he knew of Emma MacKenzie that despite being young enough to be Julie's daughter they might well form an unholy alliance when it came to tormenting their siblings. He looked down at Riah, looked at her slightly swollen mouth and the growing heat in her eyes and lowered his head to kiss her. When she released his mouth, he prompted, "So I'm really good at this."

"Very, very good," she repeated, and then he made her moan as he ground against her before he returned to where they had been interrupted and took her nipple in his mouth. Cognizant of the little time remaining to them, he set about proving that her faith in him was not at all misplaced.

Casey considered saving time and water by insisting she shower with him, but he was certain his mother would notice the water starting and stopping only once. He suspected Julie and Jan had ratted him out as it was, so he wasn't going to give his mother any further ammunition to fire at him or, worse, Riah.

He watched Riah pull a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans over a set of that skimpy, lacy underwear he liked so very, very much. He momentarily considered taking it right back off her and holing up in his room until they had to leave. He pulled on a long-sleeved, navy shirt and jeans. Because they weren't going anywhere other than downstairs, he skipped shoes, noted Riah did as well. She went barefoot most of the time, though.

Riah froze as he reached around her to open the door. Their half hour had expired a good fifteen minutes ago. He thought at first her stiffness was just her old paranoia about having someone come up behind her without warning making a return, but when he looked at her face, he realized this was a replay of that morning after her birthday in her stepfather's house. "Riah," he started, but she looked back at him and said faintly, "I can't go down there, John."

Worried she might panic as she had done that other morning, he put his arms around her and pulled her back against him. He whispered near her ear, "We faced down your mother, sister and stepfather under similar circumstances. You can do this." Her body was rigid in his arms, and he couldn't entirely blame her for her reluctance. His two sisters had caught them, essentially, in the act, something neither her mother nor Emma had really done, and she had known the people she had to go down and face. This time, though, they were all strangers. He kissed her neck just above the collar of her t-shirt. "Want my gun?" he asked.

She gave a weak laugh and put her hands over his where they rested on her stomach. "Maybe."

He turned her, kissed her quickly, and then said, "Come on."

Casey held her hand firmly in his as they walked into the kitchen. Julie helped his mother finish breakfast while Jan set the table. Jennifer rummaged in the refrigerator for the orange juice. They all turned to look at them when he led Riah into the kitchen. He was glad to see Jenn. His middle sister was the kindest of the three, and the second she figured out Riah was vulnerable, he was certain she would help him protect her from the worst of what Jan and Julie might throw at them.

Jenn gave them a smile, and Casey introduced Riah to her. Jenn made a beckoning motion with her free hand. "So let's see the rock," she said, and Riah blushed and held her left hand out. Jennifer's brows rose as she took Riah's hand and studied her engagement ring. She turned her gaze to her brother, and said, "Well done, Johnny."

His other two sisters crowded in, and Julie gave a low whistle. "Didn't think government work paid that well, Johnny, or did you hold up a jewelry store?"

Riah took offense at that, but Casey interceded before she could say anything. "I can afford it," he said gruffly, and tried not to think about just how big a dent it had put in his credit line, "and Riah's worth every penny."

Casey's mother looked over her shoulder and asked Riah, "Do you drink coffee?"

She nodded, and his mother told him to get her some. He didn't let go of her hand until he reached the cabinet where his mother kept the cups. Riah asked if she could help, but his mother told her everything was ready and to just take a seat. He handed Riah a cup of coffee and picked up his own before he settled a hand in the small of her back and steered her around Jan to the chair where she had sat the night before.

They didn't talk much while they ate, and that let Riah relax a little. Casey, on the other hand, dreaded when the meal was finished because he knew what was coming, and the kinds of questions his mother had put to them the night before would look tame by comparison.

He shouldn't have been surprised that his sisters started before they finished breakfast. The questions were mild with his mother seated with them. They went back over the ground Riah had covered with his mother before: her family, where she grew up, and her educational background. Casey considered intervening when Jennifer asked where she worked, but Riah, who would soon leave ISI, told her, "The Buy More in Burbank."

His mother shot him a surprised look, and he gave her one in return with a slight shake of his head that said not to say otherwise. It was, after all, true.

The questions remained relatively benign until their mother shrugged on a coat and picked up a plate to go next door to see Mike Hansen. The old man's wife had died the year before, and he was failing quickly. Emphysema, his mother had told Casey before Christmas, and then she had given him a gimlet stare that he assumed was supposed to let him know he ought to give up his occasional cigar or suffer the same fate. She had barely closed the door before his sisters started the real interrogation.

Predictably, Julie began by asking, "So how did you and Johnny meet?"

Riah looked at him, and he gave her a faint nod. "On the job."

"And which job would that be?" she asked with a predatory smile.

Casey gave her a hard stare, wondered what either of them had said to tell her there was more than one job involved. Riah hedged, "We met in Los Angeles."

Jan decided to get in on the act. "So how does a girl from the Canadian Maritimes wind up in Los Angeles?"

Riah looked momentarily taken aback. This time, he wondered what his mother might have said to his sisters. They would nibble at it until they found out what they wanted. They were relentless when they were after something, after all, and Casey knew they were going to have to tell them. "She works for ISI."

Jennifer looked like the only one who knew what that was. "So you and Johnny are in the same line of work," she said, and Riah nodded.

"Then what was all that bullshit about the Buy More?" Jan demanded.

Riah's chin came up, and he heard her mother in her voice when she said, "Because very shortly that's the only job I'll still have."

It was the first indication she'd given that she might resent what she had to do in order to marry him. That gave him a moment's pause. "In order for our bosses to let us get married," Casey cut in, gave Julie a warning stare that stopped whatever her contribution to the interrogation was about to be, "they demanded Riah's resignation." He could tell his sisters were puzzled by that, but he had no intention of explaining the realities of their work.

Jennifer came to their rescue. "Has Johnny met your family yet?"

Riah smiled up at him. "Long before he met me."

"How is that possible?" Jan asked.

She quickly explained about her father, her mother, and her stepsister and how Casey had met them but not her. He noticed she left out his and her mother's shared antipathy. His sisters all looked at him then. "What?" he asked and braced for whatever was coming.

"It actually took you more than twenty years to meet your friend's daughter?" Jan asked skeptically before she turned to Riah and asked, "How old are you, anyway?"

Riah told them, and then Jan asked, "So tell us about your previous boyfriends."

Casey was about to tell them to knock it off when Julie cut in and said, "Previous boyfriends, hell. Let's hear about your previous lovers."

The question crossed a line, and he was not going to let her answer it. He felt the color run up his face, and to make matters worse, Riah looked like she wished the floor would open up and swallow her. "That's enough," he bit out, took Riah's hand in his and turned the Death Glare on them.

He felt a little betrayed when Jennifer said quietly, "Johnny was her first."

Riah's face went pale, and she looked up at him. "I said that's enough," he ground out as he slid an arm over her shoulders and tucked her against him.

Julie, who had never known when to quit or where to draw the line, said, "Well, we knew she wasn't his first. What about kids? From what I saw, you two seem to be making a good start toward Mariah's first pregnancy—unless you're practicing safe sex."

Casey felt Riah go rigid. He could have killed Julie at that moment and not felt even a smidge of regret. What little color had still been in Riah's face leached out, and when she looked up at him, the naked pain staring back at him nearly undid him. He reached a hand up, used his thumb to wipe away the tear that escaped, and for Riah's sake, he tempered his voice when he told his sister, "Julie, you need to learn when to shut up."

For a second, he thought Riah would flee, would push away from him and go nurse the pain in private. He watched her pull herself together, though, and he was proud of her when she turned to Julie and tersely said, "That would be second pregnancy. I miscarried while John was overseas."

His sister had the grace to look ashamed of herself, which was a novelty for Casey. He honestly hadn't thought Julie had a sense of shame. She made a stammering apology. Riah acknowledged it with a small nod and then, to his surprise, added, "But to answer your question, yes, we want children."

Jennifer asked, "Do you know what happened?"

He tightened his hold on Riah. She shook her head. "Just one of those things," she said softly.

Jan asked when they were getting married, and Casey began to relax as they teased him mercilessly for the date they had chosen. He took it easily, demanded to know what was wrong with getting married on the Fourth of July. Jenn asked Riah why she was letting him do this to her. She blushed, smiled before she looked up at Casey and admitted, "Actually, I chose the date."

The other three women looked at her in disbelief. "It's a long weekend," she said defensively, "which gives most of our guests more time, and there's a Canadian holiday a few days earlier." She grinned at him, and he suspected what was coming next. "Besides, John's unlikely to forget our anniversary this way."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he deadpanned when the other three women did exactly that. He notoriously forgot dates not related to the job. Jenn usually called or e-mailed him to remind him of their mother's birthday.

His mother came home then, and she and the girls started clearing the table. Riah stood to help, but his mother looked at him and told him to take Riah in the living room while they did the dishes. He followed his orders, pulled Riah into the living room and then down on the couch with him.

"Well, that could have gone better," she said quietly.

Casey snorted and wrapped his arms around her. "They only eat the ones they love," he assured her and leaned in for a kiss. Riah returned that kiss, and he was tempted to take her back upstairs. He could hear his sisters and mother in the kitchen, though, so he settled for holding her in his lap and talking softly.

"I don't want you to go," she whispered as he lowered his head to hers again. "I just got you back."

He teased her mouth open, and she melted against him as he kissed her. He didn't admit he felt much the same way. "It won't be for long," he assured her.

She pulled him back to her, and the way she kissed him nearly had him forgetting his name. It had taken him a long time to get her to confess that she loved him, but for the second time since they arrived, she told him unprompted, "I love you."

He breathed, "Love you, too," and folded her close before he took her mouth.

"Jeez, Johnny, get a room!" Julie groaned.

"He has a room," Jan reminded her.

Riah rolled her eyes before asking them, "Why is it every time your brother kisses me in this house the two of you turn up?"

Casey grinned at her. She was getting her feet under her if she could make remarks like that, and he rewarded her with a fast kiss.

"Gross, Johnny!" Julie said and made gagging noises.

"Get used to it," he said, stroking a hand along Riah's thigh.

"Not gross at all, by the way," Riah observed with a small grin. Her voice dropped into a sexy register, and her arms went around his shoulders. "Very nice, in fact."

"Yeah, yeah," Jan laughed. "You already told us he's really, really good at it."

Riah's smile slid to seductive as she watched Casey. "I wasn't talking about his kissing—though he does excel at that, too."

He grunted and caught her mouth once more. She was pretty damned good at it herself, and he was about to acknowledge that when his mother said, "Girls, leave your brother alone. Johnny, let Mariah get off your lap."

Julie took another verbal shot and earned a hard look from their mother: "Johnny may need to keep her in his lap a few minutes."

Stealing another quick kiss, he helped Riah slide onto the couch beside him. She was quiet as they talked, especially since the conversation rolled around his nieces and nephews and his brothers-in-law. Jenn, sitting on the other side of Riah, occasionally leaned in and clarified who they were talking about. Eventually, they cycled back around to talking about the wedding. Riah told them she didn't want a huge wedding, and when his mother asked if it would be a church wedding, she confessed she intended to ask her old friend to marry them. "What faith are you?" his mother asked, and Riah told them she was Anglican.

The Caseys were Catholic, but, thankfully, his mother didn't suggest, as she had with Jan's husband, a Baptist, that Riah should consider converting. When the conversation moved on, he whispered that in her ear, and she smiled and whispered back, "Good thing I'm the next best thing to being Catholic." He snorted, amused despite himself. Then it occurred to him that his mother wasn't terrorizing Riah the way she had the men who had had the audacity to want to marry his sisters. In fact, she was treating Riah quite gently by comparison.

Jenn looked at her watch and turned to them. "You two might want to get your shoes on," she said.

He was about to ask why when his mother said, "I forgot to tell them."

"We're meeting Daniel and Mark for lunch," Jenn told them. "That's my husband and Jan's," she said for Riah's benefit. "They had to work, but they agreed to come to lunch to meet you."

"Just be thankful they're sparing you the Horde," Julie told Riah.

When Riah looked puzzled, Jan quickly explained that her children and Jenn's were visiting paternal grandparents for the day.

They dutifully went upstairs and put their shoes and coats on. Back downstairs, Casey asked where they were meeting, and he nodded when Jenn told him where she had made the reservation. His sisters had ridden over together, and Jenn, whose car they had brought, said she'd drive them to the restaurant. Casey told his mother she was welcome to ride with him and Riah. There was a moment where she and Riah argued over who would ride in the back seat, and he wasn't at all surprised his mother won that round. He handed her up into the seat behind Riah's, and then walked around to the driver's seat.

Even though he knew the way, he followed his sister, parked beside her when they reached the restaurant. He reached in and helped Riah down before doing the same for his mother. When they went inside, he was dismayed to recognize the hostess. "Johnny!" she said, and threw her arms around him, kissed him despite his attempt to hold her off. Riah looked bemused when Stephanie let him go. "I heard you were coming home for the holidays."

He slid an arm around Riah's shoulders but before he could introduce her, Stephanie asked, "Is this your daughter?"

It was quite clear to Casey that Stephanie didn't think anything of the sort, that the comment was meant to emphasize how young Riah appeared. The smile plastered on Riah's face tightened, took a slightly mean curve that made Casey wonder if he ought to take cover. She held out her hand and said, almost painfully polite, "I'm Mariah Adderly, John's fiancée." Her smile slid to genuine when Stephanie faltered. Casey realized his fiancée's possessive side had its uses, and he decided that in this case he liked it. Stephanie ignored Riah's extended hand and showed them to the large table in the back where his brothers-in-law were already seated.

Riah was quickly introduced to them, and they all sat. Lunch passed pleasantly. He wasn't surprised that Riah and Daniel hit it off. Even though he was a lawyer, Casey liked the man himself. That Daniel was madly in love with his sister weighed heavily in his favor. Mark, on the other hand, was his usual quiet self. Casey sometimes wondered if his sister Jan ever let him get a word in.

When they returned to his mother's house, Riah looked tired. His sisters hugged and kissed him, Riah, too, to her obvious surprise, and told them they had to go. He and Riah had about another hour before they had to leave so he could check back in with Beckman and Riah could catch her flight back to Los Angeles. Casey's mother sent him upstairs to pack, and he wondered what she wanted to say to Riah that she wasn't willing to say in front of him. He'd get Riah to tell him on their way back to D.C. He took his time, put his suit on once more, folded his clothes, and repacked his bag. He packed Riah's things while he was at it, knew his mother would send her up when she was finished with her.

He turned when he heard Riah enter the room. She had an odd look on her pale face when she sat on the bed where they had slept the night before. He was curious what his mother had said to put that expression on her face, and he was about to ask when Riah forestalled him by saying, "I think I may have just insulted your mother."

Casey sat beside her. "How?"

Riah went on to explain that after they had talked a bit more about the wedding, his mother had handed Riah a jewelry box and told her his grandmother had given it to her when he was born, told her to pass it on to her son's wife when they had their first child. "It was a lovely sapphire bracelet, John, and she said she wanted me to have it. I told her I couldn't."

She leaned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her, asked why not.

"Because the baby died," she whispered brokenly. She started to cry softly, and he held her tightly and let her. He heard footsteps, and looked over his shoulder to see his mother in the doorway. She looked upset, and he shook his head before he leaned his cheek against the top of Riah's head. His mother disappeared again. When Riah finally wound down, he said, "I doubt you insulted her." The look on his mother's face told him the other woman was sorry to have upset Riah.

After Riah pulled herself back together, Casey continued to hold her a while longer. Finally, he pressed his lips to her temple, whispered that it was time to go. She disappeared to the bathroom, and when she came out, only her red-rimmed eyes gave away her upset. Casey picked up their bags and carried them downstairs.

His mother met them in the living room. She hugged Riah, told her she was glad her son had brought her to meet them. Riah, for her part, thanked her, told her she was pleased to meet her as well. His mother told her she would call hers, and Riah nodded. His mother then turned to him, hugged him and reached up to kiss his cheek. "Take care of yourself, Johnny," she said gruffly.

"I will, Mother," he promised.

They had put some distance between them and his mother when he finally said, "I think she likes you."

Riah shot him a look. "Really?"

He nodded. "She found fault, and enumerated those faults, with Jan and Jenn's husbands. She had nothing but nice things to say about you—to you—though." He looked over at Riah's surprised face. "Unless she said something while the two of you were alone." He really hoped that had not been the case.

"No," she assured him. "We talked about the wedding."

That subject was the focus of their conversation as he drove. Casey supposed it was better than talking about what he was about to do. He hadn't really found much time to study the details, but he knew what he needed to. He would have time between leaving her and catching his own flight to nail down the last few details. He listened as Riah told him she really didn't want a big wedding, and he agreed with her. The idea of a hundred or more people packed into a church or other room made him want to suggest a courthouse and just the two of them.

She talked about various venues, asked if he wanted to marry in a church, if it could be arranged, or if he would prefer somewhere else. Casey honestly didn't care, and he told her so. Security-wise, one was about as dangerous as the other. He told her to choose whatever would make her happy. He began to realize that something troubled her since she didn't seem fully focused on the conversation and since they had already covered some of this ground, but he decided to just let her work her way up to telling him.

"I think I'll ask Emma to be my maid of honor," she said. "I'm not sure if I want more attendants than that." She looked at him and asked, "Or should I ask your sisters to be bridesmaids?"

"It's up to you," he told her. "I don't think they'll be offended if you don't ask them, though."

There was a silence, and then Riah finally got around to what was really bothering her. "Mum called early yesterday."

He grunted. He was sure she had, especially since Ariel knew he would be gone, her daughter would be vulnerable, and she could spill whatever poison she wanted about her daughter's choice of husband.

"She thinks we need a prenup," Riah said in a rush.

Casey ground his teeth. His first reaction was to be pretty pissed off. He said nothing, though, unwilling to hurt Riah. He thought about it, thought about it from Ariel's point of view. Riah was a wealthy woman. She had a trust fund that came in part from her mother, but a substantial part of her assets came from her maternal grandmother and great-grandfather. Riah owned real property as well, he knew, and he imagined Ariel figured it should be protected for any children Riah might have. It made him feel like his future mother-in-law thought he was untrustworthy—knew she thought that—though he could see why she might want her daughter's assets protected, might see this as a way of protecting her daughter as well. "What do you think?" he asked neutrally.

"I trust you, John," she said quietly. "I understand why Mum thinks I should make you do this, but—"

"Why?" he interrupted.

She gave him a confused look.

"Why does she think you should make me do this?" he clarified, but this time, he didn't quite manage to control his temper.

Riah sighed heavily. "She's afraid that if something happened to me that you might find someone else—like my father did—and she's afraid that if we had children that they might not have anything left to inherit if you married the bimbo she thinks you would probably find."

Those, he was certain, had been Ariel's exact words. He gritted his teeth and crushed the steering wheel. V. H. was no saint—neither was he, for that matter. Casey didn't womanize the way Riah's father did, though, and he couldn't imagine finding another woman if something happened to Riah. Then his fingers relaxed their grip and his jaw loosened. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that something could happen to Riah. Anyone else who thought the Montreal Project had paid dividends could come after her, and if they had children, they could be targets as well.

Casey was financially comfortable. He had been careful with his money, didn't need Riah's, and while he was certain he would not want to divorce her, he had to concede she might find a reason to divorce him, might grow tired of being left behind, might come to resent the deal she had made to marry him, and she had every right to protect what she had before they married. He supposed he could see Ariel's point. After all, she had had all the assets in her relationships. He didn't know what had happened when Ben MacKenzie divorced her, but he suspected she had good reason to think strategically when it came to her daughter's wealth.

"John," Riah said quietly, "I told her it was unnecessary."

He couldn't believe he was about to say this, and he couldn't look at her when he did: "Talk to your attorney, Riah. Ariel's right. You should protect your assets."

He could feel Riah's shocked stare. "John, I trust you—"

Casey cut her off. "I know you do, Riah," he said. "If it makes your mother feel better, do it."

"It doesn't make me feel better," she snapped.

That made him feel easier, he realized. He decided to be honest in return. "I can't say I like it that your mother apparently doesn't trust me," he told her, "but I can understand where the impulse comes from." He shot a look at her.

She propped her elbow on the lip of the door and leaned her head into her hand. "What if I mind?" she asked after a while.

"Your call," he said. "Right now, though, your mother seems to be on our side. If it makes her happy, I'll sign whatever you put in front of me."

Riah studied him. "You really shouldn't, you know," she said softly. "The idea of a prenup is to protect both of us. That means you need an attorney of your own to look out for you."

He sighed. "Riah, I don't like this."

"I don't, either," she said. "I can now tell Mum in good conscience that I talked to you about it, but we don't want to do it." She leaned toward him, put her hand on his thigh. "Mum doesn't trust men, and she especially doesn't trust men who do what you do, John. That's her problem, not mine."

Casey thought it would probably only make Ariel more determined to pressure her daughter into a prenup. Riah was right; her mother didn't trust him. He couldn't say he blamed her, all things considered. He covered Riah's hand with his own. "I don't want you at odds with your mother," he told her. "If it makes her happy, I'm willing to do it."

Riah turned her hand in his and laced her fingers through his. "I don't care if it puts Mum and me at odds. I don't want to do this, and I won't." She then changed the subject, asked if he had any objections to her inviting her mother out to begin some preliminary wedding plans. As he drove, they narrowed down what they did and didn't want in a wedding, and they began talking about guest lists and other things. Mariah finally confessed she really wasn't sure what all was involved in planning a wedding, and she mused on whether to consult Ellie or think about a wedding planner. Casey, who had never considered letting someone else plan his life—conveniently choosing to ignore that his original profession involved exactly that—told her to do whatever she thought best.

He drove her to Reagan, parked, and waited while she checked her bag and got her boarding pass before he walked her to where she would enter the cordoned off area where her fellow travelers wound their way to the spot where they showed ID, removed their shoes and sent their carryon bags through the x-ray machines. He was reaching for his ID when Riah looked at him, and he stopped. "You need to go back to see Beckman," she said softly. "I'll be fine."

She sorted through her purse for her passport. Casey wondered if she had a weapon with her, but when she didn't flag a TSA inspector down, he assumed she didn't. He pulled her to him and kissed her. "Don't get killed," she whispered again.

"I'll try not to," he told her softly. She reached up and kissed him again, and then she reluctantly pulled away from him and stepped into line. Casey lifted a hand when she looked back at him, and before he decided to pull his badge and call attention to her by getting her through the line and accompanying her to the waiting area, he left her there. He hoped the Gaza job would be simple and quick, so he could be home that much sooner.