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Her smile flickered, just for a moment, before she gave me a firm, almost too-bright look. “No, no. We don’t want to inconvenience you,” she said quickly, then glanced over at Vincent. “Vincent will handle everything.”

I walked them to the main door.

“So…” Ellis said, looking at me when we reached the door. “How about you join us for our anniversary dinner, Doctor Sharma? It’s a small intimate party with friends and family,” she said, giving a not-so-subtle nudge to Vincent. “Vince would love to have a date, and not be hounded by mothers with single daughters.”

Vincent snorted.

“Thank you. I’ll check with other doctors and let you know.”

With a goodbye to me, Ellis and Mayor Bricks walked out of the building, and I turned to Vincent.

“Your brother looks like you. You all look the same.”

“I was told I’m the handsome one,” he said with a shrug. “You keep watching me.”

“What?”

“You want to know if I came here for Asher,” he said, eyes in slits.

“I do. The last time, you were…”

“I don’t want to keep accusing him,” he said, his voice defensive.

“Then don’t.”

“I know he’s not innocent. You should have seen Hannigan’s body. If it was Asher…”

“You assume it was him. Assumptions aren’t evidence.”

“But that’s all you do, don’t you? That’s basically your whole job.”

“It’s not.”

“How can you know someone else, their feelings and pain, their darkness and thoughts? You assume.”

“I…” I trailed off seeing Asher walking toward us. He glared at Vincent before he turned to me, pointedly looking at the clock behind us.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and his eyes narrowed. “I have a session right now. I should go.”

“I’ll call you,” Vincent said.

I nodded and watched as he walked away, joining his brother and sister-in-law.

Asher leaned closer to me with a frown. “You looked so chummy together.”

“Don’t be jealous,” I said with a smile.

“I’m not. I just hate his face.”

“I believe you. He hates yours too.” I walked toward my office, and he followed, sulking.

“You must pay for being late to the session, Doctor. That’s extremely unprofessional.”

“What?!”

“I think a kiss would be enough for now, but more later.”

I shook my head with a chuckle, walking inside the door when Nurse Shelly came running toward me, looking pale.