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and tied with a large bow.
    â€œThey were on the doorstep.” He stood closely behind her, watching as she took a crystal vase from a shelf and filled it with water from the sink. “Don’t you want the note?”
    Rain turned to see the opened envelope he waggled.
    â€œHe wants you to forgive him. What did the bugger do?”
    She felt her anger flare again as she reached for the note. “That was personal correspondence.”
    â€œSo?”
    Rain sighed heavily. “It’s an invasion of my privacy. Just like coming into my home without my knowledge or permission. And it needs to stop.”
    â€œI’d say it’s fair exchange. Your job is to invade my privacy. You ask me questions so you can report back to my father.”
    â€œWe’ve been through this before, Oliver.” Untying the bow, she removed the flowers from the tissue and plunked them in the vase, which she’d moved onto the counter. “Anything you say here is confidential. It’s between us alone.”
    â€œIs anything that happens here confidential, too?” he asked in a low voice most likely meant to be seductive. He towered over her, and Rain had already noticed his eyes were red and glassy.
    â€œI could send flowers, if that’s what you want.”
    â€œWhat I want is for us to get started on our session,” she said calmly. “I’d also like to know if you’re high.”
    His smiled slipped. Muttering under his breath, he started to walk away, but Rain laid a hand on his arm. Oliver’s behavior was irrational this morning, even for him. “Something’s clearly bothering you. Why don’t we go into my office—”
    â€œAnd talk?” He let out a bitter laugh. “Do you really think I tell you anything that matters?”
    She looked him in the eye. “I hope you do, yes.”
    â€œThen you’re the one who’s high.”
    â€œOliver—”
    He jerked his arm away from her with such force that he knocked the vase with the flowers onto the floor. It shattered into pieces. Oliver stood with his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he stared at the mess. Rain’s stomach turned a small somersault, but she held her ground.
    â€œIt’s okay. It’s just an accident.” She took a step closer. “Whatever’s going on, let me help you.”
    The broken glass made a minefield of the floor. It crunched under Oliver’s boots as he left the kitchen. A moment later, she heard the front door slam.
    Â 
    The doorbell rang as she finished cleaning up the glass. Rain assumed it was Oliver returning to apologize, but when she opened the door there were two men standing on her veranda. One she recognized immediately as Alex’s partner, Brian Rivette. But the other, a dark-haired man with a small bandage on his right temple, she’d never seen before.
    â€œBrian, it’s good to see you.” Rain greeted him with a warm embrace. “But what brings you here on a Friday morning?”
    â€œI better let him explain.” Brian indicated the other man. He was dressed in slacks, a dress shirt and tie, although his jacket had apparently been discarded in deference to the heat. A holstered gun sat on his hip.
    â€œThis is my brother, Trevor Rivette. He’s with the FBI.”
    Rain knew Brian had a sister, but she’d never heard mention of a third Rivette sibling. Especially not one who was a federal agent.
    His expression was earnest. “Dr. Sommers, I’d like to have a word with you about your show.”
    She opened the door wider. “Please, come in.”
    As they followed her inside, she glanced at her wristwatch. “I have a therapy session with a patient at ten.”
    â€œI’ll try not to take up too much of your time.”
    Rain gauged Trevor Rivette to be three or four years older than his brother. She’d noticed that unlike Brian, he didn’t speak with the