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bars to talk about what led me to this. They’ll all think I did it for money.”
    Trent put his hand on hers. “Don’t torture yourself like this.”
    Victoria stabbed a shrimp with her chopsticks. “For the first time in my life, I don’t have any purpose. In fact, I am clueless regarding my next move. To hell with the five year plan! Look where it’s led me. I should have followed your example. At least I’d have enjoyed my life so far.”
    “Don’t sell yourself short.” He gripped her hand tighter. Her fingers seemed so small to her, engulfed in his. “You’re an amazing, capable person. It’s not your fault someone deliberately framed you. But we are going to nail that bastard and when I am done…” He let the words trail off and let go of her hand. “We should eat.”
    Victoria sighed. She almost wanted to grab for his hand again, to have that warmth and certainty back. She picked up her shrimp and ate it. She might as well have been eating the box. “How the hell are we going to get to the bottom of this mystery? Someone screwed me over, but I have to give that person credit for doing it so beautifully. Do you think it was always the plan?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “This doesn’t seem like a spur of the moment thing. Was the plan always to make me look like the criminal? Maybe it’s someone I trusted. Someone in my department who has access to my computer when I am out.”
    “When I dig deeper into the system, my bet is that I’ll find more emails that originated from your account. That’s our trail. That’s how we start looking for them.”
    Victoria sighed. All this seemed far too vague. She didn’t know computers like Trent did, and she didn’t have his confidence. In her state of mind, she couldn’t formulate a cohesive thought. She felt battered right now and beaten and she wasn’t sure if she had the energy to fight this uphill battle.
     

Chapter Four
     
    Trent watched Victoria pick at her food. Victoria, the uptight, go-by-the-books girl had landed in a shit load of trouble and he’d put her there. He was lucky that she’d let him off the hook so easily for his part in this disaster. She had a soft heart. If the situation had been reversed, if she’d gotten him labeled a criminal, he didn’t think forgiveness would have been top of his list of things to do. But she’d listened and given him the chance to make this right. And he would.
    He’d turned her life on its head, and now he wondered if he should have waited a couple of hours before giving those emails to Peter. At least he could have bought enough time to break the news to her, to let her brace herself. But that was the past—they needed to look ahead. And he didn’t like how pale and quiet she was.
    Straightening in his chair, he announced, “I have a plan.”
    She glanced at him, her baby blues dull and red rimmed. It was so unlike Victoria to be this subdued. Her hair stuck out in messy wisps, and she’d barely eaten anything. He hated to see her like this. Where was the girl who could put him in his place with a look? Where was the girl who sizzled his insides with one word? As far as he could remember, Trent had seen her as the strong one—the smart one, the amazing girl who could keep up with anyone. She’d challenged him in school at everything—chess club, math exams, sports even. If he went out for basketball, she became captain of the girl’s team. If he won a science award, she had to go win two scholarships. He’d flirted with a crush on her, but he was sure she didn’t take him seriously. And he really wasn’t her type. She always went for the thick as board he-men with bulging muscles. Where the hell was his mind wandering? He’d kept something up his sleeve, and this time he was going to focus on it. Victoria’s career was on the line and she couldn’t afford for him to get distracted. She mattered the most. And he wasn’t going to let her down.
    Pushing the rice around in the box, she