“We’ll figure it out,” he says, turning me to face him. “Together.” He strokes a lock of hair behind my ear. “You and me, Pri.” I want to ask if that means he’s decided against his crazy plan, but for some reason, it feels like the wrong time. He cups my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s order that pizza. And I have some wine you might like over that whiskey.”
“Wine would be nice. Can we stay up here?”
“Yes. Let’s stay up here.” He snakes his phone from his pocket. “I’ll order.”
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
He nods and I walk into the bedroom, and past the bed to the open doors on the other side of the room. Flipping on the light, I find stone floors and brown stone counters with flecks of tile here and there in brown and white accents. Everything about this place is unique and custom-designed, and I’m curious why someone who didn’t plan to stay around created something that says otherwise.
I quickly do what I need to do and return to the bedroom. Adrian is at the window, talking on the phone. Curious about any updates, I close the space between us, and the minute he sees me, I don’t miss the warmth that floods his eyes. Or the warmth that floods my body. I had no idea it was possible to react to another human being as I do Adrian.
“Keep me posted,” he says to the person on the line. “Right. Later.” He disconnects and points to the bottle of wine that’s on a stone table that was not sitting there earlier, but rather to the side by a chair.
He sits down on the couch and I join him, watching him fill our glasses, the rain a steady thrum on the window, low thunder humming in the not-so-distant distance.
“Is everything okay?” I ask. “The call. Was that Blake?”
“It was,” he confirms. “And all is quiet.”
“Is it safe to order pizza?”
“I have a delivery booth. They leave the food. It comes up a dumbwaiter.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I am not.” He hands me a glass. “I built this place with everything in mind. And with a lot of help from Walker.”
“But you always planned to leave.”
“I didn’t plan to leave, Pri. I prepared to leave. There’s a difference.” He sips the wine. “Do you like it?”
I try it, letting the sweet berries touch my tongue. “It’s good,” I say. “Sweet, the way I like it.” My mind starts racing with all the unanswered questions plaguing our situation. “Is there any word on my parents? Or rather, did my mother accept protection?”
“She did not,” he says. “But if your father is as dirty as we think, at least for now, she’s safe.”
“But I go back to that message Logan left me. He told me he’s been protecting me more than I know. He also said I’d find out what that meant.”
“And you still don’t have any idea?”
“No, but it feels like some sort of ticking bomb, about to go off. What if it’s about my parents? It feels like that’s the only thing it could be. Like he plans to blame my family for some sin of his own.”
“We’ll figure it out and handle it. Believe it or not, it’s already seven o’clock. We’re all tired. We need to lay low for now. The team will ensure we’re clear tomorrow and then gather here, where we’ll spend a few hours with them planning for what comes next.”
“That’s what you decided on the phone?”
“Yes. That’s pretty much all, too, Pri. There are no secrets.”
A buzzer goes off. “The pizza place is right across the street,” he says, his fingers brushing my cheek before he says, “Secrets don’t work. I see that now.” And then he gets up and walks away.
I stand up and watch him disappear out of the door and then turn to the wide windows and spot a long streak of lightning across the sky. Secrets don’t work. I see that now. He has a new plan to make me hate him. He’s going to introduce me to the devil he sees in the mirror. The one that doesn’t exist.
Chapter Thirty-Three
ADRIAN
I hit the recall button on the dumbwaiter and while it hums with movement, I press my hands to the wall on either side, Savage’s words in my head, the bastard. Savage talking about leaving the woman he loved behind to save her: “I tried to fuck her out of my system. I took jobs I was certain would get me killed. I liked that idea. I drank too much. I did all the standard miserable loser things I could do. None of it worked. And the fucked-up part? The enemy found her anyway.”
The dumbwaiter buzzes its arrival and I hit the button to open the door, the delicious smell of baked bread and tomato sauce unable to distract me from my thoughts. I’m back in that conversation with Savage: “Eventually you have to tell Pri if you want the two of you to work.”