I sag in the seat. “Viktoria, please…”
“Out!” She walks past me and to the doorway. “Get the fuck out of my house!”
Adrik walks over and offers me his hand. “Come on, Emery. Let’s go.”
I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here and figure this out. I want this plan to work. I want to help. But Victoria's face is cold and immovable. She doesn't want to listen to me, so she won't.
I suppose all of us are blind to one truth or another.
I let Adrik help me up and we walk past her and down the hall. He steps through the front door first, completely shielding my body as he looks up and down the street.
He's looking for attackers. For any sign of danger. My plan failed and potentially put us in harm’s way, and yet Adrik is still trying to protect me.
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, but I don't let them fall. Now is not the time. I have to be strong.
Adrik leads me down the steps. I hear the door slam closed behind me. Viktoria throws the deadbolt home, locking us out with a vengeance.
"Well, that was a disaster," I mumble.
"It certainly was."
I look up at him. "You're supposed to be making me feel better, aren't you?"
"I thought we already covered that I won't lie to spare your feelings."
“It’d be nice if you tried for once,” I mumble.
He opens the passenger door for me and then moves casually around the car to the driver’s side. I watch as he drops down into the seat, all grace and confidence.
“How do you do that?” I ask.
“What?”
I gesture at him with both hands. “This. Be… you. Even in there, you were just puttering around the room like it was any other day. Don’t you ever get nervous?”
“Never,” he says.
“How?”
He shrugs. “Easy. Because while your plan was nose-diving, mine was going perfectly.”
I blink. “What plan? You had another plan? And you didn’t tell me?”
He nods. Hurt flares in my chest. “Why not?”
“Because I wanted it to succeed.”
“Wow. Definitely not trying to spare my feelings now,” I snap.
“Am I supposed to apologize?” he asks. “Because I won’t. The plan worked. You distracted Viktoria for me.”
“That’s all I was? A distraction to you?” I shake my head. “I actually thought you liked my idea.”
“And I did. If Viktoria had agreed to the plan, we would have played it out,” he says. “But she didn’t. Luckily, I readied us for that possibility. Now, we didn’t completely waste our time in there. You’re welcome.”
I turn to Adrik. He’s looking at me with no amount of remorse or sympathy. He did what must be done. He always has, always will.
There's a reason he's going to be a don. The man knows what he's doing.
I sigh. “Okay. Fine. What was your plan?”
Adrik pulls out his phone and logs into an app. A second later, there’s soft static. White noise, like a sound system running with no music playing.
I’m confused at first. But then, suddenly, I understand. Despite myself, I smile. “You planted a bug.”
He reaches over and strokes my cheek. “And now, we listen.”