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He simply shrugged in response.
“On the day of Julie and Anthony’s anniversary party?” I pushed. Wasn’t it supposed to be kind of a big deal?
“Oh, they were quite understanding. In fact, Julie insisted I go. Tea?”
He meandered over to the stacked bar where the bartender was already pouring two steaming cups of freshly brewed… peppermint tea from the smell of it, and began filling a large plate with a colorful variety of pastries and scones.
My stomach twisted and growled as I eyed him. I’d skipped two meals yesterday and it was starting to catch up with me.
“Did Adrien put you up to this?” I asked when he moved to sit at a small walnut table. The bartender followed with the teas.
Robert’s mustache twitched. He thanked the bartender before returning his attention to me. “No, my dear. That boy isn’t putting anyone up to anything today. Not in his state.”
I wasn’t going to ask.
He wantedme to ask, but I wasn’t going to ask.
My lips rolled as I shifted on my feet. I needed to leave, find Anna, and beg her to at least give me a hint about when I could expect to get my hands on some flight information. But also, I didn’t want to be rude, because Adrien’s family had been nothing but sweet, kind, and welcoming from the moment I’d lied my way into their home.
“We’ve got just under an hour to go before boarding,” Robert noted as he spread a thin layer of red jam onto a small scone. “You’re welcome to stand there and stare at me the whole time, but I’d really love it if you’d join me here.”
I chewed the inside of my bottom lip, eyeing the doors. “When you saynot in his state… is he… what does that mean?”
Not that I cared whether Adrien was okay or not, because I definitely didn’t. It wasn’t even curiosity. It was just small talk while I decided whether I should sit down and have a pastry before leaving.
Robert’s lower lip pushed at his mustache as he considered my question. “On one hand, he’s doing significantly better than Joshua. A fractured ring finger and a split brow will heal much more quickly than a broken nose, fractured cheekbone, and dislocated jaw. I reckon it’s a lot less painful too. Could have been much worse, though. It took five people, including three members of our staff, but they managed to pry Adrien away before any permanent injuries were sustained.”
My mouth popped open.
“On the other hand, however, I’ve never seen my grandson quite so… distraught, for lack of a better word. What happened yesterday morning really did a number on him. He’s inconsolable. Wouldn’t seek treatment for his hand until his mother put her foot down and dragged him to the hospital.”
Maybe this should have been good news—like justice being served or karma doing its thing—but it just felt awful. I was nauseated all over again.
“Ria, I would really love it if you’d sit down with me, please.”
I hesitated. It wasn’t a good idea for me to talk to him about anything Adrien-related. And I’d spend the entire week partaking in one bad idea after another.
“Thank you, but I really think I should… go…”
His phone went off as soon as I started talking. Five little dingsin quick succession, and a sixth when I trailed off. But he simply kept smiling up at me.
“You should maybe get that,” I said.
Robert waved me off. “It’s likely just Alice with more Adrien updates.”
A seventh ding, an eighth.
“What if it’s important?” There was a good chance my carry-on handle was going to be permanently mangled by the time this conversation was over.
“It probably is.”
Nine notifications.Nine!
Fuck. Okay. I’d sit down with him for five minutes, but only because my stomach was turning inside out with hunger. And if, in the meantime, Robert decided to check his messages and confirm that his idiot grandson hadn’t done any more idiotic things or sustained any more idiotic injuries, then so be it. That was his prerogative.
I sat down, very much pretending like I didn’t notice the way Robert’s mouth twitched in amusement as he watched me, his eyes glinting. As soon as I reached for a scone, he reached for his phone. I sipped my tea, he checked his messages. I scooped up a small spoonful of honey, he… frowned.
And in what could only be described as a gross overreaction, my heart leaped up to my head and immediately filled it with a plethora of highly improbable worse-case-scenarios as I watched him tap away at his screen, his face scrunching farther into itself with every passing second.
