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I watch Lucas walk around the car to the driver’s side door. Cars honk their horns at us. Lucas is double parked, blocking traffic and from the look on his face, he couldn’t care less. He gives the man in the car behind us the finger, then climbs into the driver’s seat, starts the engine, and pulls away from the curb.
I look over my shoulder into the café. “Is Cash going to follow us?” I can still see my bodyguard sitting in the same place, sipping his cup of coffee.
“No, why? Is that going to be a problem? If you need a babysitter, we have your uncle. He’s a real joy to be around.”
“Well, he’s supposed to stay with me. Damian said—”
“I doubt Damian knows you called me so I wouldn’t worry about what he has to say.”
“So, he’s just going to let you take me?”
He glances back at me. “Don’t be dramatic. I didn’t exactly take you. You walked out of that café and into my car of your own free will.”
“Won’t Damian find out?”
“You weren’t going to tell him? You seem to tell him everything else.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
I look out onto busy Manhattan traffic. “Where are we going?”
“Your uncle’s place.”
I’m surprised, but I guess it makes sense. No one to see us or overhear us there. Liam will still be in school and there’s no one but the maid.
It’s a twenty-minute ride, Lucas parks his car in the garage beneath the building, and he and my uncle both climb out when we get there. I can hear how hard my heart is racing when I’m alone in the car. My hands, still clasped around my coffee cup, feel clammy as I unclasp them when Lucas opens my door.
“Are you coming?”
I put my untouched coffee in the cup holder and undo my seat belt to climb out, ignoring his proffered hand. My purse is strapped across my body. Touching the small bag, I remember I have protection if I need it.
I glance at my uncle before following Lucas to the elevator. We ride in silence. Lucas is the only casual one among us. He’s humming a tune and scrolling through his phone like he hasn’t a care in the world.
When the elevator doors slide open on arrival, my uncle steps out ahead of us. Lucas gestures for me to go ahead of him, but we remain standing there for a moment as we study one another. I’m still awed by how similar he and Damian look but also how starkly different. The look in Lucas’s darker eyes is one of those differences. It’s harder. But also, more defensive or secretive as though he’s protecting something. Like he’s protecting himself.
I walk off the elevator and through the open front door of the apartment. It’s familiar and foreign at once and I feel like a stranger. Like I don’t belong here. Or maybe it’s that I’m not quite welcome here. Was I ever truly welcome?
I turn to my uncle who looks so uncomfortable it’s almost painful to watch him.
“Would you like something to drink?” Lucas asks me, crossing the room to the bar as though he owns the place.
“I’m fine. What’s going on? Uncle Adam, why are you with him?”
Lucas pours himself and my uncle a whiskey. “Sit,” he tells me.
It feels strange to be invited to sit in what was once my home, but when my uncle doesn’t intervene, I take a seat, resting my hands on the purse in my lap.
My uncle remains anxiously standing against the far wall, not answering my question. Not even looking at me. I can’t tell what he’s thinking or where his head is. All I know is he looks about twenty years older than last time I saw him.
Once Lucas sets the bottle back on the bar, he turns to face me, expression curious.
“Isn’t it early for that?” I gesture to their drinks.
Lucas shrugs a shoulder and sips. “Life is short. Carpe diem and all that shit.”
“Why are we here? Why is my uncle here?”
“It’s his house.”
“Don’t be a jerk. I called you because you promised to tell me the truth. Are you two working together against Damian or something?”
“We’re doing what’s best for you,” my uncle says.
“All of you seem to think you’re doing everything for my benefit, but I get the feeling none of you actually are.”
Lucas glances at my uncle, then sits on the chair closest to mine, facing me. “Ask me your questions.”
“You’ll answer me truthfully?”
“I will answer the ones I’m able to truthfully.”
“Why is my uncle here?”
“Because he’s concerned for your safety,” he says flippantly.
“Dick,” my uncle mutters, then turns to me. “Damian did something that puts the foundation at risk. That puts you at risk.”
I don’t miss that he mentions the foundation before he mentions me.
“What did he do?”
