I tried the handle. The door opened.
I stepped inside.
“When is the next— That soon? Have you found a target—”
I could hear him speaking quietly in the other room. I sat in a chair near the window, staring out without really seeing it.
When he saw me, he paused.
“Can I call you back?”
When Elliot hung up, he turned to me.
“So,” Elliot said, at last. “Seph.”
“You summoned me?” I said quietly.
“I did,” he said.
He paused, watching me closely.
“So, what do you need from me?” I asked.
“I have cameras in this compound,” he said. “Did you know that?”
My stomach sank. “You do?”
“Everywhere,” he said evenly. “The halls. The common areas. The cells.”
I stiffened my shoulders. “Oh.”
My skin crawled.
“Oh is right,” he said. “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you going to see Gideon?”
I bit my lip, not answering.
Elliot watched me for a long moment. Like I was a variable that had moved somewhere he hadn’t planned for.
“I didn’t summon you to punish you,” he said at last. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”
I didn’t relax.
“I went to my father,” I said carefully. “I didn’t hide that from you. I just didn’t ask permission.”
His mouth twitched. Not a smile.
“No,” he said. “You didn’t.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable.
“You understand why that’s a problem,” Elliot continued. “Gideon is not just your father. He’s a security risk. A manipulator. And someone with every reason to use you if he can.”
“I didn’t go in alone,” I said. “Dev was with me.”
“And he will be dealt with in due course,” he said calmly.
The words landed heavier than anything else he’d said.
