She walked past me, and I followed.
“Why is this hallway so dark? Whoever chose black carpet for the entire floor wasn’t thinking practically.” She pulled herphone from her bag as she headed toward the stairs. “Oh. A missed call from Caitlin.” She tapped the screen and lifted it to her ear. “Hey Cate, sorry I missed your call. Are you okay?”
I followed behind her while she laughed at something Caitlin said. Whatever this was, it was worse than breaking down. And I was not prepared for it.
We got to the car, and as I reached to open the door for her, she moved faster and did it herself. Her voice stayed bright as she continued talking on the phone. I walked around and got in beside her. By then, she had ended the call and was typing something, humming under her breath.
The car pulled out into traffic.
Inna leaned toward me and tilted her phone in my direction. “Cole decided surfing is his career path. Who even gave him a surfboard?” She shook her head, smiling. “Look at him.”
I didn’t look at the phone. I looked at her face.
She lifted her eyes toward mine. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
I was not a man who was easily scared. Fear was what I understood mostly as a tool other people used, a weakness I identified in others and managed carefully in myself. I built a life specifically resistant to it.
But watching Inna act like this terrified me. Not because she was breaking. Because she wasn’t.
The ride back to the hotel became an endless stream of observations about buildings she found architecturally interesting, a motorcycle she liked in traffic, a restaurant sign she thought looked ugly. There was not a single mention of her mother or anything that happened in that room.
We reached the hotel suite, and Inna disappeared into the bedroom.
Akim had followed us upstairs, which meant he had something to report, so I stayed behind in the sitting room. Part of me wasstill waiting to hear Inna crying somewhere beyond the walls.
“Boss.” Akim’s eyes shifted briefly toward the bedroom door before returning to me. “I have Zachary’s full schedule. He has two upcoming public events.”
I took the phone from him and scrolled through the information. The closest he had was a charity event and a political gathering where he would be speaking.
“I’ll visit him at the charity event first.”
Akim nodded once. “Also, Iker requested a meeting.”
“Arrange one. Make it convincing.” I dismissed him and walked toward the bedroom without waiting for anything further.
The room was empty.
Something cold moved through me, and I crossed toward the bathroom faster, pushing the door open.
Inna froze beside the sink.
“Jesus, you scared me.” She looked down at what she was holding, and my eyes followed. It was a pad. “Can I have a minute?”
I exhaled and stepped back out. For one irrational second, I thought she was doing something stupid. She once tried to jump off a building. I couldn’t overlook that.
I stood in the middle of the bedroom, scrolling through absolutely nothing on my phone while water ran behind the bathroom door.
Eventually, the water stopped, and Inna walked out a minute later. “Are we meeting Alessia?” she asked casually as she moved toward the bed.
Rodion and Alessia left earlier this morning. I didn’t tell Inna they would since I knew that last night. Even after she cornered me in the bathroom and forced information out of me piece by piece. The memory surfaced briefly, and I shut it down.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I moved closer.
She looked up and laughed once. “It’s just periods. I’ve been dealing with them for years—”
“Inna,” I cut her off, “about today.”
She waved her hand, brushing the topic away before it could settle between us. “About that? Yes, I’m fine. Did you see my mother, though? She’s beautiful. People always said she looked like me, but honestly, I think I take after Dad more. What do you think? And don’t comment on the hair, I know it’s short like hers. That was intentional.”
