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“I’m not…angry with you, Taylor,” Celine says bluntly. “I’m just…disappointed.”
I don’t want to let myself hope, but it’s pathetic how quickly the emotion claws its way into my head. “Does that mean that there’s hope for us?”
She reaches for her mug again but she doesn’t drink. I wonder if she just needs a prop. Something to do with her hands. “We’ve already lost our mother. We stand the chance of losing our father.” She lifts her gaze to mine. “I don’t want to lose you, too.”
I try hard to swallow the tears. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”
Celine sighs. And then she smiles. “We’re going to be fine,” she says with a subtle wave of her hand. “I’m just enjoying tormenting you a little bit. Allow me now; forgive me later?”
I feel myself returning her smile and then sharing a soft laugh as I nod.
I want to reach out to her, take her hand, maybe—but I’m too nervous. I don’t want to cross her boundaries and risk getting thrown back a few paces.
This is progress.
“Excuse me, Ms. Zakharov?”
Both of us turn to the maid at the same time. Her name starts with an A, but I can’t for the life of me recall what it is.
“This package just came for you. It’s been scanned and checked, so security said I could give it to you.”
“Thank you,” Celine says, taking it from Millie.
It’s a small blue box with a white ribbon. She pulls the ribbon apart and takes the lid off. It’s not until my lungs start to complain that I realize I’m holding my breath. I want to tell Celine to be careful, but I also want her to hurry up.
“It’s a flash drive,” she mumbles, picking it out of the box. “And there’s a letter.”
I have a bad instinct stirring in my gut. It’s telling me to call Ilarion, but I’m not about to be the first one to mention his name after our fragile, newfound truce.
Celine picks up the paper and unfolds it. Her eyes run back and forth across the paper—and then she pales.
“Cee, what is it?” I peer at the paper. “Is it Dad?”
She just hands me the note. The writing is unfamiliar, but I’m too focused on the words to pay that much attention.
You need to see what’s on this flash drive. Once you’ve watched it, there will be a black Land Rover waiting at the corner of Pinehurst and Third. I can keep you safe.
I look over the note at Celine. “We need to tell—we need to show this to him, Celine.”
Celine nods. “But first, we need to see what’s on this drive.”
60
TAYLOR
My hands are shaking as I follow Celine upstairs to her room.
Whatever is on that drive can’t be a good thing. But she’s right—we have to know what’s on it. And it feels good to be at her side again.
Once we’re inside her room, she locks the door and crosses over to where her laptop awaits. When she sits down, I remain standing just behind the sofa.
“Taylor.”
I flinch when she says my name. “Yes?”
“Sit down.”
“I’d rather stand.”
