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He walked me to the door, kissing me once more. “I love you,” he whispered as he pulled away. “More than anything. Look after yourself, okay?”
I nodded, feeling a warmth spread throughout my chest. With one final glance, I left his room and made my way back to the apartment that I was pretty sure I had been evicted from.
Miranda was still in the living room. One of her hands was bound, the other one holding a spoon as she ate a bowl of cheerios. She glared at me. “You know this is fucked up, right?”
“I mean, maybe you shouldn’t be trying to get into other people’s properties at night,” I replied. “Particularly when you know that it belongs to scary people.”
“But they’re also people who could provide me with information,” she shot back. “I’m doing a story, and I’m going to get the truth out of it.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Really? You’re that sure about that?”
She shrugged, turning her spoon in her cereal milk. “I’m the best in this business,” she said. “That’s not arrogance, that’s fact. People like me don’t fail.”
“Okay,” I said, scratching my arm as we stared at each other in silence. The guys moved around behind her, carrying on with their day as if nothing strange was happening. “You know I’m the only reason you’re alive, right? They would have happily shot you on sight if I hadn’t intervened.”
“Yes, because you’re so concerned with my well-being,” she replied. “I don’t doubt that you helped, but everything I know about you makes me think that you’re just as sketchy and dangerous as them. And you are, right?”
I sighed. I wasn’t, but I could see why she would think that. “Listen, if you want to talk to me about this story of yours, we can do it in my apartment. But we’re going to do it with some of the guys present.”
“Fuck you.”
“Think about it, Miranda,” I said. “You could get some incredible insight. And I have no reason to lie to you. But you have every reason to lie to me. Because you haven’t gotten your story yet, and maybe I can give it to you.”
She cocked her head, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. “And what do you get out of it?”
“Simple,” I replied. “You tell me who your source is.”
“And then what?” she said, her gaze darting around the place.
“And I’ll make sure you’re released,” I said. “And nothing happens to you.”
“Do you mean it?” she asked me after a second.
“Yes,” I replied. “I mean it.”
I didn’t want to tell her I had no idea if I could.
Chapter Eighteen: Jace
SofiaandIparkedfar away from her apartment then walked on the sidewalk in the moonlit streets.
She looked thoughtful. She hadn’t said much at all since we’d left Teo’s, but I could tell she was worried. The glint of a streetlight caught her hair as the wind blew it, and she picked her head up to smile at me.
I smiled back, trying my best to keep my composure. My mind raced, looping through Teo’s words over and over again. I needed to remember my role in this operation—get information from Miranda without pushing her too far.
Victor was probably already inside, setting up the interrogation room. All we had to do was get there without drawing attention to ourselves, and then it would be time for me to take the lead.
A wave of panic washed over me as we got closer and closer to our destination. I gulped nervously, clenching my jaw shut in a futile attempt to suppress my fear. I thought of all the people who were counting on us and straightened my spine in defiance of my anxiety. I’d always been in charge of being behind a computer screen. Grayson and Teo usually handled things like this. Of course I wasn’t going to question him, but this still scared me.
“You good?” Sofia asked.
I nodded. “Never done this before. Should be fun.”
She stopped for a second. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head. Taking a deep breath, I shifted my gaze towards my partner-in-crime and said, “No. Let’s do this.”
The chill of the night air lingered on my skin as we stood outside of Sofia’s apartment building. The night had gotten colder in a few minutes, and neither one of us seemed to be making a move to actually open her door. I placed my hand on her shoulder, trying to give her a little comfort.
