Chapter 32
POLANCO
Adria walked along the manicured trail that circled Vega’s estate, fingertips brushing against the perfectly trimmed hedges. Bryson had walked past her a few minutes ago, flashing a grin that caused her to smile right back.
They didn’t need to change his bandages anymore.
His body didn’t require the extra assistance.
She had given him one more blood transfusion and one of Vega’s doctors had inspected the incision.
Everything was healing well. In four to five weeks he would be able to try jogging.
For now, he was restricted to an easy walking speed.
Last night they’d stayed up late, all four of them, drinking wine on the terrace while Kaydon told ridiculous stories that had her laughing until her sides ached. Now Kaydon was hanging out with Elena and Seth, probably beating them both at cards again.
Adria checked her phone. There was no news from X.
He had agreed with their plan to take a ship and if all the parts fell into place, their group would board the S.S. Dominion in a few days.
Despite the warmth of the past week—Seth’s quiet mornings with her, Bryson’s protective hand at the small of her back, and Kaydon’s unexpected tenderness—a cold dread pooled in her stomach at the thought of leaving.
This bubble they’d created couldn’t last. The real world waited beyond Vega’s walls.
Adria had seen too many good things shatter to believe this wouldn’t break too.
The path opened into a large garden, and Adria saw a man in a black t-shirt sitting on a bench.
“Hey, stranger,” she said to Eric.
Eric was leaning against the stonewall behind him, eyes closed.
“Hey there, yourself,” he said, eyes still closed.
Adria knew he wasn’t sleeping well. His time in the military, paired with their current circumstances, wasn’t helping.
She tapped his legs, indicating he should make room for her. He opened his eyes and shifted to allow her to sit.
“Talk to Vega today?” she asked.
He nodded. “He has the crew selected. The plan is still the same. They give us the all clear before we dock.”
“And X?” Adria said.
Eric turned to face her as he adjusted his shirt.
“X says that he will leave his house the night of our arrival. He thinks if there is a tail, they will follow him. Either way, he gave me instructions to a secret entrance that, paired with the time of our arrival, we should be able to slip in undetected.”
Eric recited the plan like he was reading the back of the barf bag on an airplane.
“What is it?” she asked, sensing his unease.
Eric glanced over his shoulder before saying, “If you say you trust him, then I trust him. But if you have any doubts. Any at all, Dri, tell me now.”
“Vega’s harmless,” she said, “and you’re the one trying to prolong ties, making Dom eyes at his daughter.”
“That’s not—” He looked at her, eyebrows raising. “I’m not making Dom eyes at Daniela.”
Adria crossed her arms. “Is that so? Telling her what to eat for breakfast, and what she should wear?”
Eric pursed his lips in a way that she knew he was suppressing a smile.
“What is it with her, anyway?” she asked, curious. Eric always went for seasoned players at the club. And from what Adria could tell, Daniela was vanilla. Or at least Daniela thought she was vanilla.
Eric cracked his knuckles. “There isn’t anything to get. She is Vega’s daughter and a potential way to get your mother back, that’s all.”
“Eric, you are a grown man. Please don’t lie to me. If you don’t want to talk about it, just say that.”
“Okay, I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, a soft smile on his face.
“Oh my God, YOU LIKE HER,” Adria exclaimed into the garden.
Eric acted like she had struck him. Hands in the air, his face was pleading. “Shhh, I didn’t say that.”
Adria bounced in her seat, but lowered her voice. “No, of course not. Can’t say where I got the idea.”
Eric’s expression turned serious. “And no, I wasn’t talking about Vega, I am talking about X.”
Adria stilled.
“I trust X,” she said automatically.
Eric stared at her. His eyes burning into her.
Waving her hand, she said, “I’ve been talking to him since I was eighteen.”
Eric nodded. “It would be normal to have doubts.”
She hated the soft tone he was taking with her. Like she was a child about to be told her goldfish died.
“My mother trusts him,” she said, pushing her chin out.
Her mother had given X the recording of her voice. Telling Adria how happy she was to see that she had graduated from high school. She would have never done that if X had nefarious intentions.
“You haven’t heard from her in thirty years,” Eric said.
Eric was right.
The recording X had sent her was the only one she had.
“What are you saying?” she said, an edge creeping into her voice.
The kindness in Eric’s eyes made what he was about to say almost impossible to hear.
“I think you need to be prepared for the possibility that she is no longer alive.”
If anyone else but Eric had said this to her, she would have had their balls.
If Adria wanted to hold on to the threadbare child’s hope that she was still around, that was her business, not theirs.
“What would X have to gain from lying to me?” Adria asked, even though she knew the answer.
“Your continued cooperation. To keep you moving towards his end goal and not yours.”
Adria fought to keep her feet on the ground. Wanting desperately to curl her knees into her body.
“What choice do we have?” she said.
Eric tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “We move forward but with eyes open.”