Chapter Thirty-Six #3
“You really are something, you know,” he said. “First, you sneak into SubRosa. Then you sneak into my heart. Now you sneak into City Hall. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“How did you know?”
“Sienna,” he said simply.
She turned to him. “She called you?”
A sly smile crossed his face. “No. Harris called her, said you were in his office, asked if she had your number. She tried calling you, I’m afraid somebody else answered the phone.” Her stomach dropped. “I don’t think Theo’s very happy with you,” Abe added.
No, Theo would not be happy with her. She already knew she’d have to explain herself, and she expected fury.
What she hadn’t expected was for Sienna to be with Abe, and the way Abe said it, easy and unbothered, told her exactly what that meant.
Guilt flared in her chest. It was her fault.
Sienna had sacrificed herself for Verity, and now not only was she feeding him, but warming his bed too.
“Stop looking like that,” Abe said.
The houses thinned as Horsham House came into view at the end of the road.
“Just because you didn’t want me doesn’t mean I’m entirely undesirable,” he said.
It wasn’t a question of him being desirable. It was a question of what Sienna actually wanted, or whether she now felt obligated to play a role she hadn’t chosen.
“Is she okay?” Verity asked.
“Of course she’s okay.” A flicker of irritation crossed his face. “Everyone’s got a reputation. Sometimes people surprise you. Do you believe everything you’re told?”
He had a point, and Verity wouldn’t pass up a chance to question one of the few people who knew what all this was about. “Like we’re told that there’s a flu outbreak in Cliffhaven?” she asked.
Abe hummed, neither confirming nor denying.
“What do you know?” she pressed.
He shrugged.
“Come on. You were there, weren’t you? That’s where you found those girls, Mabel and Chloe?”
He nodded.
Verity snorted. “I didn’t think you looked very interested in them.”
Abe’s face twisted with something like disgust. “A little young for me. Far too young to be fending for themselves somewhere like Cliffhaven.”
They pulled up outside the house. Verity looked at the stairs leading to the foyer, already dreading the conversation waiting for her inside.
“He’ll be fine,” Abe said, as if reading her mind. “What’s in the briefcase?”
She leaned over and pulled it from the back seat. “Evidence,” she said, not caring anymore what Abe knew. He’d clearly chosen a side in this, and it was hers. “Petra’s coming,” she told him.
Abe let out a low whistle. “Didn’t think I’d have the pleasure.”
“She’s coming for Ostara. We’re going to tell her everything Vivienne’s been doing in Cliffhaven.”
“Is this you asking for backup?” he asked.
“Couldn’t hurt.”
He considered that. “This trade deal isn’t happening as long as Havenshire’s letting things like Cliffhaven go on. We don’t do business with people who can’t look after their own, and you can tell Petra that.” He shivered. “Rather you than me, she gives me the creeps.”
Verity smiled. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” Abe said. “I just told you you’re not getting a trade deal. From what I can tell, you’re up shit creek without it.”
She smiled anyway. “Well. I guess we’d better sort it all out then.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Abe said. If anyone knew the size of the task at hand it was him, and by the sounds of it Cliffhaven wouldn’t be easily fixed.
She climbed out, briefcase in hand, and made her way up the stairs into the building, pausing at the entrance, when she found a figure sprawled across one of the lobby couches.
Hair slicked back, tattooed fingers tapping away on his phone.
He didn’t look up as she approached, though she had no doubt he knew she was there.
“How mad is he?” she asked.
“Furious,” Jesse said, not looking up.
She glanced at his phone. “Is that you telling him I’m here?”
He shook his head. "Just catching up." Pocketing it, he stood, blue eyes flicking up to hers with a smirk. “I’m gonna head out for a bit. Let you two make up.”
Verity managed a weak, apprehensive smile. She was grateful for the chance at a little alone time with Theo, even knowing what was coming. “Thanks,” she said.
He nodded, already heading for the door that led down to the carpark.
“If he asks,” Jesse called over his shoulder, “you didn’t see me. He thinks I’m out looking for you.”
Her eyes widened. “So, you didn’t bother actually looking for me?”
“Nah.” Jesse shrugged, already halfway out the door. “Abe was closer. Figured he’d get there first.” And then he was gone.
Abe was irritatingly right, again. Verity didn’t believe everything she was told, and from what she’d seen of Jesse she couldn’t work out why the Blessed had warned her about him.
He was Theo’s brother, and if Theo could trust him so could she.
Although she did wonder how he had known Abe was coming and what exactly he was “catching up” on.
Verity didn’t have time to worry about it now though as she climbed the stairs, ready to face Theo and the consequences of one more reckless afternoon.