“No, I’m good.Already ate.”He’s backing toward the elevator, clearly eager to escape this conversation.
When?I muse to myself as I watch him disappear behind the closing elevator doors.Turning around, I then head outside, my appetite completely gone.But I need time to think, to process what I just saw, so I force myself to go through the motions of buying lunch.
When I return to the office twenty minutes later, my arms full of sandwiches and drinks I ended up getting for everyone, I almost collide with Steven coming out of the emergency stairwell.
“Steven?”I look at him in confusion.“What were you doing in there?”
“Oh, hey, Eve.”He looks slightly out of breath, his hair mussed.“I went up to the roof to video call my son.Connor had a soccer game today and wanted to show me his trophy.”
My sandwich bag slips from my suddenly numb fingers.“The roof?”
“Yeah, the view is better up there for video calls.Less interference.”He bends to help me pick up the scattered items.“Why?”
“I just—” I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly dry.“Wasn’t the roof door locked?”
Steven gives me a strange look, straightening up with a confused frown.“Locked?No.When is it ever locked?I was just up there five minutes ago.”My heart starts hammering against my ribs as the implications sink in.
Joshua lied.He lied about the roof door being locked.Which means he lied about going there to smoke.Which means he was doing something else entirely when he was supposed to be taking a smoke break.Something that involved meeting someone in a black car and handing them what looked like a flash drive.
“Eve?”Steven’s voice seems to come from far away.“You okay?You look pale.”
“I’m fine,” I manage, though my hands are shaking as I gather the rest of our lunch.“Just tired.Long day.”
But as Steven heads back to his desk and I stand there in the hallway, one thought keeps circling through my mind.
What the hell is Joshua involved in?
* * *
I tryto catch Caleb’s attention multiple times during the day, but every time I lean toward his desk or clear my throat meaningfully, someone else swoops in.Flora appears with color scheme questions.Steven drags him into a budget meeting.Joshua?—
Joshua.Every time I see him, my stomach clenches with suspicion.But there’s no time to process what I witnessed, let alone figure out how to bring it up with Caleb without being overheard.
By five in the evening, my brain feels like mush.The presentation is finally in decent shape, but I can barely remember my own name, much less mysterious flash drives and black sedans.Caleb leaves a few minutes before me, and I barely register his leaving.I’m just grateful that we managed to wrap up today’s goals and I don’t have to work overnight.
After dragging myself home, I strip off my clothes and jump into the shower.The hot spray of the shower washes away the stress of the day until I can finally breathe again.I’m barely out, wrapped in my robe with wet hair dripping down my back, when I hear a knock at my door.
I pad over and pull it open, expecting my downstairs neighbors who accepted a parcel on my behalf today.I told her I’d be back by six.Instead, I find Caleb standing there with bags of takeout, wearing dark jeans under a parka.
“How do you keep getting into the building?”I ask, stepping back to let him in.
“Nobody suspects handsome people of anything.”He winks.“Just smiled at one of your neighbors, and she let me right in.”
“Amazing how you have space in your head for both that massive ego and your functioning brain cells,” I yawn.
“It’s all about efficient packing,” he replies, brushing past me into the apartment.“Like a really attractive game of Tetris.”
I close the door behind him, shaking my head.“What do you want, Caleb?It’s too late for anything, and I mean that.I’m exhausted.”
“Same, but I bring food.”He’s already heading to my kitchen, setting bags on the counter.The smell hits me immediately—garlic, herbs, and something that makes my mouth water.That’s when my eyes land on the label of the bag.
“You went to Nonna’s?”Nonna’s is an Italian place which, for some reason, refuses to deliver.
“Yeah.”He starts unpacking containers while I bring out the plates.
“Why?It’s on the far side of the city.”
He shrugs.“Yeah, but you like it, so I thought it’d make a nice peace offering.”
