“I’d love to have a cup of coffee with you, Olivia,” I say. “But I’m afraid I have a batch in the fridge that I have to take out any minute now.”
Olivia pouts, her red lips turning down at the corners. I’m getting ready to insist that I have work I can’t just abandon, but the door to the lab opens and closes again. Quick footsteps approach.
Olivia is blocking the doorway, and I don’t have time to convince her to move into the lab with me before Garrett makes his appearance. He stops in the doorway, his eyes finding me. His brows furrow.
Olivia turns and pats Garrett on the cheek.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait upstairs?” she coos.
She floats past him into the lab, and Garrett’s gaze fixes on me. His eyes travel past me to the open laptop on the conference table, and his features darken.
I do my best to look casual, like nothing at all has happened.
“What are you doing in here?” he asks.
I look offended.
“I was making a cup of coffee, but Olivia graciously invited me to have one with her.”
I make to move past Garrett, suddenly realizing that Olivia is my way out. If Olivia wants to take me for coffee, then I’m not busy anymore. But Garrett grabs my arm and hisses in my ear:
“Where’s Roman?”
“How should I know? He’s in and out all the time.”
Olivia chimes in from behind Garrett.
“So, you’re saying you can’t spare fifteen minutes for a quick chat?”
I smile broadly at her.
“No, of course I can. It would be my pleasure.”
That’s when the alarm goes off. I pull free from Garrett, and he lets me go. I rush to the fridge and take out the vials of Crimson Haze, lining them up in a neat row on the counter. I strip off my apron and hang it on the hook.
“I’m ready,” I say to Olivia. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m not a fan of this burger place,” Olivia says, “but they do make a decent coffee.”
“That sounds great.”
As Olivia leads the way toward the door, I shoot Garrett a glance. He’s staring at me darkly, not at all convinced that I was just using the espresso machine. But he doesn’t stop us. He lets me and Olivia leave.
I rush to the elevator and press the button, pretending like I’m eager to be nice to the old woman. The doors slide open and we step inside, but the moment they close, Zeth pulls at me. He makes me glue myself to the opposite wall, as far from Olivia as I can get in the small space.
She notices and laughs.
“Are you okay, Wren? I don’t bite, you know.”
“No, of course not,” I say quickly. “I just don’t want to crowd your space.”
“You’re too kind. Such a nice girl. No wonder Roman is infatuated with you.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. I would’ve never thought this surprise visit was about her son. Roman isn’t infatuated with me at all. Lately, he’s been ignoring me, which is great because I hate him. But right now, I need to play Olivia’s game and figure out a way to shake off Garrett and his suspicions.
We reach the ground floor, and Olivia leads me into the burger joint. She walks right through the kitchen where a few people are working, but they ignore us. It smells of meat, grease, and delicious sauces. Olivia finds us a corner booth and motions for the waitress to pour us coffee.
I barely sit down before I stand back up, pressing a hand to my stomach as if I’m in pain.
