“She’s doing well,” I insist. “Still acting out her part as planned.”
He pauses for a brief moment. I know exactly what he’s truly wondering about.
“And Mr. Lawson?”
“That’s where it gets interesting,” I admit. “He followed through, but I can tell it’s eating him alive.”
“Good,” he states. “Pressure exposes loyalty.”
I let out a humorless breath. “Or snaps it clean in half.”
“That’s the point.” he agrees.
I stop walking and stare at one of the busted windows on the warehouse. “She kept playing hard to get earlier, so I skipped the preliminaries.”
“Sounds like her,” he shoots back.
I rub at the back of my neck. “Finnic’s not an idiot, though. He’ll eventually figure out who she is.”
“I suppose we’ll see his true colors then,” he mutters.
The line goes dead before I can say anything else.
I stand there with the phone in my hand, resisting the urge to throw the damn thing against the wall. I’m not some sadist getting off on this. I do what needs to be done for the plan. I always have. That doesn’t mean I sleep easy afterward.
I turn back toward the warehouse entrance, each step seeming heavier than the last.
Finnic is stationed outside her room now, just like protocol demands.
He’s close enough to hear her breathe. And also close enough to let it get under his skin.
I stop a few feet short of the hallway when I finally make it inside.
I picture Finnic standing there, shoulders tense. He’s staring at the floor or the wall, anywhere but the door. I’m sure his head is like a war zone.
That hesitation I seen earlier creeps back into my thoughts. It’s a small problem, but a problem all the same.
And she sees it as much as I do.
She watches people the way hunters watch the trees. Plans change depending on which way the wind blows.
Finnic doesn’t stand a chance if he continues to spend alone time with her, but sadly, he has to if it means we’ll see his true loyalty.
I exhale through my nose and step through the doorway into the hall.
“Has she come to yet?”
He snaps to attention, then shakes his head. “No. She’s still out from the sedative I gave her after you left.”
I lean my shoulder into the wall beside him. “Good.”
Silence settles between us. I let it sit for a moment before breaking it.
“You handled yourself well,” I admit. “I could see you wrestling that hero instinct of yours.”
His brow lifts slightly. “You noticed?”
I bring my hand down on his shoulder, firm but calmly. “I noticed. And trust me, she did too.”
