"Are you all right?" He pulls back enough that we can all see the dark hollows beneath her eyes. I can't blame her. I wouldn't have been able to sleep a wink knowing that bastard was right across the hall from me.
"I'm okay," she whispers to Eli, but she looks equally relieved to see him as he is to see her. "I'm fine. Just…really tired."
Something is off about the way she says it, but I don't let myself linger on it. Her gaze flits to Sev, and he comes to take her chin between his fingers and press a kiss to her mouth.
I look away.
When her gaze finds me next, she shifts it away quickly, and I know there's something up. But I also know she's not saying shit about it, whatever it is.
Did something happen? I wonder whether I should ask if?—
No.
I won't press her. She can share if she wants to.
"You did really well," I tell her instead, and her brow furrows. "I don't think he suspected a thing."
"You really did," Eli agrees. "I listened to the whole thing. You were amazing."
He's doing a good job of not letting on how he spent his evening, but I know if Aurora looks a little closer, Eli's sleepless night is written all over his face just like it is on hers.
"Told you fuckers she had this," Sev says, and some of the tension eases from the room. "Where's Ellie?"
"I left her at the apartment," Aurora replies. "It's late and I wasn't sure how she'd be on the bus."
I shove down my disappointment. I brought her more duck liver treats, but I guess I can give them to her next time.
"What happens now?" she asks, falling into one of the chairs at the table.
"Before we go through the debrief, there's one thing I want to say, and then you won't hear from me about it again."
Best get it over with.
Aurora lifts her green eyes to me, and I see the bite in them that she's holding back. But it's better than the apathy of the last few weeks. Maybe Sev was right about her getting even with me—even if the way she did it was certifiable—being progress of a sort.
"I want to apologize for the tracker I put on your car, and?—"
"Atticus." She puts her face in her hands. "I'm too tired to go five rounds with you right now."
It was the 'and', wasn't it?
Sucking the venom back from my teeth, I try again.
"I should've told you it was there. You'll get nothing but absolute honesty from me from now on, and I'll respect your space."
I've said my piece, and now I'll be nice to the wall—maybe some day I can even make friends with it like Seven suggested. I can be nice. I'll prove it.
She looks up and her lips part, but nothing comes out.
After a beat of silence, my chest heaves. "Okay, well, that's all I wanted to say. Moving on."
This is for the best. Without her clouding my mind, I'll be able to stay sharp. I don't need her to acknowledge me in order to protect her. I've always worked better from the shadows, anyway.
"We weren't able to get a visual in the private room where you had dinner," I start, bringing up the footage I did manage to get my hands on of Ambrose arriving at the hotel. Of them in the elevator. Some other clips of Linette and Aurora, as well as Ambrose on the phone in the hotel lobby, but without being able to see his mouth fully, I can't figure out what the call was for.
"What we need to know is if there's anything we might've missed with the mic. He got a call at one point during dinner. Were you able to see who it was from?"
She shakes her head.
