Elena covered her face with her hand. “Let me get this straight. Your plan is to plagiarize a movie heist?”
“It’s a good heist! I would be Danny Ocean.”
“You’re not George Clooney, Finn. And you don’t know how to simulate an earthquake.”
Finn threw up his hands. “How many times do I have to say this? I would have a highly specialized crew that?—”
“You’re terrible at this,” Elena interrupted.
Finn was still laughing when Elena noticed their server was hovering for what was probably the third time. She checked the time. “Oh my God, we’ve been here for almost two hours.”
Finn looked surprised. “Have we?”
Elena breathed in the cool night air as they stepped out of the diner. She felt lighter than she had in weeks. There was still some anger hiding beneath, but it felt different. It was focused now, like she knew what to do with it.
“Oh, you should know,” Elena said as they walked toward her car. “Miguel is expecting you to come over soon to play that zombie game.”
Finn smiled. “I wouldn’t dare refuse King Miguel’s summons.”
Something warm settled in Elena’s chest. She opened her mouth to respond?—
And then Finn’s hand found hers.
And it was just… easy. His fingers laced through hers like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Elena’s breath caught for just a moment. Then she squeezed back.
That's when she saw it. The BMW idling at the nearby intersection. The window rolled down, and she saw him.David Turner. He was looking directly at her. At them. At their joined hands.
Elena's first instinct was to let go, to step away from Finn, to protect them both from whatever David might do with this information. But then she looked at David's face through the windshield. The satisfaction there, like he'd just been handed another weapon.
Elena met David’s stare one more time, holding his gaze until he looked away. Then she squeezed Finn's hand tighter and kept walking.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
FINN
“Ineed to speak with you privately.”
Finn looked up to find Elena standing at his desk. She looked determined in a way he hadn’t seen her before.
“Conference room?” she suggested.
Finn glanced around the lab. The other research assistants were absorbed in their work. Derek had his headphones on. No one was paying attention. He nodded and followed her lead. As he followed her through the hallway, his mind raced through the possibilities. Good news about the research? Bad news from the board? David doing something new and terrible?
Glass walls enclosed the small conference room, with blinds open to the hallway. Elena held the door open for him, and the moment he stepped inside, she?—
Closed the blinds.
Then she locked the door.
Finn’s brain stuttered. His heart started beating at ahundred miles an hour. They were alone. In a locked conference room with the blinds closed. Elena turned to look up at him and he was suddenly very aware of how close they were.
Was this happening? Were they about to?—?
She looked up at him, still wearing that look of determination. Finn’s mouth went dry. This was happening. Right now, in this tiny conference room. This was actually?—
“We need to talk about David Turner,” Elena said, her voice lower than usual.
