"They came for me," I whisper. "Didn't they? The attackers. They came for me." Adrian tried to warn me, but I didn't want to listen, and for the second time in just three days, I've almost gotten myself and my child killed.
"We don't know that yet."
"Don't lie to me, Adrian." My voice hardens. "I'm not stupid. A safe house gets attacked the same day I'm there. The same day you let me see Gabe. That's not a coincidence."
He doesn't answer. Which is answer enough.
"So, who was it?" I demand. "The Morozovs? Someoneelse?" I'm not going to crack under the pressure of this. I refuse. I want answers.
"I don't know yet."
"But you'll find out." It's a statement not a question because I can see it in every line of Adrian's body. He wants to destroy something.
"Yes."
"And then what?" The blanket falls away as I stand. "You'll kill them? Start a war? Put me in even more danger?"
"Seraphina—" He stands slowly, cracking his neck, as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Don't say my name like that," I snap. "We had one night together. Now my entire life is falling apart."
I expect him to snap at me, remind me that Gabe put my life in danger. It would be a fair point, but he doesn't say it.
"This won't happen again," he says. "I swear to you."
I laugh. It's not a pleasant sound.
"You can't promise that."
"I can. And I will."
"How?" I spread my arms. Gesture at myself. At the blood. At the mess I've become. "How can you possibly keep me safe when people are willing to attack a guarded safe house in the middle of the day? When my own brother is a criminal?"
"I'll figure it out."
"That's not good enough! We are having a child!" I step forward, putting a finger in his face. "I will not allow my child to live like this. I won't."
My voice echoes in the too-quiet penthouse. Leo has disappeared somewhere. Probably giving us privacy. Or maybe he just can't stand to watch this.
Adrian takes a step toward me. I take a step back.
"I will protect you," he says. Each word deliberate. Weighted. "You and our child. Whatever it takes. No matter the cost."
"Even if it means I hate you for it?" The question comesout quieter than I intend. "Even if the cost is locking me away so completely that I might as well be in prison?"
Something flickers in his expression. Pain, maybe. Or guilt.
A beat. Then: "Even then."
At least he's honest.
"I don't believe you," I tell him. "I don't believe you can keep me safe. Because you couldn't keep me safe today. Your guards couldn't keep me safe. Leo barely got me out alive."
"But he did get you out."
"This time." I wrap my arms around myself. "What about next time? What happens when they come back? When they try again? Because they will try again, won't they?"
Adrian doesn't answer.
