The room goes quiet again, the air turning dense and tight around us. My anger tries to come roaring back, and I let it, just enough to keep my spine straight.
“You still chose to use me,” I tell her.
Lila’s face collapses. “I didn’t want to.”
“But you did.”
She nods once, her shoulders sagging. “Yes.”
I stare at her for a long moment, and the pain is physical now, like someone shoved a knife into my ribs and is holding it there.
She was my best friend. The person who used to show up at my apartment with cold medicine and takeout when I was too sick or too exhausted to leave my couch. The one who brought my favorite ice cream while I dissected bad dates like case studies and swore I was done with men for good. The one who sat on the kitchen counter while I vented about long shifts and impossible patients.
That’s who she’s always been. And she handed me over to a man who turned my life into a hostage situation.
“Did Ivan tell you Arkady was involved?”
Lila’s eyes widen. “No.”
I watch her face for any sign of calculation, but what I see is horror.
“He never mentioned Arkady,” she insists. “He told me it was business. He made it sound like—” Her voice breaks again. “Like you were in danger from Kiren.”
I look at her, searching her face for something I recognize. “He made Kiren the villain.”
She nods, miserable. “Yes.”
That’s when it clicks. This wasn’t about getting information and walking away. If that’s all he wanted, he already had it. He didn’t just want access. He wanted me to look at Kiren differently. He wanted doubt to sit between us.
I swallow, the thought turning cold in my chest. This isn’t about leverage anymore. It’s about control.
“He didn’t want information,” I tell her. “Not really. He wanted access. And he wanted to see what Arkady would do with it.”
Lila stares at me. “Rowan?—”
“Think,” I cut in. “If this was only about giving information to pay your brother’s debt, why is Arkady here? Why did Arkady pull a gun on Ivan? Why did a man die outside this wall?”
Her face goes pale. She shakes her head once, small, like she’s trying to dislodge the reality.
“I didn’t know,” she whispers. “I didn’t know any of this.”
I believe her. And that belief makes me angry in a different way. Because Ivan used her desperation like a key. And now we’re locked in a room while men with power play games around us.
Lila’s hands slide into her hair and tug once, hard, like she wants to pull herself out of her own skin.
The office feels too bright. The hum overhead feels louder, and my skin feels stretched too tight. I lift my hand and press two fingers against the inside of my wrist, feeling my pulse. Fast and strong. Not out of control. Not yet.
I force myself to breathe more slowly.
“What about your brother?” I murmur. “The debt. Is it still there?”
Lila’s eyes open. She stares at me like she’s about to confess something that makes her hate herself.
“I don’t know,” she admits. “Ivan promised me the money. He promised it would be handled once he got what he needed.” Her voice drops. “But I haven’t seen anything. I haven’t heard from my brother or from the loan sharks.”
My stomach clenches. “That’s bad.”
“Yes,” she whispers, worrying her bottom lip. “It is.”
