Theo cut her off. “Three minutes, then you can yell at me.”
His office had a fantastic view of Manhattan, with tempered glass windows making up two walls while custom-crafted dark wood shelving made up another. Couches formed a sitting area where I presumed more intimate meetings were conducted.
Theo didn’t ask us to sit. After all, we had only three minutes. He perched in front of his desk and tore off the paper and chuckled briefly. “You didn’t need to return this.” He tilted his chin to the side, and that was when I noticed he had a room in the office to change clothes or sleep. “I assure you I won’t get cold.”
Aralina was about to type on her phone, but she signed at me instead.
“Ahh, she wants to thank you for the flowers.”
“Pink tulips,” Theo murmured, gaze focused on her. “They reminded me of you for some reason. I don’t know what came over me. I hope I wasn’t too forward. I just felt terrible about what my brother did to you.”
Aralina dropped her eyes to her feet.
She didn’t want to talk about Jeremiah, but I was curious. “How is he?”
“He’s stable.” His tone was brusque.
We stared at each other, and I blurted out what I’d been meaning to ask. “You’re going to sweep this under the rug. What he has done?—”
“There will be restitution?—”
“How?”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Zahkarova, but you’re the last person to lecture me about sweeping things under the rug.” He wasn’t angry, but his tone brooked no further discussion. “Rest assured, my brother won’t be a danger to anyone again.”
His eyes rested on Aralina, who looked up at the same time. She smiled briefly before glancing at me.
“You’re ready to go?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“I guess we’ll leave you to save your empire,” I said.
“Or burn it down,” he muttered.
Aralina’s chest shook in silent laughter, and Theo’s eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement, softening his harsh features to a degree I would never have imagined them capable of.
Hell no. I was getting Aralina out of here.
Theo walked us to the door, and when we emerged, his assistant gave an audible sigh of relief.
In the elevators I asked Aralina, “Happy now?”
She shrugged.
The high-speed elevators sent us swiftly to the ground floor. I had to pop my ears at the change of pressure, and it mildly irritated me because I wondered if I was going to get a migraine. They occurred less frequently now. I was slowly weaning myself off the painkillers and hadn’t taken one yesterday. The cast should come off in a few weeks.
So it was a shock to be jolted out of my thoughts when the elevators opened and I saw Chloe’s face.
She was standing inside the opposite elevator, and her shocked eyes met mine with a trace of fear. And that baffled me. And if I’d admit it to myself—I was hurt. Granted, I hadn’t contacted her since Montauk, but that was in line with keeping a low profile.
Before the doors to her elevator closed, I noticed a baby stroller in front of her.
Aralina and I stood motionless for a few seconds.
“I didn’t imagine that, right? That was Chloe with a baby.”
Aralina simply nodded.
