I pick up a cloth and start to wipe the island.
Okay, maybe none of them know that Enzo has been stalking me, but it is like my thoughts are spiraling fast, down into dark and horrible depths.
I grab the edge of the island as my world tips, and my balance heaves off-center.
Lyndall comes at me with a spoon. "It needs salt. Don't you think?"
Cade and Lyndall have been cooking some spaghetti sauce for later tonight—they raided the freezer and the bag of groceries that apparently Lyndall unpacked early this morning.
I take a tiny taste, then pick up the chopping board to take to the sink. "The sauce is good."
"Yeah, but... salt."
"Umami." Cade snatches the spoon, tossing it in the dishwasher. He takes the board and knife and hand-washes those, making Lyndall sigh. "And we will adjust later."
"Look at you, cooking."
He shakes his head and sets the board and knife on the drying rack. "A little. I cook a little."
"I think you're brilliant." Lyndall has seemingly forgotten about her woes that brought her here, and the young man...which really drives home to me they weren't having a relationship.
She is fifteen. If she had gone and entered a relationship, then she would be all about that inappropriate guy.
But none of this means I can trust any of them. Except, I think, Lyndall.
Who is only fifteen. And the man I don't trust is her brother.
I don't even know...I can't think... "Hey, guys. I'm gonna get back to work."
I'm almost out of the kitchen when Cade speaks. "We should probably all hang out together."
"Am I in danger? Here? With you?"
It is the closest I get to asking him point-blank if it is a scam.
And then I remember the dead bodies.
I want to ask him if they were really to do with me or if they were about something else.
Enzo isn't just a CEO. He is mafia through his father, and he is a hacker. Playing in the shadows and on the wrong side of the law is in his blood. Someone could come after him for something he has done. And he could have used it to get me alone.
With his sister and his friends.
My head starts to pound.
Cade winces. "C'mon, I'm a married man. You're safe with me. Actually, I might need protecting. This young violinist has designs on me—ow!"
He rubs his arm where she punched him.
"Don't be mean. I think you're a nerd."
He shakes his head. "Lyndall, I will tell Vi you're mean to me."
She pokes her tongue out at him. "Vi would agree with me."
He points at her with his thumb. "See? Mean."
"She just likes me best."
