Am I supposed to hold her hand? Should I?
Soph waits for us to climb, climb, climb a little more, and when we finally level out, she strokes Ellie’s wrist with the pad of her thumb. “I’ve had soldiers in New York since last night. They’re on Cordoza’s property as we speak.”
“Without invitation?”
“Without detection. We can’t know exactly where he’s hosting dinner, but it’s a safe bet we’ll be in the main dining room. I don’t have eyes in there yet, but the instant we walk through, I can place a couple, which will bring my team a little closer. They’ll have audio and visual, so if they need to rush in, they can.”
Ellie rolls her cold water bottle over her forehead, moaning through her discomfort. “I know his behavior this week has been…” She hesitates for a beat, closing her eyes and swallowing. “Questionable. But I’ve known Estefan for half of my life. He hasnevergiven me a reason to doubt him.”
“Are you finding out the sex of your baby?” Aubree’s body is stiff, her cheeks pale, but she leans forward and offers a shaky smile. “Do you wanna know?”
Soph gasps. “You know?”
Aubree’s fierce grip on the armrest eases now that our bird is stable in the sky. “I know. But I won’t spoil it if Ellie doesn’t want to know.”
“I haven’t discussed it with Troy.” Ellie sits taller in her seat, her pulse thundering in her throat. “We’ve considered finding out, but no final decisions have been made yet.” She brings desperate eyes my way. “If I find out before him, his feelings might get hurt. Right?”
I scoff. “This has absolutely nothing to do with me. Leave me out of it.”
“I don’t want to hurt his feelings,” she murmurs. “If it’s a girl, he’s gonna melt. And if it’s a boy, he’ll get all puffy and manly and‘that’s my son.’I don’t… I should…” Motion sickness forgotten, she looks to Soph, then back to Aubree. “I don’t know what I should do. Besides, we really should focus onthis, no?” She gestures around the plane’s opulent interiors. “Troy will lose his shit if he finds out we’re talking babies instead of Cordoza.”
“But you know Estefan won’t hurt you.” Aubree picks up her bag and searches the front pockets, nibbling on her lips and producing a pen and what may be an old receipt. “Tell you what, I’m gonna write it down, and then we’ll fold it up a dozen times. You put it in your pocket and decide later. That way, you don’t have to wait for testing, and you haven’t jumped ahead or hurt your husband’s feelings.”
“I just don’t get it.” Frustrated, Sophia grits every word past tight teeth, snarling each syllable, and pressing her thumbs toher eyelids. “How does your brain work, Doctor Emeri? How can you do this?”
“Yeah…” Curious, I lean closer and whisper, “You didn’t even touch her.”
Snickering, Aubree covers her work with one hand and writes with the other. “Touching helps, especially when things are a little unclear, but I don’thaveto. Especially not when I have a connection to the person.”
“So, me?” I study her through narrowed eyes. “Can youfeelme even without touching me?”
“Sometimes, when the emotion isbig. You block me out sometimes.”
“I… what?”
“You’re extremely skilled at it, actually. But weeks like the one we just had?” She shakes her head. “You’d lost control, so I felt it all.” She glances toward Ellie. “You completely lack the ability to block me, and your baby is even louder than you.”
“Really?” She caresses her belly, smiling a shaky, watery smile. “Is it complaining? Is that what you mean by loud? If so, then I think I just guessed its sex.” She wrinkles her nose. “Troy complains a lot, too, and he’sveryloud. Am I having a boy?”
Humored, Aubree inches forward, extending her hand and the folded receipt. “I’m neither confirming nor denying. But the answer is right here. Read it whenever you want.”
“Gah!” Ellie snatches the scrap paper and clutches it lovingly to her chest. “The answer is so close.”
“I have men waiting at JFK for the Malone plane,” Soph continues, like hosting twoentirelydifferent conversations at once is totally normal. “Figured they’re not gonna sit by and wait for the pretty little wife to toddle on home, and havingthem do their own thing might be worse than simply folding them in. One head, one brain, means no one steps on toes or screws things up.”
“Archer’s not coping.” I draw a deep breath, expanding my chest until I taste the plane air all the way down my throat, then I exhale again and scratch the back of my neck. My instincts are firing, and my stomach, unlike Ellie’s, tingles with intuition. Not motion sickness. “This week has been hard for us. It hurt. We literally only came back together yesterday, and an hour after that, Cordoza was on the phone. His timing is either impeccable or insanely cruel.”
“Probably a bit of both,” Ellie sighs. “He’s always been good to me, but his ability to maintain control for as long as he has shouldn’t be ignored.”
“So… be afraid,” I counter. “Smart, sensible, and afraid.”
“Smart and sensible should get us where we need to go.” She glances up as the air hostess unbuckles her seatbelt and wraps her hands around the glittering handle of a well-stocked drinks cart. She kicks the wheel locks and frees it from its immobile state. “Her job is to serve us,” Ellie murmurs. “But it’s also to report back to Estefan all the things we say. So zip it.” She broadens her smile and un-hunches her long dancer’s body. “Hi.”
“Ms. Mancino.” The woman stops just two feet from the coffee table, hitting the locks once more and casting pretty, green eyes over each of us. “Ms. Solomon. Doctors Emeri and Mayet. Can I offer anyone a beverage?”
“I’d like a Pepsi, please.” But I don’t wait for her to serve me. I lunge toward the tray and steal a can from the second shelflike the uncultured swine I am. Sitting back again, I grin and crack the can open. “What’s your name?”
“Mine?” Her cheeks burn with a bright pink blush. “Mariana, Chief. I’m here to make your flight as comfortable as possible. If there’s anything you need, you have only to ask?—”
