Chapter 33 Present
Present
"Ms. James?"
Eleanor's voice pulled me back to the present. She was still watching me with those assessing eyes, but now there was something else there something that might have been understanding.
"I'm sorry," I said, blinking. "I was just... thinking about this morning. About how Clara looked when you offered her that retainer."
Eleanor's lips quirked slightly. "Ms. Rodriguez is a fierce advocate. You're lucky to have her."
"She wanted to come with me," I said quietly. "To this safe house. But Marcus said it wasn't secure protocol."
"It wasn't," Eleanor confirmed. "But we've arranged for her to have secure communication access. You can speak with her whenever you need independent counsel. We meant what we said about her remaining your attorney."
I nodded, though part of me still felt unmoored. Everything was happening so fast Adrian alive, his parents appearing out of nowhere, Clara being pulled into this corporate nightmare, me being hidden away like a fugitive.
"What happens to Clara if this goes wrong?" I asked suddenly. "If Stirling-Hale finds out she's helping me?"
James, who had finished his phone call and returned to the table, answered. "Ms. Rodriguez is now under the same protection protocols as you. We've already assigned a security detail to monitor her office and residence. Stirling-Hale won't get near her."
"You can do that?" I said. "Just... assign security to anyone?"
"When someone becomes associated with our family, they become our responsibility," Eleanor said. "Ms. Rodriguez put herself at risk by representing you. We won't abandon her for it."
Unlike how you abandoned me at the crash site, I thought but didn't say.
Eleanor seemed to read it in my expression anyway. "I know you're angry about what happened that night," she said quietly. "You have every right to be. We made a choice based on incomplete information, and that choice nearly cost you your life. I can't undo that decision, but I can promise you it won't happen again."
"Why should I believe you?" The question came out harsher than I intended, but I was too exhausted to soften it.
"Because you're carrying my grandchild," Eleanor said simply. "And despite what you might think of me, Ms. James, I don't make the same mistake twice."
Before I could respond, Marcus appeared in the doorway. "The transport is ready. Dr. Chen has been notified of our arrival."
My heart jumped. "We're going to see Adrian?"
"You asked to see him before agreeing to help us," James said. "We're honoring that request."
I stood quickly, then swayed as a wave of dizziness hit me. Marcus was there instantly, his hand steadying my elbow.
"When did you last eat?" he asked.
I tried to remember. "Yesterday? Maybe?"
Marcus muttered something under his breath and pulled out his phone. "I'm having food delivered to the facility. You're not seeing Adrian on an empty stomach while pregnant."
"I'm fine—"
"You're not," Eleanor said firmly. "And you need to start taking better care of yourself. That child you're carrying is a Cole. Which means its wellbeing is now a family priority."
The way she said it clinical, matter-of-fact should have annoyed me. But instead, it was almost... comforting. For the first time since I'd found out about the pregnancy, someone was treating it as something important, something worth protecting.
Even if that someone was a woman who'd left me to burn in a car wreck.
"Okay," I said quietly. "I'll eat. But then I see Adrian. No more delays."
James nodded. "Agreed."
Twenty minutes later, I was in the back of a sleek black SUV, sandwiched between Marcus and a female security officer who'd introduced herself only as "Agent Torres."
A protein bar and a bottle of water sat in my lap Marcus's idea of adequate nutrition, apparently.
I picked at the wrapper, my stomach too twisted with nerves to actually eat, but I forced myself to take small bites anyway. For the baby. For the tiny life depending on me to hold it together.
"How bad is he?" I asked Marcus quietly. "Adrian. How bad are the injuries?"
Marcus was silent for a moment. "Bad enough that most people wouldn't have survived. But Adrian isn't most people."
"That's not an answer."
"No," he agreed. "It's not. But it's the truth." He glanced at me. "Dr. Chen will give you the full medical briefing when we arrive. But Lila—" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "—he's alive. That's what matters. Everything else can heal."
I wanted to believe that. But I kept remembering the news reports, the wreckage, the certainty that no one could have survived that crash.
"Why did they fake his death?" I asked. "Why not just say he was injured?"
"Because whoever orchestrated the crash needed to believe they'd succeeded," Marcus explained. "If Adrian was publicly alive and recovering, they'd try again. The fake death bought us time to identify the threat and neutralize it before Adrian is vulnerable."
"And me?" I said. "They think I'm dead too?"
"No," Marcus said carefully. "They think you're irrelevant. A mistress who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone who wouldn't know anything valuable."
The word 'mistress' stung, even though I knew it was just operational language.
"But I do know something valuable," I said. "The Book of Signatures. Ethan gave it to me."
"Exactly," Marcus said. "Which is why you're not irrelev
ant at all. You're the key to everything."