Page 95 of Steinbeck
He doused the fire, and the charred wood sizzled, steam billowing up, mingling with the smoke and fading into the night.
Then he sank onto the edge of an Adirondack chair, put his head into his hands.
And let himself cry.
TEN
Stein didn’t dancewith her.
Not that Emberly thought he would—okay, she’d been hoping since the moment they walked into the gala.But when she’d followed him back into the event and tried to take his hand, he’d stuck it into his pocket.
Sure, he’d helped her track down Declan during dinner, and the man had given Nimue access to his SAR unit.So, mission accomplished.
But then not even a fist bump from her so-called teammate.
Emberly had no appetite for dinner as she passed off Tomas’s phone to Logan.He at least asked her if she was okay.
Nope.Not even a little.Because by the end of dinner, she knew...
She’d finally driven Steinbeck away.
And finally,okay,good.Because he would’ve eventually left her anyway.Aw,the thought just choked her.Especially with the memory of his voice only two balmy nights earlier:“Come with me if you want to live.”
He didn’t sit with her on the ride home, and then he disappeared with Logan and Colt and Tae into an office.Closed the door.
So Emberly walked down to her magnificent bedroom overlooking the city, with the platform king-sized bed and curved bouclé sofa, the platinum silk drapes.She felt regal when she stepped into the room, a dress bag over her shoulder.
Shopping with Tae had been an event, something she hadn’t expected when they’d arrived yesterday.Tae did most of the talking, telling her the story of meeting Colt—how she’d hidden her identity, how he’d chased her down after she’d run from him, his goal to protect her.
It sounded too much like Stein, and it stirred romance into Emberly’s heart.Especially when she’d donned the dress and shoes, turning into a version of Cinderella.
Ha.
Emberly had lost her shoes, just like in the stupid fairy tale, but she and Steinbeck certainly weren’t walking off into happily ever after together now.
She didn’t turn on the light but went to the window, the night pressing in, the city outside sparkling with a kaleidoscope of colors.She really liked the green dress—for a hot moment there she’d actually felt like a princess, like beautiful Imani of Lauchtenland.
Except, no.She would always be a counterfeit.
The phone she’d left on her nightstand rang, and she picked it up.
“I’m working on the program now,” Nim said without a greeting.“It seems uncorrupted, so that’s good.But I’ve been thinking...What if it wasn’t corrupted but remotely controlled?The AI commands superseded.There could be a back door?—”
“It’s over, Nim.”She sank onto the bed, staring at the round chandelier that hung from the twenty-foot ceiling.
“What’s over?Did you get Tomas?”
“Yes—no.I mean, yes, I saw him.Now that I think about it—I think he sawmefirst.And like an idiot, I took the bait.I think he was trying to kill me, and?—”
“Wait—what happened?”
She put her arm over her eyes and told Nim the entire story, from the bathroom trek to the moment she landed on the window-cleaning platform.
“I don’t quite know what I did, but...I think it’s over, Nim.Stein is...so mad.”
“He was scared, Emberly.”
She closed her eyes, saw him looking over the edge of the roof.“Okay, maybe.But then he looked at me like I’d...I don’t know.”
