Page 18 of The Burnt Heart

“I hear you, Mister Goldman, but unfortunately Miss Orazio has no availability in her schedule today. Unless this is an official search, in which case I would require paperwork.”

“It’s Chief.” The man ran his fingers through his graying locks, the motion agitated and jerky. “I’ve simply come to introduce myself,” he declared, before muttering under his breath, “to make sure we are both on the same side."

I stiffened, recognizing the name. This was the new police chief. The one who had been lauded with cleaning up cities all down the coast and had made Greenich Bay his new project. Incorruptible, with a moral compass of steel. He and Adelaide could never work with one another. Unless he wasn’t as pristine as his reputation boasted.

“Of course, I can check her schedule. She may have an opening next month?” Jenny poised her fingers over the keyboard, lips spread in a congenial smile.

“No,” the chief sighed heavily as he tapped a creased business card on the counter. “Give this to Adelaide Orazio and have her call me as soon as possible.”

“I-I’m not sure when she’ll be able---” Jenny stuttered, snatching the card up. But Chief Goldman was already halfway to the door, his coat streaming out behind him. A guard brought his phone to his ear and spoke discretely, watching which direction the chief went in.

I gulped, looking at Jenny, whose smile slid off when she recognized us. Jesse pushed through despite the obvious cold welcome.

“Good morning, Jenny, how are you? We were hoping to see Miss Orazio. If you could let her know Jesse, Logan and Briar need to speak to her urgently,” his fingers danced nervously on the counter. My muscles screamed with pent up tension, like they were going to tear in half. Jenny peered through her glasses at us with a slight sniff, judgement obvious in herstare. Normally she would let us straight through, but even we weren’t delusional enough to think we still maintained the same privileges as before. It seemed everyone had formed an opinion about us, and it wasn’t positive. I didn’t blame them, but there was only one person whose opinion I cared about.

“Yes, Miss Orazio advised me you might request a meeting. You’ve got clearance for level ten.” She looked behind her, and two hulking guards peeled themselves off the wall.

“We know the way.” My brow creased as they herded us toward the elevator. One guard lifted his lip in a sneer.

“You’re not special anymore.”

We filtered into the elevator, and I rubbed at a sharp pain in my chest. This situation had morphed into something bigger than our grasp. Spiraling out of control and dismantling parts of my life that I thought were solid. It was like looking around and realizing my life was a paper background, torn into pieces by our actions.

“Everyone knew this would not last. Boss sure isn’t about to let you slink back in without you understanding a few things,” the other one spat down Jesse’s neck. Did he mean Antoni or his fierce daughter? Both could be responsible.

“What would that be?” Jesse asked as Briar twisted his hands. The guards cracked their knuckles in unison.

“You’re going to say your piece, then fuck off back to the sewers where you belong. Miss Orazio is too good for the likes of you. She was the only reason you had any liberties and now she’s rescinded them. If you can’t comply? We’ll be adding to your collection of bruises.”

They snarled wordlessly at Briar, who winced at the floor. The elevator journey was tense as it lurched upwards. I sucked in a deep breath as we piled out into the soft glow of the reception area. Adelaide had wanted it to look moody and elegant. I gazed toward the main wall by habit and slid to a halt. A dismayedchoke escaped past my bloodless lips. My photo, the one I had taken of the Orazio’s estate in Italy, was missing. It had been a drone shot I’d taken on our first trip overseas together. Capturing some of the manicured landscape and the sharp cliff, the ocean spanning the horizon. In its place was a colorful abstract. I pressed my hand to my stomach, sure there was a slash across the tender flesh. The picture had been a gift from me for when she’d designed this space. Its absence said more than any words could. Adelaide was a stickler for details. She noticed everything. To systematically wipe such a trace of us from her life filled me with a sense of foreboding.

Over the weekend Briar had tidied the clothes she’d left behind, putting them back into her drawers so it would be neat when she returned. He’d realized all the clothing she’d left had been gifts from one of us. She’d taken nothing we had given her, leaving any favorites if it was something from our hands. Desolation seeped through me, and I sank into a leather armchair, unable to look away from where the intricate artwork lay.

“She’s in a meeting, apparently. She’ll see us when it’s finished,” Briar said, his tone making it obvious he didn’t believe the excuse. Instead, intent on making us sweat. He slumped onto the couch next to me. Jesse remained upright, pacing out his furious energy. I ran my hands through my hair again. The wait accomplished her goal. Each second made me feel that bit smaller. Not an arduous task, as I already despised myself for how this had all played out. Our two buff babysitters leaned against the wall and glared at us periodically. Eventually, I heard the echo of heels on the tiles and looked up to see Adelaide escorting Mr. Donato out.

Her delicate hand lay lightly on his arm, her beauty almost too much to bear that my heart paused in my chest. She walked with confidence toward us, her ponytail swaying behind her. Hertight-fitting dress displayed her gorgeous curves gracefully. It was a modest number that covered her neck, but still managed to be elegant and sensual. Lara poked out of her office, glaring at us. We were glad Adelaide had such a loyal crew looking after her, I just wish it wasn’t us she needed protection from.

“I appreciate you coming to me this morning, Harold,” she ignored us to smile at the man who had set in motion our downfall. Desperate fools we were to fall into his trap. And we couldn’t do a thing but watch as he puffed up, his lips twitching in barely restrained amusement.

“You have your hands full, but I have every faith in your abilities. Such a credit to your father, and it brings this old man some hope for the future,” he pandered. Patting her cheek in a way that only older adults could do, without being patronizing. He sent us a mocking wink as he shuffled toward the door. Fury choked my throat. Both that he was there, and that Adelaide treated him so kindly. The room seemed suffocatingly full of security. Two silent shadows followed Harold out and Jonah came to stand behind Adelaide. We had known Adelaide’s chief guard for six years, but you would never have known that by the way he looked straight through us. We were losing more than just Adelaide. I clambered to my feet, unable to stop myself.

“Adelaide,” Jesse started, and she held up a delicate hand. There was a coldness in her eyes, a disdain that I never thought I would ever see her direct toward the three of us.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?” she whispered, as if steeling herself. Briar blew out a breath, sounding shaky. Jonah held the door open as she rounded her desk. The Charity Excellence Award was already in pride of place on her shelves, but they weren’t the only changes. Gone was the photo she kept on her desk of all of us. Taken at Calder Place, when she’d laid across our legs, smiling and laughing. The empty space gaped, jarring and wrong, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. Hergaze was like liquid ice, freezing off pieces of me. Her make-up artfully applied. No traces of discomfort. Only the bloodshot eyes belied her cool, collected demeanor.

“Can we make this quick? I have a big development to get started on,” she jibed, knowing it would sting to mention the destruction of our special place.

“Siren, we need to tell you the complete story. The breakup was all a farce, orchestrated by the man you were just meeting with. We didn’t know who he was when he offered to be our investor. He wanted us to break up with you before he would release the last of the funds he promised,” I started, taking my cue from the others, who nodded in my direction. Jesse seemed too riled to put two words together, and Briar was drowning in shame and guilt. I paused, waiting to see how she might react, but she only rolled her eyes.

“I know all about the edict Harold demanded from you. Suspected it the moment you implied you weren’t attracted to me. What could've driven you to make a deal like this? Did you expect you could call me the next day and smooth things over? That was your plan, wasn’t it?”

I gulped, my fingers curling around the arms of the chair I was sitting rigidly on. I had expected her to rage at us, but this stole the words off my tongue. She knew everything, and yet she was still sitting like fury consumed her. I felt a trickle of relief that she’d not believed us, but if that was the case, why take down my photo and our picture? Why ignore us all weekend and refuse to see us?

“We’ve known each other for six years. Yet you didn’t trust me enough to fill me in on your plans. Or perhaps you think so little of me that the pain and turmoil you caused didn’t matter? What I can’t understand is how you truly think you could just stroll in, and I would take you back. You chose money over me. I was anafterthought. Someone you could coddle into submission with a few lukewarm apologies.”

I looked at Jesse, horror etched over my face. The assumptions Adelaide had made were wildly incorrect, but without the full story, she could never know why. It wasn’t money we were hoping for. Ultimately, it was freedom, after six years of never knowing when one hit might be our last. This was our final desperate attempt after trying everything else. Every time her father’s men beat us in the ground they taunted us, telling us to run home to Adelaide. To have her put a stop to the attacks. There had been so many times I had wanted to be honest. Like when she’d tend our bruises or question why we were moving stiffly. They would never accept us if we told Adelaide. We knew it, they knew it. And so, we’d kept Adelaide in the dark, trying to claw our way into something her father would respect. Jesse shook his head infinitesimally. My lungs squeezed tight with disbelief. Now was the time to be honest, and he didn’t want to tell her everything?

“He wanted to pitch us to his circle as three, handsome single men. Said the aesthetics would sell better if we were unattached. We had to keep it between just us,” Jesse argued, throwing his hands up in agitation. Adelaide shook her head at him. Her eyes cut like shards of ice.

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