With a few deep breaths and some rapid blinking, Charlie managed to keep her tears from falling. It was after her eyes cleared that she noticed the familiar barista. She glanced through the glass door and spotted the boutique where she’d bought her coming-out dress. In her wandering, Charlie had found her way back to the coffee shop where she’d delivered Nemo’s invitation.
The night of the party hadn’t crossed her mind since she found out about her upcoming nuptials. Returning to the coffee shop brought memories of the night flooding back. She could hear Nemo’s voice and smell the cigarette smoke on the balcony. She remembered the shock of her first dance, almost felt the warmth of Thayer’s hands on her as he led her across the dance floor, as if he stood there now touching her. A shiver ran down her spine.
Her phone vibrated, pulling her back into the present. Her stomach dropped when she saw Drew’s name on the screen.
-We need to talk.
The ring still hanging around her neck suddenly felt like it weighed a million pounds. She knew she needed to give it back, but after he left her alone in the office, she hadn’t been rushing to return it. Seeing him would be hard, but it needed to be done. The ring didn’t belong to her anymore. She couldn’t hold onto the hope it represented forever.
-When?
-Now…?
-I’m in the Parkside shopping district on 4th Street. Meet me in the coffee shop across from the Parkside Boutique in ten minutes.
-See you soon.
“Next.” The barista’s voice snapped impatiently.
Charlie slid the phone into her pocket and stepped up to the counter. Locking eyes with the girl, she searched for any sign of recognition but found none. “A medium vanilla latte and a medium back coffee, please.”
“Nine credits.” Charlie scanned her chip, moving aside as the girl called, “Next.”
In an instant, their second encounter ended. Was that the same girl? Charlie watched her as she waited for the drinks. It was definitely her. Again, Charlie wondered how involved the barista was with Nemo.
A few minutes later, with coffees in hand, Charlie sat at one of the last vacant tables remaining. The table fit two people and stood in the front corner of the shop, right next to a big bay window that looked out to the street. From her chair, she easily spotted Drew walking through the door.
His shoulders slumped beneath his messenger bag and his eyes looked sunken in, like he hadn’t slept well in days. Charlie didn’t doubt it; she hadn’t slept either. He walked in and glanced around before spotting her in the corner. The strain in his face lessened, but didn’t disappear altogether.
“Hi.” He settled into the chair opposite her, his body tense.
Charlie slid the black coffee across the table to him. “I took the liberty.”
“Thanks.” He eyed the coffee. She could almost hear his mental debate, deciding whether to accept it or not. After a moment, he picked up the cup and took a long sip.
“What did you want to talk about?” Charlie tried to sound amenable, but she still resented that he’d left. Her voice reflected that bitterness.
Drew set the coffee down and glowered at her. “Don’t pretend you’re the only victim here.”
She bit her lip to keep from snapping at him. “I didn’t intend to make you feel like I’d used you.”
He scoffed. “So you wanted to use me without letting on?” Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms and shook his head. “Did you ever love me?”
Tears pricked the back of Charlie’s eyes. She blinked, keeping them under control. “Of course I loved you.” She sighed. “I’ll always care about you.”
“Loved. Past tense.” His anger changed to disappointment then resolve in a matter of seconds. “We need to decide where we go from here.”
Charlie suppressed a laugh. “There’s nowhere to go. We aren’t Compatible, that’s that.”
She reached up to her neck and unclasped the chain, pulling it and the ring out from under her shirt. The band slid off the chain into her hand. She considered it for a moment before placing it on the table between them.
Drew eyed the ring like it might be poisonous before grabbing it and slipping it into a pocket without a second look. “We may not be able to continue our … romantic relationship, but I don’t want to lose you.” He caught her gaze. “Can’t we at least be friends?”
Charlie shifted in her chair. She still cared for him. No test could change that. Could their relationship be one of friendship after all they’d been through? “I don’t know, but we could try.”
All his anger and hurt evaporated, leaving a hopeful look behind. Charlie averted her gaze, looking outside at the people passing the coffee shop. She didn’t want to see that look. It reminded her too much of the looks he gave her before the test. Before all hope had been ripped away.
“I’ve missed you.” She almost lost his whispered voice in the din of conversations around them. He laid a hand over hers, his thumb running back and forth across her knuckles.
How dare he say he missed her when he did the leaving? Yes, she’d hurt him but he never gave her the chance to explain. Now there would be no hiding or sugarcoating what Richard told her. She wanted Drew to know, she wanted him to understand the pain and betrayal she felt.
“I’ve been busy trying to get out of my wedding.” She pulled her hand away, tucking it in her lap. “You know my father found out about our test?”
He blanched. “What did he say?”
“He told me he fixed the test. We were Compatible, but he changed our results.” Silence followed her declaration. She watched him, frozen as he processed her revelation.
“Why … how?” His face crumbled, making Charlie realize the significance this had for him.The chip and the security it promised was a lie. He knew it now. In a matter of seconds, she’d shattered his whole belief system
“That doesn’t matter,” she snapped, pushing aside the sympathy threatening to undo her. “It’s too late for us. Right now, I’m focused on finding a way out of this mess.”
His hands circled the coffee cup before him, turning it round and round. “Have you come up with anything yet?”
“The only idea I’ve come up with is to fake my death and remove my chip.” Charlie shook her head. “We both know how practical that is.”
Drew thought for a moment. “What about getting another chip? They sell them on the black market, don’t they?”
“It would take too much time to set that up. I need a quick fix. Anyway, my father will be watching my chip more closely now than ever. Even if I do come up with a plan, I’ll have to be careful.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The closer I get to the announcement, the more I think I’m trapped with no hope of getting out.”
His tone filled with sympathy. “Don’t give up. There has to be an answer. It’s just that no one has thought of it yet.”
“Yeah, and no one will.” It hit her then like a ton of bricks. A smile spread across her face. She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. “Drew, you’re amazing. No one!”
“I don’t get it. What did I do?” he asked in bewilderment.
“You gave me an idea.” Charlie grabbed her bag, tearing through it in search of a pen and paper. It took her a minute, but she managed to find a scrap of paper though she couldn’t find a pen. “Do you have something to write with?”
Drew reached into his bag. After shuffling around he found an uncapped pen. “I don’t even know if it will write.”
Charlie grabbed the pen and tried it. After a second of scribbling, black ink appeared. “It works!” She exclaimed with triumph.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sending a message.” The pen flew across the paper, leaving her desperate words in its wake.
“To who?”
Charlie looked up with a bright smile. “No one.”
Chapter Eleven
“What the hell happened at the party?” Drayton leaned forward in his chai
r, his eyes blazing.
The Leaders sat at the table, shooting Nemo questioning looks.
Nemo sat taller, trying to project his authority. “Everything went according to plan.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Slater, the Leader from the Province of Illinois, pushed his glasses higher on his nose. “I was under the impression you were taking a hands-off approach with Miss Grey.”
“She wasn’t harmed,” Nemo said, his hackles rising.
“That’s beside the point,” Samar accused with a scowl. “You didn’t follow the plan we agreed on.”
Nemo’s jaw clenched. “She was in no danger.”
“That aside, you shouldn’t have had a conversation with her.” Samar grumbled angrily. “She’s in the perfect position to expose you to the Council. Placing you on her radar at all was a mistake.” She leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. “You should have found another way to gain entry to the party.”
“It was the best course of action and Miss Grey knows nothing. She didn’t see me,” Nemo snapped.
“It wasn’t the best plan, but it worked,” Nelia, the Leader from the New York province, piped up, addressing the table. “Charlotte doesn’t know anything more than Nemo’s name and the sound of his voice.” She turned her attention to Nemo. “You can’t meet with her again. We can’t risk her learning your identity and jeopardizing our safety.”
Drayton cut in. “When you presented the plan, I assumed you had all the pieces in place. We shouldn’t continue until we know exactly what we’re doing.”
“It’s too late for that.” Samar shook her head. “Things are already in motion.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Drayton barked.
Samar sighed, rubbing her temples. “We trusted Nemo with the plan, now we need to trust that he’ll do everything he can to see it to fruition.” The Leaders nodded, all except Drayton, who crossed his arms in a huff.
“Just make sure you don’t do anything that could expose us,” Slater commanded with a stern look through his glasses.
Nemo stood. “Now that we’ve settled this, I have pressing matters I need to see to.” He exited the room before they could continue haranguing him.
His jaw hurt from clenching it and his shoulders were wound tight. He rubbed his tired eyes as he headed to his office, but stopped when the sound of excited voices reached his ears. Curious, he followed the sound down the stairs.
Down one level, he spotted a group of about ten boys surrounding Viveca. The scent of cinnamon, sugar, and butter wafted through the air. The delicious smell came from a bag Viveca held high above her head.
“Can’t we have some, Viv?”
“Yeah, Viv.”
“Please?”
“I told you already, you have to wait until after dinner.” Her voice was stern, allowing no argument, but her eyes held a soft affection for each boy.
“You heard the lady. No sweets until after dinner.”
The boys whipped around at the sound of Nemo’s voice. Before he knew it, they had him surrounded. Each clambered for his attention, creating a cacophony of youthful voices.
“Mr. Nemo, Mr. Nemo—”
“…I saw a giant—”
“…booger in my nose and so I—”
“…beat Henry at—”
“…raced and then—”
“Whoa.” Nemo said, holding his hands up. “One at a time.”
For the next few minutes, he listened to the boys recount stories about the day. They shared everything, pleased to have a grownup take a moment to listen to them, especially one as important as Nemo. Eventually, they ran out of things to tell him and wandered off one by one until only a single boy still stood in front of him.
Owen teased him about his pension for “collecting” orphans. Nemo ignored the playful jibes, knowing full well that half the boys living in the cathedral were there because Owen had rescued them. Poor parents unable to provide for their children left them in the streets to beg, steal, or starve. Neither he nor Owen could stand to watch the children suffer. Not when they had plenty of room in the cathedral and enough connections in the black market to feed them.
Nemo smiled at their newest charge. “How was your day, Lucas?”
The boy had adjusted well to life in the cathedral, but Nemo still liked to check in with him.
“I got to play a lot and we had oranges at breakfast. I really like oranges.” Lucas stared at him, almost searching his face for something. “How was your day, Mr. Nemo?”
The question took him aback. He smiled. “Well, I didn’t get to play very much, but I did have an orange, so I guess it was a good day.”
Lucas nodded thoughtfully before looking over Nemo’s shoulder. “I think Viv wants to talk to ya.”
Sure enough, Viveca stood waiting for him to finish with the boy. Her hair was pulled back into her customary ponytail, and spots of coffee stained her white shirt. Dark circles under her eyes attested to a long, hard shift at the coffee shop.
“Why don’t you go find the others?” Nemo suggested. Lucas smiled and scampered off. “Should we go to my office?” Nemo asked.
Viveca nodded. She lowered her voice as they walked up the stairs. “The next time I bring home leftovers, I need to sneak in through the back door. I barely made it inside alive.” She laughed softly.
“You spoil them.” He smiled at her over his shoulder.
“The shop was throwing the cinnamon buns out.” She shrugged. “No point in wasting good food.”
“You keep it up and you’re liable to have a gaggle of little boys pining for you.”
Viv smiled.
Office was a loose term they used to describe the room. It had a desk, but that was the only thing that could qualify it as an office. A bed sat nestled in the corner, and the shelves were covered with personal effects rather than books. A single window provided the room’s only natural light.
Nemo took a seat behind the desk, motioning for Viv to sit in the chair across from him. “What did you want to see me about?”
A troubled look crossed her face. “Charlotte came to the coffee shop today.”
His stomach dropped. “What happened?” Viv wouldn’t have made the long trek from the shop unless it was something important.
“She came in alone but a man joined her—”
“Did you recognize him?” he interrupted.
Viv shook her head. “He had blond hair and thick glasses.”
“That’s her boyfriend.”
“They didn’t look very close. She seemed upset with him,” Viv observed.
“So, what brought you here?” Nemo leaned back in the chair, anticipating her answer.
“I watched them. I think they were fighting. But then he said something that got her excited. She came through the line and gave me this.” Viv reached into her pocket, fishing out a piece of lined paper. “She said it was for you. I didn’t read it.”
He leaned forward, eyeing the paper before taking it. “Did she say anything else?”
“No. She and the man left after she gave it to me.”
“Thanks.” He smiled at her, but his fingers itched to open the note. “I know it’s a long trip for you after a shift. I don’t want you traveling back to your apartment tonight. Spend the night here. You can take one of the free beds.”
Viv nodded. “Let me know if there is anything else you need.”
The second she left the room he tore the note open and read:
Novack Enterprises and Grey Technology plan to align their companies through my marriage to Mason Novack. I have one week. Put a stop to it. You owe me.
-Miss Grey
His pulse quickened and his mind started churning. He tossed the note on the desk. Getting to his feet, he paced the length of the room.
It wasn’t a surprise that Grey and Novack wanted to form an alliance. In fact, he’d been anticipating such a merger for years. He wasn’t even surprised that the two men planned to use their children to seal the ar
rangement. He’d expected to have to deal with this union at some point. What surprised him was how fast they were moving.
A marriage to Novack would deter all the hard work he’d invested in Charlotte. He couldn’t let that happen. She was the cornerstone to all his plans. He had to fix the situation; the problem was how.
He paced the room long into the night. He had an idea, but it wasn’t solid. There were already so many variables in the situation; he didn’t want to add one more thing that could go wrong. Not to mention the ire he’d incur from the other Council members.
When he was too tired to pace any more, he came to a decision. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the only plan that could work. And maybe, in the end, this would prove to be better than the original plan.
Now it all balanced on Charlotte’s desperation.
Chapter Twelve
“I read your papers.” The professor rubbed his temples. He stood at the front of the lecture hall, leaning against his desk as if their papers made him ill and only the desk could keep him from collapsing.
“Being in an accelerated program, I hoped most of you would be prepared for the class’ rigorous pace. But it’s obvious that very few of you are ready.” He glanced up at the theater of students, leveling them with an exasperated look. “Since we cannot proceed any further until you grasp the basics of our country’s recent history, we’ll spend the remainder of the week relearning what you should already know.” He began pacing in front of his desk, keeping his eyes glued on his audience. “The ninety percent of you who failed this first assignment should apologize to the ten percent who didn’t. Because of you, the class is being subjected to a remedial history lesson. I suggest the failures pay close attention. You know who you are.”
Charlie had passed the assignment. Rather than take notes on something she already knew, she reached for her phone, staring despondently at the empty inbox. She’d sent the note to Nemo two days ago and had yet to hear from him. Patience was not a virtue she possessed and his silence grated on her.
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