Page 60 of Interion

“Why the interest in Adele?” he asked, resting his chin on his hands.

I took a deep breath and told him about all the problems I'd had with Adele, including Naoki—which was something I shouldn't have told anyone. I left out the part about Zion, but even so, I couldn't stop myself from blushing.

“I knew something was very wrong with that tracheostomy student—I never would have imagined Adele used her gift that way,” he said, horrified. “Wow, the hospital would kick her out in ten minutes if they knew.” Ambrose turned his bright eyes on me. “And you—wow! You were amazing. The tracheostomy was perfect.”

I smiled at the compliment and bit into a cheese bread. It tasted like ashes compared to the batch Zion had made. The bastard had managed to ruin even my palate.

“That's why the hospital won't find out. I'm telling you because I trust you.”

“My lips are sealed, dear.” He ran his fingers across his lips as if zipping them shut. “So Adele's been making your life hell. Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because you and Lorenzo are already so overworked, and I didn't want to worry you,” I replied, biting into my tart. “Besides, it's resolved now. I finished her off in the ring and she broke my phone, so I consider it closed.”

“Of course that wouldn't be a problem, Kay! I know Lorenzo and I aren't the most available people in the world, and we're usually swamped with work, but you're part of our family. Whenever you need to, you can tell us anything.”

Ambrose had the gift of conveying all his feelings through his gaze. In that moment, I felt enveloped in his warmth.

“Thank you. You two are definitely my favorite people.”

Maybe a little bit of the emptiness in my chest had just been filled. It wasn't much, but a little piece was better than nothing.

“Look, I just remembered she has a very strict family too. Her mother works at the biggest hospital in Yonser and is always causing problems for the doctors here,” he explained, stealing one of my brigadeiros. “She's always complaining that her daughter should get more attention and that we're doing a terrible job. What she doesn't understand is that Adele doesn't have a high power level, and it's impossible to meet her expectations.”

“So Adele has problems with her family...”

“You could say that. She lives with her uncle, who's a psychic in the criminal division. I don't know which section exactly, but I know he's important and very rich.”

“Hmm. I've met Ivanov. He's polite and kind—quite different from her,” I said, finishing my café au lait.

“Now that I know everything you've told me about Adele, Ivanov must be a saint for putting up with her.”

And I hadn't even told him about the harassment over the past four years, or the ridiculous amount of alcohol and drugs Adele used at parties. Breno told me she was constantly being carried off by random men after starting fights—when she wasn't crashing her car or getting fined for drunk driving.

“Are you going to use this information against her, Kay?” Ambrose asked, frowning.

“No, I just want to understand the girl.”

I finished my sweets and paid the bill.

“So, what are we doing now?” he asked excitedly.

“Breno advised me to go to the party in a more 'edgy' dress,” I murmured to Ambrose as I stood up. The right word would have been “sexy,” “vulgar,” or “promiscuous,” but “edgy” sounded better. “Do you know a good place to get an evening dress like that?”

Ambrose puffed out his chest and gave me a haughty look.

“Oh, my dear, give me some credit. If there's one thing I know in this neighborhood, it's fashion.”

He stood up and linked his arm through mine, pulling me outside.

Δ

We bought the dress at a store called Lithium and, as expected, the saleswomen wrinkled their noses at me right away, though they served me reluctantly. It turned out Ambrose was one of their VIP clients, and they probably didn't want to lose him because of me. So they brought me an endless array of dresses to try on, and in the end, I concluded that the best of a bad lot was a shimmering rose-colored dress. It was short with thin straps; the neckline showed off my breasts and the back was completely open. A thick gold metal band cinched at the waist and hips, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

Ambrose told me to get it, saying I looked like a shooting star, and added a pair of high-heeled sandals to the purchase—all gold and shimmering. They were the ankle-tie kind, and when I put them on, I realized the only purpose of that type of heel was to make my feet look attractive.

Although I liked everything, the surprise came when we reached the register. The little purchase came to 2,000 dunas, and I didn't have that much on me. Ambrose offered to pay, but I obviously wouldn't let him, so reluctantly, I had to use Zion's card, promising myself I'd pay him back.

We left the store with Ambrose completely thrilled with the purchases and me calculating how many months I'd have to save to pay for this little splurge.