Twenty nine

Moore.

The car hadn’t moved far from the office when Athena’s name flashed across Lucien’s phone screen. The sudden ring cut through the tense silence between us, making me jolt in fright. He answered it immediately, his voice colder than ice.

“Athena,” he said, not a hint of warmth in his tone. The only thing that gave away the slight change in his mood was the way his hand tightened on the phone, the knuckles going white.

I glanced out the window, trying to ignore the gnawing anxiety in my chest. The city passed, but nothing outside could distract me from the storm brewing inside the car. I could feel Lucien’s gaze boring into me, his anger almost tangible. I kept my head down, pulling the hood of the oversized male hoodie further over my head, as if it could shield me from his wrath.

On the phone, Athena’s voice was tired, laced with a weariness that I would have found pitiable if it hadn’t been for the fact that I knew her too well.

“I just finished surgery,” she said, and I coul