CHRISTOF
I stayed at the bar because it gave my hands something to do other than curl into fists. I’d already gone upstairs once, to find Pepa, and, to change. I rinsed the day off my skin, but I’d come back down like the problem might be waiting for me at eye level. It wasn’t. The problem was still not back home.
I didn’t enjoy having to explain myself, and tonight would require exactly that. The office, Tanisha’s impudence, the timing of it all. Pepa’s calm questions, the pauses she used like scalpels, the moment she decided whether I’d annoyed her or merely disappointed her. I preferred fury.
I told myself I’d wait and deal with it when she walked through the door. Roman’s driver had arrived five minutes ago. I’d watched the headlights through the windows like an accusation. What the
