BERTI WAS ALONE AS I entered her office, hunched over her computer in a display of fatigue that she rarely ever let me see. I half expected her to freeze up when she saw me, hide away all evidence of vulnerability under her bland, neutral expression—but she didn’t.
“Jordan,” she said, indicating the seat in front of her. “I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to explain—well, this is about the other day. With the House of Tatius.”
That gave me pause, because I’d totally expected her to pretend like nothing had happened. Was she actually planning on confiding in me? Or was this going to be some bullshit excuse that didn’t explain anything?
Either way, I settled in with interest. Maybe I was setting myself up for disappointment, but I wanted to hear what she had to say.
“Their House aided yo
