“I’m just—” He ran his hand through his hair and sighed loudly. “I’m just checking you don’t have cold feet.”

“My feet are toasty warm.” When his face didn’t look convinced, I continued, “Look, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but nothing’s going on between me and Vlad. Yes, I had dinner with him, but it wasn’t just the two of us. My parents were there, his parents were there, Kris was there.”

Adrian’s frown turned into a boyish smile. “Okay.”

“Besides,” I felt the need to remind him, “didn’t I tell you that we would start slow? That we would be friends first.”

“Yeah, I know. I was just worried when Domenico told me Vlad was picking you up for dinner last night that you were going to change your mind.”

“You thought wrong.” Suddenly I felt more exhausted than I’d ever felt before.

Adrian was about to say something when Lincoln and Hawke walked through the door. They were surprised to see him. Hawke lifted one brow, looking expectantly at me. I gave him a shrug.

Lincoln was the first to break the ice. “Lord Ambrosia, I didn’t expect to see you here. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?”

Player or not, Adrian suddenly looked very nervous in front of my “parents.”

“No, thank you, Mrs. Montgomery. I’m about to leave, actually.” He turned to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

Adrian nodded at my reply, and after saying farewell to Lincoln and Hawke, he left.

“What is he doing here?” Lincoln muttered under her breath without directing the question to anyone. I stood up and moved back to my bedroom, leaving the two of them with their questions. I was going to try to make it an early night.

Maybe it was the nervousness, but I found myself wide awake at two in the morning. And apparently claustrophobic as well, as I felt that it was getting hard to breathe inside my own unit. Perhaps I was starting to go stir crazy. After tossing and turning to no avail, I finally swung my legs out of the covers and got out of bed.

I tiptoed out and took my coat from the hanger with one hand while the other carried my boots. Once I was standing in the elevator and on my way down, I put my coat and boots on. I pulled my coat tight as I walked across the lobby and out the front sliding doors. My gaze fell to the oak tree in the garden at the center of the Court. Twinkling lights had been placed on each branch, like it was a makeshift Christmas tree. I found myself compelled to walk toward it just like the day I first arrived at Court.