“Perfectly cooked bacon, toast from heaven, two splendidly hard-boiled eggs, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Specially made by Chef Adrian Ambrosia.” He kissed the tips of his fingers before releasing them in the air.

“All right, all right, let me try it before I change my mind.”

The toast seemed like the safest option. I inspected it—to be honest, it looked okay, but it wasn’t in my nature to miss out on a chance to tease Adrian. I took a tiny bite using my front teeth, causing him to groan in frustration. “Oh come on, Montgomery! Give it a good bite.”

Seemingly wanting to prove that his food was edible, Adrian grabbed the other piece of toast and took a huge bite. “See, yummy.”

I finally gave into starvation and gobbled down the rest of the toast before grabbing one of the “splendidly boiled” eggs. I broke the shell and liquid poured out all over my hands. “Ew! I thought you said it was hard boiled!”

Adrian nervously scratched his neck. He pointed at the egg in my hand and stated the obvious: “That’s not supposed to happen.”

“Clearly.” I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, not willing to have gooey egg all over my hand for another second.

My reflection in the mirror revealed puffy eyes and a bright red nose. My hair looked like I was Dorothy and a tornado had just hit me. The boys were talking on the other side of the door.

“—so sad, it’s heartbreaking seeing her like that,” Adrian said.

“Don’t worry,” replied Vlad. “She’ll get through this.”

“I know, man, but I wish there was something I could do. I feel useless.” Adrian sounded helpless and desperate.

“She’s been through something like this before. She’ll heal with time, I promise.”

I never expected I’d be leaning on Adrian and Vlad of all people, but they were proving to be better guys than I’d ever given either of them credit for being. I looked at myself in the mirror again, grabbed a hair elastic, and pulled my curls up into a messy top bun. I counted to three before coming back into the room.

“I’m not sure that bacon is edible,” I said. Adrian raised his hands in defeat. “But I’m famished. Do you guys know any good places to eat?”

Adrian and Vlad exchanged a knowing glance. Vlad nodded and stood. “We know a place that will blow your mind.”

“Lead the way, General.”

He sighed upon hearing the nickname but obliged anyway.

Chapter Twelve

We arrived at a restaurant called Verona Ti Amo, which was nestled in the little maze of streets filled with shops and restaurants tucked away on the other side of the main Court buildings, a place I hadn’t realized even existed.