Ethan looks like he’s thinking the same thing. His grip on the carving knife hasn’t eased up at all. “What are you doing in this office then?”

He makes an excellent point. If this man were squatting here, why wouldn’t he stay hidden? Why was he lurking around a place where he could easily be found? And then I notice how close he is to the opening to the compartment on the floor, which is now thankfully closed. It hits me what the crash we heard was:

It was the sound of the compartment slamming shut.

“I… I wanted to see what all the commotion was about,” the man stammers.

Perhaps that could explain why he was in the office. But it doesn’t explain why the portrait of Adrienne Hale materialized back on the wall in the middle of the night last night. Only one thing explains that.

“You’re Luke,” I say. “You’re Adrienne Hale’s boyfriend.”

Chapter 41

ADRIENNE

Before

Luke has cooked us dinner tonight. It’s chicken marsala. Slices of chicken breast braised in Marsala wine sauce, butter, and garlic. It smells incredible, but I have not taken one bite. I have spent the last fifteen minutes pushing it around my plate, pretending to be eating even though I have no appetite.

“Is your chicken overcooked?” Luke cranes his neck to look at the little chunk that I sliced off. “Mine is perfect, but yours was a little thinner. Is it too dry?”

“Not at all.” I force a smile. “It’s delicious. Really.”

“Then how come you’ve barely eaten a bite of it?” He frowns. “Are you feeling sick? Is it a migraine?”

It has been two days since EJ told me what he wanted me to do. I wouldn’t let Luke come over again last night, complaining that my head was still bothering me. But I couldn’t put him off forever, so here he is.

I’m trying to put EJ out of my head, but I can’t. All I can think about is how EJ will destroy both of us if I don’t do what he wants. But how can I? The thought of letting that man touch me makes me physically ill. Not to mention the fact that I can’t even contemplate being with someone besides Luke. A few days ago, I had thought he might be the person I would spend the rest of my life with…

I have thought about nothing else besides my dilemma for the last two days. And I’ve concluded that there’s only one solution to this problem.

I lay down my fork, push away my plate, and stare across the dining table at Luke. He pushes his glasses up his nose, a curious expression on his face. I fold my hands in front of me on the table.

“We have a problem,” I say.