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“Really? Are you sure? You have thought this through, haven’t you?”

“It is, and of course, I have.”

“This is going to do a lot of damage. Not just to you and not just to me. The shrapnel can hit anyone around us.”

“I know. I know how serious what I am asking is. I know how severe the consequences will be, but I don’t have any other option. Believe me, I wouldn’t have asked for your help if I wasn’t sure about this.”

He studied her for a moment then gave a sharp nod. “Well then, we should talk about the next step, shouldn’t we.”

“So you’re still going to help me?”

“Of course. Was there ever a question about that?”

Amber looked away. “I was expecting you to tell me you weren’t going to be able to help me. I thought that was why you called me here.”

“I thought about it.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What you want to do is risky.”

She nodded.

“This could ruin my sister, you know.”

Amber looked up in shock. “I- I didn’t think about that.”

“I did.”

Amber took a deep breath. “Listen, it’s—I don’t want you to back out, but I don’t want to risk Felicity’s future. I would understand if you needed to.”

“You were already given my answer, so it would be best just to accept it and move on. Now, we should talk about our next step.”

For a moment, her words failed her. It didn’t make any sense. But finally, she found her tongue. “I- I guess we should, but why?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Because I have a feeling that you don’t want to risk waiting too long to go through with it.”

“What? Yes, but I meant why are you doing this? I don’t understand. What do you get out of helping me?”

“What does it matter? As long as you get what you want in the end, I don’t see what effect my motivation has on anything.”

“I suppose it doesn’t, but?—”

“Then I don’t see what there is to discuss.”

“Maybe, but I’m just trying to understand.”

“What’s there to understand?”

Amber hesitated, eyes darting around before she whispered, “You.”

If he heard her, he did a good job of pretending he hadn’t. “What do you think we should do next?”

“Right, the plan…” she trailed off.

For a few moments, silence reigned. Amber felt the ticking of the clock scraping against her skull. She knew she should say something, anything, but her mind drew a blank. Desperately she tried to force a thought together, but they kept slipping through her fingers.

“Well?” he prompted, moving to stand a few feet in front of her. “I thought you had a plan.”

“I do!”

“All right then, why don’t you tell me. I can hardly help you if you don’t.”