Page 85 of Trust

I huff out another laugh. “I feel gullible right now,” I tell him. “You could be telling me anything and I’d believe it, apparently.”

Adam really would call me stupid.

Ilya gives me a soft smile, and I don’t know what to make of that. Does he agree that I’m stupid? Is he annoyed that I didn’t pick up on his joke immediately?

The cafe is crowded, so Ilya tells me to grab a table while he gets food for us.

While I wait, my phone buzzes.

Doctor

They’re out of crab cake sandwiches. What do you want instead?

I’m about to reply when I see that I have five missed calls from Adam.

It makes my mood plummet.

Micah

You can choose for me. :-)

I stare at my phone after I send the text. I have at least five minutes. I should call Adam. I should tell him what I know — which admittedly isn’t much — and let him work with the information.

I don’t want to.

But I haven’t told him much of anything yet, and he’s getting more and more impatient with every time I put him off.

So I call him, my heart racing as I wait for him to pick up.

“Micah! Are you okay?” Adam asks. “You aren’t hurt, are you?”

The fact that he’s worried makes something in me feel strange. I’d thought he just didn’t care since he was willing to send me into this without experience. “No,” I tell him. “I’m sorry I haven’t called more. I don’t have much time right now.”

“No time? Why not? What’s going on?” The concern in Adam’s voice makes my heart squeeze tight.

“He’s staying close to me today,” I say awkwardly. “But I’ve still been going to his restaurant almost daily. To work.”

“That’s good!” Adam says. “He must be laundering money through that place. If you get a chance, see if you can find out where he keeps the restaurant’s books.”

That sounds dangerous, too dangerous for me, but I reply, “Okay.” I can at least try, though I doubt they’re somewhere I could easily find. Ilya isn’t the type of person to be careless with records like that.

“He’s not making you do anything too horrible, right?” Adam asks. He laughs quietly. “Sorry you have to look at his gross cock. But I know you can handle it.”

Ilya’s cock is far from gross, but I’m not going to say that.

Besides, I care more that Adam has faith in me.

He’s never had faith in me before, so it’s a strange sensation, and it makes butterflies flutter in my stomach. “I can,” I tell him firmly. “I’ll have more for you soon, okay?”

The butterflies turn into balls of lead as I think about what that means for me and Ilya, but I’ve always known there’s no future there.

“Thank you, babe. I love you,” Adam says softly, almost a whisper. I wonder if there’s somebody nearby, somebody he doesn’t want overhearing.

“I love you too,” I say just as quietly. I see Ilya returning with a tray, and I hurry to say, “I have to go. Talk soon.” I end the call and put my phone down onto the table, hoping that Ilya didn’t see me on the phone at all.

I don’t want to try to explain who I was talking to.

“There was a man trying to haggle with the cashier,” Ilya complains as he sets the tray down. “Over five dollars! The poor cashier kept telling him, she has no control over prices, but he didn’t listen.” Ilya shakes his head and moves one of the plates closer to me. “If you don’t like that one, you can try mine.”