The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)(76)

I was still having a hard time believing this, not that it was the craziest thing I'd heard tonight, let alone ever. "And you actually let him give you this hotel?"

Adrian laughed outright, coinciding with the elevator doors opening. "Of course. For one, Trent said that he was done with money because of what it had driven him to do. For another-" the grin he flashed me was wicked "-I really liked this place."

He led me over to a set of doors marked Historic Suite with a comment of "The Presidential Suite is already occupied."

"Then I insist on going home," I replied flippantly. Then I didn't say anything at all as Adrian opened the doors and I got my first glimpse of the room, or rooms to be more accurate.

The first room looked like a foyer on extravagant steroids, and it opened into a full dining room with crystal stemware that would've sent my mother running over in rapture, if she were still alive to see it. After that was a living room with a wall-to-wall Oriental rug, a fireplace and furniture that looked too expensive to actually sit on.



       
         
       
        

The next room was cozier, but no less opulent. The couch to my left looked like it was upholstered in red velvet, and the red-and-gold-striped love seat across from it appeared to be silk. Thick drapes only let part of the cityscape peek in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, and there was a second sitting area by another fireplace.

Everything was so luxurious that it actually took Adrian's abrupt question of "What are you doing here?" for me to notice that the chair across from those couches wasn't empty.

Zach set down the travel magazine he'd been reading, putting it back with the others that were decoratively displayed on the table in front of him.

"For all the many times I've been to this city, I have never seen a Broadway play," he remarked, replying to a question that neither one of us had asked.

"What are you doing here?" I repeated, coming toward him. "Where's Jasmine?"

He gave me a look as if the answer were obvious. "The same place you left her."

"With Costa?" I burst out. "He could hurt her!"

"He would never do that," Adrian said before Zach had a chance to reply.

That reignited my irritation with him over his incorrect assumption about Jasmine. "My sister isn't the one who told Demetrius where we were."

"That's the only explanation that makes sense," Adrian shot back. Then his tone softened. "Costa could've gotten me killed a thousand times over these past few years. He didn't. Our location only started being reported back to our enemies when your sister started traveling with us."

I turned away, and he caught me by the shoulders. "I know it's hard, Ivy, but look at the facts. Demetrius didn't find us here or in France, yet it only took him hours to drop realms on us before, when Jasmine wasn't locked up in a light realm where she can't communicate with him or any other demon. Do you really think that's a coincidence?"

My jaw tightened. "I don't think it's coincidence, but I also know it's not Jasmine who's been selling us out."

Zach let out a sigh as he stood up. "I did not come here to listen to the two of you fight. Ivy, your sister is safe-you have my word. Adrian, you wanted me to perform a service for you. If that is still the case, I can do so now."

Adrian dropped his hands from my shoulders and turned to give Zach an amazed look. "You know I still want you to, but with everything that's going on, maybe now isn't the time." 

"Now is the only time I will do it," Zach replied in a mild tone. "As I have often reminded you, I am not yours to command, and soon, I will have far more urgent matters to attend to."

Adrian's muscled tensed, as if he were fighting an inner battle. "Then now works for me," he said in a tight voice.

"Very well," Zach replied, still in that unruffled way. "If Ivy agrees to it. If she does not, then I will do nothing, and I know that you haven't told her what this request entails."

I was still upset over Adrian believing that Jasmine was the traitor, but I was also wildly curious. Zach had assured me that Jasmine was safe, so I wasn't worried about her, and no one was trying to kill us, which made this as good of a time as any to find out what Adrian's mysterious request was. Not that it was necessary anymore, though.

I touched his hands, which remained clenched at his sides. "After everything that's happened, you have nothing to prove to me or to anyone else. I know you won't betray me again, so whatever you thought you needed Zach to do, you don't."