Chapter 31 Ties of Betrayal
"I need copies," Veyra said. "Lots of copies."
She handed over her phone. The woman looked at the photograph.
"Is this a missing person?"
"Yes. A little girl. And the man who took her."
The woman’s face softened. "I’ll do it for free."
"No. I’ll pay. Just make them fast."
Ten minutes later, Veyra walked out with a stack of flyers. The photograph was on top. Lily’s face. The man’s silhouette with her phone number at the bottom.
She started with the shops closest to the café. The bakery. The shoe store. A small grocery. A bookstore. A pharmacy.
She handed flyers to the owners. Explained the situation. Asked them to keep an eye out.
Most agreed. A few looked annoyed. She did not care.
She taped flyers to lampposts. To bus stops. To the windows of empty storefronts.
By the time she finished, her hands were covered in tape residue and her feet were throbbing.
But she had covered the entire district.
Now she waited.
Her phone rang.
She grabbed it so fast she nearly dropped it.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Thorne." Li Wei’s voice. "Mr. Thorne has arrived at the café. He’s asking for you."
Her heart jumped. "I’ll be there in ten minutes."
She hung up and started walking. Her feet hurt. Her arm hurt. Her head hurt.
She walked faster.
The café was still empty when she returned.
The overturned tables had been righted. The spilled hot chocolate had been cleaned up. The chairs were neatly arranged.
But the energy in the room was different. Heavier and darker.
Dorian sat at a table in the corner.
He was not wearing a suit. He was wearing black pants and a black shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair was messier than usual. His jaw was tight.
He looked dangerous and no, not the type of dangerous that came from muscles or weapons but the dangerous that came from barely contained rage. The sort of dangerous that made people cross the street to avoid him.
Veyra’s steps slowed.
She had seen him angry before. In the living room. When his grandmother collapsed. When he choked her against the wall.
This was different.
This was colder.
She walked toward him. Her heart was pounding. She stopped at the edge of the table.
"Dorian," she said.
His gray eyes lifted to hers.
"Sit down," he said.
She sat.
He did not speak.
He just looked at her. His eyes moved over her face. Her scraped arm. Her torn dress. The flyers still clutched in her hand.
Then he turned the tablet on the table so she could see the screen.
Her breath caught.
The photograph showed her. Holding Lily’s hand. Standing face to face with Caspian. Caspian’s hand was reaching out. Reaching for hers.
From the angle of the camera, it looked intimate. It looked like they were a family. The three of them. Standing together in the café like they belonged.
Veyra’s stomach dropped.
"Explain," Dorian said.
His voice was quiet. Flat. But underneath it, she could hear the ice.