Before I could dwell on what that meant, Torran cleared his throat.
Mischief danced in Nilo’s eyes as he leaned closer to me, and I suddenly understood exactly why Lexi had waited for him in a hotel bar. His gaze invited play, and it would’ve been an irresistible temptation for my favorite thief.
I tipped my face up to his, interested to see exactly what he had planned. I didn’t get the chance to find out, though, because in the next breath, Nilo slid back a meter and a half.
As soon as Torran’s power let him go, Nilo winked at me. Torran growled something that I didn’t catch, but it didn’t seem to dampen Nilo’s spirits.
“Did you need something?” Torran demanded. “Or did you just come to bother my guests?”
At the reminder, Nilo’s apologetic mask reappeared as if the last few minutes had never happened. “I’m so sorry to interrupt,” he said to me, “but I’m afraid I must speak to Torran alone.”
“Is it about the theft? If so, then I would like to be updated as well.”
“I’m afraid I can’t say,” Nilo said, the picture of polite contrition.
Torran’s eyes went distant as he and Nilo silently communicated. Torran frowned, then his gaze cut to me. “I’m sorry, but I must deal with this. I will show you the office later. Until then, please feel free to explore the public part of the house.”
Translation: leave the family hallway so I can have a secret meeting with the person who stabbed Lexi in the back. Message received, loud and clear.
I pasted on my fakest, sharpest smile. “Find me when you’re done. I still have questions about the theft—the one you hired me to solve and then refused to talk about.”
Torran’s expression didn’t change, but Nilo watched us with sharp eyes. Torran bowed slightly and gestured toward the end of the hall. “This will take you back to the main part of the house. The guest wing will be to your right. I will message you when I’m free.”
“You’ll have to come find me because my comm doesn’t work here.”
Torran frowned at me. “Of course it does. It’s dual-tech.”
It took me a second to realize that he meant the comm he’d given me, the one I hadn’t figured out how to return yet. Feeling vindictive after being summarily dismissed, I pulled out my original comm, battered and held together with composite tape. “It doesn’t and it’s not.”
Torran’s expression blanked into careful nothingness, and guilt slithered through my system. Spitefulness was uncalled for, no matter how frustrated I was. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I will find you later to discuss the theft.”
I turned to leave, but Torran caught my wrist, his grip gentle. Nilo disappeared into one of the rooms lining the hallway—presumably Torran’s office—and the door closed behind him.
“Is there something wrong with the comm I gave you?” Torran asked, his gaze intense.
My eyes slid away from his. “No, not as far as I know.”
His fingers flexed around my wrist. “Then why aren’t you using it?”
Luna must’ve felt my anxiety because she purred and butted her head against mine. I appreciated the comfort she offered, even if I didn’t deserve it. “I was going to give the comm back,” I said. “I just hadn’t figured out how.”
Thunderclouds gathered on Torran’s brow, so I rushed to add, “Not because I don’t accept your apology, but because a gift is not necessary. My current comm is fine. I am happy that you apologized, and your promise was already your gift. I don’t need a comm in addition.”
“I told you to keep it. And I’ve seen your current comm. It is not fine.” His eyes narrowed. “How are we supposed to coordinate if you can’t receive messages?”
“Kee is working on it.”
Torran’s thumb stroked across my inner wrist for the third time, and I suppressed a shiver. I didn’t think he even realized he was doing it, but electric tingles danced up my arm with every pass.
“Keep the comm. Use it.” I opened my mouth to protest, and he silenced me with a look. “If you must, return it when the job is finished.”
I pressed my lips together in thought. Borrowing a comm for the duration of my time on Valovia was far more palatable than accepting an expensive gift. I dipped my head in reluctant agreement.
“Good. Now I must speak with Nilo. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
I raised an eyebrow and looked down at the wrist Torran still held. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth quirk, then he very deliberately stroked his thumb across my wrist a fourth time before letting me go.
My eyes flashed to his face, but his expression was unreadable. His eyes, however, pulsed with color.
He wasn’t as unaffected as he seemed. And he’d absolutely known what he was doing.
This time, the shiver was impossible to suppress.
Since Torran had pretty much given me permission to snoop in the rest of his house, I planned to do exactly that, but first, I stopped in the kitchen, which was both beautiful and unfamiliar, and poked around until I found the refrigerator and the box I’d brought from Starlight.
I pulled out Luna’s food and water bowls and set them in an out-of-the-way corner. Luna hopped down to check them out, then sent me a wave of longing when she found her food bowl empty.
I dug around in the box until I found the container of jerky. I’d barely touched it when Luna’s eyes locked on me. I swear she could hear the rustle of treats from two sectors away. I pulled out a piece and Luna tensed.
“Don’t tell anyone I’m spoiling you.”
She cocked her head, but her eyes didn’t leave the jerky in my hand. I made her wait for a beat before tossing it high. She leapt to catch it, then disappeared out of the room with her prize. If we planned to stay here for more than a week, I would have to build her some sort of climbing tower or she’d resort to perching on whatever she could find, likely with disastrous results.
With Luna taken care of, I delved deeper into the unfamiliar part of the house. I let Kee know where I was going, just on the off chance that one of Torran’s staff decided to jump out of a room and murder me. I didn’t think the odds of that were very high, but if it happened, I wanted my crew to know who to avoid.
The house was far larger than it appeared from the front. The sloping roof and curving lines hid exactly how expansive it was. The guest and family wings were at the back of the building with another hallway between them that I hadn’t explored yet.
The final hallway branched off from the front of the house, following the curve of the front wall. I explored it first, since it was closest to the kitchen. I expected it to be the public rooms, and the first door I opened proved me correct.
The office was pristine, with a beautiful, sculpted desk and plush chairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the gorgeous landscaping. The colorful, understated art on the wall reflected the colors of the flowers outside.