Chapter 16

Larisa didn’t show up until 9:10. The extra ten minutes he’d waited both enraged Adam and made him consider reconsidering. Did he have to confront her? What if he was wrong? But the moment he heard her key twist in the front door’s lock, his hesitance disappeared. There would be no dancing around the issue. The elephant in the room had to be addressed now.

After listening to her remove her shoes and coat, he expected her to head into the dining room. Instead, by the sound of it, she started walking upstairs.

“Larisa,” he called out, and she froze in her tracks halfway up. “Come in here.”

She didn’t move for a few seconds, but when she did, she came back downstairs and did as he asked.

“Yeah?” Though she tried to look normal, brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear, her hands trembled a bit.

He gestured to a chair he’d set near himself. “Sit down.”

“Listen, I’m really tired—”

“Sit down.”